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• @chicknlil Copy that. I can't remember that last Cup race I watched... Hope u r having a good holiday weekend! :-) in reply to chicknlil 1 day ago
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• 01Dec

  Renee Volunteers with ‘Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Academy’

  2009
  

  The 2010 Phase I Academy students pose for their class picture.

  As in past years, on November 20-22 Renee traveled to Phoenix (AZ) to volunteer her time with the ‘Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Academy.’

  Established in 1994 through Lyn St. James’ ‘Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation,’ the Academy is the most comprehensive educational and training program of its kind for talented women race drivers who aspire to the professional levels of motorsports. The 2010 edition of the Academy marks the 15^th anniversary of the training program.

  While in Phoenix, a group of 14 promising young women focused on the physical and mental preparation that is required of a champion driver. Hosted by Athletes’ Performance – literally a world-class training facility for elite-level athletes – the group worked to develop an effective fitness plan, learned proper guidelines for nutritional training and underwent baseline physical testing.

  

  Lyn tests Zoe Mattis' (Pottstown, PA Micro Sprint driver) grip strength.

  The group was also offered several workshops with Performance Prime’s Dr. Jacques Dallaire. During the seminars, the students were offered tools for gaining knowledge in preparing the mind for competition. Each participant also received Dr. Jacques’ MindShaper™ Software – a groundbreaking tool for improving mental skills such as focus, concentration, and reaction time.

  “As a graduate of the Academy, I know how invaluable this Program can be in developing a skill set to help young women drivers,” explained Renee. Lyn works tirelessly in her pursuit of finding – then developing – these promising drivers. With the support of Dr. Jacques, a truly amazing man with even more amazing insight; and Athletes’ Performance, an absolutely astounding training facility – she’s able to continue her search. I’m just glad to be a part of it all.”

  For more information about the Academy, please visit Lyn’s website.

• 26Oct

  Season Closes with Annual World Series

  2009, SpaceFitters, Thompson, UNION Insurance Group

  This past weekend NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour rolled into Thompson International Speedway (Thompson, CT) for the World Series of Speedway Racing presented by Xtra Mart. The 150-lap event marked the close of the 2009 race season for the WMT.

  On Saturday, persistent rain showers caused the cancellation of all on-track activity. As a result of Saturday’s washout – practice was cut to 30 minutes and qualifying was canceled (the field was set according to points).

  On Sunday, the WMT teams ran in a brief practice session. Following the practice all WMT drivers participated in an autograph session for the fans in attendance.

  At approximately 4:35 the green flag waved signifying the start of the final event of the WMT’s 25^th season. The UNION Insurance Group/SpaceFitters Chevrolet started the race from the 25^th starting spot. When the caution came out on lap 43, the team brought the car to pit road for tires and fuel and adjustments. Shortly thereafter, on lap 82, Renee spun her ill-handling car trying to stay in front of the leaders. Eventually, the No. 90 car would find its way back onto the lead-lap (via the Lucky Dog) – but with about 20 to go – the car developed an electrical problem. After losing several laps in the pits, the team remedied the situation and returned the car to the track. In the end the electrical problem forced the team to finish the race three laps down from the leaders.

  Teddy Christopher won the race and Donnie Lia captured the Championship. The No. 90 car was credited with a 16^th place finish.

  “We had all sorts of problems today,” recounted Renee. “We were loose from the start. Then we lost the brakes. We seemed to fix all that during our many stops – then we lost power with an electrical problem. It’s certainly not how we wanted to end the season.”

  With the 2009 season in the record book, we look forward to keeping your updated with off-season news and notes. Please check back for frequent updates.

• 15Oct

  Thompson’s World Series Postponed

  2009, Thompson

  With snow gently falling over much of the state and temperatures dropping into the mid-30s – and more bad weather in the forecast – Thompson International Speedway officials have postponed the World Series of Speedway Racing.

  Originally scheduled for this weekend, the event has been postponed until Oct. 23-25. The schedule for the weekend will remain the same. This is just the second race during the 2009 season that has been postponed.

  According to published reports in The Hartford Courant, Don Hoenig (Thompson’s track owner ) was quoted as saying:  “We desperately wanted to run the World Series event this weekend. But, when virtually every weather forecast is predicting a complete wash out, we felt we had no choice but to move everything to next weekend.”

  Next Saturday’s schedule calls for Whelen Modified Tour qualifying at 2:30 PM, with the 150-lap Whelen Modified Tour race going off on Sunday at approximately 3:30 PM.

• 04Oct

  Stafford Start & Park

  2009, Stafford

  This past weekend NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour returned to Stafford Motor Speedway (Stafford Springs, CT) for the running of the 37^th annual Carquest Fall Final.

  Despite persistent rain showers on Saturday, the WMT hit the track for a few rounds of practice. And, despite posting the 10th fastest practice time during the brief session, the No. 90 car unexpectedly developed a problem under the hood.

  After weighing all their options, the team principals decided to take a provisional starting position into Sunday’s field – then do a ‘start and park’ during the race.

