Weekly Results
Looney 90 Racing
April 21, 2010
Well I know it's now quite a ways into the 2010 season and I haven't made any updates yet and I apologize but you should understand why once you have
read this.
We started off with our 1st race of the year up at The Rock with the Bandits for their season opener. What a weekend it would turn out to be.....
When we went up there the week before for practice, I left there feeling very confident with our baseline setup and looking forward to getting back there.
When we unloaded on Friday night and hit the track for hot laps it was a different story. The track had completely changed and I needed to change the
setup significantly to be competitive. I made some changes and it still wasn't enough as we qualified 17th out of 29 cars, which is still acceptable. So that
lined us up 6th for our heat and its a heat I wish we never would have run. We get the green flag and come through 1 and 2 and down the backstretch.
The outside pole sitter loses it in front of everyone and takes half the field out including me. To let you know how bad it was, when it was all said and done
with, Gerald Davis' right rear tire was sitting on my carburetor. Well needless to say our evening was done and it was time to see if we could salvage the
car for Saturday. We worked on the car from 8pm until 11pm there at the track and then loaded it up and headed for the hotel. Saturday morning we got
on the road for Brian Bucklers garage where we would continue the work from 9am until 3pm. We did get the car finished and made it to the track on time
and got ready for the B-main. I ended up getting the last transfer spot and made it into the show starting 22nd out of 24 cars. When the race started I kind
of held back and let things shake out. After about 10 laps I knew we had a decent car and tried to move forward. Well every time someone would spin or
whatever, it seemed to happen right in front of me. After the break at halfway I think we were up to 14th or so and at the restart I began moving forward
again. But it was not to be.....
With about 15 to go the car broke a right rear shock mount and ending our night. I think we still managed to finish 14th because of attrition which is alot
better than it could have been.
I have to thank alot of people for there help and parts or we would not have made it on Saturday. First and foremost I have to thank Dad, Jeremy, Carl and
Rion for their tireless work all weekend long. All of them could have thrown their hands up and said no way, but they trudged it out and got us back on
track. Second, I have to thank Brian Buckler and his whole crew for giving us a place to work on the car. Not only that, but they also provided parts for us to
get us back running. Lazer blood runs deep and this is a prime example of that. I also have to thank my lovely wife, Sarah, and Sandy for watching the
kids all weekend and participating with us. Last but not least I need to thank alot of other drivers for coming up and asking if we needed anything. They
don't have to do that, but they do and I hope they know the feeling is mutual. Big thanks to Gerald Davis, Joey Leavell and crew, Walker Arthur, Kyle Merkel
and all the others that offered help. Even my old friend Greg Roberson called me up to make sure I didn't need anything, and he was 4 hours away!!! So
thanks to all of these people for your help.
So needless to say it made for a very long week last week checking the car over and getting everything back into decent shape to run at Eastside this past
weekend. Thanks to Dad and Rion for there help in getting us back on track.
So we loaded up for the big Eastside this past Saturday and it turned out to be a decent night, needless to say much better than last weekend. The track
was absolutely horrible, probably the worst I've seen there EVER, but you have to deal with what they give you. We ended up missing the pole by a couple
of thousandths but I was fairly pleased still. They have gone back to inverting the top 6 so that gave us a 5th place starting spot. Right from the drop of the
green flag I started falling to the back. The car just wouldn't go and I had to move to the high side to make something happen. I guess I could have stayed
down low and just followed everyone around, but what fun would that be, I like to make something happen. So the Highside Hoodlum went to work and I
started to move forward. I had made it back up to 5th at halfway but I needed a caution to catch back up. That caution never came and I had to settle for
5th. We were catching the guys in front of us but I just ran out of time. I don't think I had anything for Joey who led it flag to flag but I do think I could have
gotten around a couple of the others. Congratulations to Joey and his crew for the victory. We will be back at Eastside for the next couple of weeks.
Actually we will be there until May 29th when we will travel to WVMS for the next Bandits show. Although we will be down at Natural Bridge next Saturday
for the 2 track challenge following running at Eastside on Friday. But this weekend we will only be at Eastside and look forward to watching the 2 Nascar
Kenny's battle it out in their Modifieds.
Thanks to all my fans and supporters and we'll see you at the track. God Bless
Kris Looney
Looney Racing #9Q
Well I know it's now quite a ways into the 2010 season and I haven't made any updates yet and I apologize but you should understand why once you have
read this.
We started off with our 1st race of the year up at The Rock with the Bandits for their season opener. What a weekend it would turn out to be.....
When we went up there the week before for practice, I left there feeling very confident with our baseline setup and looking forward to getting back there.
When we unloaded on Friday night and hit the track for hot laps it was a different story. The track had completely changed and I needed to change the
setup significantly to be competitive. I made some changes and it still wasn't enough as we qualified 17th out of 29 cars, which is still acceptable. So that
lined us up 6th for our heat and its a heat I wish we never would have run. We get the green flag and come through 1 and 2 and down the backstretch.
The outside pole sitter loses it in front of everyone and takes half the field out including me. To let you know how bad it was, when it was all said and done
with, Gerald Davis' right rear tire was sitting on my carburetor. Well needless to say our evening was done and it was time to see if we could salvage the
car for Saturday. We worked on the car from 8pm until 11pm there at the track and then loaded it up and headed for the hotel. Saturday morning we got
on the road for Brian Bucklers garage where we would continue the work from 9am until 3pm. We did get the car finished and made it to the track on time
and got ready for the B-main. I ended up getting the last transfer spot and made it into the show starting 22nd out of 24 cars. When the race started I kind
of held back and let things shake out. After about 10 laps I knew we had a decent car and tried to move forward. Well every time someone would spin or
whatever, it seemed to happen right in front of me. After the break at halfway I think we were up to 14th or so and at the restart I began moving forward
again. But it was not to be.....
With about 15 to go the car broke a right rear shock mount and ending our night. I think we still managed to finish 14th because of attrition which is alot
better than it could have been.
