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News July 10, 2010 First 2010 Trophy Dash win Cottage Grove Speedway Thanks to AAA Home Inspection, ZCS Engineering, Witzend Consulting, Mikes Fence Center, Smith Rock Auto Body, Norco, Redline Oil, and Casey Vitale of Vitale Racing.
Thanks to new sponsor Trashpros of Fernely,NV. Next Race Friday July 16th & Saturday July 17th At Cottage Grove Speedway
june 11, 2010
Thanks to a New Sponsor Joe of Cascade Air Heating & Cooling pictured far left,
Friday we spent in Jacksonville, which became a town in 1851 and the oldest town in Oregon. The Ray's store there is a small and very Rustic and fitting for a town of its age and historic stature. While there we visited with the locals mostly middle to older folks the staff was great as always. It was a nice visit kind of short can't wait to go back so we can spend some time walking Main Street around 1:30 we left for the speedway. At the speedway we drew a low number for which put us in the first heat, we second fast in our group and started outside the front row of the heat, on the start Trent got out front and never looked back for a very respectable heat race win. With winning the heat it put us in the trophy dash, in the dash we drew a 10 chip which meant we started 10 th and we finished 9 th and that's where we started the main event. In the main there were a lot of cautions the track was hooked up and fast we had a good run going when Joey Tanner shut his car off in turn 3 with about 3 or 4 to go. We had a top 10 going but when Trent got in to Joey he bent the cross tube for the filler panel into the front tire which made the car not want to turn and we had to pull in for the night finishing 16 th. Know we had a lot of body repairs on the car and an appearance in Phoenix we went there after the show.
At the speedway we drew a number 100 which put us in the 5 th heat, in the heat we started 4 th and had a good run finishing second which put us in the dash for the second night in a row. In the dash we drew an 8 chip which meant we started 8 th, we finished 9 th which was where we started the main. In the main the track went dry slick fast and we missed the set up we should have dropped the left rear Bar down which would have tightened the car up and made us faster, we finished 19 th. This being Trent's rookie year in the Outlaw late model class has been a real learning experience we made some mistakes, bent a lot of parts, ran into a couple of guys and got run over two many times to count we learned that if you start getting close to the fast guy they eminently stop helping (giving good info for set ups.)
On Father's day weekend we went to California with Casey Vitale and his dad Phil at that time Casey started helping us with are set ups and we got fast over night started making the dash most every week since then at this point we as a team need a chassis school and just seat time for Trent and we will get that first big win!! In 2009 we couldn't have done this year without are sponsors Ray's Food Place, Peninsula Sanitation, Witzend Web Consulting, Mike's Fence Center, Arbor Mortgage, Norco, and Benson Realty. I also would like to thank Casey Vitale for his help and guidance, and most of all my Dad, Mom, and their business AAA Contracting for supporting me all year.
On Friday Trent and the team were in Brookings for the annual Rays Corporate summer barbecue and fundraiser. (This year funds went to help the family of a staff member that passed away.) This was our first visit to corporate headquarters where we were able to meet new faces and put names to the faces we talked and worked with all year. Headquarters was filled with energetic and ambitious teams that gave the feeling of family; we can definitely see where the family atmosphere comes to the stores. The 4E Rays Food Place Special Racecar was displayed in the parking lot while we awaited the barbecued hamburgers & hot dogs that were served along with salads and fixings. Then we went to the reception are for the raffle and dined on desserts of various kinds and furnished ice cream from Umpqua Dairy. Closing the luncheon we moved to the parking lot for a group picture and a chance for all of the corporate employees to grasp the feeling of the car. There were some gals from the office who chose to sit in the car and get the real feeling. We then moved down the hill for our 12 th store appearance this year at Rays Food Place store #1. While there Trent greeted several corporate office employees and their families, along with employees from store #1 and many customers and their kids all shared getting pictures and autographs from Trent. While Trent was visiting with the customers Julie & I visited Harris Beach state park for a walk on the beach in the sand, and very much enjoyed the picturesque rocks and scenery that encompassed the whole park. We then loaded up that evening and headed for Cottage Grove Speedway for that weekends race.
