Hicks Lawn Services truck racing
- Thread starter hickslawns
- Start date
It is race day again. Taking the #17 truck. One truck. One driver. Less scatter brain. More focus. Truck was fast last race. Need to work on the driver. Goals: be safe, have fun, steadily improve. Longshot goals: kinda be nice to make the podium on my birthday. 
Hot laps. Fourth fastest lap time. Be nice if I ran all three of them. Thought we were done. Saw the checkered flag. Backed off. Oh well. I'll take 4th quick.
Heat race line up determined by pill draw. I drew the worst number possible. I started last. 8 laps. Didn't matter. I moved thru the field. Truck was bad fast. They had a caution. I was about mid pack. On lap 4 or 5. We cannot pass until we go past the Flagstand and cone. On the restart I had a guy in front of me with a truck that died. We were right by flag stand but not yet beyond it. He threw his arm up to let those behind him know he was dead. I moved around and caught back up to the pack. Worked into 2nd place. Was reeling in the leader as I ran out of laps. Official announced a 2 place penalty for passing before flag stand. Official place was 4th of 7. Horse shit.
Started feature in row 4. Track completely different. Was heavy early and now was a dry slick. I looked like Bambi on Ice. Most guys did. Moved up to third, slipped to 4th, then had a guy slide up the track on me. His rear bumper hooked my front bumper. Sent me head first into the wall. It was a light hit. I continued the race. Gauges stayed good. Truck handled okay. Of course, I got to start on the tail again. Worked my way back to 5th in the last 7 laps. Was in striking distance of 3rd and 4th. We actually crossed the finish line together. One was high and the other was low. I tried to slide in between them but they were all over the place sloppy loose. I backed off. No need to crash three trucks at the checkers. Finished in 5th.
Heat race felt dang good. I knew I had a shot at running for the win after the heat race. Track conditions changed. I didn't change enough to match them. Truck was fast. Officials delivered some bad luck. Truck pushing me into wall was bad luck. I'll blame the driver for set up mistakes and needing improvement on driving.
Bumper and bumper bracket/bracing did their job. Crumpled but kept suspension damage free and frame looked good. Got one side done. Need to do the other side later. Tough getting it true.close enough..
Heat race line up determined by pill draw. I drew the worst number possible. I started last. 8 laps. Didn't matter. I moved thru the field. Truck was bad fast. They had a caution. I was about mid pack. On lap 4 or 5. We cannot pass until we go past the Flagstand and cone. On the restart I had a guy in front of me with a truck that died. We were right by flag stand but not yet beyond it. He threw his arm up to let those behind him know he was dead. I moved around and caught back up to the pack. Worked into 2nd place. Was reeling in the leader as I ran out of laps. Official announced a 2 place penalty for passing before flag stand. Official place was 4th of 7. Horse shit.
Started feature in row 4. Track completely different. Was heavy early and now was a dry slick. I looked like Bambi on Ice. Most guys did. Moved up to third, slipped to 4th, then had a guy slide up the track on me. His rear bumper hooked my front bumper. Sent me head first into the wall. It was a light hit. I continued the race. Gauges stayed good. Truck handled okay. Of course, I got to start on the tail again. Worked my way back to 5th in the last 7 laps. Was in striking distance of 3rd and 4th. We actually crossed the finish line together. One was high and the other was low. I tried to slide in between them but they were all over the place sloppy loose. I backed off. No need to crash three trucks at the checkers. Finished in 5th.
Heat race felt dang good. I knew I had a shot at running for the win after the heat race. Track conditions changed. I didn't change enough to match them. Truck was fast. Officials delivered some bad luck. Truck pushing me into wall was bad luck. I'll blame the driver for set up mistakes and needing improvement on driving.
Bumper and bumper bracket/bracing did their job. Crumpled but kept suspension damage free and frame looked good. Got one side done. Need to do the other side later. Tough getting it true.close enough..
The local photographer uploaded to his website from last Friday's race. There are some really great pics. When you consider we are truly just a support class, it impressed me he takes the time to get pics of us all. Didn't hurt that I bought an 8x10 he had with him before the race. It was from the May race. He must print off a certain amount and carry them hoping the racers will like it and buy it.
