SVS Racing News

We look forward every year for the chance to race at home. Not only do we get to sleep in our own beds during a race weekend but we get to race twice on one of my favorite race tracks in the west.

The Spokane race track is extremely fast with a wonderful rhythm. We had a good field of cars and very close competition the whole weekend. The temperature was in excess of 100 degrees each day which made racing brutal on both cars and competitors. For the first race qualifying, we missed pole position by 100th of a second. We really wanted those points so for final qualifying we turned it up and posted a time quite a bit faster. We did take back the pole, but only by a 100th from Brian Rissberger’s great drive. (there is a driver who has made tremendous improvements as a driver in the last year)

When the race started we had a bad start while Brian was terrific, he blew past me like I was in neutral. We had a great time with Brian in front, then us, then Rob, and Ricky. It was a beautiful fight and took several laps before we were able to overtake for the lead. Once we were leading it was just a matter of being able to hang on and not make a mess of things before the checkers. When the race ended we took the win with a completely exhausted race car. At the scales, the car was steaming from being too hot and it would no longer start. If there would have been another lap I don’t believe we would have finished.

For Sunday’s race it was more of the same. We took the pole again but I played better at the start. It’s a good thing too because Brian was fast and made no mistakes of any consequence. If the start had been like the day before I’m not sure we could have won. We went in to turn one nose to tail and it stayed that way for the entire race. No matter what I did I could not get him off me. I was hoping we would slow down at some point so I could have a little breathing room but no luck. We had one of the toughest and most fun races I have had for a few years. That was a win worth working for.

I want to thank Wendle Ford once again for sponsoring our hospitality area, it was a beautiful presentation and enjoyed by all who attended.

There is one last thing I want to mention. This is the most fun group of competitors I have ever raced against. It is a joy to go into battle with these men every time and I look forward to the weekends at the track with them. Hope to see you there as well!

From the better late than never department comes our report from the Seattle race weekend of May 19&20.

We had as successful a weekend as you get in this game. Pole position, track record, and race win! What a great weekend.

The weather was typical Northwest spring, rain off and on the whole time. (mostly on) Saturday morning we went out on new rain tires to break them in. We figured there was an extremely good chance of racing on them. For the afternoon the weather cleared and track conditions got really good. We knew this was the chance we were looking for, the car was running great and felt great. The air was perfect and so was the track surface. We went out and pressed the car as much as we could. I could tell we were going fast because of how much higher the engine was turning at the usual points. We were hoping to break the record by a couple of tenths. When the official scoring came back we had shattered the old record by over a full second.


Sunday’s qualifying was pretty tame, we only went out for a couple of laps because we knew no one would be able to beat our time. When the race came the weather was really sketchy. It was one of those races that whoever guessed right on the weather and the right tire would win the race. Thankfully for us everyone guessed wrong! We went to the grid in the rain and as soon as they closed the grid it stopped raining. The green flag flew on a mostly wet track but was dry three laps into the race. We got a very good start and ran as high as 2nd overall at one point. We were able to build up a cushion of about 11-13 seconds on the nearest competitor and then back off to try and save the tires. The car was set up for the rain and on rain tires so it was a real handful, our hope was that everyone else was having the same problems. Once things sorted out the race was pretty uneventful, we just had to keep our nose clean and bring it home safe. We did just that and ended up with a perfect weekend.

Special thanks goes to all the family and friends who came to watch even expecting miserable weather. Of course things could not have gone well without a wonderful effort from our crew and the support of our sponsors, thank you to all of you!

Our next race will be the home town event at Spokane Raceway Park July 13-15, hope to see you there.

It was so good to be back in the car and in competition again.

With so much of the car being new we were hoping we had it right and the car would be fast again. Turns out, we weren’t far off right from the get go. We must give credit to the guys at Andy’s classic Mustangs for so much hard work in putting the body back together, and the engine rebuild. Without their help there’s no way we would have this car back. The car felt good right from the first session, with only a few minor suspension tweaks and brake adjustments we were able to get the pole for the group.

The weekend had gone perfectly until it was time to go to the grid for the race. We were unaware we had been running on the battery for the weekend and were not getting a charge from the alternator. We tried to start the car to warm it up but the battery was dead, we pushed started it and took it down to the hot pits. When it was time to go on track the car again wouldn’t start. The officials made us sit until the grid was cleared and we were then allowed to push start the car and get going. It was great fun to battle through the field. We were able to get into second position but by half way through the race the car developed ignition problems. I backed off and just paced the first place car and hoped for the best. We ended up being second and getting the points for pole position. The coming weekend in Seattle should prove interesting, especially if it’s raining.

