Hicks Lawn Services truck racing

[hickslawns]

Heat race win. GoPro sucks. Can't edit. Won't upload. Pay money to use their cloud but it won't upload after two nights in a row attempting to upload to their cloud. Pay money for it and also so you can edit. Cannot access it to the edit feature. Frustrating. I'd love to know how to cut out the time under caution or running in the track before we go green.

Anyway, here is the heat race win last night. The nose you see is the guy who has won 4 in a row. Not tooting my own horn. You guys have seen me be highly critical of myself. I believe this may have been one of the smartest races I've raced. Had confidence. Elbows up. Driving hard. Last couple laps I knew there was no room to pass me high. I dropped down half a truck width or so to protect the bottom. Can't say it always works this way, but it is the steady improvement I've been seeking.

 

[GoetsTalon]

Now I know why! That looks like a hell of a good time! Great race! That guy on your door would have me nervous though lol. Look back at your first post on this and look how good your doing now. Way to stick with it!

 

[5Cent]

Turning right to go left, yeah baby! No doubt she sounds way more stout than the prior power plant. I hear Toyota is replacing em under warranty, maybe ya can get one

 

[hickslawns]

Turning right to go left, yeah baby! No doubt she sounds way more stout than the prior power plant. I hear Toyota is replacing em under warranty, maybe ya can get one

I wish I could say it was a new powerplant. Same head. Different short block. Not much different than the last one. Just fresher paint. . . And lower oil pressure. It has me nervous. Thursday night we were combining parts from the old and new one to get one together to race. Should have just left the old one in there. Lol

Thanks @GoetsTalon it is a blast. And truthfully, it can make you nervous. Sort of depends who it is. I wasn't worried about him sliding up into me. He doesn't like any scratches on his truck and has won four features in a row. Lol

 

[Clay Showalter]

Awesome stuff, way to go

 

[hickslawns]

Truck is back together. Haven't had a chance to test it out. Just need to hope you didn't miss anything and the alignment is good.

We rained out last Friday. Today is championship week at Limaland. Mainly for the classes which run there weekly. Everyone runs hot laps. Pill draw determines starting position in the feature. There are no heat races. After the feature the stock cars and modified drivers walk to the general admission side and are awarded their trophies or whatever they get for season points. Following awards, we run the King of the Quarter Mile. Top six will Duke it out to see who is crowned the King.

Saturday we race at Waynesfield and then we are off for about a month. Basically I have 3 features in two nights.

 

[hickslawns]

The feature with all the trucks was a mudfest. No heat races to run the track in and work some of the slop/slime off it. Drew a bad number. Started 14 of 16. Moved up to 5th. On a restart we had a guy jump the start and get kicked two positions. Official finish was 4th place. I'll take it. Lots of carnage. Lots of banging. I scraped the wall on a straight away because things were just that tight and I wasn't lifting. Lol. Just cosmetic stuff.

The King of the Quarter Mile feature with the top 6 trucks was a bit humbling. I started 3rd and finished 4th. 5/6 were way behind me. 1-3 were maybe half a straight away in front. I ran the fastest lap times I've ever run there. Drove the snot out of it. The rest of the class was watching and many said I looked solid out there. They said I was sending it hard. It just wasn't enough. Here is the positive take away. The leaders have been .5 to .7 seconds faster per lap. I cut the gap in half tonight. They were about .3 of a second per lap faster. Just need to keep doing work to improve my driving. Just plain and simply need to get faster. It's going to take getting a bit uncomfortable and just driving it harder. I've improved. I just haven't improved enough yet. Can't open the Summit Racing or Jegs website and order a bigger set of balls. That is something you just have to find. Got to push harder.

 

["J"]

The feature with all the trucks was a mudfest. No heat races to run the track in and work some of the slop/slime off it. Drew a bad number. Started 14 of 16. Moved up to 5th. On a restart we had a guy jump the start and get kicked two positions. Official finish was 4th place. I'll take it. Lots of carnage. Lots of banging. I scraped the wall on a straight away because things were just that tight and I wasn't lifting. Lol. Just cosmetic stuff.

The King of the Quarter Mile feature with the top 6 trucks was a bit humbling. I started 3rd and finished 4th. 5/6 were way behind me. 1-3 were maybe half a straight away in front. I ran the fastest lap times I've ever run there. Drove the snot out of it. The rest of the class was watching and many said I looked solid out there. They said I was sending it hard. It just wasn't enough. Here is the positive take away. The leaders have been .5 to .7 seconds faster per lap. I cut the gap in half tonight. They were about .3 of a second per lap faster. Just need to keep doing work to improve my driving. Just plain and simply need to get faster. It's going to take getting a bit uncomfortable and just driving it harder. I've improved. I just haven't improved enough yet. Can't open the Summit Racing or Jegs website and order a bigger set of balls. That is something you just have to find. Got to push harder.

Are you having fun?

 

[giles]

Sounds like you've got the truck and the right attitude. Just stop being a pussy! Lol

 

[hickslawns]

Are you having fun?

Overall? Yes. Are there moments of "screw this?" Yes.

I hear you @giles . That's the short version of what I posted I guess. Lol

 

[hickslawns]

Night started off good. We qualified and I was second fastest qualifier. Top four were all about 1/10th apart so really all about the same.

