I first got into dirt track racing back in the mid 1990's, but never thought I'd own a "roundy-round" car. That all changed in the summer of 1999 when an old Army buddy of mine, Keith Buckley, and I got back in contact after 8 years. He had a modified and invited me to come up and go to the track with him. I was HOOKED!!

I started searching for a car late in 1999, and in February 2000 I purchased my first car from Graham Jackson. It was a 1993 Hubbel chassis. After doing more homework, and attending the World Modified Championships in Batesville Arkansas in the fall of 2001, I decided that the Hubbel was just too outdated to be competitive. The search was on again. I was looking for a Hot chassis. At Batesville, Keith Pittman ran a 1999 Hot chassis and was real fast. I searched the internet and in November I found an identical 1999 Hot chassis for sale. I purchased it and was back on the road to getting on the track.

I worked on the car for the better part of two years, and in the fall of 2003, I debuted the car of all places, at the World Modified Championships. I had never been in a modified in my life. Here I was, at the World Championships with the likes of Kelley Shryock, Howard Willis, John Logue, and Mark Noble, attempting to race with them. It's a time I will NEVER forget. I drew toward the rear of my very first heat race, and upon them dropping the green flag, the only thought that was in my mind was "I hope this thing's going to turn when I get to the other end" As it turned out, the car did turn. I didn't win the race, and I didn't even finish toward the front, but I did finish and it took the leaders 19 of the 20 laps to catch me.

During the winter of '03-04 I made several changes to the rear suspension of the car. I read several articles in both "Circle Track" magazine, and "Stock-car Racing" and knew that if I wanted to be competitive, I needed to change a couple of things. The next race was in March of '04 at the Bluegrass Bash II held at the Windy Hollow Speedway in Kentucky. We showed up for practice on Friday night, and right off the trailer she was fast. At the end of the night, I was one of the top 3 or 4 cars on the track. The changes I had made did the trick! My trip to the Bluegrass Bash II was cut short when in a transfer spot to make the big show, the battery of the car came completely out and I lost power. What a blow, but as they say: That's racing.

The '04 season was marked with engine problems. I had chosen to run a Mopar for my power instead of the ever-popular Chevrolet, or Ford. The head gaskets were blowing every 2 nights or so, and once I remedied that problem, the transmission had started to leak. I ran at the I-55 raceway in Pevely Mo, and the first night out, I led 4 laps of my heat race only to have the head gasket blow and put us out of commission.

In July of '04, my friend Rob "The Skyeking" Skye bought a W.T. Harris car with only 8 nights on it. Graham and I went with him to pick it up, and to go with him for moral support his first night out. Boy was it a night to remember. The car had a racing transmission which none of us had ever driven before so that was a challenge. Rob had never driven a modified and was kind of nervous so he wasn't going that fast either. As it turned out, the car was a rocket. Rob asked me to make a few laps in the car to see what she had. I agreed. That was the turning point for me. My Hot was pretty quick, but this thing was unreal. I was turning laps faster than I had ever imagined and it was only my first time in the car. Upon returning home, I got in touch with Wayne Harris and sent him a deposit on a new W.T. Harris car.

The winter of '04-'05 was a strenuous one in that I got divorced after 13 years. It was one of those things that happens when couples grow apart. We're still very cordial to one another, and have a beautiful daughter together.

The Summer of '05, Graham decided to change chassis brands. He was having a real hard time with his W.T. Harris car, and wanted something that was easier to set-up and required less maintenance. He decided on a Buzzard chassis. We found one at the Buzzard shop in Indiana and I purchased it, and traded Graham out of his W.T. Harris car. I borrowed an engine from him, and got the car ready to go down to Mississippi to the Jambalaya 100 in November.

Friday night at the Jambalaya was a night mare. I had one guy in particular that insisted on hitting all of the corners of the car. He hit the right rear, the left rear, and the right front before being black-flagged. The car looked worse for wear, but it was still pretty fast. ON Saturday night, I had to run the non-qualifier or the "B" main as it's called. 24 cars and only the top 5 would transfer to the "A" feature. I was starting dead last. I put on a charge, and racing as hard as I could, I finished 4th!! I made the show.

The feature held little of promise for me as I missed the set-up miserably. I started 16th out of 24 and drifted toward the rear. About 3/4 of the way through the race, a car spun in front of me and to avoid the wreck, I swerved sharply to the right. After that, the car seemed to come alive. I could drive it into the corner as hard as I wished, and get back into the throttle as soon as I wanted. As I looked out the front of the car, I also noticed something I'd never seen before. The front of the car seemed to be angled toward the right. After the race ended, Graham came up to me and asked what had happened. As I thought about it, I went around to the right rear of the car and my suspicion was right: I had lost the right rear spring. I went to the pay window, finishing in 15th place only to be handed $25. I had never raced so hard for so little.

In 2006, I had one outing at I-55 raceway in Pevely, MO. I started the heat race on the outside of the 3rd row, and was real fast the first lap, only to be taken out on the second lap and put into the outside wall. The result was an early exit for the night, and $600 damage to the car. Oh well, that's racing.

2007 was a busy year with my work, so I didn't get to race a single night. Work before pleasure as they say. It was, however, a very good year for Sunburst off the track as we moved into a new house and shop in November. Sunburst racing now has a 2400 square foot facility to work and race out of. We are truly blessed.

The 2008 racing season was a short one. I ran a total of 4 times, and didn't have much luck, but at least I was on the track.

I started the year out by traveling to Columbus, MS to the Winter Classic in January. We got there on Friday night, made about 30 laps of practice only to be snowed/rained out the following day.

The second outing was at the Benton Raceway in Missouri. We had been rained out the previous 3 weeks, so the track was very mushy and rough. We started the heat race, and on lap 3, the engine died. Upon inspection, I found that the belt and pulley had both come off the fuel pump. The racing gods weren't happy with me for some reason.

Outing #3 wasn't much better. I went to St. Francois County raceway in Farmington, MO. After hitting the wall in hot laps, I finished the heat race in 4th position. This meant that I would have to run the B-main and hope to transfer to the feature. In the B-main, the car didn't handle very well, and I finished 9th out of 15. Not good enough to start the Feature.

Outing #4 was our last for the season, and once again, the racing gods weren't happy. I started the heat race in 4th position. In front of me, as a very poor joke, were the track champions for the past 2 years, and the runner-up to the track champion from the previous year. The best thing I can say is that I was definitely in good company.

From the drop of the flag, the car was set-up very well, and I was running with the leaders. On lap 5, the car stumbled, and the engine died. I coasted to the infield and came to a stop. The engine would turn over, but would not fire. I was finished for the night. A burned out MSD box was the culprit.

In August, I sold the W.T. Harris modified and now await the delivery of a brand new W.T. Harris Late Model to compete in the ULMA series. After the 2008 year, I look forward to 2009 with anxious anticipation for a much better year.

I would like to thank each of you for your support, and for stopping by to look at my site.

If you have a business of your own, please give Richard Holderbaugh at Mr Bits and Bytes a call. He'll be more than happy to set you up with a site of your own that not only complements your business, but that also sets it heads and shoulders above the competition. After all, isn't that what racing's about?

"Let's go RACING!!"