I have to thank alot of people for there help and parts or we would not have made it on Saturday. First and foremost I have to thank Dad, Jeremy, Carl and
Rion for their tireless work all weekend long. All of them could have thrown their hands up and said no way, but they trudged it out and got us back on
track. Second, I have to thank Brian Buckler and his whole crew for giving us a place to work on the car. Not only that, but they also provided parts for us to
get us back running. Lazer blood runs deep and this is a prime example of that. I also have to thank my lovely wife, Sarah, and Sandy for watching the
kids all weekend and participating with us. Last but not least I need to thank alot of other drivers for coming up and asking if we needed anything. They
don't have to do that, but they do and I hope they know the feeling is mutual. Big thanks to Gerald Davis, Joey Leavell and crew, Walker Arthur, Kyle Merkel
and all the others that offered help. Even my old friend Greg Roberson called me up to make sure I didn't need anything, and he was 4 hours away!!! So
thanks to all of these people for your help.
So needless to say it made for a very long week last week checking the car over and getting everything back into decent shape to run at Eastside this past
weekend. Thanks to Dad and Rion for there help in getting us back on track.
So we loaded up for the big Eastside this past Saturday and it turned out to be a decent night, needless to say much better than last weekend. The track
was absolutely horrible, probably the worst I've seen there EVER, but you have to deal with what they give you. We ended up missing the pole by a couple
of thousandths but I was fairly pleased still. They have gone back to inverting the top 6 so that gave us a 5th place starting spot. Right from the drop of the
green flag I started falling to the back. The car just wouldn't go and I had to move to the high side to make something happen. I guess I could have stayed
down low and just followed everyone around, but what fun would that be, I like to make something happen. So the Highside Hoodlum went to work and I
started to move forward. I had made it back up to 5th at halfway but I needed a caution to catch back up. That caution never came and I had to settle for
5th. We were catching the guys in front of us but I just ran out of time. I don't think I had anything for Joey who led it flag to flag but I do think I could have
gotten around a couple of the others. Congratulations to Joey and his crew for the victory. We will be back at Eastside for the next couple of weeks.
Actually we will be there until May 29th when we will travel to WVMS for the next Bandits show. Although we will be down at Natural Bridge next Saturday
for the 2 track challenge following running at Eastside on Friday. But this weekend we will only be at Eastside and look forward to watching the 2 Nascar
Kenny's battle it out in their Modifieds.
Thanks to all my fans and supporters and we'll see you at the track. God Bless
Kris Looney
Looney Racing #9Q
April 30, 2010
It was back to Eastside for the 1st round of the 2-track challenge. I thought the car was fairly good in hot laps and thought we might have a shot at the
pole. Needless to say that wasn't the case as I had 2 terrible laps and ended up qualifying 10th. We dropped like a rock in the feature as I tried to get the
high side to work for us, but it just wasn't there. By now it was around halfway and I had dropped back to around 15th when we had a caution. After the
caution I thought I would give the bottom a try and the race was on. We went from 15th to 5th in about 5 laps and we were still charging. I made it into 4th
and had tracked down 3rd place running Matt Marshall. I showed him my nose 3 different times and all 3 he chopped me off. So finally I got up along side
and said 'this is it' but guess what, he chopped me again and knocked my nose into the tire. Lets just say I had a handful get the car back under control
with only about 5 laps left. I ran him back down but because of his "mistake" it allowed Lewis Hudson, who was several laps down, to get in between us
and I ran out of time. It was a good run but had I decided to run the bottom the whole race we may have had a much, much better outcome.
May 1, 2010
We headed down 81 to Natural Bridge to try and make the 3 State Flyers super late model show. My goal heading down there was simply to make the
show and we did that, but must by the skin of our teeth.
Hot laps started out very well with us running 15th out of 27 cars which was decent. From there on it was simply hold on for dear life. I out adjusted the
car and we totally fell on our face the rest of the night. We grabbed the last transfer spot into the show and started 24th which was dead last. The car just
never was underneath me and we ended up finishing 22nd.
May 8, 2010
We were back at Eastside for a weekly show on a very windy evening. I think everyone knew that the track was going to leave much to be desired. We
were okay in hot laps and I made a small adjustment for qualifying and it paid off as we set quick time and took our 1st pole of the year. With the invert that
lined us up 5th for the feature and at the drop of the green flag I thought we might have something for them. But the track lost all moisture and the car just
wasn't as good as it was at the start of the race. I changed my line and went to the topside, which wasn't much better but our car seemed to work better up
there. So we ended up finishing 4th again but I still can't complain. We have had a fast car all year long, maybe not quite as fast as it needs to be, but we
are very close. Congrats to Greg on another win.
Thanks to all my fans and supporters. I also want to thank Dad for trudging it out so far this year, I know its been a very difficult start to the season but
you've stuck with me and haven't given up. I also want to thank Jeremy and Sarah from Tombstone Trimmers for all they do to help. Carl and Sandy from
Quality 1st Masonry have always been huge supporters of ours but Carl has stepped it up this year and really gotten in there and gotten "his hands dirty".
So thanks to all those folks and we'll see you back at Eastside this weekend. God Bless.
Kris Looney
It was back to Eastside for the 1st round of the 2-track challenge. I thought the car was fairly good in hot laps and thought we might have a shot at the
pole. Needless to say that wasn't the case as I had 2 terrible laps and ended up qualifying 10th. We dropped like a rock in the feature as I tried to get the
high side to work for us, but it just wasn't there. By now it was around halfway and I had dropped back to around 15th when we had a caution. After the
caution I thought I would give the bottom a try and the race was on. We went from 15th to 5th in about 5 laps and we were still charging. I made it into 4th
and had tracked down 3rd place running Matt Marshall. I showed him my nose 3 different times and all 3 he chopped me off. So finally I got up along side
and said 'this is it' but guess what, he chopped me again and knocked my nose into the tire. Lets just say I had a handful get the car back under control
with only about 5 laps left. I ran him back down but because of his "mistake" it allowed Lewis Hudson, who was several laps down, to get in between us
and I ran out of time. It was a good run but had I decided to run the bottom the whole race we may have had a much, much better outcome.
May 1, 2010
We headed down 81 to Natural Bridge to try and make the 3 State Flyers super late model show. My goal heading down there was simply to make the
show and we did that, but must by the skin of our teeth.
Hot laps started out very well with us running 15th out of 27 cars which was decent. From there on it was simply hold on for dear life. I out adjusted the
car and we totally fell on our face the rest of the night. We grabbed the last transfer spot into the show and started 24th which was dead last. The car just
never was underneath me and we ended up finishing 22nd.
