Jimmy Kouba - Journal Archive

It is that time of year when the races are often and the work mounts up. The car is beginning to show signs of wear and needs extra tender loving care to keep her in top form. With all the races on the docket, we have had quite a few long days and longer nights. Sometimes, though, it can be worth it.

On Friday Aug. 2nd, we headed back to Fox Ridge Speedway in Arcadia WI. This is one of my favorite tracks to drive. It is wide, smooth, fast and just plain fun! A stout field of cars checked in for the night. We drew toward the back for our heat race start (I think Jamie’s good luck is starting to wear thin). Despite the position, we had a good run, moving up for a 2nd place finish. This put us in the dash. The dash races continue to haunt us. We have not had a dash finish worth a hoot all year. This night would be no exception. We finished an unimpressive 5th.

A good redraw for the feature was our reward. We drew #1 for the start. The car felt great as we motored to the lead after the drop of the green flag. By lap 9 we had better than a straightaway lead on 2nd place running Joe Kouba. Moving into lapped traffic the lead dropped some. After a couple of back-to-back cautions, not only did the lead disappear, but the car also started to go away. At first I thought I had lost my line and/or rhythm, as I watched Brother Joe move by and motor out ahead of me. Not that I gave up quite yet. I worked on Joe for the next few laps, but just could not get it done. After a couple more late race yellows, I slipped back to 3rd then back to 4th with 2 laps remaining. Good thing that lap 25 came around when it did, as my nephew Joseph was hot on my tail to steal 4th. Joe went on for a convincing win. Kurt Davis, Roger Rager, yours truly and Joseph Kouba rounded out the top 5.

Saturday was spent swapping motors and prepping for the Tournament of Champions in Knoxville. A complete set of open competition Hoosier needed mounting. A few new bolts and other minor changes were required to legalize the car the ToC rules. We were ready to go for Sunday’s race.

The Empire Super Sprint bunch made us feel quite welcome. As an alternate for the event, we ended up running under their banner rather than representing Wissota. Our starting spot for the heat was 3rd row inside. At the drop of the green I knew we were in trouble. Our borrowed motor wasn’t very happy with our standard fuel and ignition set-up. After gurgling on the start, it finally turned on just past the flag stand. We had lost 3-4 spots by this point. Going into the 1st turn with a lot less then a full head of steam, our chassis set-up could not work properly. The car nosed over on the right front and would not turn. By the time I had her gathered up and headed for turn 3, the field was not only by me, but also long gone. We finished a disappointing 8th.

The ESS B main event did not fair much better for us. Again the motor was off just enough to allow the rest of the field to get a good lead on us. It was not going to be our night, not by a long shot. We did not make the transfer and thus watched the A main from the infield bleachers. As the Soggy Bottom Boys would twang; “I’m a man of consent sorrow…” (at least as far as luck at Knoxville goes.) Next time we need to pay more attention to fine tuning the motor.

By Wednesday, we had our own motor back in the car and were prepped for our return trip to Grand Rapids, MN. This was a make-up event for the earlier rain-out of their “Open Wheel Frenzy”. As the defending winner, I was hoping for good weather and that maybe, just maybe, the water truck would be broken again this year. No such luck was headed our way with the water truck. However, the weather looked great. We drew a second row start, right behind big brother Joe (of Arcadia fame). Rob Caho Jr. started us off from the pole in his newly purchased red B1st mount. (After destroying their car at Arcadia, Caho’s bought out the entire B1st operation, whether the colors and number will revert to the more familiar white 78 remains to be seen.) Rob grabbed the lead, followed by Joe. I beat Roger Rager into the turn to take 3rd. We would finish in that order. Rob, Joe and I were headed to the dash.

The dash was loaded with Koubas. Joseph had a great run in his heat finishing 2nd behind JR Jr. Rob Caho again vaulted to the lead followed by the orange 62 of Richert. Rob went on to win with Jerry second, Joseph third, Joe 4th and us in fifth. Again, we can’t seem to find our rear end with both hands and a road map at dash time. But we had the last smile. On the random redraw for the feature line-up, we pulled #1. Happy days!

The track was to our liking for the 25 lap feature, slick and starting to blacken up. Jamie was keeping close tabs on the racing surface prior to the event. Seeing the condition, she opted for a last minute shock change (I didn’t argue this time, finally starting to learn that I’m only the driver). Her read was perfect and so was the set-up. We jumped into the lead with JR on our tail. The car was hooked just right and we soon pulled ahead by a straightaway or more. Then bad news hit, the motor felt a little sour on the top end. Midway into the race, the caution flag flew. I was sweatin’ bullets wondering if the motor was going to last and keep us up front. It not only lasted but we held firm through another 2 yellow flags. The Lightning Blue 2K brought home another win. Jerry Richert jr. was 2nd, followed by Joe Kouba, Dave Mass, Roger Rager, and Joseph Kouba.

What was the diagnosis on the motor? Broken spark plugs, not one but two! A geologic remnant of the last glacial age broke through all barriers and clipped 2 of the right bank plugs (a rock smashed the rock guard, pinged off the frame and into the plugs). While still firing (sort of), the plugs definitely got the worse end of the deal. Sometimes luck does fall our way.

Next up: 7 days - 7 events; the return of Wissota’s August Heat series. I’m off, literally. We need to hit the road in a few minutes to make our way to event number one; Aberdeen, SD.