I wanted to download a few, but it is $25 for a small image good for printing up to 5x7 pics. Also good for websites or social media. $80 for the full pixel download which could be used for up to 20x24" canvas. I suppose I'll narrow it down and spend the $25 for my favorite 8x10 print and let him keep the rights. Seems a bit high, but he is a local guy and the only other option is cell phone pics from the stands.
I swear every single time I got around the 9 truck we would draw a yellow before I got to the start finish line and he would go back in front of me for the restart. Probably passed him 5 times. Lol
Wish I was a bit farther in front of the truck on the bottom. This was my favorite moment of the night. Going three wide here is tough but I squeezed between them, we kept it clean, and I pulled away from them on the straight away. . . .then we had a caution and I was behind both on the restart again.
I wanted to download a few, but it is $25 for a small image good for printing up to 5x7 pics. Also good for websites or social media. $80 for the full pixel download which could be used for up to 20x24" canvas. I suppose I'll narrow it down and spend the $25 for my favorite 8x10 print and let him keep the rights. Seems a bit high, but he is a local guy and the only other option is cell phone pics from the stands.
I swear every single time I got around the 9 truck we would draw a yellow before I got to the start finish line and he would go back in front of me for the restart. Probably passed him 5 times. Lol
Wish I was a bit farther in front of the truck on the bottom. This was my favorite moment of the night. Going three wide here is tough but I squeezed between them, we kept it clean, and I pulled away from them on the straight away. . . .then we had a caution and I was behind both on the restart again.
Montpelier Motor Speedway in Indiana tomorrow. I'm mostly loaded and ready. Trying to talk the wife into going. My second truck is on hold. My buddy who raced it last is going to fill in for another guy though. Be cool to see him able to get some more laps in.
Solid night. Not exactly where I would have liked to have finished, but I'll take steady improvement as a big win.
Hot laps I was a hot mess. Truck wouldn't turn. Added a bunch of stagger for the heat race. Finished 2nd of 6.
Track slicked off throughout the night. Took a ton of stagger out for the feature. Made the decision to run the bottom the entire race. I was completely okay with the outcome so long as I stuck to my strategy. I was willing to live or die with my setup decision and my strategy. Started 3rd. Quickly moved to the lead. Led the first lap or two. Stayed low. Decided if they were going to pass me they were going to earn it on the outside on a slick track. The feature winner did so. He has a v6 truck and 60-70 feature wins under his belt. I'm okay admitting he is a better driver with a faster truck. Kept everyone else behind me. Stayed 2nd the majority of the race. With maybe 3-4 laps to go we had a restart for caution. 4th jumped the start and was in second before we exited the turn. They called it and we had another restart. He was supposed to go back to 6th but they let him restart 4th. ??? On next restart he jumped third immediately and slid up under me. I could bang doors and play dirty going into turn 1 or I could let him pass clean and try to get back around him. I played it safe. With a couple laps left I never got the chance to pass him "cleanly". I finished third. Second would have been nice, but the officials let it slide so I'll accept it. No sense in crying. That's part of racing.
Hard to complain if I'm being honest. Fourth race in the truck. I'm steadily improving. Got my first podium (in this truck) with the third place. Learning more on setup. Accomplished most of my goals. Number one goal in my head was to slow my brain down and run smart. I kept emotion out of my head and ran a smart race. Had I got fired up with emotions and threw a Hail Mary to get around the guy in 2nd, maybe I get sloppy and finish 4th or 5th. I'll take third and build on it. I'll keep getting there.
Hot laps I was a hot mess. Truck wouldn't turn. Added a bunch of stagger for the heat race. Finished 2nd of 6.
