Lees Motorsports - Team News Page

8-22:08: We are glad the season is almost over. After Friday night's race, we only have two points races left at Spencer Speedway. In preparation for Friday's race, we changed the carburetor and replaced the jets, hoping to get more out of our engine. Running on older tires, we finished 5th in our heat and 12th in our feature. We picked up a little speed, but had handling problems possibly caused by a bad right rear shock. Those were not the finishes we were hoping for, but we are still in the top ten in points at 9th. Talking to engine builders, we were told our cam is too big for the 1/2 mile track that we race at. We thought of changing it, but the cost and the fact that we might race at Oswego, where the cam should be good, made us decide to just tough it out for the last two weeks. No plans for tires again, we have to save money for Oswego. We do however, plan on pulling double duty in the season's last race. Matt will drive the #81 as a ROC Modified and the #05 as a Weekly Modified. Till next week...........

8-15:08: I don't know what to say or where to start. Matt finished 12th out of the 22 cars that showed up for the 75 lap double points race. Expectations were high after getting our engine freshened with new pistons, rings, bearings, etc. But, unfortunately, Matt ran his slowest times of the year in this race. He also lost his power steering on lap 28, but said it had nothing to do with his performance; that he would have finished where he did anyway. 12th place out of 22 doesn't sound bad until you find out only 13 cars finished the race. He was a non factor in this race; running in the very back, almost getting lapped twice. On the way home, Matt was saying if this is the best this car can run with this engine, he doesn't want to run it for the last 3 races. THAT is frustration. We also had 3 new tires and thought we had a good chance of running very well. Hard decisions have to be made this week. Mark Cline, in our team car (#81), had a bad night also. He had to pull off the track early in the race with transmission problems. On the bright side, Mark is getting MARRIED tomorrow, 8/16/08, CONGRATULAIONS MARK!!! We hope to see you, our fans, next week.

PS It was good to see some old friends stop in after the races to say "hi"

8-8-08: Well, Friday was rained out. Matt was prepared to drive the #81 team car as the engine is out of the #05 for repair. Both cars should be ready for the 75 lap double points race Friday 8/15/08. Again, thanks go out to Mark Cline for giving up the #81for Matt to drive, but with the rainout, we didn't need to use it. The engine for the #05 is getting new pistons, rings, bearings, etc. We will also do some testing on the dynomometer, hopefully giving us our best engine of the year. There are only 4 point races left at Spencer Speedway and Matt is still in the top ten at ninth in points. This coming race is double points and can really help us out in the standings. Wish us luck and see you Friday.............

8-1-08: First, before anything else, we have to THANK our teammate Mark Cline for giving up his ride so Matt could race and get points. This past week we replaced our broken (?) power steering pump, changed the oil, and did our regular weekly maintenance on the #05. We don't like starting the car at home, as not to bother our neighbors. That may change. When we got to the track we found the power steering was still not working. It might be the servo. But that was the better news. When we started the engine, we discovered a knocking sound. After checking the valves and anything else that could be loose, we (us and the Cline Team) decided it was not worth risking a blown engine by running it. Mark Cline graciously gave his ride (the #81) to Matt for the night. Normally, Mark would then drive Matt's car, but it would not be worth the $150 if the motor blew. The car/engine is going to the engine shop Sunday. Hopefully it does not have to be removed to be repaired. Now to the results, again thanks to Mark, Matt was able to get his 9th TOP TEN finish by finishing a very respectful 7th after starting last in the 16 car field. Matt did not qualify for handicapping in his heat race. If he did he would have started towards the front. Matt HAD a 5th place qualifying spot, but a competitor drove Matt down into the infield where he spun (without hitting the wall) and finished 8th. The NASCAR officials said (over the radio) "to watch Matt as he might be very angry and retaliate and rightly so", but Matt remained cool and collected and did nothing on the track. In the pits Matt asked the other driver "why?" The other driver didn't want to talk, but later came to Matt and apologized. All is well. Driving hard in the #81, Matt passed many cars to finish 7th. This was the smallest car count of the year and all the cars present were very competitive. I hope to give you an update on the progress of the engine. Next week is double points week. We are 9th in season points and would really like to stay in the top ten with a good finish. Till next week.....

