Pacific Coast Indoor/Scotty Key Memorial, Vallejo, CA, Feb. 16-17

                     Ooook guys so another Indoor has come and gone and guess what?  TEAM RICE's supremacy over everyone else there is apparent again.  After a fun little offseason, we came out strong, winning 9 heat races and ALL (that's 100%) of the trophy dashes we were in.  To start off, the weather was awesome and didn't rain at all this time which was a huge plus, as well as that helped everybody be in a better mood, I think.  So I guess we'll go class by class, and if I leave anyone out, please forgive me; In Jr. Honda, we had a few TR reps, who all did an awesome job and had a great time at what I think was two out of three of their very first time indoors.  Travis Affonso did a stellar job, making it to the trophy dash (which he won) and then into the A-Main, where he came in 6th.  He had a better car than 6th, but Hey! he's only 5.  Bryce Napier and Blake Bower did an awesome job as well, showing off not only some fancy driving maneuvers but a tenacious will to win, but some hard luck kept them just out of the main.  It's alright though guys, we'll get them next time!  In Sr. Honda, Reid Shaw had the A-Main won.  He had hands down the fastest car, and had lapped the entire field but 2nd when he got tied up with some lapped traffic, sending him to the back with less than 5 laps to go.  He ended up 2nd, but still... he was just FAST.  Also making the A-main was David Napier and Amanda Poertner, who finished 5th and 7th, respectively.  In Hvy. Honda, Ashley Fagundes has pretty much positioned herself as the Queen of the P.C.I. (Pacific Coast Indoor) for this class, winning for her 3rd consecutive year.  She swept all the heats, the dash and the main, but with fellow TR drivers Chase Madden and Raymond Silva following close behind in 2nd and 3rd, rounding out a RICE CAR 1,2,3 finish.  In the Jr. Stock class, some technical engine troubles kept Bryce Napier from reaching the main, even though for he drove exceptionally well, especially for his first race in the class.  Travis Affonso did super awesome in his races as well, and actually won one of his heats, as well as the trophy dash!  It was his 1st real race weekend out of novice, and he did really great.  In the main, just as in the Honda, he finished a little lower than he probably could've at 5th, but like I said, that's what happens when you're 5 years old.  I just want to take a second and say that all our junior division guys did super, and should be really proud of themselves, because we all are!

                In Sr. Stock, Tommy McCarthy was hooked up and super fast, and came away with the Trophy Dash win, as well as 4th place in the main.  He drove an awesome race, and was positioned to win until he ran into some trouble close to the end and ended up in 4th.  Amanda Poertner also ran Sr. Stock for us, doing a great job, winning one of the heats, and finishing right behind Tommy in the Main in fifth.  Lt. 160 was a TEAM RICE sweep, with Amanda Poertner taking both heats and the Dash, and then Reid Shaw winning the A-Main, but with Amanda in hot pursuit.  Also running really well in his 1st 160 race ever was Tommy McCarthy, almost winning a heat of his own (until he, umm, ran out of gas) and finishing 5th in the main.  David Napier did an amazing job and won his Trophy Dash in Hvy. 160, adding to our crazy 100% win rate, and then finished a strong 3rd in the main, with Chase Madden close behind in 4th.  Ben Kullos ran Lt. Mod for the first time in over a year, and dang did he kill it.  He spanked them in both his heats AND the dash, and if we'd have had the car just a little bit tighter, he'd have had that one too, instead of a nose-to-tail 3rd place run.  Also making the Lt. Mod A-Main in his very first mod race ever was Tommy McCarthy, doing better and better each and every time he hit the track.  Good job boys!  In Lt. B, Ben had the fastest car in every race we were in, but couldn't seem to get the breaks we needed to be able to win it.  In one of the heats we wrecked on the last corner, one we ran 2nd, and then in the main while passing for the lead we got chopped SOO HARD that it put us in the infield, but no call was made, so we had to go to the back, and he ended up finishing 5th.  But in Lt. AA though, Ben absolutely KILLED everyone.  After a DNF in the first heat, he just swept the rest of the races, winning the second heat, the Dash, and the Main by like 4 miles, winning his 4th Indoor Championship in as many years.  No one even had any semblance of competition for his XR Evolution, and he looked like he was just cruising around the track while everyone else either biked up or slid around.  As always, we had a so much fun at this race and cannot wait until next year!  See you at the next race!

