2008

Don't forget to check out the FOR SALE Section!  I might have what you're looking for!!!

Recent news:

11/15/08

Well!  What a season!  Ended up running the Civic all year in ITA.  A new motor, new final drive, several other smaller changes...  All equal a GREAT year!  Finished 2nd in the Great Lakes Division points and 7th in the ITTC Championship.  Got my first WIN in ITA at Grattan this season too.

Special thanks to:

Scott Lunder - Engine builder!

Bone - Transmission builder!

Jeff Owen (Special Project Motorsports) - Final Drive supplier!

Hankook Tires - The BEST Tires available!!!!

Stay tuned for the 2009 season!

6/16/08

Been a GREAT season so far!  Went back to Indy (ORP now) and had a good showing with a 4th and 2nd.  Felt good to get back out on the track that bit me last season.  I wasn't nearly as fast as I thought I should have been, but the car left in one piece!

Then it was off to Grattan, MI.  Always a great time!  Ended up with a 2nd and a 1st!

Over the winter, we had a motor built for the Civic.  What a difference!  That with the Hankook tires should make this a FUN season!

11/12/07

Didn't make it to the ARRC.  Decided to save the money and try to put together a better effort in 2008!  We did acquire a 1999 Ford ZX2 that will be a rental in 08.  It will be available for track days, drivers schools, regionals and nationals.  Keep an eye out for more details on that!

10/13/07

I'm done for the year.  Plans to go to the ARRC have been put off to allow for upgrades to the car for the 2008 season.  All in all a GREAT year of racing.  Looking forward to 2008!  We are building another Civic for my Brother Mark to run so we will have Two DowningRacing Civics in ITA!

WOR Games at Mid-Ohio.  Perfect weather and great racing!  Quality event with a great turnout (almost 200 cars!)

OVR Double Regional at Mid-Ohio.  I was the co-race chair (again) for this event and it was a success!  Wet, wet, wet - but still FUN!  Ended up with a 2nd. in the Sunday race.  (Real WET!)

Ran the IT/SPEC*tacular (Cincy region) race at Mid-Ohio.  Nice turnout and a great time getting to see some faces I've not seen in quite a while!

6/2007

The enclosed trailer is gone!  Picked up a new 18' open deck and I love it!  Looking at purchasing a motorhome now...

The car is back from 15 hours on the frame rack.  In the process of putting it back together for the August IT Fest. @ Mid-Ohio.  Many new parts available in the F/S section.  Updated every once and a while!  Can't wait to get the car back together and have 'real' updates to give!

Well - The 2007 season has started at ORP (IRP) in Indiana.  For 2007, we have new suspension, new transmission, body all fixed from last year!  Sat. race brought a 3rd place finish with a car that had steering issues.  Unfortunately, Sunday the driver wasn't at 100% and stuffed the car in the T15 wall in qualifying.  A pretty hard hit that will put us out for the Grattan race at the end of the month.  Waiting for a shop with a frame rack to open up so we can have the frame pulled and a new core support put in.  We will have it back together for racing at Mid-Ohio in August!

2006 recap:

WOR Games Double Regional @ Mid-Ohio:  This weekend started off with a PDX day on Friday.  A PDX is a Performance Driving Experience where you can show up with a street car, and get to turn some laps at the track.  This was a very well attended event and it was a lot of fun!  As for the racing, it was a LONG weekend.  I knocked another .8 off my best time ever, but that was after getting turned around on LAP 1 TURN 1.  The resulting hit(s) were not fun, but at least no one hit a corner hard enough to end my day.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw8OQLt75gQ I'm the Red #14 on the left.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpcmFTo3Lvg Can't see much, but this was from farther back on the grid.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9pc6mZhjj0 You can see me on the Right after the spin/hits.  Unfortunately Deb Mathias got tangled up and that ended her day.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhRlSIkZ79I And One more video showing the incident.  Thanks to everyone who posted videos!  My camera gave up on Sat., so I have no video from inside my car.  (Probably a good thing since I'm sure I was screaming like a little girl!!!)  Anyway, I got down to a 1:46.6!  Not too bad for old tires and a stock motor!  I'll get it put back together and am looking forward to running ITA next season!  ITA is the place to be!

OVR Double Regional @ Mid-Ohio:  I was the co-race chair for this event.  What a good weekend!  Got the Civic down to a 1:47.4xx and finished 4th and 5th in the races.  Kept the car in one piece and had a ball!  Looking forward to the WOR Games event in Oct..

Freedom Regional @ Mid-Ohio:  The 4.7 final drive didn't arrive in time for this event.  The new pavement at Mid-Ohio was awesome!  The car felt great and the lap times/finishing positions proved it.  Ended up 3rd of 15 on Sat. (actually 4th, but 3rd didn't come to impound) and 4th of 15 on Sun.  Sunday I turned a 1:47.6xx in the race - by far my best time (by 1.8 seconds) ever!!!  Car made it home in one piece and now I've got a little break until the next event.  Looking forward to getting some newer pictures on the site soon!

Grattan update:  What a HOT weekend!  The Civic ran great!  Qualified 3rd (of 14 ITA cars) and had a great run going until a bit of contact made it very difficult to keep the car on the track...  Nothing too bad, just a fender, core support, bumper cover, lights, ...  The car was good enough for Sunday.  Another great race and I had a moment in turn 2.  A little off-track and back on - down about 5 positions!  Came back on 9th and worked my way back to 6th.  All in all, a good weekend!  Good racing, GREAT friends and FUN!

Next event = Mid-Ohio for the Freedom Regional.  The new 4.7 Final Drive will probably not be here in time for this event.   I'm going to try to keep the car in one piece to have it in for the event after this one!  :)

First race of 2006 DONE!

My first race weekend is over!  I went to IRP for the early May Double Regional.  Qualifying went BAD!  Sat. I was 19th on the grid and 11th in class.  The race was another story.  Finished 9th overall and 4th in class!!!  FUN!  Sun. was more of the same.  I learned that I can't qualify  :)  Started 15th overall and 10th in class.  Got all the way up to Third in class and had a tire start coming apart!  I was able to hold on for another 4th!  Overall a great weekend!!!

Jan, 2006:

I was elected to the OVR Board of Directors.  Thanks to every OVR/SCCA member who voted in the election!

The car is back in one piece and I'm getting some winter modifications done for the 2006 racing season.

The 24' Pace enclosed trailer is FOR SALE!  See my new FOR SALE page for a listing of all items for sale!  This list can change daily so check back often!

2005

Well...  I've been slacking in updating this site for some time now.  2005 has been an interesting year.  I attended a Mid-Ohio driving school.  What a great time!  It was a good opportunity for me to be on the track in a low-speed environment.  I highly recommend the Mid-Ohio school for everyone!

This season, we've been to our usual events:

Grattan (double regional) - The first race with the new Quaife LSD.  The car was great.  It's really coming along nicely now.  This weekend is always a good time.  The weather this year was as close to perfect as you can get.  What a way to start the season!

Mid-Ohio (freedom regional) - Another great weekend!  I had a few off track issues, but all in all, a good time.

Mid-Ohio (WOR games) - Hmmmm......  This was a great time!  Good friends and great racing were the theme of the weekend.  Unfortunately, I ended the weekend on a down note.  I ran out of talent late in the race and lost it in Turn 1.

This pretty much ended the weekend.  I'll get it back together and we'll be out again!!!

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