Our next store appearance is Friday September 4, 2009 from 3:00 to Dusk, at Rays Food Place in Albany, OR. The next race is a Dirtcar 2 day Saturday & Sunday event at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, OR. Then on Tuesday September 8 th, we go back to Cottage Grove for as a support show for the World of Outlaw Sprint cars. We want to thank the corporate office of Rays Food Place for having us attend their event and would like to give a special thanks to the marketing team and those who made us feel warm and welcomed. We acquired another product sponsor Smith Rock Auto Body, Terrebonne, OR and would like to thank Dave & Gary for all their help in getting the car back together. Trent also appreciates all the continual support from his associate sponsors.
T.R.E. 4E started Friday 8/14/09 in Banks Oregon at Sunset Speedway for Dirtcar's 7 th race of the Northwest I-5 Late Model Tour, Sunset speedway is the smallest track that we plan to compete at this year . They say a ¼ mile but after being there I would say maybe 3/16 mile (Really small) for the Outlaw Late Models. However one of the nicest track facilities we have been to this year. The track was very dry and all the drivers who were first timers at Sunset Speedway struggled with getting a decent qualifying time. Trent seemed to be a magnet in the heat race as well as in the main event Trent unfortunately fell victim to being brake checked by the car in front and then rear ended from behind, then he was spun out by the same car who brake checked him earlier. The main event was basically a repeat only a different car spun in front of Trent and eventually we ended up finishing 11 th out of 12 cars. I would like to thank all of Trent's family and friends and 2 of his sponsors Benson Realty of Banks, Or and Peninsula Sanitation, Long Beach , WA for coming to watch Trent race. The T.R.E. 4E “Rays Food Place Special†went to Cottage Grove Speedway on Saturday 8/15/09 for great night on a very HOOKED up track. We qualified well; they had no trophy dash as they ran short of time due to the visiting traveling series of the NW Wingless Sprints & Midgets. We started 3 rd in the heat race and finished 3 rd. Then in the main event we started 7 th and had a fast car on a hooked up track. There were several cautions and one that involved us was a car spun in front of Trent, doing no damage to our car, the track made a bad call and put Trent to the back even though he didn't cause it, within a few laps he made it back up to 4 th and then in turn 4 he hit a bump and drifted right and hit another car hard and another caution came out putting Trent back a spot then Trent proceeded the last 5 laps to finish 2 nd, and at a few laps he was faster than the lead car. We suffered some pretty extensive damage however it is all fixable. On August 28th we will visit Corporate Headquarters and then make an afternoon Store appearance at Rays Foods Place in Brookings, OR. Our next race is Saturday August 29 at Cottage Grove Speedway. We want to thank Rays Food Place and all of our associate sponsors for their continual support of Trent Elliott Racing.
We then proceeded north to Cottage Grove Speedway for a night of racing. We qualified 2 nd and finished 3 rd in the trophy dash, in the heat race we finished 3 rd, then in the main we started 9 th and finished 6 th. The main event had 4 cautions and on lap 19 a driver flipped over and the driver was not hurt. Trent kept his momentum going as he progressed forward but was only able to end up with a 6 th place finish. This week we have a Car & Driver appearance at our Newest Sponsor Norco Welding & Medical Supply3039 S. Highway 97, Redmond, OR 97756 from 3:30 to Close on Wednesday August 5 th, 2009. Our next race will be the Dirtcar NW I-5 Late Model Tour Event on Friday August 14 th at Sunset Speedway, Banks, OR then we go Saturday August 15 th to Cottage Grove Speedway, Cottage Grove, OR.
On Wednesday August 5 th, 2009 the TER #4E Race car & Trent made a guest appearance at Norco Welding & Medical Supply in Redmond, Or for their annual open house.