Silver State Winternationals, Primm, NV, Nov. 29-Dec. 2

                    TEAM RICE's absolute domination of the Silver State WinterNationals continues yet again in 2007.  During practice on Thursday we were ridiculously fast in everything, all the cars were super fast, and we were all set for the heats, and then it rained.  And rained.  And rained some more.  Basically all day on Friday was rain, so it was a total "wash".  On Saturday, when racing finally resumed our beat down of the competition resumed as well.  Joe Ryan Osborne swept in all of his heat races (Sr. Stock, Lt. Mod, Lt. 160), and Ben Kullos spanked them in the Hvy. AA heat.  Reid Shaw finished 2nd in both his Sr. Honda and Lt. 160 heats, and Dawson Loehner finished 2nd to Joe Ryan in his Lt. Mod heat and finished 3rd in Lt. B.  After all of the lower mains that ran late into the night on Saturday night (the Lt. B "C" Main pushed off at 11:50 pm) the A-Mains finally started on Sunday morning.  Travis Affonso, after transferring up into the A Main by winning the B main in an AMAZING fashion, was winning the Jr. Novice race by 12 miles when he tried to pass some kid that was pole driving really bad and spun out with 3 laps to go.  He made it back up to 3rd, but couldn't get back up to the front that fast.  In Sr. Honda and Hvy. Honda respectively, Reid Shaw and Chase Madden had a fast car but no breaks, and ended up with 3rd as well.  In Sr. Stock AND Lt. Modified, Joe Ryan Osborne just KILLED it.  The XR Evolutions he was driving were ridiculously fast and just ran away from the field in both classes.  He said at one point: "This is the best car I've ever driven."  It showed too, as Joe Ryan made everyone else just look silly.  An early accident before the race even began in the Lt. 160 race bent us up just enough to prevent JRO from three-peating it, he ended up finishing 3rd.  In Heavy B, Ben had an awesome car, but a freak bolt coming loose ended his race too early.  In Hvy. AA Ben was making them look silly as well, leading some major heavy hitters by over a half a lap.  Everything was looking great when all of a sudden the car started to cough a little bit on the pickup after he'd breath it.  Then it got a little worse.  The second place car started closing in, it got a lot worse.  Finally, the other car caught and passed Ben, but he wasn't going down without a fight.  Ben diced and backpassed and did all the Honda moves at AA speed for 5laps before the motor finally gave out on him and he had to settle into second, and that's where he finished.  We were NOT happy with that, to say the least.  After the races were over, we of course went to our annual celebratory dinner and after some excellent steak and lobster, we were all feeling pretty good about our weekend.  We really had literally every one of our cars just hauling the mail, it was really awesome.  At any rate, it was so much fun all weekend down there in the cold, and we can't wait to get to next season! 

