Lees Motorsports - Team News Page

8-27-10: Before I say anything about Friday's racing I Must THANK Mark Cline and all of Cline racing for putting Matt into Marks car. Matt has a chance to finish in the top five in points at Spencer Speedway, and Matt's great season was over with the blown engine last week, until Mark offered up his ride to let Matt try to get back into the top five. During the week, Matt went to Mark's shop to help set up the car closer to his setup. Once at the track, the car had a push in the first practice. A few chassis changes loosened up the car a touch but it was still pushing in the second practice. We made some more changes for the Heat race that seemed to work, as Matt was able to finish second. After the heat race Matt said the car didn't seem to be operating at full power. So we and Mark's crew (THANKS Lyn) took the carb apart to check the power valve and change the jets. Matt started second in the feature and was able to take the lead on the first lap. He was able to pull away and lead for 10 laps before the three cars leading the points caught up to and passed him. With 19 laps to go, I thought Matt would have another great top 5 finish, running in fourth place, in a car that he hasn't raced in this year, but as fast as you can say racecar, things change. Matt slowed dramatically on the track and dropped to ninth place where he finished the race. A another top ten finish, but not what we should of had. After the race Matt pulled into the pits and said the the car suddenly got VERY LOOSE, to the point that he thought he might spin out at every turn. He said the car changed like someone turned a switch. Matt's ability to change his driving style resulted in this good finish and not dropping out of the top ten. Even with the cars ahead of him in points finishing ahead of him in this race, Matt was actually able to gain ground on getting back into the top Five. With 3 bonus points awarded for his 2nd in the heat race and 5 bonus points for leading at least 1 lap in the feature, Matt closed to within 1 point of sixth place and 2 points of fifth. The next day, going over the car, we found out why the car changed so drastically, the panhard bar shifted resulting in the loose condition.

EVEN MORE THANKS go out to Mark and his team, as Matt will pilot the #81 car for the last two weeks of this season. A better TEAM MATE, gentleman and friend cannot be found. We are so lucky to have such great friends.

8-20-10: A terrible night at the races, We had 4 new tires and our expectations were high. We broke in the tires to size them in the heat race and we finished 4th. Our times were fast enough to finish 4th in the feature, but on the white flag lap to take the green, our engine blew up. This resulted in no points or no money for showing up, we dropped from 5th in points to 7th. Pulling the engine apart Saturday showed the damage, a valve broke in the number three cylinder and migrated to the number two cylinder. That engine is done for the year, but it looks like it can be repaired for next season. A disappointing night of racing for sure.

8-13-10: HEAT WIN number 2 and Third top 5 this year. After chasing the chassis for two weeks for a very loose condition, we went back to our original setup with the old tires. We figured that we got a bad set of tires, that we used for the last two races. The results proved us right, the car hooked up right away and Matt won his Heat race. We decided to run the same old tires again in the Feature race, it was either that or put on the bad set of newer tires. One of the old tires that we put back on was outside in the junk pile for two weeks rotting in the sun, but we needed to know how the car would react. Matt started the Feature on the pole, and lead the race for 2 laps, the first laps he has led this year, then the tires just lost their grip. Matt slowly fell back to 7th and it looked like he would finish there, but two of cars running in front of him had mechanical problems and fell from the race. Matt was back in 5th and had a good battle with the #33 car but was able to hang on for his 3rd top five finish. We should have four new tires for next weeks race and we hope that we get a good set. With our good finish we gained ground on points on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place cars. We are only 2 points out of forth place, with only 3 weeks of racing left. Wish us luck and see you soon.................

PS: It was good to meet new fans after the races again.

8-6-10: Top ten number seven. That's right we have been in the top ten seven out of eight times, with two top five's. Before I go any farther, I want to Thank ALL my crew members for all the long hours and hard work that they put in getting the car back together in race form. I also want to thank Mr. Ron Rigby for providing all the pictures for our team's website.
Unfortunately the car did not handle as well as we wanted, Matt finished fifth in his heat race, the first time this year worse than third. The car was very loose, resulting in Matt slapping the back stretch wall coming out of turn two. We threw everything at in as far as changes go to make the car handle for the 100 lap Feature race, it sort of worked, at the beginning of the race the car was still loose, but as the race went on the car "came" to him, and started to handle better. Matt finished tenth, not at all where he wanted, but it was still a top ten finish in the record books. We are making chassis changes for this week's race, and I hope that we nail the set up. We only have Five races left this year. See you there..........

