Hicks Lawn Services truck racing

[hickslawns]

Tonight was just one of those nights where you ask: why do we do this? Raced Gas City Speedway in Indiana. Track looked rough. They were tilling it when we got there. Almost like disking a field. Black dirt with little clay. Looked like it would be a great garden. By the end of the night it was grooved, rutted, bumps that sent you airborne, and rougher than a cob.

Hot laps told me nothing. So slimy I couldn't get it to full throttle. New carb still not tested. Started the pole in the heat race. Made it one lap off the start. Someone came up under me and drove right thru me. Took out my rear tire. Peeled the sheet metal like a sardine can. Sadly, it was someone on our team.

So we bang it out, swap a tire, and I start the tail on the feature. We started the feature with 9 trucks because someone took an ambulance ride during the heat race. I moved up to 4th. Was steadily making ground on third place. First place guy had checked out already. He ended up half lapping the field. Second place guy was not going to be caught by the truck I was in. So as I'm reeling in 3rd place one of our team came up on my inside and sliced my sidewall. Not completely. I was just losing air slowly. Didn't know it at the time. So I let him by in efforts to keep it clean. He truly has a faster truck and we are teammates. No sense battling it out and crashing us both. Now I'm running 5th and have a couple laps to go. On the last lap the tire let loose and I spun coming out of two. Saved it but took some grass out of the infield. (Didn't loop all the way around.) So that throws a caution and we finish under checkers and yellow. This automatically places me at the rear of the field for official final results.

Sucks. There goes two tires in one night. Was running a strong 4th. Believe I would have taken the third place driver (also one of our team). Ended up 9th in a field of 9, although I believe I still finished in 7th with the flat. . .after sampling the infield grass. Lol such is life in racing.

Our buddy who took an ambulance ride is okay. Unconscious for a bit. Apparently did not have a concussion. His truck looked like it was having a yard sale. Pieces and parts everywhere. Wish I could share the video. Thank goodness the roll cage did its job. He says he is done now. I know they say you need to get back on the horse, but I think he needs to be done. He has gone thru several trucks in the last few years. I don't want to see this end in a worse way than tonight's escapades.

 

[Hoytmania]

Sounds like you had a rough go at it this weekend, but the real question is.... did you still have fun?

Looks like ya did. Maybe you'll have better luck next time.

 

[5Cent]

Awesome fun Phil, thanks for keeping this thread updated.

Glad to hear the teammate was OK!

 

[hickslawns]

@Hoytmania I really didn't have fun. Work on truck in evenings all week. Hot laps told me nothing as the track was a sloppy mess. One lap in heat race and I was taken out. Fix truck. Go into feature knowing little about the truck handling. Work thru the field. Lose a tire. Finish "last" under caution. Technically still crossed the line 7th out of nine running a flat tire half a lap. Load up. Drive 2 hrs home. Get to bed at 5am. Not real fun. BUT. . . These are the chances you take. It isn't always going to work in your favor. Hopefully it will make the next race where everything is clicking that much sweeter.

 

[hickslawns]

Raced Good's Raceway tonight. Formerly Deerfield Race track. 3 hour haul. 1/4 mile track. Took 3 trucks from the team. Three others couldn't come. Dusty rolled last week so he is done for a bit. The guys who race Hilltop were down on numbers too. They had a guy crash and total a truck and another blow an engine last night. This is one of the races when our group meets up with their group to race. Non series race. Not really a points thing. So we only had 8 trucks total. Hilltop racers have v-6 trucks. We run 4 cylinder.

Track was a dry slick track. Not much banking. It was sort of like ice skating. In the heat race I started back row of our 4 truck heat. It was tight racing. We were all really close. Bad when the guy in front of you rolls it in a turn. I barely tapped him and avoided most damage. Give him credit. He put her back together and took 5th in the feature.

