As usual it was a rough weekend. The late models are what I call the "pre-enduro" this season it seems. Not too much to say about the race really. It was really rough, we had an amazing car, but because everyone wanted to bump and bang needlessly, we ended up cutting a tire down towards the end and it made us fall back. We finished, because it was a slow leak, but it still messed with the handling of the car. We ended up 10th. We're 6th in points right now (I'm pretty sure). That's about it for Monadnock, I'm not getting into the politics of things.

Sunday we raced Hudson. That was a rough race too! Once again, the car was AWESOME. We could have won but...A couple laps into it we broke the cap/rotor, so we were out. The race was pretty good though with a great battle between Peter Fiandaca and Chris Curtis, with Chuck Deney(sp?) managing to wreck about every car in the field. The flag man thought that he was watching a different race, because he black flagged Curtis for rough driving. The owner of the track told him not to, and told him to black flag Deney. He was mad at that, so right in the middle of it all, he grabbed his flags and walked away!!! They went about 10 laps or so and then some kids ran down and waived the white and checker to finish off the race. Geoff Rollins won it, but was later DQ'ed for having an illegal carb.

Next update will prolly be after the next Hudson race, which is Sept. 28th. We'll be getting ready for that in between and gearing up for the fun races in October.

 

Yes, I'm horrible at updating. We've had some much better finishes! 2 weeks ago we finally managed to finish a race and was 7th (although Monadnock results say 8th, who  knows what happened, we just noticed it) Then we had a 5th.That same weekend we finally had the second Strictly Stock race at Hudson. Things were going really well until we had a piece break and lost the steering. Rough. We're still 4th in points though.

Last weekend was AWESOME! We finished 2nd! We managed to lead some of the laps, but eventually lost the lead to Tank (#33). It was a great race, and we're looking forward to another great race this weekend.

 

 

 

What a rough season it's been. I'll stay out of the particular people that are complete idiots and have caused much damage to the car this season, but they know who they are.

Last weekend was really good. We FINALLY got our motor issues worked out and the overheating problem is no longer a problem. We scored a second in the heat. We could hve won it, but second was a qualifying spot, and there's no points, so no reason to burn up the tires in the heat.

The feature went well to begin with. It was a rough race, and by lap 14, there was already about 6 cautions for numerous stupid crashes or people spinning out. We had a good run. We fell back to about 11th or so from starting 4th. Then we had made our way back up to 6th, but an overanxious Guy Caron driving the #88 decided that the rules didn't apply to him again. After passing us under the white line before going by the flagstand, he had to hit us to get by and cut a tire down on the left rear. There wasn't enough time to get the tire changed since they don't wait when it's your fault, so we were out for the race.

But we came out knowing that we were a much better car this week.

 

As for Hudson, the last race was rained out. We had a great run the first race and finished 3rd. The hudson cars this year are FAST. It's nice to have some good competition.

 

No racing this weekend, and we'll see what happens the week after.

 

 

It's been a while. We've been working on the car real hard the last few weeks. Just about done, the car is almost ready for paint and a motor. We've got a spot in the shop of our sponsor now, and there's tons of room to work, and no neighbors to bother late at night! :) Things are going well, and we're super  happy for the change in the schedule. For once Jay's happy about snow... changing the schedule! Pics up of the car as of about a week ago. I forgot to bring the camera with me the other night when I put the body on.

 

 

 

definitely a great weekend again for us. We managed a podium finish 2 weeks in a row with a second place again. We started sixth and were finally able to move up. Also, won our heat race again for what must be the 10th time this year. Awesome. Here's the write up from Monadnock.