  “After putting our heads together we came up with a few options, but realistically none of them were any good,” said Renee. “We opted for a ‘start and park’ because we just can’t take the chance of hurting this engine. Looking at the big picture, basically we sacrificed Stafford so we could have the engine back together in time for the season-ending race at Thompson.”

  As Renee stated, next up on the WMT’s schedule is Thompson International Speedway’s annual World Series of Speedway Racing. The three-day event – featuring 14 different divisions – will run on October 16-18.

• 19Sep

  Return to NHMS Nets Improvement

  2009, Broadcast Info, NHMS, SpaceFitters, UNION Insurance Group

  NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour made the second of two stops to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH) on Saturday, September 19^th. The 100-lap race aired from 1-2:30 PM on SPEED (garnering a .5 rating; meaning 349,000 total households – or 442,000 viewers – tuned in).

  

  A field of 40 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars take the green at NHMS. Dupuis Photo.

  Long before the cameras rolled, after arriving at the Speedway on Wednesday evening, for the WMT faithful, the extended event began at the crack of dawn on Thursday; after registration and inspection, an early afternoon practice session was followed by qualifying. In the end, Renee qualified the No. 90 UNION Insurance Group/SpaceFitters Chevrolet to the 17^th position (in total, 40 cars participated in time trials).

  With no WMT activity scheduled for Friday, the team returned to the track on Saturday – for an 8:30 AM practice and 12:45 PM green flag. The No. 90 machine started the caution-filled race from the inside of the ninth row. When the caution flew on lap 35, the No. 90 was scored in the 13^th position. On lap 50, when some of the leaders pitted, they restarted from the 9^th spot.

  “After the caution we started to get loose and began dropping like a stone,” explained Renee. “There had been so many cautions, I figured we would quickly catch another and pit for tires. However, the race went green for 20 laps.”

  When the caution finally flew on lap 70 the team brought the No. 90 car into the pits for a three tire change and fuel. During the caution just a few cars pitted so, despite a great stop by the pit crew, the car returned to the track all the way back in the 28^th position.

  

  The crew enjoyed a traditional New England treat - courtesy of Crew Chief Jason and City Fish (Wethersfield, CT) - on Friday.

  “Donnie (Clifford – the team’s tire expert) came across the radio and told me that – with just 8½ pounds in the left rear – we clearly had a tire going down. As a result, the stagger had drastically opened up to 4¼ inches. I guess we got lucky because, in my opinion, losing a tire here would be catastrophic. Regardless, the 4¼ inches made it pretty clear why we had gotten so loose.”

  With their problem solved, Renee began to pick off spots and by the time the caution waved again on lap 87 she had made it back to the 16^th position. When the checkered flag was unfurled Ronnie Silk was credited with the win, with Renee crossing the line 14^th.

  “There were three or four really big wrecks that happened right in front of us today and I have to hand it to Brian (Kingsbury – the team’s spotter) – for keeping us out of those accidents. I had a pretty good seat to see all the action, but I’m looking forward to watching the SPEED coverage to see just how close some of those actually were.”

  While the WMT will next be in action at Martinsville Speedway (Martinsville, VA) on Sunday, September 27, the No. 90 team will return to action on Sunday, October 4 for Stafford Motor Speedway’s (Stafford Springs, CT) annual Fall Final event.

  In the meantime, please be sure to visit our gallery for photos from the New Hampshire event.

• 10Sep

  SPEED to Televise New Hampshire Event

  2009, Broadcast Info, NHMS

  When the Whelen Modified Tour returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH), on Saturday, September 19^th, the cameras from SPEED will again be rolling.

  SPEED will air the race from the ‘Magic Mile’ on a slight tape-delay. The race, which is scheduled to go green at 12:50 PM, will air at 1:30 PM – with the ever-knowledgeable Mike Joy and Dick Berggren calling the action from the NHMS booth.

  For those that can’t make it to the track, SPEED will provide an excellent opportunity for viewers to catch all the action from the always entertaining race.

• 04Sep

  Top-10 Qualifying Run Ends Abruptly

  2009, Thompson
  

  Renee's top-ten run ends in this multi-car accident. Accident courtesy of James Civali; Photo courtesy of Howie Hodge.

  On Thursday, September 3 the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returned to Thompson International Speedway for the running of the Budweiser 150.

  The 33 teams assembled in the pit area began the afternoon with an hour long practice session. The No. 90 team concluded the session posting mid-pack times – but were confident they had a better than mid-pack car.

  Despite an early draw (the car went out 9^th for qualifying) Renee topped the leader board – maintaining the pole for some time. When it was all said and done, she posted the 8^th fastest time of the day.

  Following time trials, Renee – along with the rest of the starting lineup – participated in an autograph session on the track’s midway.

  When the green flag dropped, the No. 90 team started the race from the 6^th spot (the top-ten cars redraw for starting position). Renee ran inside the top-ten for the first 72 laps – and was running in the 7^th position when the caution flew on lap 72. Pitting along with the rest of the leaders, the car came to pit road for tires and no adjustments.

  “The guys did an excellent job in the pits – getting us back out onto the track in 7^th,” recalls Renee.  “They did a great job all day long – the pit stop was just something else that went right for us today.”