May 8, 2010
We were back at Eastside for a weekly show on a very windy evening. I think everyone knew that the track was going to leave much to be desired. We
were okay in hot laps and I made a small adjustment for qualifying and it paid off as we set quick time and took our 1st pole of the year. With the invert that
lined us up 5th for the feature and at the drop of the green flag I thought we might have something for them. But the track lost all moisture and the car just
wasn't as good as it was at the start of the race. I changed my line and went to the topside, which wasn't much better but our car seemed to work better up
there. So we ended up finishing 4th again but I still can't complain. We have had a fast car all year long, maybe not quite as fast as it needs to be, but we
are very close. Congrats to Greg on another win.
Thanks to all my fans and supporters. I also want to thank Dad for trudging it out so far this year, I know its been a very difficult start to the season but
you've stuck with me and haven't given up. I also want to thank Jeremy and Sarah from Tombstone Trimmers for all they do to help. Carl and Sandy from
Quality 1st Masonry have always been huge supporters of ours but Carl has stepped it up this year and really gotten in there and gotten "his hands dirty".
So thanks to all those folks and we'll see you back at Eastside this weekend. God Bless.
Kris Looney
May 15, 2010
It was back at our old stomping ground of Eastside for the Federated Auto Parts special. The night started out very well with us setting quick time for the
2nd week in a row. That would give us a 3rd place start in the feature after it was all settled.
The feature started out very well with me getting by Caywood for 2nd and tracking down Lewis Hudson in the lead, and that's where it all went sour. I
made several runs at Hudson to the inside with him shutting the door on me. I finally made a run on him down the backstretch and got completely beside
him. Lewis is known for being a very hard racer and not giving an inch which he continued. I stayed as low as I possibly could but we still made contact
and we got locked together and I spun. That sent both of us to the rear. The car wasn't the same after that and I tried to make the most of it. After a few
laps the RF began to go flat and I had to come in. After we got the flat changed I started again in a rears and tried to move forward. The car was an
absolute handful after that and I managed to make it back up to 6th at the end. We were by far the class of the field but as always it just wasn't to be.
Now onto our altercation with Lewis....
Let me start by saying that I have absolutely no hard feelings toward him. He is a very hard racer and never gives an inch but I don't really think he did
anything wrong, other than protecting his position. Me and Lewis have never had a major problem with each other and I hope that continues. I think we
both know as racers that these things happen and hopefully we will both try to forget about it and move on. I wish I would have been a bit more patient and
tried a few more times, although I do believe I had the line. Now that being said, its always interesting to see where your alliances lay. I'm not going to
mention any names, but you know who you are and it cuts deep, very deep.
I have to thank my whole crew for standing behind for the whole night. It really does suck, we pretty much lost a win, a tire(for the 3rd week straight), a
radiator, and some suspension parts. Not to mention the fact that I had to make a trip to the ER to have my wrist X-rayed Sunday morning. So there's a
doctor bill for me on top of that!!!
We will be taking next week off to get everything prepared for the trip to WVMS on the 29th. Thanks again to all my fans and supporters for coming out. I
gave it my best, I just hate that you spend your hard earned dollar and we couldn't deliver. God Bless.
Kris Looney
It was back at our old stomping ground of Eastside for the Federated Auto Parts special. The night started out very well with us setting quick time for the
2nd week in a row. That would give us a 3rd place start in the feature after it was all settled.
The feature started out very well with me getting by Caywood for 2nd and tracking down Lewis Hudson in the lead, and that's where it all went sour. I
made several runs at Hudson to the inside with him shutting the door on me. I finally made a run on him down the backstretch and got completely beside
him. Lewis is known for being a very hard racer and not giving an inch which he continued. I stayed as low as I possibly could but we still made contact
and we got locked together and I spun. That sent both of us to the rear. The car wasn't the same after that and I tried to make the most of it. After a few
laps the RF began to go flat and I had to come in. After we got the flat changed I started again in a rears and tried to move forward. The car was an
absolute handful after that and I managed to make it back up to 6th at the end. We were by far the class of the field but as always it just wasn't to be.
Now onto our altercation with Lewis....
Let me start by saying that I have absolutely no hard feelings toward him. He is a very hard racer and never gives an inch but I don't really think he did
anything wrong, other than protecting his position. Me and Lewis have never had a major problem with each other and I hope that continues. I think we
both know as racers that these things happen and hopefully we will both try to forget about it and move on. I wish I would have been a bit more patient and
tried a few more times, although I do believe I had the line. Now that being said, its always interesting to see where your alliances lay. I'm not going to
mention any names, but you know who you are and it cuts deep, very deep.
I have to thank my whole crew for standing behind for the whole night. It really does suck, we pretty much lost a win, a tire(for the 3rd week straight), a
radiator, and some suspension parts. Not to mention the fact that I had to make a trip to the ER to have my wrist X-rayed Sunday morning. So there's a
doctor bill for me on top of that!!!
We will be taking next week off to get everything prepared for the trip to WVMS on the 29th. Thanks again to all my fans and supporters for coming out. I
gave it my best, I just hate that you spend your hard earned dollar and we couldn't deliver. God Bless.
Kris Looney
May 31, 2010
Happy Memorial Day to everyone and especially a big thank you to all the troops from past and present for fighting for our freedoms that we enjoy everyday.
It was off for the long haul to West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, WV for round 2 of the Steel Block Bandits. I had never been on the track
before but we still did exceptionally well considering. As usual we had a terrible pill draw, drawing a #108 out of 125 and that would line us up dead last in
our heat. We ended up doing okay in our heat as I was able to move from last to 2nd by the end giving us a 5th place starting position for the feature.
It would be after midnight until we would hit the track for our feature which gave everyone time to recooperate from the heat strokes we all had!!! When we
finally did hit the track it was normal falling backwards for us. We fell right from the get go, clean out of the top 10 and back to around 12th or 13th. We had
a restart on lap 17 and thats when the car took off, I moved to the topside and the car started working. We slowly started to move forward and by the end of
the race we had made it to 8th. I didn't have anything for the top 3, but if I could have stayed up front, I believe we could have easily maintained a top 5. We
just need to work harder at getting our car to fire right from the start instead of just hanging on.