Track slicked off throughout the night. Took a ton of stagger out for the feature. Made the decision to run the bottom the entire race. I was completely okay with the outcome so long as I stuck to my strategy. I was willing to live or die with my setup decision and my strategy. Started 3rd. Quickly moved to the lead. Led the first lap or two. Stayed low. Decided if they were going to pass me they were going to earn it on the outside on a slick track. The feature winner did so. He has a v6 truck and 60-70 feature wins under his belt. I'm okay admitting he is a better driver with a faster truck. Kept everyone else behind me. Stayed 2nd the majority of the race. With maybe 3-4 laps to go we had a restart for caution. 4th jumped the start and was in second before we exited the turn. They called it and we had another restart. He was supposed to go back to 6th but they let him restart 4th. ??? On next restart he jumped third immediately and slid up under me. I could bang doors and play dirty going into turn 1 or I could let him pass clean and try to get back around him. I played it safe. With a couple laps left I never got the chance to pass him "cleanly". I finished third. Second would have been nice, but the officials let it slide so I'll accept it. No sense in crying. That's part of racing.
Hard to complain if I'm being honest. Fourth race in the truck. I'm steadily improving. Got my first podium (in this truck) with the third place. Learning more on setup. Accomplished most of my goals. Number one goal in my head was to slow my brain down and run smart. I kept emotion out of my head and ran a smart race. Had I got fired up with emotions and threw a Hail Mary to get around the guy in 2nd, maybe I get sloppy and finish 4th or 5th. I'll take third and build on it. I'll keep getting there.
Edit: video is posted. I've watched it multiple times. I lost 2nd place all on my own. Got conservative trying to preserve 2nd. As the cautions kept coming out, my line changed a bit. I quit hitting my marks. Didn't realize it at the time. Chalk that one up to being green. Seat time and studying video (and being honest with myself about it) will hopefully help to clean some of these mistakes up.
Feels way better than last year. Rather than working on a truck, I am now working on the driver. Pretty satisfied knowing I've got a truck that can run. Polishing my rough edges will come with time.
Feels way better than last year. Rather than working on a truck, I am now working on the driver. Pretty satisfied knowing I've got a truck that can run. Polishing my rough edges will come with time.
Sorry if you don't have Facebook. The promoter of our series recorded the feature, but put it on FB. Sorry there isn't a YouTube video so you all could see it.
Lead 3 laps. Second place the next 9. The. I started to play it conservative trying to protect the bottom. Lesson learned the hard way. In the future we will show our victims no mercy. Lol. To be honest, it is something I can build on. Need to maintain intensity and focus through all the restarts.
fb.watch
Lead 3 laps. Second place the next 9. The. I started to play it conservative trying to protect the bottom. Lesson learned the hard way. In the future we will show our victims no mercy. Lol. To be honest, it is something I can build on. Need to maintain intensity and focus through all the restarts.
Montpelier 6-18-22 feature | By Dirt Track Truck Series | Facebook
Montpelier 6-18-22 feature
fb.watch
Missed the last race as I had Covid round two.
Everything is loaded. We rece Gas City I69 Speedway Friday night and Montpelier Motor Sports Park on Saturdays. Hopefully everything holds together, she doesn't get banged up, and I put together a couple solid nights.
Everything is loaded. We rece Gas City I69 Speedway Friday night and Montpelier Motor Sports Park on Saturdays. Hopefully everything holds together, she doesn't get banged up, and I put together a couple solid nights.
Night one done. Struggled to settle in. Couldn't get comfy until 3-5 laps in. Once settled, I did alright.
Heat race- started third. Finished third.
Festure- started second. Dropped somewhere between 4-6 spot. Settled in. Finished 4th. Top three got too far out to reel them in while I was busy figuring out my head. Struggled to focus all night. Life has my head going different directions. I'm happy with a 4th. It was a solid finish.
Heat race- started third. Finished third.
Festure- started second. Dropped somewhere between 4-6 spot. Settled in. Finished 4th. Top three got too far out to reel them in while I was busy figuring out my head. Struggled to focus all night. Life has my head going different directions. I'm happy with a 4th. It was a solid finish.
You finished and that was the goal. Focus on that.
Nothing tore up? That’s an added bonus!
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Tonight was an adventure. Hot laps I was on a rail. Hot laps were also qualifier laps. Put me outside front row for the heat race. Been struggling. Hadn't gotten the truck over 6900-7100rpm in the last few races. That cam is at the meat and potatoes around 7400-7700rpm. Turned 7600 in the three qualifier laps. Rolling.