7-25-08: TOP TEN NUMBER 8! Matt finished 7th. This was the best week for the Lees Motorsports/Cline Racing Team. Mark Cline finished 8th in the #81; his best finish of the year! We will take them any way we can. The modifications made to our engine only helped a tiny bit; we are still way under powered compared to our competition. Matt started on the pole in his heat, but finished 4th. With the top 5 cars in each heat race qualifying for the feature, Matt was suppose to start the feature on the outside pole. As Matt pulled into the pits after the heat race, his power steering pump blew. With discretion being the better part of valor, Matt elected to start scratch (last) in the 20 car field as to not jeopardize our car and the other competitor's cars with a car that will not steer in the front of the pack. It was a wise choice. Friday's race was a wreck fest. Matt was able to get a top 10 finish by staying out of trouble. He was actually up to 5th with 3 laps to go, but had no power to protect his position. We were glad to come away with a good finish and the car in one piece. Matt is still 9th in championship points at Spencer Speedway. Till next week......

7-19-08: TOP TEN number SEVEN! Matt almost won his first heat race of the year. He lead every lap except the last one. Going into turn three on the last lap, Matt was pushed out of the way by the second place car. He was turned sideways but he made a great save, finishing 3rd. He very well could have spun out. I believe a less talented driver would have spun. We were frustrated when the call over the radio by the Spencer officials said "it" was a clean pass. Nothing we could do but get over it and move on. Matt started on the pole for the feature race. He started to fall back at the drop of the green flag . While in 12th, he spun and pulled into the pits. He said something was loose in the front end. Only having seconds to check things out, we couldn't find anything wrong and sent him back out. Matt passed one car and another caution came out and again he pulled into the pits. We looked for anything that could be loose, but again found nothing. Matt said the steering wheel was shaking, indicating front end problems. We had no time to fix anything so we sent him back out and said to "tough it out". He did and finished 8th. NOT BAD for an ill handling car. The bad news is we know we are way under powered compared to our competition. We will try a few different engine modifications, all legal of course, to try to improve horsepower for next weeks race. We will also look for and FIX whatever caused the front end problems. The good news is we are still in the top ten in points of a very competitive field of cars. Thanks go to Matt for his driving talent. I only wish we had the funds to give him the power he should have; to showcase his talent. Till next week.......

7-12-08: Saturday night's races left Matt frustrated. We were hoping to put on a good show for the large crowd that showed up to see the Whelen Modified Tour. We spent all week repairing the chassis and body from last weeks wreck fest. The only thing we did to the engine was change oil and check the valves. We (the Weekly Modified regulars) were only allowed one set of practice laps. We concentrated on making sure the chassis was set up correctly; it seemed to handle great. Starting second in his heat race, Matt soon discovered that we had engine problems. He could not accelerate on the start. Matt dropped to 6th, where he finished. We worked hard to get the car ready for the feature race. We changed plugs, reset the valves, and tuned the carb, hoping to fix the problem. Starting 17th, Matt still had engine problems. It just seemed flat with no power, not up to par. He was only able to improve his starting position by one spot, finishing 16th. Eddie Hawkins was piloting the #81 again in Marks absence and finished 18th. Another good job of taking care of our equipment. We have to give much THANKS to Ed Hawkins Sr. for helping us with the engine. Like I said before, this race left Matt frustrated, as this was the first time this year that he was not competitive. Phone calls are into our engine builder and we hope to have the car back running up front. Till next week...........

