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Mike Reichenberger and his 16-year-old son Brandon Reichenberger race twin super late model cars in the Dickinson County Racing Association Series (DCRA) at Norway Speedway in Wisconsin.
Super Late Models are the top division on the oval at Norway Speedway in Wisconsin
“The last couple of weeks have been pretty good for us,” said Mike Reichenberger. “I won my last race and am only four points away from the overall series lead. Brandon is in his rookie year and has qualified consistently in the top ten.”
Father and son, Mike and Brandon Reichenberger have twin Super Late Model cars
Father and son compete at the same time in the same series. “Brandon is doing so well I know his time is coming when he will beat me,” said Reichenberger. “Right now, I have to take all the wins I can get.”
Mike Reichenberger has raced for 31 years and Brandon has been behind the wheel since he was only 4-years-old. “We put Brandon in
a super late model because I felt he’d be safer racing in a car.”
The two will race together through Labor Day. “We use K&N on all our vehicles,” said Reichenberger. “K&N gives the small racing teams like ours a chance to be really competitive on the track. K&N filters are cost effective and our air intake kit saves us gas money when we tow our race cars to the track.”
2008 Interstate Racing Association Champion Bill Balog is defending his title in a big way. He is currently at the top of the points standings in the 2009 IRA season.
Interstate Racing Association Defending Champion Bill Balog is at the top of the points standings in 2009, photo by Martin DeFries
Balog and his B2 Motorsports Team raced its 410 sprint car at Elko Speedway in
Elko, Minnesota in the IRA’s 3 day race weekend. Balog turned the 13th fastest
time of the night out of 34 cars. At the end of 17 laps Balog took a 6th place finish which placed him in the B-main. He started 5th in the 12 lap race and made it to the feature. He had a flat and finished 17th.
On the second night at Elko, Balog turned the 3rd fastest time of the night out
of 26 cars. He also drove the B2 Motorsports 17B with K&N products to the lead.
There was a caution on lap 14, but Balog went on to claim his third feature win of the season. On night three Bader brought home 3rd place.
Balog began his racing career 15 years ago in Fairbanks, Alaska. “I started out racing snowmobiles and motocross,” he said. “There are only 4 dirt tracks and one asphalt track in the entire state. It’s also a very short season. On a good night we’d compete against about ten other sprint cars. It was a nice change to come down here and compete against a big pack.”
Balog raced in Alaska for a few years, then tried Dirt Late Model racing in Washington. He eventually moved to Wisconsin and has an ownership team. “I use K&N air and oil filters,” said
Balog. “K&N protects our engines, provides us with excellent filtration and helps me get to the Winners Circle.”
Balog and his B2 Motorsports Team will take its 149 point lead to Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wisconsin for another IRA event.
Michael Vaters takes racing win in Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion Monster Truck action
Freestyle action during Monster Truck Competition had high speed, big air and non stop action
Mickey Vaters Jr., in freestyle motocross action in Thrill Show at Washington County Ag Expo in Maryland
Trey Myers drove Ford Powered K&N Iron Warrior during Monster Truck action at Allegany County Fair in Cumberland, Maryland
Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion gets big air in Monster Truck action
Lawn Mower racers take to the tracks in the Vaters' Motorsports Thrill Show in Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland hosted the Washington County Ag Expo and Vaters’ Motorsports went there to put on a thrill show for the crowd.
Mikey Vaters Jr. brought his FMX Ramps for a freestyle motocross show of acrobatic stunts. Michael Vaters Sr. piloted the Kamikaze Jet 4 Wheeler as Iron Warrior driver Trey Myers piloted the Psycho Jet 4 Wheeler. Together they shot flames from the jet’s powerful 1500 horsepower thrust engines and burned a mini-van to the ground for the spectators. “The fans loved all the action including the lawn mower races even though a rain storm slowed things down a little,” said Vaters. “The crowd still hung around for a while after the show to get autographs.”
From there Vaters was off to Cumberland, Maryland for Monster Truck action at the Allegany County Fair. The last time Vaters and the Black Stallion attended the fair was 1986. In 2009, more than 3,000 people watched four competing monster trucks, the Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion, Tim Bee and the Killer Bee, Tim Mente and Storm Damage as well as Vaters teammate Trey Myers driving the all Ford Powered K&N Iron Warrior.
Each monster truck pushed the limits during each pass and Vaters stood the K&N Black Stallion high in the air twice. The racing began with Iron Warrior facing off against Storm Damage. Vaters stampeded his way over Tim Bee’s Killer Bee. Storm Damage and Iron Warrior did not make it to the next round and the finals came down to the K&N Black Stallion and Killer Bee. Both trucks blasted off the line and shot out past the cars as they rounded the turn. Black Stallion took the lead and the racing win.
