| Travis & Trevor Updates |
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| 7/12/08 I hope everyone is enjoying another nice weekend of weather.
It was Trevor's turn last weekend to be taken out. Luckily, the guy
shot him up the track, but it was a good spin and he stayed off the
wall. Another car hit his front fender, but no major damage.
It will be an interesting few days for the boy's. They have
been working hard putting together a friends car for Travis to run at
Slinger for the Nationals. We want to thank Chris Ratajczyk for letting
Travis run his car. We also want to thank a few of our current
sponsor's that came through for Travis to do the Limitied Late Model
race. Tommy of Emily's Restaurant, Bobby at Choice Equipment, Jim
Christensen, Grandma and Grandpa Dassow.
This will be the first time that boy's will be racing
against each other. It should be both interesting and exciting. I'm
nervous enough when just one of them is out there. They will be racing
together this Sunday at Slinger to test out the new car.
On Monday night Travis and Trevor will be
doing an appearance with their cars at Emily's Restaurant from 2:30
- 8:00. They will also be there with NASCAR drivers David
Stremme, Kelly Bires, Eric Darnell, Scott Whimmer, Rich Bickle and
others. I think the NASCAR drivers will be there around 5:00? Our
crew chief Howie Lettow also had David Stremme and Kelly Bires as
his drivers. It would be a great time to come and meet Howie also.
The boy's and the other drivers will be interviewed all
afternoon on Monday. The 92.5 radio station will be doing a
remote right form Emily's. . Travis, Trevor and the other driver's will
also be on the Racing Round up Radio Show around 6:00 on ESPN
Radio 540. It will be a great time, and a great way to meet all of the
driver's and see their cars. Hopefully we will see you all there, Tommy
is putting on one heck of a show!
The Nationals will then be run on Tuesday Night. Qualifying
will be at 4:00 and Racing begins at 7:00. Have a great weekend, and
hopefully see most of you in the next few days.
Mike
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7/4/08
Happy fourth of July! I hope everyone is enjoying some time off, and the great weather. There were plenty of fireworks last week for Travis and the crew in Mansfield. Travis had a great car to start off the race. He started on the outside front row, and went right to the
front at the start of the race. Travis lead the first 85 laps, and then
the car started to get real loose. He hung in there and brought it into
the 100 lap break in third place.
Travis started the second 100 laps, just being patient and
saving tires for the end of the race. We were all concerned, because we
knew one of the biggest weapon's on the track was behind Travis. Sure
enough, he slammed right into Travis's rear end, and sent Travis right
to the wall, head on. Travis hit so hard that the car went up five feet
in the air.
It was the hardest hit I have ever seen Travis take. He was
pretty sore, but he is ok. The car was another story though, the front
of the car was pretty much trashed. Thank God for all of the new safety
equipment that has come out over the past few years.
Trevor had an ok week. Once again the rain was all around
us, and qualifying got rained out. He ended up starting near the back
and on the outside. He did a great job on the outside, he stayed right
with the pack. The tires can handle just so much on the top at Slinger,
and it started going away. He got too close to the water on the bottom
of the track and looped it, but didn't hit anything.
Travis is off this week, and Trevor will be racing at
Slinger on Sunday. Hopefully we will see you there!
Mike
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| 6/26/08 It was a pretty tough race for Trevor at Slinger this last
Sunday. The car inside of him went up the track and took him out.
Luckily he was able to keep it off the wall, and didn't have too much
damage. Just a piece of the other guy's sheet metal stuck in his wheel.
Trevor had to me into the pits and get his tire change, and lost quite
a few laps. He will be racing this Sunday once again for the Keith's
Marina fire works night.
Travis will be racing this Saturday night in Mansfield, OH.
It's a track we have never raced at before, and Travis is really
looking forward to it. With the third place finish in the last race, he
has moved up to fifth in points. Hopefully the bad luck we had in the
first of couple of races will stay away, and he can move up some more
in the standings.
On a sad note. Our long time friend, sponsor and business
associate Bob Fish Passed away this week. Bob was one of the nicest
people you would ever want to meet. He was always right there for the
boy's and I. He will be greatly missed by our family and friends.
God's Speed.
Have a great weekend,
Mike
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| Travis Update 6/18/08 hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather, it's been a
crazy couple of weeks with all of the rain and flooding. Hopefully all
of you made it through ok.
It was a great weekend for Travis and the crew. It was a
busy Thursday with doing an appearance at the Family Fair Grocery
with our sponsor Kaat's Culligan. Things went great for everyone
involved with lot's of race fans visiting with Travis and the crew.