Heat race I knew I needed to hang with the 22T truck. That truck is a beast. Driver has 27 titles and 388 feature wins in various classes. He got around me low and I tucked in. He didn't pull me. Had another one of the top trucks (finished second two nights in a row over the weekend) show me his nose a couple times but I kept him behind me. Then something let loose. I was throwing pretty good sparks and couldn't steer for crap. Ended up being a ball joint. Got entire upper control arm with ball joint pressed in replaced before the feature. Not without much struggle.
Started the tail.of the feature due to not finishing heat race. 9 truck field. Pretty easily and steadily moved up to fifth. This surprised me because I was really pussy footing the first few laps. Needed some confidence she was going to hold together. Was reeling in fourth and felt I may be able to slide into third when I got a bit squirrely in turns 1/2. Backed off throttle to get her straight and a guy under me got into my left rear quarter. He spun me. I was in the infield on the grass but kept going. Surprisingly they never threw the caution. This moved me back to 8th I think. Pretty sure everyone got around me except for one truck. Maybe 5-6 laps to go and I'm in 8th. Ugh. Clawed my way back to 6th and was reeling in 5th when I ran out of laps.
I don't care. It was a win. Handling is off, but I made it work. Turned 7700rpm on a slick track with a crap handling truck that I didn't think was going to start the feature. Had probably 8 different drivers and spouses and people in the pits helping. Maybe more. Holding lights. Swinging hammers. Using the pry bars. I'd say I did 75% of it with the help of one guy. The rest were swapping a radiator, water pump, and fan on another truck that is currently 2nd in points. When they got him wrapped up they pitched in to help me. Was feeling very blessed to have the support and help. This series really is a family.
So Friday night I was 4th of 11 or 12. Tonight 6 out of nine with a bit of bad luck getting in the way. Hard to be disappointed.
Oh yeah, and I got my balls back. Pretty much what I needed to make that truck turn the RPMs it likes. So that is always good. Everyone needs to have their balls if they are racing.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/embed-test/09d185d7-37a3-4444-ab95-61b95aacc1a2
Heat race I knew I needed to hang with the 22T truck. That truck is a beast. Driver has 27 titles and 388 feature wins in various classes. He got around me low and I tucked in. He didn't pull me. Had another one of the top trucks (finished second two nights in a row over the weekend) show me his nose a couple times but I kept him behind me. Then something let loose. I was throwing pretty good sparks and couldn't steer for crap. Ended up being a ball joint. Got entire upper control arm with ball joint pressed in replaced before the feature. Not without much struggle.
Started the tail.of the feature due to not finishing heat race. 9 truck field. Pretty easily and steadily moved up to fifth. This surprised me because I was really pussy footing the first few laps. Needed some confidence she was going to hold together. Was reeling in fourth and felt I may be able to slide into third when I got a bit squirrely in turns 1/2. Backed off throttle to get her straight and a guy under me got into my left rear quarter. He spun me. I was in the infield on the grass but kept going. Surprisingly they never threw the caution. This moved me back to 8th I think. Pretty sure everyone got around me except for one truck. Maybe 5-6 laps to go and I'm in 8th. Ugh. Clawed my way back to 6th and was reeling in 5th when I ran out of laps.
I don't care. It was a win. Handling is off, but I made it work. Turned 7700rpm on a slick track with a crap handling truck that I didn't think was going to start the feature. Had probably 8 different drivers and spouses and people in the pits helping. Maybe more. Holding lights. Swinging hammers. Using the pry bars. I'd say I did 75% of it with the help of one guy. The rest were swapping a radiator, water pump, and fan on another truck that is currently 2nd in points. When they got him wrapped up they pitched in to help me. Was feeling very blessed to have the support and help. This series really is a family.
So Friday night I was 4th of 11 or 12. Tonight 6 out of nine with a bit of bad luck getting in the way. Hard to be disappointed.
Oh yeah, and I got my balls back. Pretty much what I needed to make that truck turn the RPMs it likes. So that is always good. Everyone needs to have their balls if they are racing.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/embed-test/09d185d7-37a3-4444-ab95-61b95aacc1a2
I don't think I can post FB videos here. I have them on the Team Hicks Motorsports FB page if you want to see them. (Not that I'm trying to drive traffic away from TOO.)