So all in all it was a good weekend and I had an absolute blast racing back there and look forward to going back in September. I need to thank Jeremy
and Sarah from Tombstone Trimmers for providing the enclosed trailer for the trip. I also need to give a big thank you to Carl and Sandy from Quality 1st
Masonry for helping us all weekend. Not only at the track but also on the trip to and from WVMS. It sounds like it was a weekend for bad tires as the
Browns suffered a flat on the way back. We had a belt separate in one of our front tires on the truck which allowed us only to run 60 MPH the whole 300
miles back, so it made for a long, slow trip. Thanks also to all my fans and supporters. We will be at Natural Bridge this coming weekend for another
Bandits race as we continue a stretch of 5 straight travel weekends for us. We look forward to getting back to Larry Ramsey's 1st class operation and we'll
see you there. Thanks again and God Bless.
Kris Looney
Happy Memorial Day to everyone and especially a big thank you to all the troops from past and present for fighting for our freedoms that we enjoy everyday.
It was off for the long haul to West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, WV for round 2 of the Steel Block Bandits. I had never been on the track
before but we still did exceptionally well considering. As usual we had a terrible pill draw, drawing a #108 out of 125 and that would line us up dead last in
our heat. We ended up doing okay in our heat as I was able to move from last to 2nd by the end giving us a 5th place starting position for the feature.
It would be after midnight until we would hit the track for our feature which gave everyone time to recooperate from the heat strokes we all had!!! When we
finally did hit the track it was normal falling backwards for us. We fell right from the get go, clean out of the top 10 and back to around 12th or 13th. We had
a restart on lap 17 and thats when the car took off, I moved to the topside and the car started working. We slowly started to move forward and by the end of
the race we had made it to 8th. I didn't have anything for the top 3, but if I could have stayed up front, I believe we could have easily maintained a top 5. We
just need to work harder at getting our car to fire right from the start instead of just hanging on.
So all in all it was a good weekend and I had an absolute blast racing back there and look forward to going back in September. I need to thank Jeremy
and Sarah from Tombstone Trimmers for providing the enclosed trailer for the trip. I also need to give a big thank you to Carl and Sandy from Quality 1st
Masonry for helping us all weekend. Not only at the track but also on the trip to and from WVMS. It sounds like it was a weekend for bad tires as the
Browns suffered a flat on the way back. We had a belt separate in one of our front tires on the truck which allowed us only to run 60 MPH the whole 300
miles back, so it made for a long, slow trip. Thanks also to all my fans and supporters. We will be at Natural Bridge this coming weekend for another
Bandits race as we continue a stretch of 5 straight travel weekends for us. We look forward to getting back to Larry Ramsey's 1st class operation and we'll
see you there. Thanks again and God Bless.
Kris Looney
June 6, 2010
It was down to Nattie B for another round of the Steel Block Bandits and we might as well have left it on the trailer and stayed home.
The night started out really well with us setting fast time in hot laps, but I just think it was because the track was still a little tacky and fell off really quick.
We lined up 5th in our heat and just barely held on to finish 3rd which would line us up 10th for the feature. After the normal 2 or 3 tries on the start we
finally got going and I thought I had a decent car, nothing to win with, but not to bad. Well that didn't last long. We kind of held our own during the 1st half
of the race, hanging around about 10th. Then 3 or 4 guys got together in front of me and I simply stopped on the track to keep from tearing my or someone
else's equipment up. Well the track seemed to think that I needed to go to the back for that, so basically our night was over. It's a terrible call, I guess they
just want you to hold it on the mat and drive right through them and tear your equipment up and risk injuring someone. Oh well, I'll know next time. So we
went to the back and moved up just a few spots until 2 laps to go when the shock mount broke for the 2nd time this year and we failed to finish.
You know I really used to like going to Natural Bridge but my opinion is changing very quickly. I have a real good setup for certain situations down there
but not for last night. I have to thank Mark Parks of Walker Arthur for the setup tips, I just didn't listen and take heed to them. So I payed the price and we
ended up with a terrible finish. Our chances at a 2nd championship are pretty much out the window now, so I guess we'll just do our best and see where
the cards may fall. As usual we are snakebit this year and I'll be very surprised if we can find victory lane. I have to apologize to everyone who spent their
hard earned money to come and watch me fail miserably, it wasn't my intention. So it's off to Hesston Speedway next Saturday and then back to The Rock
on Sunday for the next 2 rounds of the Bandits. If our season continues like its been going then it should be a real treat. See you at the track.
Kris Looney
It was down to Nattie B for another round of the Steel Block Bandits and we might as well have left it on the trailer and stayed home.
The night started out really well with us setting fast time in hot laps, but I just think it was because the track was still a little tacky and fell off really quick.
We lined up 5th in our heat and just barely held on to finish 3rd which would line us up 10th for the feature. After the normal 2 or 3 tries on the start we
finally got going and I thought I had a decent car, nothing to win with, but not to bad. Well that didn't last long. We kind of held our own during the 1st half
of the race, hanging around about 10th. Then 3 or 4 guys got together in front of me and I simply stopped on the track to keep from tearing my or someone
else's equipment up. Well the track seemed to think that I needed to go to the back for that, so basically our night was over. It's a terrible call, I guess they
just want you to hold it on the mat and drive right through them and tear your equipment up and risk injuring someone. Oh well, I'll know next time. So we
went to the back and moved up just a few spots until 2 laps to go when the shock mount broke for the 2nd time this year and we failed to finish.
You know I really used to like going to Natural Bridge but my opinion is changing very quickly. I have a real good setup for certain situations down there
but not for last night. I have to thank Mark Parks of Walker Arthur for the setup tips, I just didn't listen and take heed to them. So I payed the price and we
ended up with a terrible finish. Our chances at a 2nd championship are pretty much out the window now, so I guess we'll just do our best and see where
the cards may fall. As usual we are snakebit this year and I'll be very surprised if we can find victory lane. I have to apologize to everyone who spent their
hard earned money to come and watch me fail miserably, it wasn't my intention. So it's off to Hesston Speedway next Saturday and then back to The Rock
on Sunday for the next 2 rounds of the Bandits. If our season continues like its been going then it should be a real treat. See you at the track.
Kris Looney
June 30, 2010
After a couple of weeks of some terrible luck we finally threw in the towel with traveling and set our minds to get back on track. We decided to head to
Natural Bridge Speedway not so much to race but more to test and what a successful night it was.