The freestyle action started off with Tim Mente whirling Storm Damage into a blurring cyclone. “He set the freestyle bar high for the rest of the monster trucks,” said Vaters. “Trey set out next in Iron Warrior but didn’t know his rear axle was damaged. He launched off the van stack in the middle of the track and made several more soaring hits over the cars before his moving parts gave out under the stress.”
Killer Bee had the crowd standing on its feet and Vaters finished up the competition with a run that had big air, high speed and non-stop action. In the end, Killer Bee took the freestyle win.
Vaters uses K&N motorcylce air filters and oil filters on his Monster Trucks. “Over my many years in this business I’ve used a lot of products, but K&N is the one that can handle the dirty and dusty environment during Monster Truck action,” said Vaters. “We are known nationwide for our ability to push our engines to the limit. We’re hard on our motors and K&N gives us the protection we need for competition.”
Vaters and his team will next compete at the Cecil County Fair in Maryland and the Seekonk Speedway in Massachusetts.
Despain Motorsports continued its winning ways with a third consecutive victory at Clinton County Speedway in Alpha, Kentucky.
Third time is the charm for three-peat winner Elliot Despain at Clinton County Speedway in Alpha, Kentucky
Thumper and Brutus are both Open Wheel Modified cars owned by Despain Motorsports, and both made the Winner's Circle
Elliott Despain started the Open Wheel Modified race with the third quickest lap during the qualifying session and started outside the front row in his heat race. Despain went on to win the heat race and was able to claim the coveted pole position.
Despain Motorsports uses K&N on all of its vehicles on and off the track
Despain will try for its fourth consecutive win at Clinton County Speedway in the Open Wheel Modified Class
Despain took first place from the start and set his sights on the win. Driver Michael England was in second place and tried to get around Despain. “I was able to use the lapped traffic to keep him behind me and eventually won,” said Despain. “This is the first time that we have won a feature race with our secondary car, which we have named Thumper. We won our first two races with our car named Brutus, which is our primary car. Now we know we can win in both cars, and that is special.”
Despain Motorsports uses K&N products on Thumper, Brutus and all of its vehicles. “We use K&N because it gives us the extra power we need and keeps the dirt out of our engines,” said Despain. “K&N is a big part of Despain Motorsports.”
Racing continued for Despain Motorsports at its second race of the weekend at the Bluegrass Speedway (BOB) in Bardstown, Kentucky. There, the hunt was on for victory in Race No. 6 of the Battle of the Bluegrass Open Wheel Modified Series.
“We drew an 88 out of a 100 and by the time we hit the track for our qualifying laps, the grooves were used up,” said Billy Despain, Elliott’s father. “It was a long uphill struggle after that.” Despain started seventeenth in the 30 lap Modified Main event. He finished in thirteenth place which put him eight overall in the BOB Open Wheel Modified Series.
Team Despain will return to racing action this weekend. “We’re going to try and get our fourth consecutive win at Clinton County Speedway,” said Despain.
Placerville Speedway in Placerville, California hosted the Family Chevrolet Tribute to Al Hinds Civil War race. The grandstands were filled to capacity at the sixth running of the classic event.
K&N air filters protects sprint car racers engines from dirt and debris at every race
Driver Andy Forsberg was fifth in his heat race and second in the B main. The A&A Team driver then started 12th in the A-Main and moved up to sixth place. Forsberg eventually finished in 9th place.
Racer Andy Forsberg will next head to wine country at the Calistoga Speedway for a 360 Civil War Race
“We’ve had some really bad luck this year,” said Candace Forsberg, Andy’s mother. “We blew two of our 410 engines within two weeks of each other. Both had cracks in the heads. Our 2001 360 motor had 29 races on it so it also had to have repairs. The motor we ran at Placerville is our spare 360 and it’s pretty old so we were afraid to push our luck with it.”
This Saturday the A&A Team heads to California's wine country. Forsberg will race at the Calistoga Speedway ½ mile for another 360 Civil War Race. “I enjoy going to Calistoga, but the track scares me a lot,” said Candace Forsberg. “They reach speeds up to 100 mph down the stretches. Andy has never won there but has been the bridesmaid four times. His dad Richard has a belt buckle from when he won there in the 70s and wears it to every event hoping Andy will get the win. When Andy does get it, his dad will pass it on.”
The team has high hopes of getting its good motor back in time to turn things around. One thing they never have to worry about is the performance of their K&N products. “I would not use anything else on our sprint cars,” said Forsberg. “K&N air and oil filters are dependable and are easy to use and maintain. They protect our engines from track debris and give us additional power and filtration.”