  When the track went green again, the No. 90 car continued to race in the top-ten. On a lap-91 restart Renee was in the 8^th position – behind the No. 1 (Rob Summers) car and outside the No. 17 car (Glen Reen). Coming off of turn two, James Civali (car 79) pulled the pin and attempted a three-wide move on the bottom that ended up putting Summers in the wall. With absolutely nowhere to go, Renee became airborne over the 1 car – riding the top of the wall and narrowly missing the catch fence. When the cars came to rest – Renee’s left front was literally sitting on Summer’s carburetor. With the racing surface almost completely blocked, an extended red flag period ensued.

  “I’m actually sick. We had a great run going and we flat out got wrecked by Civali’s stupidity. He wasn’t faster than us…he had been running behind us prior to the restart…he just threw it in there and wrecked a lot of good cars in the process. We ran strong all day long, we were running a smart, competitive race and we have zero to show for it. Actually, it’s less than zero because we’ll have to shell out the money to put the car back together.”

  “On the bright side, we’ve been running really strong. Ed has been giving us great set-ups in the cars, the fresh Billy the Kid engine we have in there has some serious power, our tire guy (Don Clifford) is hitting the stagger just perfect and our crew guys have had excellent stops. Things have really come together in those areas and I’m thankful to everyone involved for all their efforts.”

  Next up, the team will compete in the September 19^th event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during the Sylvania 300 Sprint Cup weekend.

• 14Aug

  Thompson Race Rescheduled for Thursday, September 3

  2009, Thompson

  Due to light yet persistent rain at the track, and with more in the forecast, NASCAR officials – in conjunction with Thompson International Speedway – postponed Thursday, August 13th’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Budweiser 150 presented by New England Dodge Dealers until Thursday, September 3rd.

  The rescheduled Budweiser 150 will mark the second of three trips for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to Thompson in 2009.

  The September race at Thompson is the next event on the No. 90 team’s schedule, as the team has elected to skip the Bristol date – mainly citing financial concerns.

  “Bristol just doesn’t make any sense for our team,” Renee recently explained. “The purse is pathetic. In fact, with the purse structure, the team that finishes in second place won’t cover their expenses. Plus, the mid-week scheduling makes it difficult for our crew members to attend without having to take too much time off from work. It’s a shame because we would all love to compete at track like Bristol. Unfortunately, at this point in time, it’s just not going to work for us.”

• 01Jul

  UNION Insurance Group helps to create Team Identity

  2009, UNION Insurance Group
  

  Crew member - Joe Nericcio - wears the new team uniform shirts.

  

  UIG reps Heather and Alicia show off the team's new apparel.

  During the recent event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the No. 90 team received a special surprise from primary sponsor UNION Insurance Group.

  The Chicago-based insurance agency presented the crew members with custom designed shirts emblazoned with not only the UIG logo, but also displaying the logos of several other team supporters.

  “I knew the folks from UIG were working on some shirts, but I didn’t know they would be ready for Loudon,” Renee recently explained. “They went above and beyond any expectations I might have had. From the design, to the style and use of a tech fabric – I think the guys look great. It will go a long way in creating an identity for our team. I’m really thankful to them for taking on this project on our behalf.”

  In addition to crew shirts, going forward, the team will be introducing other apparel items – including stylish women’s tank tops and low-profile baseball caps.

• 28Jun

  Team Closes Out Long NH Weekend on Sour Note

  2009, NHMS

  

  The pace car leads the field prior to the start of the New England 100.

  With a schedule spread over the course of three long days, on Saturday morning – prior to the start of New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s New England 100 – the WMT teams readied for the race by running a 40 minute practice session. Following practice, the line-up of WMT drivers participated in an autograph session for the thousands of fans in attendance.

  When the cars rolled off of pit road at 1 PM, the No. 90 team staged from the inside of the 6^th row – in the 11th position. Renee had a good start. As planned, she found an opening and moved up into the outside line going down the front stretch. Meanwhile at the front of the pack, a loose oil line caused the No. 36 car to leak oil and puff smoke. When the pack checked-up coming off of turn four, Renee and several other cars got turned around.

  

  As the WMT cars roll off for the start, the crews on pit road ready for action in front of a large crowd.

  “Initially, I thought we maybe just got turned around in Teddy’s oil. But, later, we discovered the bottom of my left rear quarter panel had been folded under – so obviously there was some contact there.”

  Regardless, Renee rejoined the race toward the rear of the field – riding for a few laps then passing several cars. However, all the effort was for naught, when on just lap 19 Renee suddenly experienced a loss in power under the hood.

  “It’s been a devastating year and this just adds to the pain,” Renee lamented. “To come here with such a fast car and to leave with nothing to show for it is just so disappointing for everyone involved. It’s not just this race – it’s the last three. If we were unprepared, it would be easier to deal with. But we come to each race with all of our ducks in a row and inane things have happened: we clearly get wrecked at the Sizzler; the battery shorts out coming to the green for the 100-lapper; now we lose an engine. This is just heartbreaking.”

  Because of the string of poor finishes, the team is undecided about the next two races on the WMT schedule. Likely, the team will return to action at Stafford (CT) on Friday, August 7^th.

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