We’re Back!!!

We’re kicking the dirt off this race team and going racing again, and it’s going to be fun… After the last few years of being very conservative and not running many races we are back for better or worse. I’m extremely excited to have a schedule with 20+ races again, mostly thanks to the new UMSS series. I’m also pumped to see a lot of our friends after the races and look forward to meeting new ones. I encourage everybody to please stop by after the races and say HI. I also have to thank a number of people for helping me reassemble this team. Protofab Engineering which is our primary sponsor who has stepped up big-time this year, thank you everybody at Protofab and all its loyal customers. I have to thank both my parents for partnering with me in this raceteam (it is very hard to find business partners that expect to lose money…) Amy, my girlfriend who has been super supportive…even when I spend most of my time at the race shop. Kasey, who was a huge help last weekend and I hope that you will be wrenching on the 14 Protofab car more often. And last Cole, who is my main wrench and my right had man when it comes to the race team. Can’t wait to roll out for the next race and I hope to see you all there!

John

Great season starting momentum!

Cedar lake evolved into another good night for the protofab team. Leading into the night I was a bit apprehensive what was in store for us, we started by leaving the shop an hour late, minor tow rig road side maintenance for a blowin turbo tube and two missed corners (yes we've been there a hundred times) later we were at the track. Thankfully from there things took an upturn.

John opened the night with another third place finish after starting tail end in a 6 car heat. This lead to a front row start for the challenge race where school was in session and John was the professor! The 14 was a rocket ship and John sailed to a commanding half track lead by the time the checkers flew. This made us the top point scorer for the night and the 0 pill was pulled so no invert for the main putting the 14 on the pole. At the green we slotted into third until a little moment with a lapper slid us back to fourth. We ended the night with a strong 5th place finish.

Thankfully the weather held a pleasant temp all night allowing some fans to make the trip to the pits after the show. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new young fans! Looking forward to the rest of the season see you all at the track again soon!

Cole

Frigid cold and a night of carnage!

Or you can just call it season opener, but where's the drama in that? The heats and dashes went well, we started off the night with a third in the heat with a car that wasn't quite perfect. A little chit chat in the trailer and it was a dream machine for the dash and we had the luck of starting outside front row...Mr. Petty said it best! I'd rather be lucky than good any day. Well we got a little of both in the dash and dominated the field with a solid straightaway lead! From there we head into two lap bursts of restarts as the drivers methodically destroyed equipment. Through all this we survived with not even a scratch. We started outside front row for the main, but got beat to the first corner. From there it was a battle of minor bobbles that determined the 2,3 finishing order. Unfortunately we bobbled last shortly before the track crew decided they'd seen enough tractor tire nose dives, sprint car flips and spins and called it a night for the sprinters. Not sure we ever really raced in the main tonight...it was more several green, white, checker’ds packed into a group.

A big thanks to all the DIE HARD fans that toughed it out in the cold in the stands to watch our little circus tonight!

We had a much more fortunate night than many of our friends/competitors, hopefully they'll all be back soon! It was great to be back racing and if tonights 3,1,3 finishes are a taste of the season to come there's big things in store for the #14 protofab racing team!

Cole

Sunday Funday!

We ventured to Johns old stomping grounds on Sunday. A trip back to the track where John cut his teeth in a sprint car, Arlington MN. John put down some good hard fast laps on a dry rough race track. We blistered one tire and called it good for a practice day. We decided to stick around and watch the other drivers for a few minutes. Davey Tabor asked John if he'd like to take a couple laps in the 34TW ride. As with any driver John jumped at the chance for a little more seat time and was more than happy to burn a set of tires off the back of Dave's car. Thanks Dave! We had a great time. One more practice this Thursday at Kopellah which sadly I will miss. Then Friday it's time to have some real fun! Opening race at Kopellah speedway. Looking forward to see you all there!

Cole

Great to be back at the track!

Practice night at Cedar Lake went well. John had the chance to shake out some cob webs and get the feel again. It was a good night for the first night out. Can't wait for next Friday!

Cole

Ready to rock!! Thanks to Duane putting in a long day today we're in good shape and will be ready for a good night of testing this Thursday at Cedar Lake! The team can't wait to get on the track and see what our new power plant can do!

Cole

After a long winter the season opener is quickly approaching. The excitement is starting to build in the shop. The main car is mostly assembled and tonight the motor went in. After a couple very light seasons of racing we're looking forward to a good strong year with near 20 nights of racing on schedule. Check back often for posts from the members of the team. Can't wait to see you all at the track!

Ps.

Check out the newly added pics from the shop at the beginning of the night. More to come soon!

Cole