We had a great weekend and special thanks goes to Jeff Harris of Sterling S Home & Ranch and Ayrton Nelson for the hard work through the weekend.

See you in Seattle.

After a long winter and a lot of repair work we’re back! The yellow #61 is repaired and improved and were going to Portland for race #1 May 5 & 6.

Since being crashed out of the Mission race last year there was a tremendous amount of work to be done. The guys at Andy’s Classic Mustangs have done a truly awesome job on a car we thought was totaled. Not only have they restored the damage but they believe they have also found some untapped horsepower in the motor. I am excited and ready to get back in that car and see what the results of all that hard work are. Thanks so much to Andy, A.J., Rob, and the others for your effort.

We have retained the same sponsors and want to welcome Sterling S Homes & Ranch. Jeff and Shallee Harris are owner / operators of Sterling S Homes & Ranch serving the Inland Northwest. They provide construction and remodeling services for residential and light commercial projects. I have used them in our home remodel as well as seen some of their other projects and am absolutely impressed with their work. If you have projects to be done, please give them a call at (509) 590-9838.

It’s going to be a great year for this team and we invite you to come out to the track, hang out and be part of the fun.

See you at the track

SVS inc. and Inland Northwest Boy Scout Council are teaming up to bring an exciting event to the parking lot at the Spokane Arena.

Come out and join us Thursday, September 28th from 4-7 p.m. for crafts, food, soap box derby racing and much more. The event is a continuation of the Cub Scouts “Race to Scouting Campaign” and is intended to bring more boys to Cub Scouts for the coming year. If you’re already a scout grab a friend and bring him to the event. It will be fun for everyone.

We’ll see you there!

For the Labor Day weekend we went to Mission Ridge B.C. for a double race weekend, and to spend some quality time with our Canadian sponsor, Bishop Sales.

Bishop Sales have been one of our strongest supporters in recent years and we were very excited to put on a good show for them. The weekend started out great when we went out for our first practice and on the third lap we were below the current lap record. The officials don’t record lap records for practice or qualifying there so we would wait for Sunday’s race to set the official record. The weather was fantastic and the car was running great. We qualified on pole for our group and the only concern we had was brake rotors. Mission is a very hard track on brakes, especially with a car this size. By the end of Sunday’s qualifying we had cracked the front rotors and were running on the backups for rest of the weekend.

Sunday’s race was great fun. We didn’t get a very good start so at the first corner our second place competitor was glued to our rear end. At about the third lap he passed us going into turn four and led the rest of the lap. As we came to turn one, we went down the inside and overtook him for the lead under braking. That was his last chance and for the rest of the race we built a larger lead and he was never within striking distance again. We ended up with pole position, a new track record, and a win for our debut at Bishop sale’s home track. What a perfect day!

Monday’s race was much different. The weather was the same and the car was running perfectly. Because Sunday’s race was so hot and the track so brutal on equipment, there was a high attrition rate for competitors. Our grid had lost about a dozen cars that just couldn’t get it together for the second race. Once again we had pole position for our group but we really didn’t need to worry about any competition, this race was going to be the proverbial “Sunday drive”. When we took the green flag the group headed to turn one and everybody was very well behaved. We all were giving each other plenty of room and patience to get through the first corner, this was perhaps the most laid back start I had ever been a part of. We were half way through the corner when the competitor from 17th position drilled the passenger front and side of our car. This was the single dumbest thing I have ever seen done in a racecar and I have no idea what this individual thought he could accomplish with such a move. We kept the car moving and brought it to the pits to be sure we weren’t rubbing a tire and could continue. The officials took one look at our car and decided our day was over. What a way to end the weekend, and prematurely, our season.

As of now we don’t know if we will build a new car or fix what we have, stay tuned and we’ll let you know as soon as we know. This is one of the hard parts of racing, somedays you’re the windshield and somedays you’re the bug!!

Our most important race weekend of the year is the hometown double in Spokane. This year we really wanted to put on a good show. Wendle Ford gave us the ability to have a beautiful hospitality area and our other sponsors participated to help produce a great vendor display to attract many race attendees. We sincerely appreciate all the involvement from our sponsors. I also want to personally thank our crew. It was a tremendous amount of work on everyone’s part and the weekend could not possibly have been a success without their huge effort.

All of this effort was repaid with perfect results. We had two pole positions, two wins, and set a new qualifying record on Sunday morning.

It was a hot clear weekend that went very smooth. Our only mechanical issue was oil temperature that we are still trying to figure out, but that apparently didn’t slow us down.
We had good clean races with minimal carnage to other competitors. There were a couple of incidents where hot racecars created grass fires but both were handled immediately and professionally.