That night they went to do another appearance at the Best Western
Grandville Inn and Brann's Steak House. Great Hotel, excellent food and
lot's of fun.
Travis had a great practice day on Friday at one of the most
challenging tracks for Him and Howie. It has always been a track that
has been dominated by the local racers. Travis started in the 4th
position and worked his way up to 1st by lap 57. It was an exciting
race with Travis leading going into the half way break.
After the break, Travis had a little help from the driver
behind him, and sent him up the track. Travis managed to save it, but
lost quite a few positions. The changes that we tried at the break,
didn't work very well, but he kept on fighting to get back to the
front. The Berlin raceway curse was finally broken, and Travis took a
podium finish [3rd]. It was the best finish Travis and crew have
had in the history of ASA at Berlin.
The finish moved Travis up to 5th in the points
championship, helped close the gap on the lead. Travis and the crew's
next race will be at Mansfield Speedway in Mansfield, OH on June 28th.
Thanks to Greg Garson from Vendors Exchange for picking up the tire
bill for the race in Ohio.
Hopefully we will have another great race, and we want to
thank all of our sponsors for helping to make it happen. On a personal
note, I also want to thank my wife Carol for putting up with me for 25
years, today. Have a great week! I will send Trevor's update in another
email, he also had a great week.
These are some pictures from the race and Happy Birthday to
Howie Lettow, our crew cheif.
 (From Left to Right): Peter Cozzolino-2nd Place, Brian Campbell-Winner of the 2nd annual Tradition 200, and Travis Dassow-3rd Place.  Defending ASALMS Challenge Division Champion, Travis Dassow (89) passed early race leader and Challenge Division Points Leader coming into the weekend, Sean Murphy (32) on Lap 57 of the 200-lap Feature.  T.D. Racing Development Crew Chief, the legendary Howie Lettow celebrated his 60th birthday during the 2nd annual Tradition 200 Race Weekend. |
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| Trevor Update 6/18/08 It was a long ride from Michigan on Saturday night, but we
made the trip back and out to Slinger for Trevor's race. We had a weird
day in practice and it was a the strangest race I have ever seen. We
didn't make any changes to the car from last week when he qualified
fourth, but the car was horrible in practice.
Travis made a ton of changes, and the car
got better, but still not like it was the week before. Trevor was
the first one to go out and qualify, which didn't help things. He ended
up starting in the back of the feature, and somehow avoided one of the
biggest wreck fest's I have ever seen. I think there were 6-8 cautions,
and Trevor had a problem with the water on the bottom of the track and
spun out a couple of times.
It turned out to be his best finish of the year in the
feature. He hung in there and missed a lot of accidents. The track
finally called the race at lap 25 because it was running so long.
Trevor finished 7th for his first top ten, and would have been 5th if
the race wasn't shortened.
Hopefully we will get the car figured out this week, and we
will be back at Slinger for the Pepsi-Miss Slinger Pageant on Sunday
night. We hope to see you there!
Have a great week!
Mike
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6/7/08Travis was the fastest car in practice, but they were rained out again. Hopefully Slinger we will get Slinger in. This is from the ASA WebsiteASA Late Model SeriesASA Late Model Series • North Division. Series Development & Vision for the Future The Nations' Premier Short Track Series will be running a Northern, Southern and Challenge Touring Series in 2006. The North and South Divisions will meet the racers needs at the grassroots level and offer affordable, professional racing. “ASALMS LIVE” from LaCrosse Fairgrounds SpeedwayPosted June 7th, 2008 4:45p.m.
(CST) Practice is now complete for the ASALMS Northern Division as the 30 teams on hand in Western Wisconsin are now going through Tire Impound and Qualifying Tech in preparation for ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Qualifying, which begins at 6:00p.m. Wausau, Wisconsin driver, Jeremy Lepak will be the first driver to Qualify. ARP
Bodies /Aluminum Racing Products Qualifying Order (30) Practice
Session Two (2) Results |
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| 6/6/08 It will be a busy weekend for the whole TD team. Travis will
be racing in the ASA northern division race in Lacrosse on Saturday
night. It's a track that Travis really likes, and has done well at.
I will have to miss the race though, George and I will
be doing an appearance at the Chicago Carpenters open house in Elk
Grove village on Saturday.
Then on Sunday, we will all be heading to Slinger for
Trevor's race. Hopefully the weather holds up, and we don't get blown
away by the storms.
Just a quick note, the voting for the national awards are in
on Speed 51. Travis was picked as the third most improved driver in
07 amongst all of the short track drivers across the US. He
was also selected as the 6th most promising driver.