7-4-08: Sorry for being late with this update, but I figured working on the car took priority. Twin 35 feature races were run Friday, July 4th. The first race was a rain date make up and the second race was for double points. In the first feature, Matt started in 5th, got up to 4th at one point, but dropped back to 5th after many restarts due to numerous cautions. On lap 20, he was hit hard by the car behind him and spun. The car that hit him also spun. Luckily, there was no damage to the car. Matt had to restart near the back, around 19th. Thirteen laps of hard racing got him back to 11th, but the 9th and 10th place cars were blocking. Matt knew we get a sponsor reward for a top ten finish and tried to get past both cars. Pushing the car too far, Matt spun by himself and had to go the back again. With 2 laps to go, he got back to 15th where he finished. He was upset he spun by himself, but I figured what the heck, he was going all out for his sponsors. After the race he claimed the car was great. We made a spring change during the week to help the car through the corners. We put on 4 new tires and were expecting a good finish for the double points 35 lap race. Matt took the green flag starting on the outside in 8th place. He made a great start, but it only lasted until turn ONE. That's right....turn one. With a little help, Matt was spun and turned sideways in the grass. I thought we were safe but with the largest field of the season, several cars piled into him. The first to hit him caught him square in the drivers door, T-boning him hard. Two more cars crashed into him. Matt pulled into the pits and I asked if he was OK. His only concern was how the car was. With the left side door and nerf bar pushed in, Matt went back out on the track to salvage some of those double points. Restarting back in 20th, he raced all the way back into the top ten, finishing 9th. Somewhere along the way, major damage was done to the front bumper and front clip. Matt was able to stop to avoid a wreck in front of him, but 2 cars behind him couldn't and piled into him, pushing him into another car. Matt thought he had a little left for the 8th place car, but with no left side nerf bar and no front bumper, he decided to settle for 9th. That was Matt's 6th top ten finish in 8 races. Or 8th top ten finish of the year if you count the two in the Tour type Modified. The racing was very ROUGH Friday night. Drivers were not using their heads, driving through cars instead of around them. In the 75 laps of racing there were 20 caution flags. Anyways, that explains why I was late writing this, working on the car for next weeks race. Working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we put in a lot of hours repairing our car. I would say we are 80% finished, actually 80% finished repairing the car. We still have our weekly maintenance to do. BUT WE WILL BE READY. Remember, racing this week will be on Saturday, not our regular Friday night. We hope to see you there.

6-27-08: THREE TOP TEN FEATURE FINISHES IN ONE NIGHT! In Matt "Bones" Lees busiest night of racing ever, Matt had great success competing in a total of four races. TWO 25 lap Nascar Whelen Modified Tour Feature races (9th and 10th), ONE Weekly Modified Heat Race (3rd), and ONE 35 lap Weekly Modified Feature Race (8th). A total of 93 green flag laps. In both of the Nascar Whelen Modified races, Matt elected to start scratch (last) as not to interfere with the regular racers. Piloting the converted #81, Matt knew he was under-powered. Being on old borrowed tires didn't help, but he was out there for seat time and some fun. Avoiding wrecks and driving a clean race, even passing a few cars, Matt moved up from 16 to 9th for his first top ten finish in the first feature of the night. Everyone on the crew, including Matt, was all smiles on his great finish. The cars were stopped on the front stretch between the races to make chassis changes, give the drivers water, refuel etc. Matt was scheduled to start 9th in the second feature but, again being courteous to the "regulars", Matt elected to start last again. Knowing the car could compete against some of the slower cars in the field, Matt was a little more aggressive in the second feature. He passed two cars in the first few laps and set his sights to pass a few more. Driving hard in tenth, he was pressing the cars in 8th and 9th for position. At first, it looked as if he might have something for them, but then, during the last 5 laps, it seemed like he was just following them, not looking for the pass. Matt crossed the finish line in 10th right on their bumpers. Again the crew was happy with his second top ten finish. Matt said the car just quit handling with 5 laps to go and if it kept handling as it was in the first part of the race, he thought he would have had a good shot at finishing 8th. As the crew was starting to change the car back to a Nascar Weekly Modified, we found a broken right front shock, causing the poor handling the last few laps. Both car owners were excited with his finishes and his ability to control the car. The crew continued to make changes to the car for the Nascar Weekly Modified race for fill in driver Eddie Hawkins. Back in the #05, Matt started the heat race 3rd. The green flag dropped and Matt raced his way into second. Challenging for first coming out of turn two, the leader bobbled and Matt had to back off as not to hit him. The third place car didn't back off quick enough and hit Matt causing Matt to spin harmlessly. The caution came out and Matt restarted at the back of the field (along with the car that hit him). In the remaining few laps Matt was able to get back to 3rd. For the feature race, Matt elected to keep the heat race tires on as the car was driving perfect. Those tires were OLD, but Matt wanted to stay with them as he knew how they handled. He started the feature in 8th, but dropped to 10th before he could work his way to the inside line. On lap 3 coming out of turn 2, the car got sideways. Matt fought it, trying to correct it, but it finally got away from him and he spun into the infield grass. With no damage to the car, Matt restarted at the back of the 21 car field. Matt drove hard and finished a very respectable 8th, for his 3rd top ten feature of the night. After the race, Matt said that running on those old tires might have been a mistake. Still it was a good run and finish. Eddie Hawkins started 17th and finished 12th in our team car #81. Good job Eddie. Next week will be busy too. We have a 35 lap double points race and a 35 lap make up rain out feature to race. I know we will have 4 new tires for one of those races. Till then.........