Not sure how I managed but I ended up on the pole. I wasn't first in the heat race. I think they inverted 1/2 from each heat race so 2nd place starts in front row and 1st place from heat races start 2nd row.

Those v6 trucks have some grunt on the straight aways. Guy on outside of row 1 drag raced me to first two turns. I was 2nd place going into turn 1/2. Coming out of 1/2 another fast v6 guy blew by me on the back stretch. I tucked in behind them. Held third the whole race. They didn't really pull away as the track got more slick. I just couldn't reel them in. Same with the rest of the field. My buddies in the stands said I was alone. Half straight away in front of me were 1/2nd place guys. Rest of the field half a straight away behind me. Seems like the field was all pretty even on lap times once up to speed. We did have one caution. I was nervous another v6 guy might get me on the restart but I held them off with 5-6 laps to go.

Felt extremely accomplished with this third place. There is zero shame losing to the guys who took 1/2. Seasoned drivers. Fast trucks. I kept it clean. No flat tires this week. No banging. Slid her thru the turns like I knew I was capable. Just haven't had a full race where everything fell into place until tonight. My best finish ever! I'm stoked.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Good deal Phil. I always get a good mental pic while reading the race reports

 

[Hoytmania]

Good times Phil, so your saying you had more fun this weekend then you did at the other races.

 

[Jackalope]

Awesome stuff buddy. Sounds like you have a pretty fun new hobby.

 

[Geezer II]

Raced Good's Raceway tonight. Formerly Deerfield Race track. 3 hour haul. 1/4 mile track. Took 3 trucks from the team. Three others couldn't come. Dusty rolled last week so he is done for a bit. The guys who race Hilltop were down on numbers too. They had a guy crash and total a truck and another blow an engine last night. This is one of the races when our group meets up with their group to race. Non series race. Not really a points thing. So we only had 8 trucks total. Hilltop racers have v-6 trucks. We run 4 cylinder.

Track was a dry slick track. Not much banking. It was sort of like ice skating. In the heat race I started back row of our 4 truck heat. It was tight racing. We were all really close. Bad when the guy in front of you rolls it in a turn. I barely tapped him and avoided most damage. Give him credit. He put her back together and took 5th in the feature.

Not sure how I managed but I ended up on the pole. I wasn't first in the heat race. I think they inverted 1/2 from each heat race so 2nd place starts in front row and 1st place from heat races start 2nd row.

Those v6 trucks have some grunt on the straight aways. Guy on outside of row 1 drag raced me to first two turns. I was 2nd place going into turn 1/2. Coming out of 1/2 another fast v6 guy blew by me on the back stretch. I tucked in behind them. Held third the whole race. They didn't really pull away as the track got more slick. I just couldn't reel them in. Same with the rest of the field. My buddies in the stands said I was alone. Half straight away in front of me were 1/2nd place guys. Rest of the field half a straight away behind me. Seems like the field was all pretty even on lap times once up to speed. We did have one caution. I was nervous another v6 guy might get me on the restart but I held them off with 5-6 laps to go.

Felt extremely accomplished with this third place. There is zero shame losing to the guys who took 1/2. Seasoned drivers. Fast trucks. I kept it clean. No flat tires this week. No banging. Slid her thru the turns like I knew I was capable. Just haven't had a full race where everything fell into place until tonight. My best finish ever! I'm stoked.

Dang Phil i live about 5 minutes away from that track

 

[hickslawns]

Dang Phil i live about 5 minutes away from that track

Shoot. Unintentionally snubbed ya. Sorry Geezer.

@Hoytmania absolutely. Last week was pure frustration. Still fun at moments. Just overshadowed by frustration. It is part of the sport. I knew what I was capable of. I knew I could do it. I just needed to prove it to myself. I needed a night where everything clicked. Finally got that last night.

