Jimmy Kouba - Journal Archive

Yes, we are still here. And no, our webmaster has not vanished either. For the updates, seems that I have just been very busy and not able to keep up lately. For the website, a new look is in the works and will be available soon. Hang with us; we haven’t forgotten you just yet.

A lot of racing has passed by since our last note. Our first outing to Brainerd with the new car was quite a challenge. We had a get dragster; fast down the straight but not liking to turn much. We were clocked by the track speed gun as the fastest MPH. While that’s good, I have always liked going AROUND the corner rather then taking aim at the wall. We ended up 3rd in our heat after a last lap pass of my nephew Joseph. Now don’t faint… we drew GREAT for the feature and started on the front row outside of brother Joe. Joe had an awesome night. After beating me into the first turn and grabbing the lead, he battled hard through lapped traffic swapping the front spot back and forth with Chuck Swenson and finally with Lou Kennedy. Lou won out and won the event with Joe in second. Chuck was third, followed by Roger Rager and yours truly hanging on to fifth. Even more impressive this 25 lap main ran flag to flag on this tacky, smooth bull ring. A very impressive show for the Wissota sprints.

Last weekend was our North Dakota mini tour. Friday’s race was at Mandan, ND. Thanks to special help from our very own magic man and my lovely crew chief, the car felt fantastic. We took second in our heat behind Chuck Swenson. Amazingly enough I drew NUMBER 1 for the feature; front row inside. We leapt into lead ahead of Randy Nygaard. Randy fixed that in the first turn when I missed my line, but we returned the pass to regain the lead off turn 4 (that was fun!). After another swap, I had the lead back for a few laps until driver “brainfade” struck. My mistake was Randy’s gain. He took the lead and held it for the duration. We held off Chuck for a 2nd place finish, our best of the year (so far).

On to Jamestown, ND for our Saturday stop. The track was again a smooth fun surface. Our heat looked like a update of the Mandan feature, with us finishing 2nd to Randy Nygaard. My redraw luck left us placing back in the 4th row for the feature start. While the car felt good, neither of us was up to the challenge the track presented. I have never before raced a track that went from wet slick to tacky to dry slick to rubber all in one event. At times we were very fast, even running faster laps then the leader Chuck Swenson. Howeever, I was not able to maneuver through 2 and 3 abreast racing. We wound up with a respectable but somewhat disappointing 6th.

Next was Buffalo Speedway, a place that has confounded my efforts in every one of our previous 4 stops there. We did manage a 2nd in our heat, owing that mostly to a front row start. When I went to line up in the 2nd row outside for the feature, I could feel the car was not right for this tight, sticky and rutted up surface. I elected to start in the back, took the green and pulled her in rather then take myself (and likely others) out on a hook (as been my usual mode at this facility). To the credit of the drivers present, the feature had only one caution flag. Loren Langerud fought hard early on with Chuck Swenson, but eventually pulled out a comfortable lead and took the win.

Next up is Fox Ridge Speedway in Arcadia, WI, this Friday. Then we are on to Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, MN and Racine, MN. Two events close to home. We are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed for a change.