Gas City feature is crappy video. Can't tell much unless you really know the trucks. Then you can sort of tell who is moving where.
Montpelier heat race video is a good one. Outside row one and got a nice start with a couple of truck length lead going into turns 1/2. By lap two I got in the lines I really needed to be on. Had two really solid laps where you can see the truck really digging. Then I broke on lap 4. So you don't have to watch a long video. Lol
Montpelier feature isn't bad to watch. Steadily moved up a spot or two per lap the first 3-5 laps. Then I got spun and you can watch me pass three of them again. Not as impressive, but nice video to give you an idea of what we look like out there. Sort of like late models, sprint cars, or modifieds. . . .just slower.
Points came out today. I'm 8th in points. I've raced 6 of the 17 races. Sounds like the double header this upcoming weekend is going to be cancelled. I wasn't going to be there so at least they won't get any farther ahead of me in points. That will leave 6 races to go. I plan on hitting 4 of them. "Might" hit 5/6.
Gas City feature is crappy video. Can't tell much unless you really know the trucks. Then you can sort of tell who is moving where.
Montpelier heat race video is a good one. Outside row one and got a nice start with a couple of truck length lead going into turns 1/2. By lap two I got in the lines I really needed to be on. Had two really solid laps where you can see the truck really digging. Then I broke on lap 4. So you don't have to watch a long video. Lol
Montpelier feature isn't bad to watch. Steadily moved up a spot or two per lap the first 3-5 laps. Then I got spun and you can watch me pass three of them again. Not as impressive, but nice video to give you an idea of what we look like out there. Sort of like late models, sprint cars, or modifieds. . . .just slower.
Points came out today. I'm 8th in points. I've raced 6 of the 17 races. Sounds like the double header this upcoming weekend is going to be cancelled. I wasn't going to be there so at least they won't get any farther ahead of me in points. That will leave 6 races to go. I plan on hitting 4 of them. "Might" hit 5/6.
Made it home. Started 2nd in heat one. Finished second. Handling was mediocre but it was the same for all. Slimy track. Should have mounted some Super Swampers for hot laps. Got slightly better for heat race. Made one adjustment which may have helped too. Had an oil leak issue I need to rectify. Had a horrible backfire issue whenever I let off the throttle. It is not abnormal to hear a few when you let off the throttle, but tonight it was like a Jake brake of backfires. I suspect she is jetted too rich for the cooler temps. I'll double check the valves and timing and consult with my engine guy to see if I am overlooking something.
Clutch blew the hydraulic line off the slave cylinder. That is a weird one too because I wasn't using it. Andy King was behind me in the 22T and said he saw a poof of smoke on the white flag lap. Yep. That is about the time I was thinking "hopefully I can nurse it thru the last lap and keep these guys behind me." We put the line back on and attempted to bleed the clutch. No dice. Replaced the slave cylinder and attempted to bleed. No dice. Steady fluid coming out but zero clutch pedal? Weird. Will check it another day. Played it safe. Packed it up and headed home. I am not risking doing big dollar damage, nor did I want to break and draw a caution for the field of trucks.
2nd place in heat. I'm satisfied knowing I am steadily moving the right direction. It isn't like i will ever make a career out of this. Save the equipment. Be thankful for the opportunity to do the racing thing. Live to fight another day.
Clutch blew the hydraulic line off the slave cylinder. That is a weird one too because I wasn't using it. Andy King was behind me in the 22T and said he saw a poof of smoke on the white flag lap. Yep. That is about the time I was thinking "hopefully I can nurse it thru the last lap and keep these guys behind me."
We put the line back on and attempted to bleed the clutch. No dice. Replaced the slave cylinder and attempted to bleed. No dice. Steady fluid coming out but zero clutch pedal? Weird. Will check it another day. Played it safe. Packed it up and headed home. I am not risking doing big dollar damage, nor did I want to break and draw a caution for the field of trucks. 2nd place in heat. I'm satisfied knowing I am steadily moving the right direction. It isn't like i will ever make a career out of this. Save the equipment. Be thankful for the opportunity to do the racing thing. Live to fight another day.