Thunder on the Mountain, Phoenix, AZ, Nov. 22-24

                OOOOOk.  So over Thanksgiving weekend every year there is a race in Arizona called Thunder on the Mountain, a really fun race where they have special track records for only that weekend, and the kids get a $500 savings bond to win.  The race has been going on since 1994, and every year TEAM RICE has set a Thunder record.  This year was no different.  We came away with not one, not two, but THREE Thunder Track Records in Lt. 160, Hvy. B, and Hvy. AA.  Joe Ryan Osborne from the Oaklane club way out in Pennsylvania came out to race with us and did just an amazing job.  He ran Sr. Stock, Lt. Mod, and Lt. 160, and was the one to grab the record in the Lt. 160 class.  In the heats, he pulled off a 2nd in Stock, an AWESOME win in Lt. Mod, and a 3rd in 160 after having to start at the back of the pack.  Ben Kullos, after racing in Lt. B and AA all year finally had to move up to the heavy division, and, well.... wow.  He SMACKED DOWN both Thunder records.  He dropped the Hvy. B record from a 6.15 to a 5.93 (outqualifying 5 out of 8 Light Bs), and dropped the AA from a very respectable 5.81 to a staggering 5.71, with a 5.68 on the mychron (outqualifying all of the lights by over a tenth).  In the B heat race, we started in the back, and Ben drove that XR Evolution right to the front winning the heat and beating the entire Light B field.  We didn't run a heat in AA, but more on that car in a minute.  In the Main Events, we had no luck but bad.  Joe Ryan's stocker was really fast in the warm-up, but the car died suddenly.  Pulling it in, we found a ground wire broke.  After we fixed it, he had to go to the back of the field, which put us in the wreck that inevitably happens on the 1st lap.  The front end was seriously tweaked, but even being bent he still drove it to a fourth place finish.  In Light Mod the car was fast but a few wrong turns through the corners upset the car enough to push us back to fourth after having a strong chance to win with less than ten laps to go.  In Lt. 160 the car took a minute to come in but when it did that thing was fast!  He was coming up through the pack and while the majority of the race was flawless just a few mistakes put him just outside of the top five.  In the B Main Event, Ben once again ran his Heavy B against the Lights, and made them look silly.  Again coming from the back he just drove past everyone until he was running down the leader (a 4-time Grands champion mind you), and just when D.J. went over to give that driver's handler a hard time, the safety wire holding the exhaust together snapped and the pipe came off the flange.  It wasn't really all that big of a deal, but it was kind of a bummer that we didn't win the thing outright, even though everybody knew it would've happened anyway.  In the AA race, Ben started last and on the 1st lap took the lead and never gave it back.  He just walked away from the other cars on the track, winning the Lt./Hvy. AA race easily.  We had SUCH a fun time this weekend and we know that next weekend in Primm will be even better!  See you there!

Inaugural Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV, Sep. 21-23

            The Las Vegas Quarter Midget club had their first ever race over the past weekend at a HUGE track behind the Bullring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  TEAM RICE came down in full force to support this new club, and absolutely DOMINATED.  We won EVERY RACE WE WERE IN.  It was really amazing.  Starting with 5-year old Travis Affonso, TR's superstar Novice driver, winning both the heat and the main by lapping the entire field twice.  TR's newest "Golden Boy", Tommy McCarthy, had himself a weekend as well.  In the Jr. Honda, he lapped half the field in a 15-lap heat race.  Very impressive.  In the Main, there was another car involved that made it a race, but Tommy was had just been setting him up because as soon as the white flag dropped Tommy blew by the other guy and took the win!  In Jr. Stock, he only won the heat by maybe a full straightaway, but in the Main Event he just left everyone and lapped every car but 2nd place and really just decimating the field.  The "Grizzled Vet" of the group, Ben Kullos, wasn't there for any practice at all, and didn't even run the heat race as he had a prior commitment.  He came into the Lt. 160 main event with zero laps on the track, where his competition had been on it for two days.  Well, he did what he always does when he runs 160, he out-drove everyone else on the racetrack and he won.  Because of the zero practice time, we had the wrong gear, but Ben and the Rice XR6 racecar made up for that miscalculation and won that baby in a thrilling race that actually went into overtime because the crowd was loving it so much.  We really felt welcome by all the locals, and can't wait to go back!

California Monza Series, Leg#3 - Baylands, San Jose, CA, Sep. 1 - 2

                    We had a GREAT weekend at the Jay Gradia Memorial Monza race... setting new records in Jr. Novice and Jr. Honda.  Travis Affonso KILLED it in Novice, absolutely shattering the old record of a 7.66 all the way down to a 7.11.  In Jr. Honda, Tommy McCarthy broke the long-standing record of 6.59 down to a 6.54.  Way to go guys!  Our usual heavy hitter Ben Kullos had some previous engagements and had to fly in at 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, missing qualifying altogether.  He got there in just enough time to hop into his AA car, and drove the thing to and exciting 2nd place finish.  Dawson Loehner came down too, and ended up placing 3rd in the Lt. Mod heat.  Travis and Tommy both had a sweep weekend, winning everything that they were in, again Travis in Jr. Novice and Tommy in Jr. Honda AND Jr. Stock.  In the Lt. AA main, Ben and another car battled back and forth for the lead for a majority of the race, and eventually Ben got a little loose out of one of the turns and he ended up 2nd, but it was a really good race.  David Napier had a great day on Sunday too, driving his brand new XR6 to a strong 3rd place in Sr. Honda.  The weather was awesome, the racing was fast, and everyone had a great time all weekend long.  See you next time!