The TD Racing Development team was selected as the 5th best
development team. That was pretty neat, especially with it being our
first year. It really helps to make you feel good, when you see results
like these for Travis and the team.
Have a great weekend, and we'll let you know how it goes!
Mike
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| 5/29/08 It was one of Trevor's biggest day's in his career of
racing. At the ripe old age of 15, he won his First race.
It was an awesome weekend for Trevor, Travis and the crew.
Trevor won the Limited Late model semi feature race. It was another big
step for him, his hard work and patience are paying off. I was holding
off sending the update, hoping that Slinger would have the picture on
the web site, but it wasn't on there. I will check with the track
photographer and see if he can get us some to email out.
We were not sure if Trevor would even be able to race this
weekend. He had a little accident with his long board, and his wrist
was pretty swelled up. If you asked him, it was just fine and no
problem ; ). The car was a little off in practice, but with
Travis's help they got it better. He just missed starting the feature
in qualifying, but everything happens for a reason.
He started third in the semi, worked his way up to second
and glued to the rear bumper of the first place car. On the 8th lap,
the leader left the door open and Trevor stuck his nose right in there.
He passed the leader, and drove away to win the race by
a straight away. We're not sure, but some of the older
drivers thought he was the youngest driver to win a late model race at
Slinger?
This weekend Trevor will be racing once again at Slinger for
the Pepsi Challenge round two. Racing starts at 6:00 pm and qualifying
is at 4:15. The fireworks were canceled last week due to the rain, but
they will have them this week.
Have a great weekend, and hopefully we'll see you at Slinger!
Mike
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| 5/21/08 It was one of those weekends of racing that you would like
to forget. Luckily we have not had many in our years of racing. We went
to Iowa Speedway, and it was a beautiful weekend with Temperatures 75
& 80 with a nice breeze. Travis and the crew had a great time and
signed a bunch of autographs at the NAPA store appearance on Thursday.
Travis and the crew always enjoy spending the day with great race
fans.
Travis and the crew did a super job once again with getting
the car dialed in. At the end of the first day, they were 5th
fastest on old tires. Travis went out the next day and qualified 3rd,
which put him in the 8th starting position after the invert. The car
was working great, and managed to move up to fourth in the first of
three segments. At the break, they made some changes to the setup of
the car. They went a little too far and the car was bottoming out for
the entire 2nd 50 lap segment. It looked like the 4th of July
behind Travis's car with all of the sparks coming out in the
corners. It was upsetting the car in the corners, but he managed
to hang in there, and came into the pits at lap 100 still in the
top ten.
In the third and final 50 lap segment, we put on the
new tires, made a bunch of changes, and Travis started passing cars
again. He came over the radio and said something's wrong, I think
a tire is going down. He had to come in the pits under green, and
they changed the left rear tire. He was down three laps by the
time he got back out. It could have been a lot worse if the tire
would have blown, or if it happened earlier in the race. With the bad
luck, he managed to get a lap back and still came home with a 14th
place finish. We'll get um next time.
We packed up the hauler and headed back to West Bend. It was
another all nighter, and got home around 7:30am Sunday. We got a few
hours of sleep, and loaded up Trevor's car to go race at Slinger.
Trevor did a great job driving, and Travis is really doing a great
job as crew chief. They managed to knock off four tenths during
practice, and Trevor had his best time ever in qualifying. He was two
tenths faster than what he was in practice.
He qualified 18th out the 29 car field and just missed the
feature by one car. He ran the semi, and had to start 6th with the
invert. He managed to move all the way up to third, and was doing a
great job. Two cars in front of him wrecked, and he avoided the wreck.
We're still not sure why, but he was put to the back with the two
cars that wrecked. It was a bad call, but you'll have those days. He
passed a couple of cars and finished 6th. I was very proud of him, the
way he his being patient, and not hitting or banging with any cars,
while they are beating on him. Hopefully he is earning some respect out
there, as he is respecting the other drivers.
This weekend Travis will be off, and Trevor will be running
at Slinger once again. Hopefully we will be able to find some
sponsorship to have Travis run some more races. It's been a tough year,
and Travis understands that. He has been contacted by a top Hooter's
Cup driver to spot for him, and help him out with how to get around the
track for the Milwaukee Mile race next weekend. It's neat to see
him get involved in every part of racing.
Have a great Memorial day weekend, and hopefully we will see
more of you at the races!
