Ventura Raceway ..10-31-09 .... This will be the last night ....( Back In The Sprint Car ) for the 2009 sesson.  This year of racing was a long but short sesson.  I did not race all of the races, because of work and family.   Heat race # 4 of the night, was good, the track was fast and great shape.  I had a good starting postion in the 2nd row inside, I finished 2nd.  The main event .. I again had a great starting postion 2nd row.  The track used up !, with no grip, dry slik.  We have bin working on the car most of the sesson but never found the right set up !.  After Bakersfield early in the sesson when the chassis was bent up it was never as good or the same.  Getting back to the Main Event .. The car was to lose on the top and a little better on the bottom, I had to drive the car with an (egg) between my foot and the gas pedal to get around the track, i finaly broke the egg and turned the car around. I was in the 4th place postion at the time,  O-well life go's on.  I still finish in the top 10, so it was'nt all that bad.  I want to thank Steve Luport Racing and his crew  Mike Berdrow and Dick Trimbel and Matt and Lulu Sweeney and Bruce McCormick and all of the sponser's and friends and family that make the 2009 sesson a great time for every one,  Thank's to all of the race fan's out there for there suport.  The 2010 race sesson will be here soon, stay in tuned at www.wtfrace.com and www.richardmccormickracing.com  for news and updates for what's going on for 2010.

Richard McCormick

Ventura Raceway ... 10-24-2009.... ALL COAST 360 CHALLENGE,  40+ sprint cars showed up and 23 cars make the show ! ..... Again it is all about the pill pick and track postion.  Some of the best sprint car drivers were here,  the pill pick was half the battle.  Are pill pick was 65 out of 75, not a good start.  Heat race #5 , started 8th and finish 5th (top three transfer to the main), that put me in 1 of 2 simi mains. Simi main i finish 4th, that was good enough to get in the main event.  The main event .... The track was fast, starting in the 23rd postion (last) the car was good and was a little bit better than some of the cars in front of me, it was hard to get pass them at times, the car was geting better by the lap. There were alot of cautions that helped sometimes and did not help other times.  After it was all over it was a good run for the #71 ellis,  ended up near the front with a 11th place finish.   Thank's again to Steve Luport  for letting me drive his sprint car and thank's to his great crew for giving me a great car to race.  And thank's to Mike from ALL COAST for all his help.  One more race at Ventura Raceway for the sprint cars next weekend ....... That is were i will see ya ... Back In The Sprint Car for the last race for 2009.

Richard Mccormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

9-12-09  Ventura Raceway .... It's about 8 weeks or so that i was .... Back In The Sprint Car.  It was good to race again.  We picked a #55 pill, thats not a great way to start.  Heat race #3 ... I started on the 3rd row outside (6th), the car was fast for all of the 10 laps, that's the fun part when the car is hooked-up like that, I finished 2nd.  The Main Event .... again i had a good starting postion on the 3rd row outside (6th), I had a good start and jumped out to 4th and fell back to 5th and stayed there for most of the race until a red flag came out. We had a litte time to work on the car, so Steve Luport and Mike Berdrow worked on the #71 the give it more foreward bite. This is what we had bin doing to the car before all the Main Events that we have raced this sesson, We found out that we were going the wrong way all this time, the car was alot better before the red flag. We no now not to go that far on adjustments for the Mains. It was a good test night for the #71 Ellis, thanks again to Steve Luport and his great crew for giving me a great ride.  We have the next weekend off, until then i will see ya ....... Back In The Sprint Car !!.