Eastern Grand Nationals, Xenia, Ohio - July 21 - 29

                    With over 800 cars at the 2007 Eastern Grands, it was one of the biggest car counts at any Quarter Midget event ever.  TEAM RICE sent a few of our own representatives out, and all three of our drivers did a GREAT job.  Ben Kullos, of course, was there, and fresh off his win at Gasoline Alley he added Lt. 160 to his repertoire of classes in addition to Lt. B and Lt. AA.  Dawson Loehner made his first eastern trip this summer, and learned a lot from the beginning to the end, and really finished strong, doing a great job making the B-Main in Sr. Stock out here, and as we all know stock is one of the most competitive classes around.  Dillon Boggess from Minnesota rounded out our triple threat, and while he didn't qualify all that well, put on a GREAT show, transferring over a combined 10 times.  Dillon got the short end of the stick when he had to be the first car to qualify on a green track right after it had rained a bit during the Lt. 160 qualifying.  He went into the lowest main (the P), and made it all the way to the K before being wrecked out.  In his Sr. Honda, he qualified into the I, and transferred up into the E before once again being wrecked. One of the most spectacular shows of the week was when Dillon bent the rear axle in his 160 car BADLY, and still drove that beast to a 3rd place finish and a STRONG transfer.  It was really awesome.... although Dillon will probably be stuttering for a month.  In Ben's qualifying, he was like the 7th or 8th 160 to time in, and he went out and SHATTERED their previous record of a 6.14 down to a 6.05.  D.J. wasn't as happy as he probably should have been though, as he was looking for a 5.99.  "Two more laps and we would have been there" he said afterwards.  After about 100 cars later, Ben's time was knicked by a few thousandths, and ended up 4th, but only was beat out by less than 5 thousandths.  In Lt. B, the car was a little free, and he qualified onto the pole of the C-Main.  In AA, after having some troubles in practice, looked AWESOME during the first few laps of warm up, all up until the chain fell off, so he got a no-time, sending us to the back of the last main (the E).  Dawson qualified into the D-Main in Sr. Stock, the G-Main in Mod, and was the fast car in the E-Main in Lt. B.  In the Mod, he transferred a few times before wrecking out.  In the B, he had one of the fastest cars in that race before another car spun out in front of him and he just smacked that kid something fierce, dinging the car a little bit but not too bad, but shaking him up more than anything (he got a few bruises, but was fine if you were wondering).  In the Sr. Stocker, he did awesome.  He transferred out easily from the D-Main, then moved up again from the C-Main into the "B".  Then, in the B-Main, he looked really good when all of a sudden the car developed a very bad miss, just shutting itself off and then turning back on intermittently around the track.  He didn't end up making it out of that race, but making the B-Main at an event that big is impressive all by itself, as I said before.

                    Like I said before, Ben's AA had to go to the back of the last main, which was the "E".  D.J. took the motor out we had qualified with and put another one in to try and save the number 1 motor for the upper mains.  Well that looked like a really good strategy as Ben was easily making his way up the pack when, during a yellow flag no less, the motor stalled out and died.  We think it lost a valve spring.  Well a few other cars had already broken, so that put us as the "X" car in the D-Main.  We changed motors back just in case, and luckily we got to race.  Well man did we spank them in that race.  Ben just went zip-zip-zip through the field and was gone, winning that race EASY, putting him into the "C".  Now we had to race the Lt. B car and the AA in that round, and Ben started on the pole of the B race and won it pretty handily, never really being challenged for the top spot.  In the AA race, it was a dogfight, and even though we were involved in a last lap accident, we still transferred into the B-Main.  So in the Lt. B B-main Ben started 6th, and quickly made his way up to 2nd and finished that way, putting him into the A-Main.  In the AA, well, there's a long story behind this one.  Suffice to say we were taken out of the race by some officials that had no business doing what they did.  If you want to know more about it, ask someone that was there.  Suffice to say, we didn't make the A-Main in Lt. AA, but we should have, and we were plenty fast enough to.  So on to the A-Mains... In Lt. 160 Ben had a great start and led the thing almost immediately.  He had a great car, and he and another car were really having a good race when they got together and they both went to the back.  While he was coming back up through the field, he had passed the kid of the same "official" that had basically screwed us out of the AA race the day before.  During a caution when the kids were just going around the track waiting for the lineup, the aforementioned kid jumped Ben's left rear tire and popped the bottom clamp bracket off of the shoulder bar.  I'm not saying it was on purpose, but I'm not saying it wasn't.  Anyway, we ran back up to 2nd and in a position to contend for the lead when there was a red with 9 laps to go.  At the advice of the race director, we pulled him off the track to fix the clamp collar and pushed him back out to finish the race.  Even with only 9 laps to go, Ben still drove that XR6 back up to 4th, and simply ran out of laps.  We were going to win that race had we not had to come off the track, and everybody knew it.  In the Lt B race, that car was SUPER fast.  After starting 7th, Ben was quickly up to fourth, and was in line to pass the 3rd place car when the right rear tire came flying off, as a result of only two of the lugnuts being put on during the tire change in the warm-up.  It sheared the bolts right off of the hub, and ended our day too early.  It was a shame too, because our fast lap time was quicker than that of the guy that ended up winning.  But all in all, we had a great time out in Ohio, and are really looking forward to the rest of the race season! 

