Recent News- WE WIN AT SALEM SPEEDWAY!
We won Sunday’s 49th Indiana Stone Works “Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial” race at the Salem Speedway. Jacob led the final 21 laps of the USAC National Sprint Car feature on the 1/2-mile paved oval in his Fatheadz.com/Jet Star Beast/Claxton Chevy. He also was the days fast qualifier!
1/19-20/07 “Rumble in the Buckeye State” Ohio State Fair Grounds, Columbus, Ohio- Friday- Today was one of the coolest days I have had in a long time. We were on our way to Columbus for Jacob to race his midget and I was going to work on it like I did in Fort Wayne. We had a surprise stop in courtesy of my dad (Mark Wilson). He always finds something cool to do and make a trip that much better!!! We stopped at The Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. That made me think a lot of Iraq and the men and women in the service over seas including my cousin, and just for them I took about 5 minutes and just sat there and thought and prayed for all of them to come home safely. After we left the base we were only about a hour away from the fair grounds. We showed up there just a little early so my brother, Drew Charleston, and I went and looked at the track. “WOW!!!” That was the first thing all three of us said when we saw the race track that had drag strip straights and tight corners. That night we got 3 rounds of practice and man Jacob was flying. We had his car hooked up and rolling right around the corners. After practice got over we went to get some sleep.
Saturday- First thing in the morning I felt a need for speed! So I asked my dad if we could get my car out of the trailer and let me race. He said we have a lot of work to do and I hope we have time so let’s get started. So right off the bat we got all of Jacob’s things ready to hit the track for practice. That way we couldn’t keep him from doing good. Then we went out to the trailer and got everything we needed to get my car ready to race. Then we pushed it in and got to work. It took about an hour and a half or two to get the car set-up changed from Anderson Speedway to Indoors. I went out and only got one round of practice the car was ok but I knew I needed some work for it being my first ever indoor race. So I went over and got some tips for qualifications 7 hours later from my brother Jacob. I never knew that racing indoors was such a thrill it seems like you are going so fast just because it is a small enclosed area. Qualifying time…I was ready to go and throw all I had at the fast 1/10 mile track. My time wasn’t good because of a terrible push coming off of turn 4, I think I qualified 19. So that put we way on back in the heat race but I felt good with the changes that we made. So I went out there starting 5th. I was doing good then the car started to push again and I tried over driving it but I still couldn’t catch 3rd place. So then we made a change that all of us knew would work. So I was excited to go out there and show them what I had. Jacob started on the pole because he qualified on the pole, Ken Schrader started 3rd and I started 6th in the 1st conciliation race. Right off the bat I was able to get down low and get to work I made my way up to 4th by the second lap then there was a caution and 3rd place got involved so I was in 3rd now. The restart order was 1st-Jacob Wilson 2nd– Ken Schrader 3rd-Clinton Wilson. I took off with a good start and was doing everything I could to get around Ken but I didn’t want to wreck him so the one chance I had to get under him I took advantage of but he didn’t see me unfortunately and I hit a inside tire bending my left front shock and radius rods. I was able to keep in 3rd until the last lap Ginny Quinones got around me and I ended up 4th. That ended my good run. However I had fun and was able to race against some of the best and that makes me happy. I would like to that Dave Furman for the extra LF TIRE, Jacob for the advise, my mom and dad for letting me do it, all of the competitors for a good race, and last but not least god for making everything possible for me to have a chance.
Race Results-
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jacob Wilson, 07, Wilson-7.137; 2. Jon Stanbrough, 0, RAD-7.142; 3. Billy Wease, 99, Burrow-7.181; 4. Brandon Knupp, 15x, Knupp-7.281; 5. Mike Fedorcak, 97, Stewart-7.285; 6. Shane Hollingsworth, 10, Moore-7.320; 7. Jeff Wimmenauer, 15J, Wimmenauer-7.328; 8. Kyle Robbins, 17x, Robbins-7.368; 9. Ryan Miller, 87, Miller-7.391; 10. Ken Schrader, 7, Armstrong-7.428; 11. Drew Charlson, 21, Fuhrman-7.439; 12. Cale Conley, 3, Conley-7.453; 13. Blake Fitzpatrick, 10x, Fitzpatrick-7.491; 14. Tim Jedrzejek, 7J, Williams-7.522; 15. Matt Westfall, 19, Ryder-7.606; 16. Dave Fuhrman, 32, Fuhrman-7.625; 17. Palmer Eicher, 54, Eicher-7.633; 18. Ronnie Wuerdeman, 33, Wuerdeman-7.684; 19. Clinton Wilson, 4, Wilson-7.690; 20. Matt Estep, 07x, Williams-7.710; 21. Ginny Quinones, 00, Quinones-7.711; 22. Dakoda Armstrong, 17, Armstrong-7.747; 23. Deano Lennon, 27, Lennon-7.785; 24. Doug Cross, 41, Griffith-7.800; 25. Rich Corson, 15, Corson/Savage-7.813; 26. Joey Payne, 56, Rencurrel-8.200.