 

JT Thompson sat on the pole for the Late Model main event with Darrell Keane on the outside pole.  At the green, Thompson took the lead as the field was slowed for their first caution when John Meany shot out to the outside groove causing Adam Gray and Nick Gasperini to spin. On the restart, Maki took over the lead as Scott Zilinski moved into second. Thompson held of Keane for third. On lap three, the caution was again displayed for PJ Pelc and Keith Carzello. On lap four, the race resumed with Zilinski being scored the new leader.  Maki ran in second as Matt Mead moved into third.  On lap fifteen, halfway through the race, Zilinski commanded the lead as Maki felt the heat from Mead for third.  Ed Brehio joined the battle placing pressure on Mead for fourth.  Ten laps to go the top five remained the same as Nick Gasperini and John Lavoie battled for position. On the final lap, it was Zilisnki taking his third win followed by Maki, Mead, Brehio and Gasperini.

 

WE WON!!!!!!! Here's the article from Monadnock.... Oh, and we won the heat again too :) Pictures as soon as I can get them scanned.

 

Jay Maki and JT Thompson set the pace for the Late Model feature event.  At the wave of the green, Maki quickly took the lead on lap one as Carzello slipped into second.  Thompson, Jason Lafleur and Scott Zilinski followed in the top five.  On lap five, Maki continued to show the way as Lafleur felt the pressure of Adam Gray and Zilinski for third.  At the half way marker, Maki drove away from the second place runner of Carzello.  Lafleur sat in third as the battle for fourth continued between Gray and Zilinski. John Lavoie sat in sixth awaiting the opportunity to beak into the top five.  Five laps to go, the top runners approached lap traffic.  On lap twenty seven, Gray and Zilinski made slight contact as Zilinski backed off allowing Gray to recover.  Zilinski lost his fifth spot to Lavoie to settle in sixth.  On the final lap, it was Jay Maki celebrating his first win ever at the high banks followed by Carzello, Lafleur, Gray and Lavoie.

 

the article written by Monadnock is posted below, with a bit of commentary. Evidently the past few weeks the people writing these things are sitting at a different track watching a different race- because most of this isn't what happened at all. However, we won the heat race for the second week in a row. Bad end to a good night.

 

 

 

Yet another rainout this past weekend.

That's not important, the week before is.

The car went great in practice and in the heat, and somewhat decent in the feature. We had a 3rd place finish in the heat-in which all the fastest cars in the class were with us! We're moving up, and improving so much week after week. We ended up with an 11th place finish for the night. We will break that top 10 mark soon! as of now, there's a 3-way tie for 8th place in points between ourselves, Nick Gravel #54 and John "Tank" Lavoie #33.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates!! The team has been busy keeping things up with the car, and getting things tuned. But enough with the excuses... here's some info!

The opener finally came and went. Overall it was a good day. Long, of course, as being the team got there when the gates opened. We ended up finishing 13, which didn't reach the goal for the night, but the car came home in one piece with only a couple bumps and scrapes.

This past saturday it was a wild night during the feature. The car was FAST all day, but when it came to the feature, a few laps in it just went to crap. We started on the pole, and definitely got shuffled to the back when the car forgot what it was supposed to do. we ended up finishing 11th... out of 12. Ouch. The problems have already been figured out and fixed (we hope) and we're looking forward to a better week next weekend. hey, we're 10th in points right now. :)

 

 

Maki Racing is proud to announce the addition of New England Rod & Custom to its list of soponsors. Official links and information to follow very soon.

We're all working quite diligently on getting the car finished in time for practice in 2 weeks, looking forward to a good year!

 

The website is well on its way to being done now. for the moment at least. Slideshows of pictures were put up today. Check them all out!!!

 

The team is anxious for the start of the season. Still searching for a main sponsor. The site is finally published and I'm currently working on getting a larger picture gallery up. Please take a moment to read the main page as Jason has lost a friend and fellow competitor over the weekend. Please keep his family and everyone else in your thoughts and prayers.

 

 

The site is being built and new stuff is being added. Currently the team is working on getting the car together for another season. We're looking forward to the new season and a fresh start. We had a rough time last year, and we're hoping for this year to be much better.