Heat race I got trapped down on the bottom and it was slick. I couldn't get a good run off the bottom to pass. Ended up 3rd. Not bad when you figure the truck wouldn't start so I could leave my trailer for the line up chute. Had me a little frazzled. Thankfully there were two sprint car classes and plenty of push trucks to get me going. Sorta had my head flustered. I don't normally leave my truck running at an idle for half an hour before a race. Once I got push started she sat there running. Lol

The feature had me starting 4th. I was on the outside and thought it was a nice opportunity to rail the high line and get out front quick. Nope. The track slicked off like a skating rink. Everyone in front of me was slower and I got stuck up there as the bottom and middle of the track was congested and the guy in front of me wasn't fast enough to get around them. I think I was in 7th by the end of the first lap. I steadily picked off a few. A couple guys got together and each got a flat tire. Another guy overheated. I Finished 3rd. I think 3.5 seconds behind 2nd place and 5 seconds behind the leader. I was slowly reeling them in but ran out of laps by the time I had some room to maneuver the truck around the track. Not a third place to bragg about but I'll take it. There are times you drive a great race and end up 5th or 8th. And there are times like tonight where I felt I ran a mediocre race and wound up 3rd. That's racing. Off until Sept 15 now.

 

[5Cent]

Hell yes, consistent 3rds are putting you in "slingshot engaged" position. Looking forward to that checkered flag picture soon!

 

[xbowguy]

I see it like your definitely paying your dues. It's coming...

 

[hickslawns]

We raced Waynesfield again last night. My wife went with me. Not her thing. Goes about once a year. Had a truck roll in each heat race. Wish she wasn't there to watch that. Lol

Anyway, I sort of sucked in the heat race. Started 5th. Ended up 3rd. Just sloppy. I wanted to play it conservative and let her eat in the feature. Not THAT conservative to where I was questioning how sucky I was while racing. Had to get my head out of my butt and drive it. Good news is they had an invert for the feature and it put me starting outside row one. I guess sometimes it helps to run third place in the heat race.

Feature was solid. Drove the wheels off the truck. Started second. Took the lead by turn one. Lead a few laps. The two guys who have won EVERY feature this year managed to get around me. Hung in third a few laps. The guy with 35 track championships and 400+ feature wins got around me. I got pissed. Drove back around him. We played cat and mouse a few laps showing each other nose. I finally got around him and never saw him again. Later heard he pulled off the track. Not sure why. I had continued to drive like he was on my tail though and really ran a solid race. Looking forward to seeing the video from the stands view point.

Solid night. Has me pretty well secured to third place in the points for the season. We have one race left the last weekend in October. I suspect they cancel it due to weather. We shall see what happens.

 

[hickslawns]

Tomorrow night I'm entering a cage match. There is a "Clash Race" of Oak shade stock cars versus Fremont/Attica V8 trucks versus Sandusky asphalt stock cars. They invited the four cylinder trucks from the Dirt Track Truck Series that I race in. As far as I know, I'm the only four cylinder from our class going there.

David versus Goliath? Take a knife to a gun fight? Uphill battle? Call it what you want. I'm going there and my goal is to make the feature and hurt feelings. I think the lowest payout in the top twenty is $170. $1325 to win I think. Making the feature should be considered a win. Making the feature will hurt feelings. I'm not supposed to be there. I'm not supposed to be able to run with them. And truthfully? I might not. It is possible I look like a fool out there. It all comes down to gearing. It is a 4/10's mile track. Not sure my gearing will work. I might not have the speed in 2nd gear (which is all I normally run), and third gear I may not be able to keep the RPMs up where they need to be to make good power. I might be forced to shift in the turns and coming out of them. That makes me nervous. I don't need to miss a shift, over rev an engine, and blow it up.

No matter the outcome, the extended exposure for Warriors Way will be good. Maybe I can drum up some good publicity for them in a new market.

If you follow late model racing, Rusty Schlenk is known nationally. I guess he even made a racing video game. He will be racing his late model there. Sounds like he will be driving someone's truck as well. Kind of cool to say I had a chance to race against him.

Anyone close to Findlay that wants to see a good night of racing? They have late models, sprint cars, and the Clash. I've heard they have had 50-70 cars at the Clash in previous years. There could be 3-4 B-mains in my class tomorrow night to make the feature. Should be good racing all around. Plus, I'll be able to cross another track off the list of tracks I've raced.

 

[hickslawns]

Not much to say. Third gear was too tall. Couldn't get the RPMs where I needed to get them in the two qualifying laps. Started tail of the heat race. Broke early in the heat. Couple laps in.

 

[hickslawns]

Fixed the truck yesterday. She fired up and sounds the way she is supposed to again. If I've gained anything this year it is some independence from my engine builder. I still lean on him hard, but it is nice to not need him for every little thing.

Need to repair some sheet metal from the last race. Yeah. I know I broke and barely made any laps. But. . . The dipstick in the push truck pushing me back to the pits came in on a weird angle and tore up my right rear quarter. That's just pouring salt in the wound after you break.

 

[hickslawns]

Last race of the season was last night. I am locked into 3rd place points even if I stayed home. Couldn't move up or down. Good night to let it all hang out a little farther. All winter to fix it.

Had a good pill draw. Started on the pole of heat race 1. Took off and did my best to distance myself. I did alright. Second place was close to a straight away behind me. At least half a straight. I lapped one truck twice in the 8 lap heat race.

With the redraw it had me starting 5th in the feature. Inside row 3. I moved up to third. Something went wrong in the motor. I was going to pull off but I checked my gauges and they were okay. Came around to the flag stand and he held up 5 fingers. It held together. I held off the fifth place guy. Finished fourth. Later found a rocker arm came off I take valve #4. That explains it. Lol

Pretty solid season. Hard to complain.

 

[giles]

You should be proud finishing 3rd. You are running with people with alot more experience in those trucks.

 

[5Cent]

Hell of an improvement over years past, great work Phil! On the podium baby!!