A lot of rumors have been swirling about the 2011 USAR Pro Cup Season, and make no mistake about it,  to say that the last few years have been rocky for the pro cup season would be an understatement. But with that being said I thought that the new owners of the pro cup season had done a great job leading up to this point in getting the series pointed in the right direction. I wasn’t concerned that they didn’t have a sponsor, and I wasn’t concerned about the car count, because the product that was on the race track was still great racing. In my opinion it was still one of the most competitive series’ in the country, and the sponsors and the car count would return when the economy improved.

However, with that being said I do think that there is one area that owners missed it big time this year. And it’s nothing against Arrington Engines, they did what the owners asked them to do. They had an engine that created a lot of power (probably too much but that’s debatable) and created a way for teams to run it. I have no problem with that. But, the program that is designed to save teams money, I believe hurts teams in the long run, and ultimately hurts the series. $30,000 to rent a motor for a full season seems reasonable, but at the end of the year your left with absolutely nothing. Don’t forget putting an engine in your backup car for $15,000 (with stipulations). And again don’t misunderstand me I’m not bashing Arrington, but if the concerns of the owners of the series is to genuinely keep the series alive then you need to look at other options also for the racer. Take for instance PASS. They have a variety of engine packages and put on one hell of a show at each race. My crew chief who runs PASS won’t let me live it down that he has an engine that will put out 600 HP, will run over 5,000 laps, and only cost $17,000.

I was so extremely disappointed this season with the owners’ decision to not allow Automotive Specialists’ new spec engine. $25,000 to purchase it new and it will run all season long without major maintenance, and then $7,000 to have it rebuilt for the next season. And better yet, you own it and can race it in other series. The other thing that baffles me was the majority of teams still have the 2010 pro cup motor. This motor was able to be converted to the new spec engine for $14,000. So you’re faced with an option here that is more cost effective for teams, and horsepower wise, it was as close as any engine was going to come to the Arrington engine without getting another “cup” motor.

I would ask any one of the owners of the series this; how many of them rent their homes? I don’t know for a fact, but I can almost guarantee you that none of them do. Why? Because renting makes no sense over the long run.  That wasted money that’s going towards your rent, could be spent towards owning your own home. Sure it’s a great option short term, which that’s what the Arrington motor could be for a lot of people, a great option for teams who only want to spend 1 year or so in Pro Cup and use it as a stepping stone. But give the teams who have equipment and have been dedicated to the series and love the series an option to continue to own their equipment. I understand that the current motors can be used in 2011, but in 2012 teams will be forced to the Arrington engine.

It all boils down to this in my opinion (and that’s all this really is) this “pay to play” mentality will leave you with exactly that: 10-15 teams that can afford to do it. Now understand I honestly believe that the owners have got a lot right with the series over the past two years. They saved the series from extinction and have brought some young faces and big names into the series. There’s a reason why Bill Elliott chooses to put his son into this series. But I’m afraid that with the recent moves that have been made, the owners have left fans and teams searching for a answer to this question.. “Why should I continue to invest in this series?”.. Which is sad, because it really is an amazing series.

Work continues on the MitiGator Ford Fusion

Every year during the off-season I find myself very restless, It’s not that there isnt plenty to do (trust me there is). But I just want to get back into the swing of things at the racetrack. But races aren’t won at the track, they are won in the shop. The preparation that goes into a car is vital to the success of a team at the track. The off-season for our team is spent stripping the cars down to a bare chassis and then building them back. This gives us time to go through each car and see what parts need to be replaced or repaired. Toward the end of the season the car just didn’t seem to act the same so we have some work to do over the next month or so to determine what really happened at the end of the season that caused us to lose a little bit of speed. But for now we are going to keep hard at work and like the rest of you sit back and watch the NFL playoffs! Might I just throw in a little jab to you raven fans out there… Chiefs are 7-1 at home this year.. Just putting that out there..

I uploaded a video last week and decided to put it on this blog, the video is just a bunch of onboard video-clips showing all of the crashes and contact that we have seen from on-board the MitiGator Ford Fusion this year. We’ve been pretty fortunate this year when it comes to accidents. However I truly think that the only way you get better at missing wrecks and accidents it to be involved in a few. My first full season in the pro cup series I crashed more times then I can remember. The bad part was the majority of them were not my fault, I would just get caught up in someone else’s mess. But going through those experiences helped me learn what I needed to do to miss those accidents, and it also taught me a lot of give and take. Its one of those experiences that you just have to accept that you will have every now and then, and do your best to learn from them.

So enjoy the video, and make sure you check out my sponsors website MitiGatorinc.com.

My sponsor MitiGator is gracious enough to let me use their HD cameras from inside the cockpit of my racecar. We are able to capture a lot of views from inside the car that the average fan will not see on a NASCAR broadcast. I’ve placed a couple of videos on here from this year. But make sure you subscribe to their youtube stream as they have more then just on-board video on the stream. I hope you enjoy the videos and don’t forget our next race will be at North Wilkesboro on October 3rd, if your going to be in the area come on out and introduce yourself. And make sure you ask about my MitiGator equipped seat!

Only have time for a short update today, I am heading out the door right now to head up to North Wilkesboro for the PASS Series race as our crew chief Jody Lavender is running a Super Late model this weekend, and I am going to head up there and help him out. On a side note, I am going today to help him during practice, and the high is suppose to be 96 degrees! But when the rest of the team shows up on saturday for the race the high is suppose to be 79… just my luck. Oh well, at least it will be nice on Saturday.

But I decided to write about our upcoming race today, if you follow MitiGatorinc.com you will have noticed that the MitiGator Ford Fusion will be honoring the 9/11 victims at our race at Bristol on September 11th with a special paint scheme. Well I just finished the design, and I can’t wait for it to hit the track! It looks spectacular! Make sure you log on to MitiGatorinc.com on September 11th if you can’t be at bristol to tune in to the race via our live webcast to see the design.

Until next time.. I’m off to Wilkesboro!