7-30-10: After a week with no racing because of a rainout, we were ready to try and have a repeat performance of the last race. If you remember, we had a heat win and a very competitive 4th place finish in the feature. According to all the work we put into the car prepping it for Friday's race we were pumped. Once on the track for practice, the car took us for a surprise, it was loose, very loose. We had three new tires on it, and we couldn't figure why it changed so drastically. We made a chassis change for the second and final set of practice, the car was a little better but still too loose. Matt finished 5th in his heat race, the first time this year not in the top three. Matt pulled directly into the tech building after the race where we double checked the ride heights, put it up on the scales, and checked the weights at all four corners, cross weight, rear split etc. Everything was where it was supposed to be. We changed the air pressure in the tires and adjusted the panhard bar and hoped that the car would come to us. We got to race for only 3 laps when some cars racing in front of us caused a major wreck that collected us. Matt's night of racing was over, he did get to ride in the ambulance where they checked him out. He was complaining of a very sore wrist and a sore shoulder. Saturday morning he went and had X-rays taken of his right wrist, the good news was that nothing was broken but a bad sprain. The racecar on the other had was hurt a lot worse. The nose, front bumper, radiator, bolt on front clip were all destroyed, as were the upper and lower control arms the the right front wheel. The RF brake caliper also needed repaired. We also got hit hard in the back of the car, the rear bumper and mounts were bent beyond repair as was the LR nerf bar. The left rear quarter panel was mangled as was the tail panel.
Since Friday night, we have torn the car apart, straightened out some body panels, sent some to TINMAN for straightening, bought a bunch of new parts, ordered a new nose and nerf bar, bought a used radiator and went to work. It is now Monday evening and a majority of the repairs are finished. THANKS to everyone that helped or asked about Matt's health. All I can say is that we WILL be ready for Friday nights 100 lap race. See you then...................

7-16-10: FIRST HEAT WIN in 2010 and 2nd TOP FIVE !!!
After a rain out last week, we had even more time to go over the car looking for anything that we could improve. The week before we replaced both front rotors and redid the left front suspension because of the mishap in the last race. We were ready for Friday's DOUBLE POINTS race. Matt started his heat race in 3rd and by lap 2, he had the lead. The car handled great and it looked like Matt was just out for a cruise as he took his first checkered flag of the season. Matt will always have the memory of Elliott, his new son being only 16 days old, being there for his first win of 2010.
In the feature Matt started 4th, but dropped to 5th so he could find an opening in the bottom groove. Matt stayed in 5th until the caution flew on lap 27 where the 3rd place car was involved in an accident. The restart put Matt in 4th. He thought he could make an outside pass, but when he hung it out there, the car developed a push, resulting in Matt dropping back to 8th. Luckily for us another caution came out and tightened the field. This time Matt was prepared for the push in the car, and when he tried the outside again he knew how to handle it. And outside he was, he made it 3 wide and it stuck! Matt was able to pick up 2 spots, up to 6th. The caution came out again with 2 laps to go, again Matt was on the outside in the double file restart, and Matt wanted more. Again Matt tried the outside and passed 2 more cars to finish 4th, tying his best feature finish of the year.
With this race being double points and with Matt's aggressive and smart driving, we are now back up to 4th in the point standings. Next week we have TWIN 25 Features, you know that we will do everything possible during the week to be prepared. See you there...........
PS this is the 3rd week in a row that some new fans came to us in the pits after the race to say that they loved the Challenge R/T body, and to congratulate us.