7/20/09 Family Loss The TER #4E arrived at Cottage Grove Speedway for a full night of racing with Cottage Grove's regular show combined with the Northwest Wingless sprint cars & Midgets. Qualifying went well we made the top 5, then we moved to the heat race where we started out great and got loose, jumped the cushion in turn 4 and road the front stretch wall about 100 feet and landed all tires down back on the track. We broke a spindle, tie rod arm, ball joint, and tire, which we had all fixed by the main event. We started 14th out of 14 cars and in this 25 main lap event Trent came from the back to finish 6 th. We later discovered that a chassis bar had been bent and moved the rear end over due to his ride down the wall which prevented the car from functioning at full capacity. This week Trent lost a family member, his Aunt Rhonda passed away suddenly, and is no longer in pain, our deepest love & sympathy goes to her kids Katrinna and Joey, and to Trent's grandma Joy. We cancelled our race & store appearance at Yreka, CA. So we can attend Rhonda's funeral in Redding, Ca. Our next race is August 1 st, 2009 at Cottage Grove Speedway with a Store appearance at Rays in Sutherlin, OR Thanks to all Trent's sponsors and their understanding in our family loss, and we are proud to support all our sponsors Rays Food Place, Witzend Consulting, Arbor Mortgage, Mikes Fence Center, Peninsula Sanitation, Benson Realty, Nutter Racing Engines, Driving Force Graphics, Centwise Sporting Goods and Norco Medical & Welding Supply.
I owe special thanks to my friend & competitor Casey Vitale for helping me set my car up for Saturday night. Please check out www.caseyvitale.com to help Casey rebuild and thanks to Annette at WitzEnd Consulting for all her help in making this happen. Our next race is July 18 th at Cottage Grove Speedway; this was an added race so hope to see all my fans there. Thanks to Rays Food Place for their support in motorsports and featuring me this month on their website www.gorays.com. I would also like to thank my associate sponsors for their ongoing support.
After our store appearance we left for Southern OR Speedway, unloaded the car had a great qualifying time, we got the car ready for the main and were running very well until we got body slammed hard which changed the handle on the car and ended up finishing 6 th. The Firecracker 50 main event was definitely an action packed race as 21 cars started and only 8 finished. On Saturday morning in route to Lebanon, OR we noticed the Vitale's Race Hauler on the side of the road completely burned only a skeleton left they lost 2 complete cars and everything to make them work. Our hearts dropped and we were completely devastated as we just went with them the week before to California and very much appreciated the time we had with them. On Saturday we went to fix our body damage and wash the car at Steve's our crew chief, then off to Willamette Speedway for another night of racing. Trent didn't have the best qualifying time in, and come to find out we had "twinked" the axle in the rear end and bent a pan arm bar, so that ended our night at Willamette. Sunday we went to Vitale's and Phil Vitale opened his shop with what they had left, (not much) but helped us get our car up & running and if it wasn't for Phil we wouldn't have made it to the track just in time for hot laps, I would like to give Phil Vitale a very grateful THANK YOU! We then went to Cottage Grove speedway and qualified for the B main and finished 6 th. The rear end fix wasn't quite positioned to the perfection it needed to be and this week we will get it positioned. This last weekend was very event filled for us as well as other racers, and we are in the works to try and help Casey Vitale with launching a website and would appreciate any help we can get to help him get a car and back out their racing. The next race is July 11 th at Willamette Speedway. Thanks to Rays Food Place for featuring me this month on their website www.gorays and to all my associate sponsors for their support of my racing program.
3 rd Trophy Dash win
That evening at Cottage Grove Speedway we qualified 3 rd fastest @13.47 which put us outside of the front row for the trophy dash. Trent led from the green flag and never looked back scoring his 3 rd Trophy dash of the year. In the heat race on the first lap coming out of turn 2 Trent got loose and got together with Lisa Stroup sending Trent to the infield and Lisa up & over onto the back stretch wall. We bent a tie rod and therefore we were unable to finish the heat. In the main event with a 10 car invert we started 7 th of 14 cars from the green flag Trent had a great car, was able to run the bottom as well as the top. The race had 7 cautions, at Cottage Grove speedway they don't race to the yellow which means when the yellow flag is thrown they revert to the last completed lap. Therefore we past a number of cars several times in route to a solid 4 th place finish and missed third by a nose. Next weekend is a 3 day Dirtcar I-5 NW Late model Tour starting Friday July 3 rd we will be at Rays Food Place in Central Point, OR for a store appearance from 9 am to 2 pm then we race at Southern OR Speedway in Medford. Then we go Saturday July 4 th at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, OR and Sunday July 5 th we come back to Cottage Grove Speedway. We would like to thank Rays Food Place and our associate sponsors for their continual support.