FIRST HEAT: (12 laps) 1. Fitzpatrick, 2. Fedorcak, 3. J.Wilson, 4. Corson, 5. Quinones, 6. Miller, 7. Eicher. NT
SECOND HEAT: (12- laps) 1. Jedrzejek, 2. Hollingsworth, 3. Stanbrough, 4. Schrader, 5. Armstrong, 6. Wuerdeman, 7. Payne. NT
THIRD HEAT: (12 laps) 1. Westfall, 2. Wease, 3. Wimmenauer, 4. Charlson, 5. C.Wilson, 6. Lennon. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (12 laps) 1. Robbins, 2. Knupp, 3. Estep, 4. Conley, 5. Fuhrman, 6. Cross. NT
CONSI #1: (12 laps) 1. J.Wilson, 2. Schrader, 3. Quinones, 4. C.Wilson, 5. Corson, 6. Wimmenauer, 7. Lennon, 8. Conley, 9. Eicher. NT
CONSI #2: (12 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Armstrong, 3. Fuhrman, 4. Cross, 5. Miller, 6. Charlson, 7. Estep, 8. Wuerdeman. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Blake Fitzpatrick, 2. Tim Jedrzejek, 3. Shane Hollingsworth, 4. Mike Fedorcak, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 6. Billy Wease, 7. Jacob Wilson,8. Brandon Knupp, 9. Kyle Robbins, 10. Dakoda Armstrong, 11. Ken Schrader, 12. Matt Westfall. NT
12/28-30/06 Rumble in Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana- Thursday– Although I didn’t race I went to help my brother, Jacob Wilson in the Rumble. We showed up early ready and eager to unloaded so that we could make our final preparations before we hit the track for our two rounds of practice. Finally at about 3:30pm we were unloading in the decent weather. We finally hit the track and were pretty happy with the way it was handling. So after the last round of practice we didn’t make any changes and packed up so we could get a good night sleep.
Friday– At about 8:00am I was still half asleep and started working. After a team discussion last night we decided to go ahead and change carburetors hoping to get a little more coming out of the corners. We hit the track finally late that morning and were doing fairly well, Jacob was ok with the car. So now we had a long 6 hour wait until qualifying and that is plenty of time to think. We thought we would leave the car alone but the track had changed enough it came back to bite us. He qualified mid-field and had a bad push so we changed that for the heat race and he was doing pretty good until he made contact with 2 cars in that spun out right in front of him and he bent the right front part of the axle and tie rod. So we got that changed and were ready for the conciliation race. Into the conciliation race we went and he was fast but still only got 3rd so our night was over early.
Saturday– The morning went nice and smooth no problems until practice when we realized something was wrong with the car so we had set it up again before qualifying. Finally it was time to qualify again and we did alright. We started in the middle of the heat race and made it up to 3rd. So we started towards the front in the conciliation race and a second to last lap pass put him in second and we transferred to the main. We got the car prepared for the race and relaxed for about 3 minutes until it was time to get ready for driver introductions. So we let him go at it in the main. He ended up in the top 10 for a good finish to our long weekend. Congratulations to Jacob Wilson and Team WBR!!!
09/14/06 Luke Gher Wishard Hospital, Indianapolis, IN- Wednesday night Luke got burnt in a small house fire. We went and saw him Thursday and then again on Monday night. He has improved a bunch sense the first time we saw him. However he is in more pain and had a fever the last couple of nights. He still hasn’t been told when he is going to be released. He is very disappointed because he wont be able to see everyone at the race tracks for the last two nationals. My thoughts and Prayers are with Luke Gher for a speedy recovery.
09/13/06 PRA Big Cars O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN- Wednesday evening after Jacob and I got out of school we set out for O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis to enjoy an evening of racing and to talk to some of our friends. Jack French (King of the Little 500) was the one that we set out to see and he was working on A. J. Fike. It was time for the race and Ken Schrader started on the pole position. Ryan Newman was there but struggled in qualifying. Bobby Santos took off early in the lead and nobody could catch him. Then a caution cam out for rain. And the race ended up getting canceled.