We've been doing some research into some new setups and decided to try something different and we're glad we did. We normally fall off a second to a
second and a half from the beginning of the night until the end of the night. With our "new" setup we actually picked up nearly a second from the start of
the night until the end. Larry Ramsey and the staff at Natural Bridge were kind enough to allow some testing after the races were completed and we
definitely appreciate that.
We only qualified 13th out of 16th and ended up finishing 9th but that wasn't the point. That is the most I've learned in the car in the last 3 years probably.
Now we look forward to continuing that this weekend. We will be at Eastside on Friday night and then back at the Bridge for the Two Track challenge on
Saturday to try and improve this setup.
Thanks to all my friends, fans, and supporters for standing behind me through this rough time. We have turned over a new leaf and our new motto of "we
just don't give a rats patoot" hopefully will carry on. We are going to try and have some fun the rest of the season and not chase points. We are going to try
and learn as much as possible for the rest of the year. Thanks again and we'll see you at the track.
Kris Looney
After a couple of weeks of some terrible luck we finally threw in the towel with traveling and set our minds to get back on track. We decided to head to
Natural Bridge Speedway not so much to race but more to test and what a successful night it was.
We've been doing some research into some new setups and decided to try something different and we're glad we did. We normally fall off a second to a
second and a half from the beginning of the night until the end of the night. With our "new" setup we actually picked up nearly a second from the start of
the night until the end. Larry Ramsey and the staff at Natural Bridge were kind enough to allow some testing after the races were completed and we
definitely appreciate that.
We only qualified 13th out of 16th and ended up finishing 9th but that wasn't the point. That is the most I've learned in the car in the last 3 years probably.
Now we look forward to continuing that this weekend. We will be at Eastside on Friday night and then back at the Bridge for the Two Track challenge on
Saturday to try and improve this setup.
Thanks to all my friends, fans, and supporters for standing behind me through this rough time. We have turned over a new leaf and our new motto of "we
just don't give a rats patoot" hopefully will carry on. We are going to try and have some fun the rest of the season and not chase points. We are going to try
and learn as much as possible for the rest of the year. Thanks again and we'll see you at the track.
Kris Looney
July 20, 2010
I know its been quite a while since I've updated this and I apologize. There hasn't been a whole lot to crow about at Looney Racing. We've just been doing
our deal and scraping out finishes, but we have been learning a great deal.
We've been to Eastside, Natural Bridge, and Virginia Motor Speedway in the last couple of weeks with little success, other then the earlier mentioned
lessons learned. The best finish that we've been able to muster is a 9th at Eastside and we should have done much better there, but we had some
serious setup issues which we now know how to correct and alleviate. We did have a fairly successful go of it at VMS this past weekend. It was a Bandits
race and the worst thing is they use a pill draw to set the heats and we can never get a good draw. We ended up drawing a 110 out of 120 and that gave
us a 9th place starting position for the heat. We did manage to make it up to 5th to grab the last transfer spot for the feature. Which gave us a 19th place
starting spot for the feature and with some very heavy hitters on site, it would make for a tough go. But we managed to make our way up to 11th in the 30
lap feature and were coming for 10th under the flagstand, just needed another lap.
So all in all, not to bad the last couple of weeks, just not much to write home about. We will be staying local for the next month or so at either Eastside or
Nattie B, so we'll look for you there.
Thanks to all my sponsors, fans and supporters, especially Carl and Sandy, Jeremy and Sarah, and James and Rachel. We'll see you at the track soon,
God Bless.
Kris Looney
I know its been quite a while since I've updated this and I apologize. There hasn't been a whole lot to crow about at Looney Racing. We've just been doing
our deal and scraping out finishes, but we have been learning a great deal.
We've been to Eastside, Natural Bridge, and Virginia Motor Speedway in the last couple of weeks with little success, other then the earlier mentioned
lessons learned. The best finish that we've been able to muster is a 9th at Eastside and we should have done much better there, but we had some
serious setup issues which we now know how to correct and alleviate. We did have a fairly successful go of it at VMS this past weekend. It was a Bandits
race and the worst thing is they use a pill draw to set the heats and we can never get a good draw. We ended up drawing a 110 out of 120 and that gave
us a 9th place starting position for the heat. We did manage to make it up to 5th to grab the last transfer spot for the feature. Which gave us a 19th place
starting spot for the feature and with some very heavy hitters on site, it would make for a tough go. But we managed to make our way up to 11th in the 30
lap feature and were coming for 10th under the flagstand, just needed another lap.
So all in all, not to bad the last couple of weeks, just not much to write home about. We will be staying local for the next month or so at either Eastside or
Nattie B, so we'll look for you there.
Thanks to all my sponsors, fans and supporters, especially Carl and Sandy, Jeremy and Sarah, and James and Rachel. We'll see you at the track soon,
God Bless.
Kris Looney
I know it has once again been quite awhile since I've updated so I apologize. Some of it has gotten blurry so forgive me.
July 24th
We headed back down to Natural Bridge to build on the learning that we had in the previous weeks. If I we remember correctly we ended up finishing 4th
that night. The big hitters weren't there, but you have to take what you can get.
July 31st
Back to Nattie B for round 3 of the 2 track challenge. All I remember is the car was decent but not fast enough and we were mired back around 10th and
the tires sealed over with 5 or so to go. I think we ended up finishing 14th. Definitely a kick in the teeth and I made the decision to take it back up to
Eastside the following week to try and build my confidence back up.
August 7th
Now things are a little more clearer since I'm only a week behind here.
The night started out okay with us qualifying 4th which gave us a 3rd place starting position. We quickly moved up into 2nd behind Greg and I soon found
out that I would have nothing for him on this night. So I settled in and tried to hang onto 2nd but the car wasn't the best and I gave up 2 more positions to
Joey and CS for a 4th place finish. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but 4th was the best we'd been able to muster all year and it was getting very
frustrating. It took me until 2am the next morning to figure out what happened to the car but when I did find out it made me feel much better and I knew it
wouldn't happen again.
August 14th
Finally!!!!!!!
After one of the worst starts to my career this year we finally put it all together to bring it to victory lane.
The night started out okay with a 5th place qualifying run which gave us a 2nd place starting position for the feature which was the key. Jon Painter started
to the inside of me and I knew it would be a battle trying to wrestle the lead from him from the start. I committed to run the high side before the feature
even started and apparently made the right adjustments to be able to do that. So I took it to the top from the start and never came down and we managed
to stay out front and lead from flag to flag. Unfortunately we did some damage to the motor and it will have to be gone through. The motor was already out
of the car on Sunday and being diagnosed by JJ and repairs being planned. Luckily we are taking this upcoming weekend off, so that will give us an extra
week to get it done.
