Racing in the spring is quite the challenge. The "Glass Breaker 125" that was to be ran at the Toledo Speedway gave into mother nature after a long cold day. Friday an open practice day was beautiful 65 degrees and pure sunshine. Steven had the car rolling along and posted an 11th fast time out of the 35 cars practicing. We were needless to say excited and encouraged about the weekend race. Saturday was a different story. The rains came often and never allowed the day to progress. Along with the rain the temperature had dropped close to 20 degrees. The cars had all been thru pre-qualifying tech and sat with the car covers on waiting for an opportunity. Several times throughout the day a glimmer of hope would be presented, we would untarp the cars, the drivers would get ready, the officials would send the ASA Ride Along Car out to do some test laps and just when we thought we would get going it would rain again. ASA Officials finally gave in and called the event rescheduling for June 1st. Next up is the "GunBroker.Com 100" at the Famed O'Reillys Raceway Park formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park. This great facility holds yearly Craftsmen Truck Events and Nationwide Series Events. last year at this facility the Steven Brooks Motorsports Team missed the race qualifying 24th out of 50 cars only the top 20 were taken on time. Steven feels this year will be different. Currently there are 40 cars entered and again only 20 will make the race on time, the remaining 6 to make up the 26 car field come from various provisionals. Steven believes with the work completed over the winter, the racing in Florida during February Speedweeks and just the fact he now has some experienceat this facility he will be one of those select cars that do make the show on time. Everyone needs to mark your calendar for the "Appleton Memorial 125" held on May 25th at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Il. We are planning a special day. More information will be available soon.
See you at the races.
The 2008 Season is merely 1-week away and the excitement for us all is building. Actually I guess you could say part two of the 2008 season is 1-week away. The Florida trip started the year off and we hope we can build on the success' we had in Florida. Many exciting things have happened over the winter. New equipment for the racecar, new team members. As always you have high expectations. You believe you have worked hard enough to win every race. The only thing is so has every other team out there. The 2008 ASA Late Model series will again be one of the most difficult series in the USA. A who's who of racing will be entered throughout the season. Competing and learning from these drivers will advance our learning curve 10 fold. And when we beat them we will know that we have accomplished something. Our 2008 goal is to qualify on speed for every event and completing each lap. By accomplishing this goal we will be there at the end with an opportunity to win a championship. This is by no means a simple task. The crew will have to work hard and Steven will have to stay very focused. Wish us luck and check back soon.
If you have a chance to get out to the track stop by and see us.
O'Reilly's Raceway Park Saturday, April 28th, 2007.
Awaiting clearance to proceed onto the track for practice.
| Steven Brooks racing began the 2007 season at the famed O'Rielly's Raceway Park home of a Craftsman Truck and Busch series race. This was the season opener for the ASA Late Models Northern Series. There were 50 cars on hand for this race. The ASA officials arranged for a full day of practice on Friday the 27th of April. Steven, Don and Nate had pulled an all nighter the night before due to a brake problem. The new car had a mastercylinder go bad after only to test seassions. The three worked all night locating the problem and then repairing it. Planning to leave for indianapolis at 6 AM they finished the work and loaded the car at 5AM. They then went hom, showered, picked up Rich, Sean and headed to Indianapolis. The team arrived at the track around 1pm anxious to get the season started. Once on the grounds of the race track a steady mist began to come down delaying the 3 o'clock practice for several hours. A five hour practice was cut to only one hour. After practice we were 38th on the time sheet out of 50. This was not good. After consulting with each other we decided a | complete new set-up was needed. Another late night was on the horizon. The crew with the help of our competitors changed everything on the race car. A special thank you to the #51 Danta Racing crew. They not only helped perform the work but shared some caluable information. Saturday came quickly and race day pressure began. Hustling to get the car through tech, taking car of impound tires, and practicing all at once. After two rounds of practice we had moved up slightly on the speed charts, however still short of where we needed to be to make the race. Another few changes were made and it was now time for qualifying. Steven had drawn 45th spot for qualifying so we patiently waited as each car went out, a couple last words of encouragement, one last pull on the belts and away Steven went. The car looked good throught turns one and two then down the back stretch, throught three and four and to the checker flag. The time flashed up on the tower and Steven had gone a full 1/2 second quicker than he had all day. we were 20th out of the | 45 cars that had qualified. The cars to follow were very good cars and 4 of the 5 ran slightly quicker. Steven qualified 24th out of 50 and was going to miss the race. Although very disapointed our team realized we had ot qualified some very good teams and had came with in 1 tenth of making one of the biggest short track races of the year. The next ASA Late Model race is May 26th at the Grundy County Raceway in Morris, IL. Come and Spend a day at the races with us.
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