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway ...... 7-18-09.    The "Pill Pick", It is so Important to pick a low number, again the number was 63. It started with a track that had to much water on it, so the sprint cars had to wheel pack, but when you pick a high number you have a better track to hot lap. It did not work out that way this time, the high number put me on a track that was junk, so i was just wheel packing for all of the low number guy's so they had a good track to hot lap( thats not a great way to start the night ).   Again i was in the frist heat race starting last with the fast guy's on a track that was badly ruted up and one line, I ended up in the 5th spot.  On to the simi main .... I had a problem with the right rear tire, the car was a hand full to drive on a  track that was ruted up and the car was'nt good, I finish 4th, that put us in the last spot for the main.   The Main Event ..... Steve Luport  tried out a new setup on the car and could feel right away that the car was going to be good. The track was the roughest i had drove on at this track in a long time, it tore up cars and drivers out there, we had alot of cautions that helped me out to get by cars on the restarts and it fixed some of the big ruts. The car was geting better by the lap, I found places that did not work for other drivers to pass, at the end (the last 5 laps) I was geting faster and faster, the car was back like it was at the start of the sesson.  I need one more race to make sure we have a handle on it.  At the finish I ended up 6th from the 20th starting spot, that makes up for all of the problems we had all night.  Steve was still not to happy about the way they (VRA) runs the show, but he has all week to think about it, and how good the car was tonight !.   I want to thank Steve Luport for leting me drive his #71 Ellis sprint car each weekend and to his great crew of guys. Thanks to all the fans, until the next race .... see ya    Back In The Sprint Car !.

Richard  McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway  7-11-09 ....... After a little break, again it was all about your pill pick and track position and starting spot's in the heat races and the mains. Are pill pick was #65, so it put me in the 3rd heat race (it had all the fast guys in it) in the 8th starting position, I finished in 5th, the track, the track was one line on the top follow the leader.  The Simi Main .... they worked on the track for the mains, the track was the best it has bin in a year ( track prep is great when you make the time by having less class's  racing on the night ) so that made it alot more fun, I had a good starting spot in the 2nd row inside, the car was almost perfect and i finished 1st. The Main Event .... the track was pretty much used up by the Midget main and the Senior sprint car main ( 50 laps ) on the race track. starting in the back 17th on a slik track is a hard thing to do and to get to the front, cars are jockey in for position while the guys that start up front have a jump on other cars ( track position ) and the track having two racing lines it makes it hard to get going and up to speed, this gives the cars up front to catch up to back of the pack and it stayed green for all 30 laps. This week everyone was going almost the same speed out there, passing was still hard to do unless you pushed them out of the way or let them make a mistake or you had more grip in a place that no one had grip. Next week we race at Ventura Raceway again, hopefuly we get a better pill pick so we can have that track position that we all need so much at this track !. Thank's to Steve Luport and his great crew of guy's that hang in there each week and the race fans that show up each and every sat. night to watch us race. We are still trying to get the Ellis back up to speed from the Bakersfeild crash, there is a problem that we have with the car that we can't find !.   Until the next race.. I will se ya... Back In The Sprint Car.

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway .... 6-27-09.... It was great to get Back In The Sprint Car again. Steve Luport (the car owner) wanted to take a break from racing to catch up on the race car and to get away from some of the problems at the track (that has not changed). The track still has no grip and one line when its good !. Heat race #2, I started inside last row (the pill pick was 63, not good) 7th and finished 5th. The simi main, I had a front row outside spot, I ended up 2nd, the car was ok but had no foreward bite. The main event, again the track was dry slik, and starting in the back was not good, everyone was going the same speed, and it was hard to pass. But what I can't get is how some of the guys out front, on a no grip dry slik track can pass guys out there with no problem ?, everyone has the VRA tire, and the set-up can't be that much better that there passing cars like they have a RC 3 or something to get more grip !. Well we have the next weekend off, so maybe we can work on a better set-up or go back to the note's from last year to get the car back out front. Thank's to Steve Luport and his great crew and to all of the fans out there . Until the next race on 7-11, I will see you.... Back In The Sprint Car ! .

Richard  McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway .....5-30-09,  There was not much of a difference from this weeks race and last weeks race. It was all about track position, If you were on the bottom of the track your going backward, If you were on the top you stayed in that spot. I think that the promoter of Ventura Raceway, he tried to make the track better than It was before, but It did not work out that way ! He made a big mistake and he has to live with it and so do we. As a driver that has raced at Ventura Raceway for a alot of years, Myself and all the racers there liked the track the way it was !. It is very difficult to pass someone clean !, you have a few guys that do not have the experience out there and try things that they should not be doing and they end up crashing out them self or some other driver, that takes away the fun !.  There is some good news from Steve Luport Racing, the #71 Ellis should be back on the track for the next race !, This will make It much ez-er to get to the front and win!.  Next weeks Driver's prospective from the Ellis, will give me a better blog to write about.   Thanks to Steve Luport Racing and his crew and to all of the fans out there !!  I will se ya ....... Back In The Sprint Car .