I have to thank all of my fans, sponsors, and supporters for sticking with us all year. It's been a long row to hoe and I honestly didn't think we would make
it to victory lane this year. So thanks so much to everyone for your congratulations and hopefully we can do it again real soon. God Bless and we'll see
you in a couple weeks.
Kris Looney
July 24th
We headed back down to Natural Bridge to build on the learning that we had in the previous weeks. If I we remember correctly we ended up finishing 4th
that night. The big hitters weren't there, but you have to take what you can get.
July 31st
Back to Nattie B for round 3 of the 2 track challenge. All I remember is the car was decent but not fast enough and we were mired back around 10th and
the tires sealed over with 5 or so to go. I think we ended up finishing 14th. Definitely a kick in the teeth and I made the decision to take it back up to
Eastside the following week to try and build my confidence back up.
August 7th
Now things are a little more clearer since I'm only a week behind here.
The night started out okay with us qualifying 4th which gave us a 3rd place starting position. We quickly moved up into 2nd behind Greg and I soon found
out that I would have nothing for him on this night. So I settled in and tried to hang onto 2nd but the car wasn't the best and I gave up 2 more positions to
Joey and CS for a 4th place finish. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal but 4th was the best we'd been able to muster all year and it was getting very
frustrating. It took me until 2am the next morning to figure out what happened to the car but when I did find out it made me feel much better and I knew it
wouldn't happen again.
August 14th
Finally!!!!!!!
After one of the worst starts to my career this year we finally put it all together to bring it to victory lane.
The night started out okay with a 5th place qualifying run which gave us a 2nd place starting position for the feature which was the key. Jon Painter started
to the inside of me and I knew it would be a battle trying to wrestle the lead from him from the start. I committed to run the high side before the feature
even started and apparently made the right adjustments to be able to do that. So I took it to the top from the start and never came down and we managed
to stay out front and lead from flag to flag. Unfortunately we did some damage to the motor and it will have to be gone through. The motor was already out
of the car on Sunday and being diagnosed by JJ and repairs being planned. Luckily we are taking this upcoming weekend off, so that will give us an extra
week to get it done.
I have to thank all of my fans, sponsors, and supporters for sticking with us all year. It's been a long row to hoe and I honestly didn't think we would make
it to victory lane this year. So thanks so much to everyone for your congratulations and hopefully we can do it again real soon. God Bless and we'll see
you in a couple weeks.
Kris Looney
August 28th
Well after a week off for some R&R and to get the motor repaired it was back to Eastside to give it a test run and in hindsight we should have left it on the
trailer!!!
How do you go from winning one week to not being able to fall out of a tree and finishing 9th? We made no major changes on the car but couldn't find
anything in the feature. The car was still definitely fast in qualifying as we ran 2nd quick behind Greg. We did have to start 8th because we won the last
time there but we should have come forward not fallen back. So we ended up 9th on the evening which I must say was a great dissappointment.
September 4th
It was on to West Virginia Motor Speedway for our 2nd trip out there for the Bandits and the Hillbilly 50.
The car was decent in hot laps and I thought I had laid down a good lap in qualifying but was upset to find out we only timed in at 24th out of 44 cars. That
would give us a 6th place starting spot in our heat and we would need to make it to 5th to transfer into the A-main. We ran 5th most of the race until 1 car
got by us relegating us to 6th and sending us to the B-main. Needless to say I was very, very upset when i found this out but was somewhat relieved to
find out that we had a provisional to fall back on. I would still start the B-main though to shake the car down after some pretty big changes. The car was
super fast and we pulled a straightaway on the field and won the B-main giving us a 21st starting spot for the feature.
From the drop of the green flag the car was incredible. By lap 10 I had made it up into the Top 15 and was knocking on the Top 10 door. That's when bad
luck would strike and we discovered under caution that the LF was going down. Dad and Rion made quick work of the tire change and got me back out at
the tail end of the field. It was then that I really got up on the wheel and put the hammer down. That is probably the hardest I've driven the car this year and
man was it fast. We could get such a super run on the highside it was unbelievable, I would have to hit the brakes or shoot to the inside to keep from
plowing guys in the rearend. We kept getting after it and although we still haven't gotten the full rundown, I believe we finished either 10th or 11th. I
certainly can't sneeze at a 10th place finish out of 44 cars.
Thanks to JJ and James of Blue Ridge Motorsports and Machine for the quick turnaround on the motor. Thanks also to Jeremy and Sarah from
Tombstone Trimmers for the use of the enclosed trailer.
We will be at Natural Bridge on Saturday for the Bandits race and then onto Eastside on Sunday for Big Chris' memorial race. I would love to win this one
but I don't think I have a prayer since it will be a day race and we just aren't very competitive in those races. Who knows, maybe Chris will smile down on
us and give us a miracle. Thanks to all my fans and supporters and we'll see you at the track. God Bless.
Kris Looney
Well after a week off for some R&R and to get the motor repaired it was back to Eastside to give it a test run and in hindsight we should have left it on the
trailer!!!
How do you go from winning one week to not being able to fall out of a tree and finishing 9th? We made no major changes on the car but couldn't find
anything in the feature. The car was still definitely fast in qualifying as we ran 2nd quick behind Greg. We did have to start 8th because we won the last
time there but we should have come forward not fallen back. So we ended up 9th on the evening which I must say was a great dissappointment.
September 4th
It was on to West Virginia Motor Speedway for our 2nd trip out there for the Bandits and the Hillbilly 50.
The car was decent in hot laps and I thought I had laid down a good lap in qualifying but was upset to find out we only timed in at 24th out of 44 cars. That
would give us a 6th place starting spot in our heat and we would need to make it to 5th to transfer into the A-main. We ran 5th most of the race until 1 car
got by us relegating us to 6th and sending us to the B-main. Needless to say I was very, very upset when i found this out but was somewhat relieved to
find out that we had a provisional to fall back on. I would still start the B-main though to shake the car down after some pretty big changes. The car was
super fast and we pulled a straightaway on the field and won the B-main giving us a 21st starting spot for the feature.
