THREE. MORE. DAYS. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three! Not four or five, or a week, but THREE MORE DAYS until the opener at good ole' Port Royal Speedway and Penns Creek Raceway Park. There's no describing how happy and excited I am!

This weekend:
Friday- Work, go to Stephen's.
Saturday- Wake up early and get ready to go to Penn's Creek and check things out. It's just what they call a "Bug Day" which is a race where they still pay out, but no points are collected. We have to go see how the track is. See if it's dry, wet, if they put calcium down on it to make it hard, and what not. Then Saturday night, OPENING NIGHT FOR THE 410'S, BABY! WOOOOO.
Sunday- Go fishin', watch the NASCAR race, :)

Racing season is back in action, which means so am I :)

Off-season? Not really.

There technically is an "off-season" for racing, but not really. During the off-season, drivers get to do what they don't normally get to, such as hunting, fishing, ect. However, there have been many times when Stephen and I would be together doing something and he would say, "We have to go back to the house to prep tires." Tires are the biggest thing. I don't care if you claim to have the best motor in the world, or if you have a horrible motor, if you have good tires, you'll be set. If it's Monday, you need to be looking at every weather channel to see what Friday's weather is going to be like. If it's going to be wet, the track will have more bite, so you need to be on 11's. Semi-wet? 22's. Cloudy/humid? 33's. Dry? 44's. Super duper hot and dry? 55's. It's all about the tires. TIRES TIRES TIRES. The first time I ever slept-walked was about a year ago, and I woke up in the middle of it, and I was "washing and preping tires." It becomes a big part of your life, and a big hassle! After you prep tires, you leave them in a hot box, and you can't leave the tires in the hot box for more than an hour. What are you going to do? Sit there and watch them in the hot box, or go do something for an hour? If you're a devoted racer, you're going to sit there and watch them, because tires are so extremely super expensive. In the off-season, yeah, we have fun. Just not as much fun when racing is around!

TJ Winegardner

TJ Winegardner is the driver of the very colorful number 11T. He was born on December 11, 1983, in Pierson, Florida, but he now resides in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. TJ's big supporters are his mom and dad, Tom and Barb, his girlfriend Melody, and of course his biggest fan, Liam- his four-year-old son. Most dirt track drivers have some kind of a job working with cars, and that's no different for TJ. He's a full-time mechanic. TJ says his hobbies are "anything to do with being outside." His favorite restraunt is the Outback, where he'll have some steak and a Dr. Pepper. TJ likes rock music, and his favorite band is Metallica. He loves the Simpsons show.

TJ Winegardner started racing in 2002, when he was 19-years-old, which is odd because most drivers start when they are kids. Winegardner has competed in 360 Sprints, and he is now competing in 410 Sprints. He only has one championship, and that was the 2007 ASCS Rebel Region Champion, and his favorite award is his 2002 East Bay Raceway Rookie of the Year. TJ's two favorite tracks are East Bay Raceway, and Port Royal Speedway. TJ's dad owns the sprint car. He goes to J & J Chassis for his chassis, and he built his engine by himself.

"Young Grasshopper" Dylan Cisney

Dylan Cisney was born on April 30, 1992 in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. He's just a young kid, but he's proving how good underdogs can be. Dylan's biggest supporters are his mom and dad, David and Susan, and his sister, Shanna. Cisney graduated from Juniata High School in 2010. His favorite thing to do other than racing is fishing, and his favorite restraunt is Texas Roadhouse. He loves his momma's baby-back ribs, and her sweet tea. Dylan listens to mostly country, and his favorite singer is Garth Brooks.

Dylan started racing in 2000, and he has competed in Go-karts, Xcel 600cc Modifieds, and Super Sportsmans, and now 410 Sprints. In his racing career, he has 49 feature wins, and he was awarded Rookie of the Year in 2006. Dylan's favorite track is Port Royal, and his car is owned by his father. Cisney drives the number 5c, and his Chassis is a LPS Racer. Dylan only gets his engines built by Bob Fannasy. His favorite pro driver was Dale Earnhardt. He says his biggest career highlight was winning the 2006 Volusia Winternational.

Mike Erdley

Mike Erdley, the driver of the number eleven Shell car, was born on May 12th, 1975 in the town of Elizabethville in Pennsylvania. Mike is now married to his wife Shana, and they have two little boys together. Aside from Sprint Car racing, Mike works as a service technician, a maintenance guy, and a truck driver all for Lisi Oil (one of his sponsers). Racing, playing with his boys, and hunting are Mike's favorite things to do, and his favorite restaurant is Outback Steakhouse. Mike Erdley's racing mentors are Steve Kinser, and Lance DeWease. In the 2011 season, Mike raced 42 races. He won one of those races, finished top five in 4 of those races, and got top ten in 13 of those races. Overall, Mike is a very talented driver, and he deserves so much more recognition than he gets!

Nicole Bower. You go, girl!

Nicole Bower is the one and only girl who races at Port Royal Speedway religiously. She is only 21-years-old, and has been racing for five years. She hasn't won a race yet, or even been in the top five, but she gets major respect, especially from women, for having the guts to get strapped into a sprint car. Many people say "she's to scared to get up there with the big dogs," but that's not true. It just takes time to get a good handle on the car, and to know the track. Anyway, Nicole is from Camp Hill, PA, and she says her parents, Gina and Gary, and her sister, Brooke Bower, are her biggest supporters. Her sponser is ABC West Lanes, which is a bowling alley she goes to when she's not racing. Nicole's second hobby, racing being first, of course, is bowling. Bower is going to Delaware State University. Nicole's favorite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers, her favorite restraunt is Hoss's, and her favorite drink is Iced Tea. When Nicole first started racing, she raced Quarter midgets. Bower's favorite track is Selinsgrove Speedway, and her chassis is made by Schnee. Her motors are made by Rider Racing Engines, and her future goals are USAC, and NASCAR. That's all I can say about the 75 of Nicole Bower!

Justin Henderson.

Justin Henderson is a 30-year-old lean mean racing machine. He is from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Henderson has a dog named Zeus, and aside from racing, his hobbies are golfing, paint ball, and working on his El Camino. Justin began racing when he was only five-years-old. He started out racing karts, then 4-wheelers, and before he even turned 16, he was behind the wheel, and strapping into a sprint car. He began racing IMCA 360 sprint cars near his home in Sioux Falls after his father, Rod, turned over the family car to him. He was fairly successful as he finished in the top two in points at all three of his local racetrack. Justin quickly showed he not only had the desire to race professionally, but also showed he had the talent to do so. In 2006, opportunity knocked, and Justin was offered a chance to race wih the World of Outlaws, and he made the most of it by finishing 7th in points as a rookie out of 16 full time traveling cars. The mild mannered Henderson always has time to talk to the fans, and sign autographs, even though it can get annoying, and even if he loses a race, he still talks to them, and puts a smile on his face. That's what I like about Justin. He's very mannerly, and respectful. In 2009, Justin joined the PA Posse team for the entire season. Justin is a very successful driver. In 2010, he raced 73 races. With one win, 10 top 5's, and 23 top 10's, and over 50 wins altogether, he's an amazing driver, and I'd be highly disappointed if he ever stopped racing.