In route to Chico, CA we went to Lebanon to hitch a ride in the Vitale racing transporter for a weekend trip of racing on Father's day to run with the Dirtcar Western Allstars Late Model series. First night at Silver Dollar Speedway we qualified for the B main and with 3 laps to go on a caution restart I go drove under and flattened our left rear tire and the series gave us no time to change the tire therefore we didn't finish. Saturday morning we went to Paul Guglielmoni's race shop in Vacaville, CA and washed and did our general maintenance before heading to Antioch Speedway that night. We qualified in the B main and missed the transfer by 1 position as only 21 cars get to start. A highlight for Trent was to be chosen by Dirtcar to sign autographs at Antioch Speedway Saturday afternoon with the winner of Chico's race Chris Shannon. We would like to thank Phil & Casey Vitale for allowing us to travel with them; we didn't have the best weekend for racing, however we had a great time with the Vitales. I would also like to thank Paul Guglielmoni for the shower and shop use in Vacaville, CA. photo courtesy Infield Designs InfieldDesigns.dotphoto.com
We would like to thank Manager Art Brewer and his staff for pre-advertising for our store visit. It was a misty morning and was praying for good weather and hoped the ugly "R" (rain) word would not come up. Trent visited with approximately 75 plus store customers and signed several autographs & took pictures with several of the kids present. After a spectacular appearance we went to Coos Bay speedway which is a track we have not previously raced at before and started the night out with setting fast time. Started in the back of the 1 st heat and won the heat race and went on to win the trophy dash as well.
Photos courtesy of Troy Turner www.outlawphotoguy.com
In the main event we started in the back of a 10 car field and on the first lap going down the back stretch 2 cars turned sideways in front of the whole field leaving Trent now where to. He hit them with the right side, and because we were running 5 th a car behind us drove over the nose of the car. Since so many cars were involved in the mayhem the track choose to run the street stock main event to allow time for all cars to make repairs. We taped, pop-riveted, and zip tied the nose on as for it was shifted to the right about 8 inches. The track had a complete restart and we participated with our bent and mangled sack of groceries. Trent put the Rays Food Place special in the lead on lap 5 and at the end of the 30 lap main event Trent WON by a track length. Our next race is Saturday June 20 th and Southern OR Speedway in Medford, OR. Thanks to all our sponsors and the support they have given.
We headed to Siskiyou Speedway for a night of racing, however the weatherman predicted thunderstorms & showers which it did do and so the night of racing was put to a halt as it rained, thundered, and had lightning. Our next race is at Coos Bay Speedway on June 13 th and Trent and the 4E racecar will be at the Bandon Ray's Food Place Store #18 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm for a store appearance. Thanks to all our sponsors and wish us look for the next race.
The T.E.R. 4E Rays Food Place Special made its 3 rd store appearance at Store 48 in Creswell, OR on its way to Cottage Grove Speedway, Cottage Grove, OR.
After completing our store visit we left for Cottage Grove Speedway. This was our first trip to this track. During hot laps and qualifying the car was set up rather loose and gave the fans in the stands quite a show as Trent was lifting the left front tire at least 2 feet in the air. He had a good 2 nd lap going but the car was a bit too loose coming out of turn 4 and we ended up qualifying 9 th out of 17 cars. Trent finished 6 th in the heat race and then in the main event we missed the setup and finished where we started in 10 th position. Our intentions were to go to Cottage Grove with testing in mind for the following Inaugural weekend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Dirtcar I-5 NW Late Model Tour. I feel we had a great night no major damage to the car and some great testing experience under our belt. Next weekend events are as follows:
We would like to welcome a new associate sponsor Benson Realty of Banks, OR.
