Dion Team preparing for Wiscasset race on Sunday

08/17/07:


With a new engine finished as of last night, I guess it's now safe to say we will be at Wiscasset on Sunday. Although we have been satisfied with the car's performance at all the tracks we've run this year, we knew our combination left a lot to be desired. When we decided to go super late model racing last year we converted a few of our NASCAR Busch North engines to save time and money. We quickly found out that the competition had much better engines to fit that type of racing and getting our car to run with them became a nightmare for Paul and Roger. Hopefully this new engine will be a step in the right direction and we can learn enough at Wiscasset Sunday to refine the package in the future.


I believe the last time we ran at Wiscasset was in our Busch North car and Glen Sullivan won the race so you do the math on when that was. I'm not sure what to expect on Sunday but as an engine builder, if the new engine runs good and doesn't break I will be somewhat satisfied. It seems like this season has been more of a learning experience than anything else but new challenges have always excited our team and I'm sure Sunday will be more of the same.


I guess the biggest news for the team has been the sale of Berlin City Ford to a major company from Denver, CO. We aren't sure how it will affect our future racing but for now we will meet our obligations for this year and worry about that later. The race car hauler was sold along with the dealerships but Danny being Danny couldn't allow that to happen without a fight and the night of the farewell party he handed us the keys. The new owner must have thought he was crazy to buy the hauler back just because his friends and team of 21 years couldn't go to the races without it. We told him a week earlier that we would be fine and we surely didn't expect him support our needs with his personal money but both he and Elaine said it was something good friends should do. My brothers and I were shocked and tried to change their minds but they gave us a hug and said "We accomplished a lot together in 21 years but best of all became best friends".

The best thing about devoting my life to racing has been the friends I made along the way and the way a person like Danny and so many others have done things for me just because they wanted to and not because they felt like they had to. I've always hated using the word "sponsor" when describing the people that have their names on our cars because most of the time they are good friends who don't expect anything in return other than a good honest effort from our team.


I better wrap this up so Linda can get it posted as I'm starting to get phone calls wondering if we are racing this weekend. You can find the details for the race on Sunday at the PASS or Wiscasset Raceway web site.


Take care and see you at the races if you can make it.


Yours truly,
Dave