6-20-08: Matt had another top ten finish this week, finishing 8th with a poor handling car. Friday's 75 lap race at the fast 1/2 mile oval at Spencer Speedway was the longest race to date. We had the car set up perfect for the heat race, where Matt finished a strong 2nd; challenging continuously for first. Matt started 6th in the feature, but was stuck on the outside behind some cars that couldn't handle the outside groove. Matt fell back to about 14th. The new tires we put on before the race didn't grow like they have in the past, forcing Matt to pit under caution. Stagger changes were made using air pressure and Matt went back on the track in last place. Matt's lap times were faster for a few laps, but something happened in the rear suspension. We think a shock or shock mount broke. Matt said it was the worst the car ever drove, but he stuck it out till the end not wanting to pit and give up track position. His perseverance paid off with his third top 10 finish in a row and his 4th top ten finish in 5 races . Mark Cline, our teammate in the #81, had worse luck. His ignition coil failed causing the engine to stop running relegating him a 21st place finish. It was another good finish for Matt in the very competitive field of 22 cars. We will find out and fix what happened in the rear suspension and be ready to race next week. By the way, Matt will be pulling double duty again next Friday. He will drive the #81 in twin 25 lap NWM Tour races and the #05 for the regular Weekly Modified race. Don't forget, it's "pack-the-track" night at Spencer with adult admission price being only $6.00! See you then.

6-13-08: First, the good news: Matt moved from being tied with 7th place to sole ownership of 7th in the season point standings. The bad news: Friday the 13th legend lives on...the races were rained out after the heat races. We were disappointed because Matt was pulling double duty; driving the #05 NASCAR Weekly Modified AND the transformed #81 tour type modified. Mark Cline could not be at the track this week, so we reconfigured his car to run as a Tour Type Modified Tour car. We changed the carburetor to a 4 barrel and put on four 15 inch wide tires so Matt could compete in the tour type modified twin 25 lap feature special. Thanks go out to the #1 modified of Chris Ridsdale for loaning us their carburetor and wheels. Between jumping back and forth between the two cars, Matt was only able to get in one set of hot laps in each division. The #05 was set up perfect and was fast right off the trailer. The #81 was OK also. We knew racing against some of the finest drivers in the tour type modified division would be tough, especially on old, borrowed tires. But...seat time is seat time. Matt figured racing in the two heat races and the three feature races, he would put in over 100 laps of racing. Unfortunately, due to the rain, he was only able to race in the heat races. Matt finished 5th in the tour type modified heat race and 3rd in the NASCAR Weekly Modified heat race. By finishing 3rd in his heat race, Matt earned one point and that one point broke the tie for 7th in the season standings. The rain date for the tour type modified feature will be June 27th, which happens to be Fan Appreciation Night with general admission being only $6.00. At this point we don't know if Matt will be able to race the #81 car as a tour type modified on the 27th as Mark should be back. The rain date for the NASCAR Weekly Modified race is July 4th. One good thing to come out of the rainout is we have a very light work week on our car. Until next week......

6-6-08: Another great night of racing and another fine finish for Matt "Bones" Lees. Matt finished 6th in the feature giving him 2 top ten finishes in a row, or 3 top ten finishes out of 4 races (with 1 top five finish). Not bad at all; driving a car that sat for two years. Matt also collected a 3rd place finish in his heat race. By my unofficial count, this now puts Matt tied for 7th in season points. This also is the second week in a row that both team cars, Matt Lees and Mark Cline, finished. Mark logged another 13th place. With our funds low, we were unable to buy any tires this week. But, with outstanding driving ability, Matt finished 3rd in his heat on really, really old tires. He also finished 6th in the feature on 2 week old right side tires and 4 week old left sides. This is pretty impressive considering we race against many teams that put on 4 new tires EVERY week. We made some chassis changes and fine tuned the engine; these improvements seemed to work. We still have a few more things to try to get more speed. Matt said he thought we had more power this week, but the car didn't handle as well as it did last week, but I blame that only on tires. All in all, both teams were happy for their finishes and we are looking forward to next week. The competition seems to get better each week. We will perform weekly maintenance this week and will look for ways to improve our finishes. Till next week.............and thanks.