 

[hickslawns]

My team owners are going to start selling some trucks. This includes the one I'm racing. They offered it to me at a fair value. Not a steal. Not a rip off. Not sure if I'm ready to spend the coin. I mentioned a Ford Ranger that used to race our local tracks to them. It was for sale. They perked up. Just getting more trucks at the track and truck counts up is needed. Well. . . .it followed me home today. I'll get it to test and tune night next Wednesday. See what she does. Not sure if I will keep it and race it. I bought it right. I might get it track ready and sell it. Then take the profits to buy the truck I've been racing. It's a win either way. I'm now a truck owner. Ironically enough, I'll probably out someone else in it this year and finish the season in the truck I've been racing. Lol

 

[hickslawns]

Never made test and tune. New slave cylinder and master cylinder installed. Decided it was puking too much oil to run. Pulled engine. Currently on engine stand. Going to seal it up. Drop it back in. Then run it. So I've owned this a few weeks. I've pulled transmission and reinstalled. Now I've pulled engine. I've only done a few laps around neighbor's field. I know she sputters. I'll likely end up cleaning carb, changing fuel filter, draining tank, put in new spark plugs, and then running her. May have to do a little jetting too. Done a lot of tinkering in between. Straighten sheet metal. A little paint. Nothing major. Need to clean up some wiring too. It didn't have a number on passenger side. A little tape and spray paint fixed that. Lol Probably should have just spent $15-30 and had a decal done. All part of the fun. Also cleaned the block and painted it. She will be a backup motor but while out. . . .may as well clean it up. Be easier to find oil leaks.

In between all this, I've been shopping. There are certain year blocks that are preferred to build a "big motor". Found a nice 1990 Ranger donor vehicle for $300. Got the block I need, a spare tranny, and some spare sheet metal. Probably use tires and rims to roll it around in off season. Has a rusted frame. Might do a little frame repair and teach my son to use a stick shift. Or maybe just teach him in the neighbor's field. Then put him in our road registered vehicles with stick shift.

Started a FB page as well. "Team Hicks Motorsports" if you are inclined to follow along. Managed to land 4 sponsors for next year also. This thing might just cover it's costs and make a little money. I started another LLC for the racing team too. Every business needs to know if it is successful or not. What better way than to legitimize it and force yourself to watch costs and set goals to grow?

 

[5Cent]

This is awesome Phil, congrats!

 

[Clay Showalter]

Looks like lots of fun and lots of work

 

[hickslawns]

Looks like I have $120 in parts sold off the donor truck. Lowers my cost to $180 in a donor motor, trans, rear end, and sheet metal.

Installed bigger radiator last night. Larger outlets required different hoses. Had to do some customizing of hoses and hold down brackets. That was fun. No sarcasm. I enjoy fabricating. Pulled fuel cell. Cleaned up. Painted where it mounts. Painted outside of cell. Cleaned inside. New fuel filter and line from cell to filter. Going to replace rest of fuel line after inspecting it and finding it to be rock hard. Motor back in. Schaeffer oil in it. Filled fuel cell to learn it is a 9 gallon cell. Bigger than I thought. Good thing. Mounted fire extinguisher. Replaced bulb in water temp gauge. Tidied up wires with some wire loom and electrical tape. Probably 20 other piddly little tasks tidying stuff up. I know I'm forgetting stuff.

I'm order to be ready to race. . . I need to fire engine. Check for leaks. Top off antifreeze. Check timing to ensure nothing got messed up when pulleys were removed and reinstalled. Prep tires. Install larger air filter when it shows up. Hit the track.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Sounds exciting Phil. Cant wait to see how you do

 

[5Cent]

Go get em Phil! Need some video of it running on the track.


And damn man, dont you sleep?

 

[MoonLab]

Good luck. Looks badass.

 

[CJD3]

Looks like fun Phil!
I’d enjoy taking a couple of hot laps in her.

 

[hickslawns]

Go get em Phil! Need some video of it running on the track.


And damn man, dont you sleep?

Doesn't feel like it. My schedule is whack. Think I was built for 2nd/3rd shift.