Gasoline Alley Nationals, Indianapolis, Indiana - July 11 - 15

TEAM RICE WINS @ GASOLINE ALLEY!!!  Ok, so that wasn't really the headline in the papers in Indy on Monday morning, but it should have been.  We brought six cars with us, and four of those cars made the A-Main.  "Awesome" Dawson Loehner had himself a great run going in the Sr. Stock B main, but a freak accident that caused the chain to jump off and wedge itself between the gearbox and the sprocket stopped his surefire transfer to the main event.  He made the main in Lt. Mod, and was having a good run in that race as well when we pulled him in to make a minor adjustment, and didn't get him back out on the racetrack in time.  Kind of a sucky finish to his day, but making the A-Main at a national event of that caliber is saying something in and of itself.  Ben Kullos ran Lt. 160, B & AA, and made the main event in all three.  In 160, he started 4th and after a great start was running third almost immediately.  The car was crazy fast, and Ben was super smooth.  After some late-race drama, Ben pulled out the win and the celebration ensued!  In the Lt. B race we had easily one of the fastest cars on the track, but had to start in tenth, so we had to weed through all the crap.  This race was a dogfight, as they had FOURTEEN cars in the race.  He worked his way through the pack, and then got a little hot into someone and got a call and had to go to the back.  On his way back to the front he got the worst call EVER, and was DQ'd out of the race.  When we went to start up the AA to warm it up, we found that the backing plate behind the motor was broken, and therefore the electronics had nothing to fire on.  There wasn't time to change the motor, so we didn't even get to start that race, which was a shame because we could have been a real player in that race.  But we did come away with one Gasoline Alley Championship, so it was good weekend!  See you in Ohio at the Eastern Grands!

Western Grands, Madera, California - July 1 - 7

California Monza Series, Leg#2 - Madera, CA, May 25-27

States Race - Madera, CA, May 4-6

                So the countdown to the Grands continues as we ran the States Race at Madera this past weekend.  It was a very successful weekend for TEAM RICE, as we learned some invaluable lessons that will come in very handy when the actual Grands time rolls around.  One shining spot for the weekend that was obvious though, was Cody Thompson hammering out a 5.92 to get fast time in Lt 160 and set the new Track Record.  It seems as if every time we go to the races, TR is getting better and better... just wait and see what else we've got up our sleeves... we're only going to get better and faster.  Until next time boys and girls!

Galante Memorial Record Breaker Race - Madera, CA, March 16-18

                Yay! It didn't rain for once at the Galante Memorial race this year.  And because of that, we had a good day for qualifying, and came away with a brand spanking new Galante Track record in Jr. Honda with Tommy McCarthy.  Ben Kullos came about 2 thousandths of a second away from the Lt. B record, and would have SHATTERED the Lt. AA record if we would have put him on the clock two laps earlier.  That one still stings a little.  But I digress, on race day we as a group had some bad luck, but an overall good showing.  Dawson Loehner finished 2nd in Jr. Stock, coming within half a car length of winning the thing, and Ben SPANKED them in the Lt. B main event.  Keegan Walmer drove Sr. Honda and Lt. 160 for us, and did a great job, but finished 4th and 5th respectively because of just some bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time type deals.  But we all had so much fun down there and we can't wait until the next race!  See you all then!