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway ...5-23-09...... Back In The (TCR) Back Up car again, I just can not fine what that car and I like. The last weekend was a off night, so Steve Luport had the time to fresh'in up the engine in the TCR sprint car #71, It helped the car out a little bit better, now it has power that you need to fix a car that is hard to drive. Heat race #4, I had a good starting spot, But the track was dry slik on bottom and the top was good, I lost two spots on the bottom, went to the top and I was in 3rd and finish there. The Main Event, started in the 6th row, the car was ok, I drove the car the best that I could, I just can not get that car to go foreward the way I would like It. I finish 9th. I think that the Ellis works better. The Ellis is a race or two away from being ready to race. Thank's to Steve Luport and his crew for the hard work on the race car. So until the next race I will see you ..... Back In The Sprint Car !!

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway... 5-9-09 ...... Back In The (TCR ) Sprint Car, last week it was a good test night in Steve Luport's #71 backup car, I was pretty sure the car was going to be to tight for the heat race, so we lose'in the car up, I should of left the car the way it was. The car turned around on me and that sent me to the simi main. The simi we tighten the car up and it was awesome, I won that race and the car was ready for the main event. The main event I strarted 17th and the car was going to the front, the car was as good or better. But a few laps into it i was turned around by another car, I had to go to the back and start all over.  The restart I just cliped a slower car and it broked the tie rod mount on the right front spindel, so that was the end of my night, that's racing !. Hopefuly the Ellis #71 sprint car will be ready for the next race. Thank's again To Steve Luport and his awesome crew of guys that put up with me, I feel so bad for them, they work so hard on that race car for me !. I will try my hardest to put that car in the winners circle this year for them !. Are next race is on the 23rd, so we will have a shot at a main event win, Back In The Sprint Car !!

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway ... 5-2-09....Well we did not have the # 71 Ellis sprint car ready for this weekends race, so we had to go to the backup car ( TCR # 71 ), It has bin 2 years a go that we had that car on the race track.  Heat race # 2 , This car is alot different  from the Ellis, But the car was ok, I finished 1st.  The main event I started on the pole, the car was not great at first but it was ok,  we had a red flag and we worked on the car and the car was better, it was a good test run for geting the car better for next weekend. I finish in the top 10 ( 7th place ). Thanks to Steve Luport , he worked a ton of hours on the car all week to have it ready to race. Next race we will have the TCR and after the break we will have the Ellis back on the track. Thanks again to all the fans out there and to my crew, great job !

Richard  McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

 Bakersfeild Speedway  4-25-09  ( Grand Slam #2 ).  The car out of the trailer was perfect. The heat race the first lap i was hit by a driver that was not looking far enough in front of his front wheels to see that myself and a other car where together and were slowing down, He hit me in the left side full throttle ( That Hurt ).  My crew and I started to fix the car and Danny Faria and his guys all jumped in and helped, The car was ready just in time for the simi main. The simi the car was awesome I finish 3rd. The main event I started 22nd, The track was a dust bowl and in bad shape, But my car was a rocket, I was picking cars off one by one, I drove my way up to 9th. The car was great, until I hit the cushion out of turn 4, The right rear tire was flat ?, I could not tell if it was something else that broke ?, whatever  the right rear hit the wall and that was it for me. Thanks to Steve Luport and his crew and to Danny Faria and his crew for the hard work putting the car back on the track.  I Hope we will have the car ready for the next race.