6-25-10: Bittersweet top ten number 5. The night started out great with Matt getting 2nd in his heat race. He had his fastest times ever in this race and all his laps were very consistent, running in the mid 20 second range. With 3 new tires for the feature race, expectations were high. At the drop of the green flag, Matt was starting 4th, the second place car in front of Matt failed to take off bunching up the cars behind. This shuffled Matt back to 9th. Matt passed a few cars on the outside, when trying to make another outside pass, a car spun into Matt, causing the left front tire to climb up the other car and bounce back to the ground and Matt spun. During the yellow, Matt pulled into the pits to have us look for damage, we found that the left front brake had locked up, turning the brake rotor cherry red. With every thing else looking ok Matt went back out to race, but with instructions to be aware of the brake issue. Starting in the back of the field Matt faced heavy traffic, and managed to get back into the top ten and finish the race in 9th. Even with his 5th straight top ten finish (with 1 top five) Matt dropped from 4th to 8th in points, the competition is so very close this year. There is no scheduled race next week, July 2nd, so we have time to repair the car and make sure it is right, we will have to completely go through the front suspension to check it out after that hit. Have a fun and safe July 4th holiday, and by the next update Matt should be a father for the second time, his wife, Kate is due any day now. See you in 2 weeks..............

6-18-10: Matt finished 4th for his first top five finish this year and his fourth top ten finish in a row, he also finished 3rd in his heat race. Matt's consistent finishes have put him 5th in points so far this season, and only 1 point out of 4th place. We made some major changes on the chassis setup and they worked very well, resulting in Matt running his quickest times ever in the car. He even broke into the 20 second lap times, with a fast lap of 20.68. Even though Matt finished 4th, he was battling for third for more than half the race, he was definitely faster but could not get around him. I believe we've got the chassis at its best, all we need now is more horsepower and that costs money we don't have. I am very pleased just to be competitive this year, not that we are giving up, but we will try to make changes within our budget to get better. Thoughts and prayers would be appreciated for both my mom, who fell and broke her back, and to one of my crew members, who has a family crisis. Thanks everyone , and see you next week....

PS Great job Matt

6-11-10: After a hard fought race, Matt logged in his third straight top 10 finish, 7th. For some reason Matt's car had a shimmy in the left front wheel. That will be fixed for next week, if and when we find out what caused it. Matt also said that the engine was skipping on the restarts, we will check the carb. Neither of these problems were seen in the heat race. Matt feels that he could have done much better in the finishing order if those things didn't hamper him. BUT, we are still 6th in points and only 3 points out of 4th place, a GREAT start this year. See you next week.

6-4-10: Top 10 number 2 is in the books with a VERY IMPRESSIVE 6th place finish in the Feature race and a 2nd in the Heat race. If it was not for a late race caution (5 laps to go) and a rare double file restart (Holland rule) Matt would have had a top 5 finish. "Bones" held on to the 5th spot for more than half the race. The reason this was so impressive is that Matt was running on our old tires from last week that had over 120 laps on them. The car that got around us for fifth had 4 new sticker tires on.
We made a few more chassis changes for this week again, and they also seemed to work. Matt is happy with the cars handling this year and is also happy with his driving. 2 for 2 in top ten finishes and no mistakes during the race.
We have gotten many compliments on the new body style and paint scheme. We enjoy meeting new people in the pits stopping by and saying hello. We are always happy to talk about our passion. We made 2 new friends last night Mike and Marcy.
Next week is a double points race and we will have 4 new tires. Matt is, with his two top ten finishes and being consistent, in 6th place in the Sunoco Modified Series. We have a light work load this week, but work is never done when you own a racecar. Weather permitting, we will have the car on display at Wambach's Farm Market Car Show in Penfield this Monday evening. Till next week.....have a great time. and see you soon.

5-29-10: The first race is in the record books after a 1 week rain delay, we found out that all the chassis changes made over the winter WORKED. Matt was a very competitive 8th, our first top 10 finish of the year, that makes 1 for 1. Matt also had a strong showing in his heat race, finishing 3rd. Thanks for all the hard work go out to all my crew members.

5-26-10: It has been a long time since I wrote an update, sorry. The car was rebuilt over the winter, many suspension changes were made and a new 2010 Dodge Challenger body was installed. We hope you like the new paint scheme. We attended 1 test and tune session, to see how all the changes worked. We are happy (so far) with them, actual race conditions will be the real test. Our first race was Friday May 21st, but that was rained out. We will run that 100 lap race this Friday. We are looking forward to a successful year. either way, we WILL have fun.