From the drop of the green flag the car was incredible. By lap 10 I had made it up into the Top 15 and was knocking on the Top 10 door. That's when bad
luck would strike and we discovered under caution that the LF was going down. Dad and Rion made quick work of the tire change and got me back out at
the tail end of the field. It was then that I really got up on the wheel and put the hammer down. That is probably the hardest I've driven the car this year and
man was it fast. We could get such a super run on the highside it was unbelievable, I would have to hit the brakes or shoot to the inside to keep from
plowing guys in the rearend. We kept getting after it and although we still haven't gotten the full rundown, I believe we finished either 10th or 11th. I
certainly can't sneeze at a 10th place finish out of 44 cars.
Thanks to JJ and James of Blue Ridge Motorsports and Machine for the quick turnaround on the motor. Thanks also to Jeremy and Sarah from
Tombstone Trimmers for the use of the enclosed trailer.
We will be at Natural Bridge on Saturday for the Bandits race and then onto Eastside on Sunday for Big Chris' memorial race. I would love to win this one
but I don't think I have a prayer since it will be a day race and we just aren't very competitive in those races. Who knows, maybe Chris will smile down on
us and give us a miracle. Thanks to all my fans and supporters and we'll see you at the track. God Bless.
Kris Looney
Sept. 11th
Its was down to Natural Bridge for another Bandits race. We did okay in our heat race finishing 2nd which would give us a 7th place starting position for
the race. The car was decent throughout the race and I had gotten up into the top 5 before some faster cars from the back made their way forward. We
managed to finish where we started with a 7th place finish. Not to bad considering there were 43 cars signed in.
Sept 12th
Eastside would be the site for the 2nd annual Chris Loan memorial and we would qualify very well considering the track conditions with a 4th place effort.
That would put us on the outside pole for our heat and with Bo Feathers the quickest qualifier on the inside he would be tough to get by. That would be the
case as he pulled away at the green. I would settle into 2nd until Daniel Brown Jr. worked his way up to me on the outside. We would battle back and
forth, side by side for nearly 10 laps until he finally cleared me. We finished the heat in 2nd which would set us up 7th for the feature. The car was okay
and we settled in around 8th or 9th until I had a tire EXPLODE on me going down the backstretch. I've never had a tire let loose like that and I thought I had
dropped a drive shaft or something to that effect. But once I got out of the car and noticed that it was only a tire I strapped back in and we changed it out
and I got back out at the tail end of the field. We restarted 18th and I made it back up to 13th at the checkered flag but the car was super good after the
mishap so I wasn't to disgruntled. I don't know that I will ever win Chris's race but we'll keep digging.
Sept 18th
It was back to Eastside again for the final round of the 2-track challenge and the night would not start out very well as we could only muster a 9th place
qualifying effort. When the green dropped on the feature the car was superb on the bottom side and we made our way up 4th before I made a bonehead
move and tried the topside and dropped like a rock back to 9th after getting freight-trained. Once I found hole I worked back to the bottom side and made
my way back up to 4th but to get back up there I scalded the tires and could go no further. I really needed a caution to regroup and cool the tires but I
wouldn't get one. I really think we could have won that race had I not made that stupid move. So we ended up 4th and that gave us another 5th place
finishing position in the final point standing of the 2-track challenge.
Sept 25th
It was again off to Eastside for a weekly program and we would run good in qualifying for a 2nd place time. That would give us a 5th place starting
position for the feature and right from the get go I knew the car was fast but everyone wanted to drive like crazy men and there was a terrible crash out of 4
with Buck Roadcap and Daniel Brown Jr. taking really big hits. So with Buck out of the restart that moved us up to 3rd for the restart and at the drop me,
R.E. Cubbage and CS went 3 wide down the backstretch with CS squeaking by and me slipping into 2nd behind him. It would only take one more lap for
me to work to the bottom side of CS and blow past him for the lead. Its a lead that I would never relinquish as I simply did just enough to stay in front of
CS since the track was so rough I didn't want to risk tearing the car up. That gave us win number 2 on the season.
I have to thank dad for his tireless work on the car this week as I wasn't much help. With me making an emergency run in the truck early in the week I was
already behind. I didn't get my hands on the car until Saturday at the track but it is just a testament to how much work dad does and how well he does it. I
also have to thank Jeremy, Carl and Rion for their help in the pits. Also thanks to all my fans and supporters who have stuck it out with me this year.
We will be at Natural Bridge this weekend for the Fall Classic and we hope to see all of you there. Thanks again and God Bless.
Kris Looney
Its was down to Natural Bridge for another Bandits race. We did okay in our heat race finishing 2nd which would give us a 7th place starting position for
the race. The car was decent throughout the race and I had gotten up into the top 5 before some faster cars from the back made their way forward. We
managed to finish where we started with a 7th place finish. Not to bad considering there were 43 cars signed in.
Sept 12th
Eastside would be the site for the 2nd annual Chris Loan memorial and we would qualify very well considering the track conditions with a 4th place effort.
That would put us on the outside pole for our heat and with Bo Feathers the quickest qualifier on the inside he would be tough to get by. That would be the
case as he pulled away at the green. I would settle into 2nd until Daniel Brown Jr. worked his way up to me on the outside. We would battle back and
forth, side by side for nearly 10 laps until he finally cleared me. We finished the heat in 2nd which would set us up 7th for the feature. The car was okay
and we settled in around 8th or 9th until I had a tire EXPLODE on me going down the backstretch. I've never had a tire let loose like that and I thought I had
dropped a drive shaft or something to that effect. But once I got out of the car and noticed that it was only a tire I strapped back in and we changed it out
and I got back out at the tail end of the field. We restarted 18th and I made it back up to 13th at the checkered flag but the car was super good after the
mishap so I wasn't to disgruntled. I don't know that I will ever win Chris's race but we'll keep digging.
Sept 18th
It was back to Eastside again for the final round of the 2-track challenge and the night would not start out very well as we could only muster a 9th place
qualifying effort. When the green dropped on the feature the car was superb on the bottom side and we made our way up 4th before I made a bonehead
move and tried the topside and dropped like a rock back to 9th after getting freight-trained. Once I found hole I worked back to the bottom side and made
my way back up to 4th but to get back up there I scalded the tires and could go no further. I really needed a caution to regroup and cool the tires but I
wouldn't get one. I really think we could have won that race had I not made that stupid move. So we ended up 4th and that gave us another 5th place
finishing position in the final point standing of the 2-track challenge.