The T.E.R. 4E Rays Food Place Special made its 2 nd store appearance at Store 31 in Yreka, CA on its way to Siskiyou Speedway in Yreka, CA.
After our store visit we were off to Siskiyou Speedway for our night of racing. The track was tacky and had a lot of moisture, so we made the changes to loosen the car. In our heat race we were tight and finished 4 th, made more changes to loosen the car and won the trophy dash. In the main event we started outside the front row and were very fast from the green flag. We were fast enough and leading every lap to lap 18 and have a ½ a track lead on the entire field. Then a caution came out for a car that spun, on the restart a carburetor stumbled a bit, which allowed the field to catch up, and things turned ruff as the end was near. We got body slammed by the car who won the race, the next lap a lap car body slammed us and hooked his bumper into our front fender which in turn tore ½ the nose off the car and the handling went away. Due to the circumstances the track credited us with 2 nd place and we will have get our win the next time. We acquired a new crew member; Jason Trimble of Redding; CA. Jason will be traveling to most of the shows in the mid Oregon & Northern California areas. We left Yreka, CA with great confidence and got our first trophy dash win and 2 nd place main event finish. Our next race is Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, OR on May 16 th, 2009.
The #4E (Rays Food Place Special) appropriately named from the announcer at Southern OR Speedway in Medford, OR, made its 3 rd race event Saturday April 25, 2009.
After our store appearance we were headed straight for S.O. Speedway were we had a good night, finishing 2 nd in the heat race and 2 nd in the trophy dash. We were tight in the trophy dash so we made some changes to loosen the car for the main, which we ended up finishing 3 rd. We came away from Medford feeling very positive, and happy with our first top 5 finish of the year. We feel we are gaining more education to help us get closer to our first win of the year. Our next race is Saturday May 9 th, 2009 at Siskiyou Speedway in Yreka, CA where we will make a scheduled appearance at Rays Food Place Store #31, in Yreka, CA. We would like to thank our associate sponsors Peninsula Sanitation, WitzEnd Consulting, Cent Wise Sporting Goods, Arbor Mortgage, and Mikes Fence Center.
T.E.R. Car #4E started the year out in route to the first race with the 2009 Ray's Food Place Monte Carlo with a surprise visit to the Ray's Food Place in Redmond, Oregon for a couple of quick photo's in front of the store, We then made our way to Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Oregon for the first race of the year. Without any hot laps, known as practice laps in the racing world, we qualified middle of the pack for the B main event. After making some changes to the car for the heat race, Trent was fast enough to get the Monte Carlo up on two wheels and show the crowd the bottom of the car and managed a second place finish. Next up in the main event we started inside the third row. On the start we got bumped and spun around backwards in front of the whole field. As a result of the incident we tore part of the nose off and bent a tie-rod which made the car difficult to turn. At that point not wanting to do further damage to the car we decided to park the car and call it a night. That's racing. We would like to thank our associate sponsors Peninsula Sanitation, WitzEnd Consulting, Cent Wise Sporting Goods, Arbor Mortgage, and Mikes Fence Center. Next up will be back at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Oregon on Saturday April 18, 2009 . |
Russ, Joe of Cascade Air Heating & Cooling, Trent & Julie
Congratulations to Trent Elliott on his FIRST Late Model win at Cottage Grove Speedway June 11, 2010. Thanks to ZCS Engineering, WitzEnd Consulting, AAA Home Inspection, Smith Rock Autobody, Mikes Fence Center, Norco, Redline Oil and Casey Vitale of Vitale Racing.
On Thursday T.E.R. headed to Medford, Oregon for the 1 st Annual Battle of the borders a 2 day show at Southern Oregon Speedway for the DIRTCAR Northwest I-5 Late Model Tour in addition we had 2 store appearances one in Jacksonville, Oregon on Friday and the other in Phoenix, Oregon on Saturday.