08/19-20/06 Jamaica Raceway, Jamaica, IA- Friday morning we worked hard to get all of our stuff done and ready, but however we still didn’t make it onto the track. So going off of the set-up from a year before I went out Saturday morning and was doing decent. I went out and qualified 2nd and didn’t want to be there at all. I raced on the out side and first place got by I couldn’t get down so I stayed up and gave the kid some room. However he didn’t return the favor for me and ran me off the track on the front stretch. There should have been a caution sense it was the first lap and they didn’t throw one so I was way back in the pack and couldn’t catch the draft. Luckily I caught Jacob and we drafted towards the front. But we ran out of time and weren’t able to get around the leaders. On Sunday I was still very fast but I qualified on the pole and didn’t want to b e there with out Jacob racing I didn’t not have a drafting partner. I stayed with the leaders for a while and pushed Tyler Strickland for 10 laps hoping he would pass for the lead but unfortunately he was able to get around him so I ended up 3rd. I would like to thanks Carl Young, X-Caliber Racing Engines, Jeff Hoisington, Brandon Young, and My Family.
07/29-30/06 Little Sunset, Greenwood, NE- Thursday night after we got our pits set-up we looked at the track crew working in the track. It looked like it was going to be a very good and fast race track. I was very excited because I like short tracks and this was a very short one. Friday practice we weren’t doing to bad, but I quickly learned that this track wasn’t going to be a good one. With temperatures in the 100+ ranges, no one was eager to go early Saturday morning. I struggled a little bit in the morning practice and then got it tuned in for qualifying. I qualified in the top 5 in both classes, and that gave me a big boost of confidence when not everyone makes the feature, but I did. by the time the features came around the track was coming apart all over with big chunks of dirt flying through the air and the track looked rougher than ever. I went out and and got in 2nd place right off the bat battling with the leader, I got up high coming off of turn number 2 and spun out. I took back off not going a lap down but only one lap later it happened again so I pulled off the track so that we could get it set up and ready to go for the next race. I started 5th and was in 3rd place for about 5 out of the 15 laps of the feature and I got knocked up high again and dropped back to 8th place and and stayed right around there for the rest of the race. On Sunday morning I was eager to race but it was very hot and I didn’t have a chance in one class to do any good in the points so I dropped out of that class to make it easier on me and my team. After first round of practice my motor was cutting out so we got the back up motor on for second round and thought we had it ready to go and I barely made it out just to get 2 laps before my motor blew up because of a lack of oil. I would like to thank Carl Young, My Mom, Dad and Brother, X-Caliber Racing Engines, Luke Gher, and Brandon Young
I would like to say congratulations to Brandon Young, Carl Edwards, and Clint Bowyer for there good and exciting runs in the Dirt Late Models at the big stock car track.
07/15-16/06 Midstate Raceway, Springfield, IL- After Friday practice I realized I had a champ that could very well win on Saturday. I went out in Saturdays first round of practice and realized it was going to be a good day for me. I looked really good in practice so, I skipped second round practice do to the fact nobody thought I really needed to go out. I qualified 1st, and if that didn’t make me happy I don’t know what would. The first pole of the season for me!!! Starting on the pole in a champ race isn’t the most ideal situation, because all of the drafting that takes place. But I wasn’t worried that much. I knew that I was very fast and I knew that my brother started right behind me if I needed any help. however our plan backfired on us and it went to single file. I felt Tyler Strickland pushing me for about 8 lap before I started to check out. I slowly pulled away from him and Collin Mumaw. I broke the draft and just left them on the last five laps. On Sunday I still only went out in first round of practice. I felt good so we didn’t mess with it at all. I went out and set fast time again and I was thinking of a repeat. the exact same thing happened except the fact I didn’t start to pull away from the field until lap 12. I would like to thank Carl Young, X-Caliber Racing Engines, and Jeff Hoisington and Bob Strickland at Rage!
07/07/06 Anderson Speedway, Anderson, IN- After showing up late because we couldn’t get away from work we were hoping to have a lot of fun. I was hooked up and rolling in the first round of practice but just had a slight push getting into the corner. I was perfect in the second round of practice I was dialed in thanks to Mark Meister. We finally got to qualify I thought it was my chance to shine because I hadn’t got a good draw all year. I had a terrible push in qualifying. So unfortunately I qualified 18th. I started 1st in the third heat. I got passed early and then fell back until my tires came in then I ran him down and was really fast. However I didn’t have enough time to get around him. For the feature they went back to qualifying order. So I got to start 18th in the feature. I was battling around and made my way up to about 13th position when a kid came up and hit my left front and locked my wheels to the right and I went flying up into the wall on lap 17. Ending my night early. However my night did have some good in it. I set the second fastest lap of the night! I also had a good time.