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Back In The Sprint Car.... Ventura Raceway 4-11-09. Heat race #1 of the night, The track had good grip and fast, I finish 2nd. The main event, I had a good starting spot ( outside front row )  I jumped out front and into the lead, the car was fast, but 5 or so laps into it there were 4 or 5 cars stopped in turn 3, coution came out ( there go's my lead) we ran under the yellow for 10 laps or more, that killed my car !!. The new track is a one line up high, off the wall to get foreword bite, or cut someone off to get by them type of track. I am trying to make my car to drive so I do not have to depend on one line to go foreward and faster. We will try to fix the car or I will have to drive the car off the wall. At the end I finish in the top 10, we had a left rear tire down so that did not help.Thanks again to everybody and the fans for having patience with me, I will try to get to the winners circle soon. I will be....... Back In The Sprint Car.

Richard  McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Back in the sprint car, Grand Slam race #1. Ventura Raceway, Over 40 cars showed up, There were 5 heats and 2 LCQs. I was in the 5th heat race of the night, We finish 1st, It was a good run for the #71 sprint car. The main event was stacked with some of best drivers around ( not sure why they had so much grip ). The car was ok when we had green flag laps that were 10 or more. The track was again dry slick and no grip, The bottom was good but I had the car set up tite, And the top was ok, But the dust was thick it was hard to see the track conditions, The yellow's I lost heat in the tires and for some reason I did'nt have any left rear bite for the main. Well, we have some work to due on the car to make it better. The good news we have next sat. to fix it, Eventuality we will get it fixed. Thanks again to Steve Luport and the crew for the hard work on the car. Until next weekend, I will see you at the races Back In The Sprint Car.

 Thanks       Richard  McCormick

                    www.richardmccormickracing.com

Back in the sprint car, Ventura Raceway. I was in the frist heat of the night, The track was tacky, I had the car to tight for the condition of the track, But the car was fast, we finish 1st. The main event, The track was dry slick blue groove, We had the car set up good for the begnning of the race, I knew the car was not perfect, But it was still good for the rest of the race, we finish 5th. We ran under green flag conditions for 15 or 20 laps, It was a good test session for the #71 sprint car. Thanks again to Steve Luport and my crew for the prep and setup of the car, and thanks to all the fans. We will be back at Ventura Raceway next week for the grand slam race.Until next week see you Back in the Sprint Car.

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Ventura Raceway, The night started good, I was in the 3rd heat race, It was a good test for the #71 Steve Luport sprint car, I had clean air in front of me and led all 10 laps to win. The main event, I started in the 3rd row inside, The car was good, I was in 5th and olny 6 laps into it, A visitor from the bandits, (They use there bumper and nerf bars to get by you), Put me into the front wall coming out of turn 4, and an other car, So sorry to say that was the end of the night for me. Thanks to my crew for giveing me a great car all night, I wish we had some more laps to see how good the car was.  I will have better night next weekend. Until then see ya at the races.

Richard McCormick

www.richardmccormickracing.com

Opening night at Ventura Raceway. There were over 40 sprint cars there, There were 5 heat races and 2 LCQ mains. I was in the 2nd heat race, I finish 2nd . The main event I started in the 5th row outside. The car was not perfect, But it was good. The start I was hit by the car next to me, He put me into the back stretch wall, I fell back 5 spots. I came back and passed a few more cars. There were a lot of yellow flags, You would get up to speed and heat in your tires, Then there was another yellow, That went on and on. Back to racing, my car did not have good forward bite, I had to make the best with what I had. I passed a few more cars and ended up nere the front, But I ran out of laps, The checked flag was out, the race was over. A top 5 finish is the best I could do that night. The #71 sprint car will be back next week to try to put it in the winners circle.Till next week, see ya at the races. Thanks again to all of the fans and the people that help me to race this awsome sprint car.

Richard  McCormick

The 2009 races for the VRA sprint car sesson will begain on march 14th at Ventura Raceway. The track has a new look, more banking and new walls that you do not want to use with your right rear tire. I am looking foreword to driving for Steve Luport Racing #71 sprint car for 2009. I am going write a weekly Drivers Prospective of the main event sprint car race on WTFRACE.COM and at  www.richardmccormickracing.com , So stay tuned.

Richard  McCormick