MIke
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| 5/14/08 Travis and the crew will be heading to Iowa
Speedway in Newton IA this weekend. This is one of Travis's
favorite tracks. He still holds the track record and finished second
there last year. We will be doing an appearance at the Newton IA NAPA
store on Thursday 5/15 from 3:00-6:00. Our Buddy Pete Vanderwyst will
also be racing with us this weekend.
Trevor's race was rained out last Sunday at Slinger, and
hopefully the weather man is wrong for this week. We'll try to make it
back from IA, but it won't be easy.
Have a great weekend, and we'll let you know how the races go!
Mike
This is the article on the ASA site today:
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. |
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| 5/6/08 Trevor had his first race of the season at Slinger, and the
second of his career. On Saturday it was a cold and sometimes rainy
day, but he managed to get some practice laps in. It was really neat to
see him improve with every trip out on the track. Travis and Howie
worked on getting the car better, and helping Trevor with how to drive
the track.
It was an awesome day on Sunday, unreal how the weather can
change so fast. Trevor had a couple more practices, and with Travis's
changes to the car, he was really bringing his times down. He qualified
for the feature in 17th place. He had a couple of wrecks in front of
him, but he did a great job staying out of them. He was all the way up
to 9th or 10th place near the end of the race. I gave him a lot of
credit, he wasn't afraid to try and make another pass on the outside,
but he came into the corner a little too high. Trevor looped the car,
but kept it off the wall.
It was a great race, and still managed to finish 12th. I was
really happy seeing the car come home without a scratch after all of
the racing and practicing this weekend. Trevor had a ball and
can't wait to go back to Slinger this coming Sunday. It will be the
Pepsi Challenge Mother's Day Special, with racing starting at 6:00.
It was great to see so many of you there, and we hope to see
more of you this Sunday. I pasted a picture of Trevor's car below.
Have a great week!
Mike
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food. |
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| 4/30/08 hope everyone had a great weekend and didn't get blown away
by the high winds and storms. Travis and the crew went to Indianapolis
this weekend for the ASA opener. We brought down an updated car to test
for the northern division. Travis and the crew are really working well
together. It amazed me how they were able to get two cars dialed in
just a few hours of practice. They were the fastest in both class
practices.
For the ASA north race, Travis qualified 2nd, just missing
the fast time by 6 thousandths of a second. You can't get much closer
than that. Something happened with the car for the race, and it was
really loose right from the start. He hung in there and fought the car
the whole race. On lap 90 something happened and the car scooted out on
him, and took a hit to the right front. Luckily there wasn't any major
damage, and he finished 17th.
On Saturday night for the ASA National Challenge race, he
had another great qualifying run. He qualified 3rd, which put him in
the 7th starting position for the race with the invert. Travis rode
around for the first 100 laps with the plan to save tires for the
second half of the race. He moved up to 5th with about 80 to go, and
the car was feeling great. He started getting a really bad
vibration. Travis said he couldn't even see going in to the
corners, because it was vibrating so bad. It was a bad tire, but
he kept going, we were hoping it didn't blow. The big guy upstairs was
looking down on him, he hung in there and managed to bring home a 6th
place finish.
After the race, we looked at the tire and it was
in pretty bad shape. Once in awhile you just come across a bad
one. Travis was still vibrating, and said he thought his teeth were
going to get shook out of his head LOL.
This Sunday Trevor will be driving at Slinger for the Miller
- Emily's restaurant opener. He is really excited and has been working
on the car all winter long. Trevor, Travis and a friend of ours, put
the car together for Trevor's owner. Travis will be working as Trevor's
crew chief this year. The car looks great and we can't wait
to see how it runs. Time trials start at 12:00 and racing starts at
2:00. Hopefully we'll see you there!
Have a great week,
Mike
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1/22/08
Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. |
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| 12/23/07 We wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays! It's been an awesome year for our family. We had some high
goals to reach, and somehow with all of your help, and the big guy
upstairs, we managed to make those goals and more.
The boys have been busy getting the cars ready for the 2008
season. Trevor is playing basketball on the high school team, and
having a great year. He takes the snowmobile out every chance he
gets. Trevor is doing great in school, and getting those A's &
B's. He can't wait to do some more racing next year.
Travis is working full time at the shop getting the cars
ready. They pull the cars apart and go through everything and put them
back together. He is also working out daily, slimming down and lifting.
Travis is also busy with buying and selling parts on Ebay to help out
with the costs for racing.
It's been a great year for the boy's, and we want to thank
everyone for helping to make it all possible!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Mike, Carol, Travis and Trevor
This is an article that was ASA's site this weekend:
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