The last adventure of the year..... cross country to Duquoin, IL for the 2nd annual Junior Knepper 55 USAC National Midget event in the Southern Illinois Center. 

I was fortunate enough to head across the states working for the Cory Kruseman Motorsports team, with Kruser and fellow teammate Chris Dyson behind the wheels. Excited to be back around the midget action, cold weather was no scare here. Let's just say the beginning of the adventure was rough. Working a long day before hand to escape for the 5 day trip, then road tripping 5.5hrs south to Ventura, CA to hop in a truck and Road trip across country for 32hrs. Hahaha... Dont Tempt me with a good time! 

I made it about 31 hours with no sleep.... pretty delirious at that point. I decided to throw up the white towel and draw up a pillow. I'd say those were the best 2-3 hours I ever slept! Cramped up, caged up in the back seat with 3 great friends: Hobie, Dj, and She-Lukas... (long story behind Lukas' nickname). 

Before we got too far in...

Wow, couldn't have asked for better luck! The sayinWhat a g "Rather be Lucky than Good" definitely applied to the last couple events. What a weekend... Car owner's Birthday, his family at the track, and we brought our A-Game. Not very often do we get lucky enough to Clean Sweep an Event.... I keep telling myself,

"Damn, we should have gone to Vegas!" 

Payout would have been larger... lol. Ultimately, the payout over the last couple events has been tremendous! More than dollar signs; Comfort, Confidence, and Hunger for more! Keeps us diggin! 

I'm just so damn happy to shake that "Bridesmaid" reputation! hahaha. Thought I was going to retire with it. Car owner never gave up on me, and we kept up our efforts on the Homework....Patience, Calculated Adjustments, and Hunger kept us moving in a forward motion.... Here we are, finally on top, til the next event. ;) 

Special Thanks to Car Owner Dave Cantu and his boss Rachel Cantu for the honorable opportunity to pilot the Jonah's Skate S...

Well, our adventure to the Thunderbowl Raceway didn't go too well. I would say a rough start..... First and Last race for the 2016 season. lol. Ok, so not our last, but it will take us a while to recover! 

I was excited and a bit nervous leading up to the event. We struggled in qualifying as we did time trials in groups! Of course, we were paired up with squirrels. Can't thank the crew chief enough as I had a hot rod, but track was narrow and stuck behind inexperienced drivers. Not fair to risk their equipment for my better time. Needless to say, we stunk in qualifying. 

Heat races were fast! Narrow heavy track. Had to tighten the belts and drop the hammer! We only advanced 1 position. We were all fast! lol Just couldn't pass. Due to our poor time trials, we were doomed starting near the rear. 

Main event time! We lined up deep in the field... too far back to even count. lol. With the drop of the green, Faria ended upside down in turn 2. Restart!! Drop of the green, we'r...