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer us on, we look forward to seeing you again at our next race.

After having such a great run in Portland we have been working like mad to get ready for our hometown races. July 14-16 we will be at Spokane Raceway Park. Come out and join us.


Wendle Ford has graciously signed on to sponsor the hospitality area for the team and Bishop Sales of Vancouver B.C. has signed on as parts supplier. We are very proud to have both of these great organizations as part of our team and we hope everyone will come out to show your support for their involvement.

This year we will have a wonderful hospitality area all inside the festival tents with plenty of room for everyone. We will have food, drink and of course the in-car camera viewing on multiple screens. The Boy Scouts are coming out and we will have autograph sessions for the kids. You can relax, watch the crew prep the car between sessions and see all the racing action including drag racing Saturday night.

See you at the track!

Wow, what a great weekend! After a tough to take DNF in Seattle we really wanted a win. We got just that in Portland for the June 3 and 4 race. A large field of American Sedan cars showed up and we had a very competitive field.

We worked very hard on the car redoing the plumbing, installing a new radiator, cleaning the mess from the oil that sprayed all over the engine compartment from the Seattle race, and doing the normal race prep. Everything thankfully went very well for us all weekend. Our Saturday qualifying session was dry and we were able to get within a hundredth of Rob Rissberger for second in our group. Because I was doing a job with Jeep out on the Oregon dunes the same weekend, we were not able to go out for the Sunday qualifying. That didn’t matter though since it was pouring down rain and nobody could get close to Saturday’s times.

For the race start we were gridded eighth overall. When the green flag flew we got the demon start and went into the chicane in fourth place, two cars looped it in front of me and we came out of the chicane in second place overall. It was a strange race and it seemed everyone I came close to crashed or popped an engine. Rob chased me very hard for the first part of the race. He was repeatedly caught in yellow flags that I didn’t catch and traffic broke well for us. I have rarely seen a race with that many opportunities to blow it and I am very thankful we were able to hold on for the win.

From here were going home to get ready for the Spokane races. We hope to see you there, come on out and have some fun with us.

The season started for us this year at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. The weather stayed nice and it was great to see friends again. Outside of that it was a bit of a challenge.

It was one of those weekends where everything went but nothing went as well as we hoped it would. The car ran strong and felt great but we battled heating problems all weekend. We did have pole position for our group but new we needed to take it easy because of the temperature. The race started and we had a great start. Within five laps we had a substantial lead and had backed off to save the car. Everything was looking like we were going to pull it off but five minutes from the end we blew an oil line. We shut it down and coasted into the pits. Thankfully there was no damage to the motor but boy did it fog the backside of the track when that oil hit the header.

Oh well, some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. We’ll be ready for Portland June 3,4 and hungry for the win.

Every once in a while in this business you get the opportunity to do something really wonderful. Last week at Infineon raceway I had one of those moments.

We were at Infineon (Sears Point Raceway for the traditionalists) for the Ferrari challenge event. Every day for an hour we do “hot laps” for special guests. On Sunday I was asked to take a young man named Kris McGlothern for a few laps around the track in the F-430 Spyder.

Kris is 16 years old and in October 2005 he was diagnosed with Hodkins Lymphoma stage 4 cancer, he is currently in treatment at Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco. This wonderful young man with the great smile is one of the most pleasant people I have met in a long while. It was truly an honor for me to drive him around for some laps in that spectacular car, maybe next time he’ll drive.

Kris, my hopes and prayers are with you and I look forward to seeing you at many racetracks in the future.

It’s been a long winter and we haven’t been reporting, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been working. We’ve been preparing for the new year and a tremendous amount of activities. We’re still working on some of the details for the season but we are looking forward to some great announcements shortly.

The schedule for the new season is posted now so please check it out under the racing section. For now only the race weekends are posted but the schedule will be augmented to show what events we will be doing as the year progresses.

We started the new season by doing a couple great events for the Boy Scouts of America. The first event was a leadership training that took place at East Valley High School in Spokane. During the event they trained and prepared over 100 of the regions leaders for the upcoming year. The second event was much larger.


The third annual Boy Scout Leadership Breakfast takes place in the Spokane Convention Center. The breakfast hosts over 600 of the regions leaders and featured NFL Super Bowl and Pro bowl star Mark Rypien (above) as the key note speaker. It was an honor for us to be included and to be able to have our car and display in the dining room. The event was tremendously successful and raised over $166,000.00 for the Scouts.

We are excited to start the new season and look forward to seeing all our friends on and off the track. Come on out and have some fun with us.

See you at the races!