6-2-08: Sorry for being late.....again. I just finished working on the racecar for the evening and, even though we have body damage to fix and nerf bars to replace, it felt really good. It felt good because our hard work and our teammate's hard work finally paid off with a strong 5th place finish. After having engine problems last week, running up front again was nice. A big THANK YOU goes out to Seely Engine Machine for fixing the engine so fast! Even though it was a holiday week, they were able to get the engine fixed in time for us to race Friday. We had some handling problems in the heat race, but Matt still managed a qualifying position. Two new tires and some chassis changes and we were ready for the feature. Matt started 5th behind a slower car and fell to 7th on the first lap. Hard driving and avoiding a wreck got him up to 3rd. He held that position for quite a few laps, but eventually dropped back to 5th where he finished. With this top 5 finish, Matt is back in the TOP TEN in points again, 8th to be exact. Matt said the car was the best its been so far this year. In addition to Matt finishing strong, our team met another milestone: BOTH cars (the 81 and the 05) finished the race for the first time this year. All that was on the eve of Matt's 30th birthday. That made me really feel old as I realized that Matt has now been racing for 20 years. If things keep getting better, I can't wait for the next twenty. We have made so many good friends in those years and look forward to making more.

5-23-08: Sorry for delay in getting you the news, I was out of town for business and missed the first race. Matt finished a very respectable 8th (out of 22 cars) in the first race of the season. Trailer troubles caused him to get to the track late. Then radiator problems further complicated getting the car set up. In his first real racing action in almost two years in his #05 modified, Matt led his heat race and eventually finished second. Then he followed up with a 8th place finish in the feature.

Week two was a disaster. We worked hard all week to get the car prepared for Friday. We were at the track early, but things went down hill fast. First the car wouldn't start, it was only firing on 4 cylinders. With plenty of help, we got the engine running by cleaning and changing parts in the carburetor. Unfortunately, we missed three sets of warm ups but were able to get out for the last set and the car seemed to run well. Starting in the back for his heat race, Matt was running strong. As with last week, there was no outside groove to be had, so it was more or less follow the leader. While battling for position in turn 3, the #8 car got into our right rear tire causing Matt to spin out due to a flat right rear. A fast tire change in the pits got us back out on the track on the lead lap. Matt was able to pick up one spot to finish 8th. Starting 16th for the feature, Matt settled into a groove passing one car before the engine developed a miss and was making noises. Matt quickly shut down and coasted into the pits ending his night with a 18th place finish. After a quick look at the engine, we found a bent push rod. Our night was done.
As of Sunday morning the engine is at the engine builder's shop. He also found a bent valve. Parts will be ordered Tuesday. If the head was not damaged, we should be ready to race Friday at Spencer Speedway. If everything holds up, we might make the trip to Oswego Speedway for the 100 lap SST race on Saturday. We also have to work on the trailer again as its old age is showing, all new spring shackles have to be replaced. I'll try to keep you updated. THANKS for visiting LeesMotorsports.com! See you here or at the track.

5-1-08: The 2008 Greece Mall Show was a huge success. Both cars showed up at the mall looking shinny and new. Not only did our SPONSORS have great exposure, but literally hundreds of kids got their chance to sit in real race cars and have their pictures taken. Kids were able to sit in both the #05 and the #81 NASCAR© Weekly Modifieds. We also had more than a few adults live out their fantasies by getting in the cars. We hope that we not only generated more than a few new fans for Lees Motorsports/Cline Racing, but also to the sport of auto racing in general. New photos can be seen here and also at www.spencerspeedway.org . Final preparation has begun to get both cars ready for "test and tune" night May 9th, and for the first race of the season, May 16th at Spencer's fast 1/2 mile track. It has been a long winter and we are anxious to see you again at the track. I hope you enjoyed the car show. Thanks go out to Dave, Matt, Mark, Lyn, Joe, Rich, Marcus and the rest of our families for making this possible.

12-18-07: Lees Motorsports will have the #05 SST Modified at the 2008 Spencer Speedway car show at the Greece Ridge Mall. Teammate Mark Cline will also be there in the familiar Cline Racing #81 SST Modified. The show is scheduled for April 24th through April 26th, 2008. We hope to see you there!