Saturday morning we got started early cleaning the car as for it was laced with dirt everywhere, first we scraped all the big stuff and sweep it up then a wash. After the wash we moved the car in front of the Rays Phoenix store's main entrance and started doing our routine maintenance for Saturday night races. This was the second time this year we did this and this time we drew an even more interest lots of kid and young adults there were a lot of guys that came by watched some said they had been at the track the night before and seen us run most felt bad for Trent getting caught up in that mess. The store manager brought out a cooler full of new products from Crater Lake Soda to give away we had a few takers and all said it was good pop! Around 1pm we left for the track for the last race on are schedule for the 2009 season this is also the last race in the northwest as well.
We qualified 2 nd and finished 3 rd in the trophy dash, we won our heat race, although Trent got into a guy and in the mayhem we lost the muffler on the right side of the car which meant finding one and getting it welded on before the race or we couldn't run due to sound issues. Therefore thanks to Putter and the Hansen racing team for the part and the help welding it on, with all this we had body damage that had to be straightened and because time was short we missed the original green flag fortunately they had a caution on the green so it allowed us to start at the back. The main had 15 cars, Trent was able to run high & low and was fast at the end and we finished 5 th, and it was a good run from the back.
The T.E.R. #4E race team ventured to Rays Food Place in Roseburg, OR for a car & driver appearance at Store #57. The day was very warm, a parking lot garage sale was going on as we greeted many of Ray's customers, and Trent signed autographs, and helped kids in & out of the car. I would like to thank Clay Firestone: assistant manager and the staff at Rays for a great day in Roseburg. I would also like to thank the O'campo's Mexican restaurant for a great lunch.
After last week's long & eventful 3 day weekend we geared up for our next race at Willamette Speedway. We qualified 4 th Fastest and made the trophy dash for the first time at Willamette starting on the outside of the front row and finished 2 nd, giving us a first time spot in the A Main. There were 17 cars that started the main event we started 13 th and finished 13 th. 
The TER 4E Rays Food Place Special hosted a first time store appearance at Rays Food Place in Central Point, OR on July 3 rd. The manager Scott South & staff were on hand to help us set up for the one of the busiest days of the year, we had a great time visiting with the customers and many said they had already made plans to be at the track for a night of action packed racing. Trent had an opportunity to be 
Coming off a rough California weekend at Chico's Silver Dollar Speedway and Antioch Speedway the TER #4E was at Cottage Grove Speedway. On route to the speedway we made our 3 rd appearance at Rays Creswell, OR store. We shared the front door opening with a Pepsi representative who displayed the Pepsi Hummer and gave out samples of the new Pepsi Natural.
After a scheduled week off and a rained out show in Yreka, the T.E.R. took the Rays Food Place Special westward to Rays Bandon, OR Store #18 on Saturday June 13 th for a scheduled store appearance. 
The T. E. R. Ray's Food Place Special made its 5 th store appearance at Store #24 at Mt Shasta, CA. We set up in front of the store and visited with the assistant manager Greg, and some of the staff. While visiting with customers of the store we noticed this Ray's had a continuous flow of clients throughout the day. Trent visited with customers and talked with people promoting Siskiyou Speedway in Yreka, CA.
We were greeted by the Assistant Store Manager Richard and his staff, had coffee and breakfast sandwiches. The Chamber of Commerce served Hot Dogs & a soft drink for $2.00, what a deal. The day was gorgeous lots of store traffic for Trent to spend time signing autographs and putting kids and their family members in & out of the car.
We were welcomed by the Store Manager Bob Marks and his staff, had coffee & donuts, and Shannon of the bakery sold fresh strawberry shortcake, very good! There was also a car wash donation event for Delphi Elementary School. Trent spent time signing autographs and taking pictures with customers.
We started are day off with an official stop at Rays Food Place Store #61 in Eagle Point, OR where we had a warm greeting from the store manager Larry Crawford and his staff. We displayed the car & Trent in front of the store by their barbeque being prepared by chief barbecue guy Terry Grogan. If you are in the area Terry fixes some of the best barbeque you will sink your teeth into. Trent spent his time signing pictures, letting customers get in & out of the car, and taking pictures with customers.
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