Sept 25th
It was again off to Eastside for a weekly program and we would run good in qualifying for a 2nd place time. That would give us a 5th place starting
position for the feature and right from the get go I knew the car was fast but everyone wanted to drive like crazy men and there was a terrible crash out of 4
with Buck Roadcap and Daniel Brown Jr. taking really big hits. So with Buck out of the restart that moved us up to 3rd for the restart and at the drop me,
R.E. Cubbage and CS went 3 wide down the backstretch with CS squeaking by and me slipping into 2nd behind him. It would only take one more lap for
me to work to the bottom side of CS and blow past him for the lead. Its a lead that I would never relinquish as I simply did just enough to stay in front of
CS since the track was so rough I didn't want to risk tearing the car up. That gave us win number 2 on the season.
I have to thank dad for his tireless work on the car this week as I wasn't much help. With me making an emergency run in the truck early in the week I was
already behind. I didn't get my hands on the car until Saturday at the track but it is just a testament to how much work dad does and how well he does it. I
also have to thank Jeremy, Carl and Rion for their help in the pits. Also thanks to all my fans and supporters who have stuck it out with me this year.
We will be at Natural Bridge this weekend for the Fall Classic and we hope to see all of you there. Thanks again and God Bless.
Kris Looney
October 2nd
It was off to Natural Bridge for the Fall Classic and it turned out better than it should have.
Friday night was setup for qualifying and I almost could have stole the pole had the car stuck but I missed my mark a little going through 3 & 4 and ended
up qualifying 13th out of 25 cars. That lined us up 5th for our heat and we quickly settled into 4th at the green flag. The car got better as the heat went on
and I moved into 3rd. I could get a tremendous run into 3 & 4 and coming to the checkered I was underneath the 2nd place car but just needed a couple
more feet as he only beat me by .050 to the line.
So that lined us up 7th for the feature and that's about as good as the car was but fortunately some cars got tangled up in front of us. We gambled on tires
and I believe it did pay off until the end as the they went away with about 5 to go. But we managed to hang onto 5th with about an 8th place car.
October 9th
We were at Eastside for the final time this season after coming off a win the last trip down there. I felt fairly confident that we could do it again even though
we had to start 8th. Qualifying was scrapped because it took over an hour to roll the track in. There is absolutely no reason why this keeps happening
every week. All the other tracks we go to have the track ready at go time. Only Natural Bridge ask for just a few minutes to get the track finished but that is
the only other track that I have ever been to that uses the race cars to roll the track in. Unfortunately that track has really gotten out of control and it's a
shame. Hopefully they will get things turned around in the right direction.
So we rolled off 8th for the feature and the car was once again bad fast. The only problem was that the car in front of me was running the same line and I
simply could not get around him. I tried every line I could but just couldn't get it done. So unfortunately we ended up 5th which I was not happy about.
Some might say, 'hey 5th is a good run'; well sorry folks I go to the track to win not run 5th. It's especially frustrating when you have a car capable of getting
to the front and you can't do it and you wind up with a mediocre finish. So we'll move on and hopefully be able to keep up our top 5 runs like we've had the
last few weeks. This coming weekend we will be at "The Rock" in Cumberland, MD for the next to last show for the Bandits. I don't think I can improve very
much more on my points but I have vowed to support Danny's series and that's what I intend to do. Plus, there's big money on the line with $5000 going to
the winner. I will say that I don't have much chance of getting the win but I do think that I can have a good top 5 run up there. So we will keep our fingers
crossed for a good run.
I have to thank Jeremy and Sarah Kiracofe of Tombstone Trimmers, as always, for letting us use their enclosed trailer for the remainder of the year. As
always I have to thank Dad for his tireless efforts to keep our ride running. Also thanks to all my fans and supporters who have stuck by me this year. God
Bless.
Kris Looney
It was off to Natural Bridge for the Fall Classic and it turned out better than it should have.
Friday night was setup for qualifying and I almost could have stole the pole had the car stuck but I missed my mark a little going through 3 & 4 and ended
up qualifying 13th out of 25 cars. That lined us up 5th for our heat and we quickly settled into 4th at the green flag. The car got better as the heat went on
and I moved into 3rd. I could get a tremendous run into 3 & 4 and coming to the checkered I was underneath the 2nd place car but just needed a couple
more feet as he only beat me by .050 to the line.
So that lined us up 7th for the feature and that's about as good as the car was but fortunately some cars got tangled up in front of us. We gambled on tires
and I believe it did pay off until the end as the they went away with about 5 to go. But we managed to hang onto 5th with about an 8th place car.
October 9th
We were at Eastside for the final time this season after coming off a win the last trip down there. I felt fairly confident that we could do it again even though
we had to start 8th. Qualifying was scrapped because it took over an hour to roll the track in. There is absolutely no reason why this keeps happening
every week. All the other tracks we go to have the track ready at go time. Only Natural Bridge ask for just a few minutes to get the track finished but that is
the only other track that I have ever been to that uses the race cars to roll the track in. Unfortunately that track has really gotten out of control and it's a
shame. Hopefully they will get things turned around in the right direction.
So we rolled off 8th for the feature and the car was once again bad fast. The only problem was that the car in front of me was running the same line and I
simply could not get around him. I tried every line I could but just couldn't get it done. So unfortunately we ended up 5th which I was not happy about.
Some might say, 'hey 5th is a good run'; well sorry folks I go to the track to win not run 5th. It's especially frustrating when you have a car capable of getting
to the front and you can't do it and you wind up with a mediocre finish. So we'll move on and hopefully be able to keep up our top 5 runs like we've had the
last few weeks. This coming weekend we will be at "The Rock" in Cumberland, MD for the next to last show for the Bandits. I don't think I can improve very
much more on my points but I have vowed to support Danny's series and that's what I intend to do. Plus, there's big money on the line with $5000 going to
the winner. I will say that I don't have much chance of getting the win but I do think that I can have a good top 5 run up there. So we will keep our fingers
crossed for a good run.
I have to thank Jeremy and Sarah Kiracofe of Tombstone Trimmers, as always, for letting us use their enclosed trailer for the remainder of the year. As
always I have to thank Dad for his tireless efforts to keep our ride running. Also thanks to all my fans and supporters who have stuck by me this year. God
Bless.
Kris Looney