Well, I'm another week closer to going racing and I survived! The time off has forced me into a lot of house cleaning, but I've also gotten a chance to watch some NHRA drag racing and NASCAR races on TV. (Thank goodness for televised motor sports).

How about local favorite Kyle Busch? He is doing awesome! It would have been nice to see him win on Sunday though. But, I guess you can't win them all, unless your top fuel driver Tony Scumacher. When you are a great driver with one of the best crews it's understandable why he wins so many races!

On Friday, we celebrated our niece's 16th birthday. She is the youngest niece on Johnny's side of the family. They sure do grow up quickly! On Saturday I spent a wonderful day with my Mom, local drag racer Grace Creason. It was our first mother/daughter day since her total knee replacement back in June. She is anxious for racing to begin as well. We spent the day shopping for maternity clothes. It's always great to spend time with her!

Saturday night Johnny and I ventured out to the movies and saw "The Dark Knight" which was great! It had lots of action and clowns...and I love clowns. Sunday was spent at home watching NASCAR and NHRA drag racing.

This coming weekend I'm going to The Bullring to check out some of the racing action for the first race out of the July break. It should be fun! See you at the races...

Becky

Hi everyone! During this month-long summer break from The Bullring we have been very busy at H-Town Racing, not necessarily on the cars themselves, but working behind the scenes on a variety of race team aspects.

It has been really nice not to be thrashing in order to fix any wrecked cars. I think this is the first time we have had a nice break, one without having to make any major repairs or rebuild any engines.  We knocked out the maintenance aspect of the Super Late Model, Late Model, and Modified in the first week.  The crew has been working at the shop part-time doing some spring cleaning, I know it is no longer spring, but I couldn't think of a better name for it!  I have been working behind the scenes trying to land a new sponsor deal, networking with our current sponsors and trying to improve our marketing campaign.  (I am always working on improving our marketing campaign!)

The break has also allowed me to spend extra time with my family, and I have loved every minute of it.  The kids go to a 12-month school, so we can't spend the days together, but it is really nice to be able to go home after a day of work at my regular job, have dinner with the family and be able to tuck the kids in at night. During the season there are so many nights that I don't get to see them at all, either because of wrenching on one of the cars or sponsor commitments.  I am very lucky to have such a supportive wife and kids.

We are looking forward to the Team Raucci event this Saturday at Carlucio's Italian Restaurant from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.  Vinny is a great guy and we are honored to be part of his team's event. There will be several Bullring drivers there with their cars on display and signing autographs.  That is one thing I really enjoy about being part of the Bullring, it's like a big family.  Don't get me wrong, like in every family, there are issues, but when help is needed it seems like everyone forgets about the little stuff and sticks together.  

I also have to give a big thank you to the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program (SNHEP) for honoring me as the Diversity Champion. It makes me very proud to know that the Race to Success Reading Program is working to help students face the many challenges in life. I will hold the award as a great honor for a lifetime!  The SNHEP helps with recruitment and retention of employees for Southern Nevada businesses and awards several hundred college scholarships to hard-working students, giving them a chance to succeed with a college degree.  It was great to be a part of an event that included Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign, and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley. Thanks again, it will always be treasured!

I'd also like to give a shout out to Findlay Chevrolet (www.findlaychevy.com), Team Rivera Independent Beachbody Coaches, Dr. MaryAnn Shannon, Black Mountain Graphics, and SFC USA Inc. for all of their support.

I'm looking forward to the double mains on August 2^nd. We will be trying to survive the first one and get a top five in the second one. Talk to you soon! 

Jim Petrie - #1 Super Late Model
www.htownspeed.com

Hi, my name is Becky Phlegar. My husband John and I are bracket racers at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We have been married for four years and have been together for 13 years. I race a 1972 Chevy Chevelle powered by a 540 ci big block Chevrolet built by Shafferoff. John drives a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster, also powered by a 540 ci Shafferoff big block Chevrolet engine.

We also have a third car that John and his father John Senior share the in the sportsman class. It is powered by a home-built 468 ci big block Chevrolet.

John and I are also the Southern Nevada Torco Racing fuel distributors. While this is not our only job, it does keep us very busy. Johnny works for a large construction company in Las Vegas, and I am a licensed veterinary technician and practice manager for a local animal hospital.

John and I will be adding to our race team in early January because we recently found out that we are expecting our first child! When we are not racing local races, we enjoy seeking out races to compete in at other NHRA racetracks on the west coast. As we do more racing, I will be updating you all with exciting news from our adventures.

This weekend was amazing! The whole family spent the weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway watching the Formula Drift and Battle of the Imports races and selling fuel. As for myself, well I spent the time watching in disbelief! This was my first drifting experience and will not be the last. These cars were reaching speeds of 93 plus miles per hour and taking their rides to the limits. WOW! The course was full of tight curves and the drivers were sliding into all corners while maintaining fast speeds. I had a great time!

There are a few more weeks left until the Jerry's Nugget series resumes at The Strip and I cannot wait. Our cars are ready to go and so are we. We do have a little maintenance to do, but not much.

As for me, well I'm pretty tired. The pregnancy is going well and I'm really starting to show. I'm not showing much, but it is now obvious that baby Phlegar is there. I have another appointment with my doctor before the next race. Each doctor I see gets asked the same question: Is it OK to drive? So Far I am good to go. But I will keep asking anyways.

It does not look like much is going on for the upcoming weekend. I'm working, and Johnny has tickets to a fight. Gosh I miss racing...

What's up Las Vegas! My name is Vaughn Gittin Jr. and I compete in the Formula Drift series in my Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang. I am known best as the winner of the 2005 D1GP USA vs. Japan and the 2007 D1GP World Championship.

I am excited to compete this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Formula Drift's Round Four, and hopefully take a podium finish giving me some points to advance higher in the ranks then my current 8^th place position.

At Round Three at Englishtown Raceway, I made it to the top 16 after killing it all day, but was unable to compete due to technical difficulties. So you can definitely say I'm craving some competition at this event.

A year ago I competed in the D1GP All Star Exhibition at LVMS where I was awarded the "Chris Blair Award" for my performance. So I know this high-speed course well, and can't wait to get back on it.

If you are making it out to this awesome event, be sure to stop by the huge Falken Tire pit area and give me a high five. I'll be the guy wearing the American flag driving shoes, pushing the limits of the Falken Tire Ford Racing Mustang, with my foot to the floor, insane angle, and a sea of smoke behind me - you can't miss me. For more info, visit www.VaughnGittin.com.

-Vaughn

Hey everyone, my name is Chris Rado and I'm the driver of the 1800 hp PRO FWD WORLD Racing drag Scion tC. For those of you who are unfamiliar with me and my team, WORLD Racing, we are a professional drag race, time attack, and show circuit team that has been participating heavily in the motorsports scene for about ten years now.

This upcoming weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marks my third Battle of the Imports event of this year, and I cannot even express how excited I am for this event. We took 1st place at Battle of the Imports at Englishtown Raceway back in early June, then 2nd place at BOTI at MIR just a few weeks ago, so you can definitely bet we are aiming for another podium finish this weekend - preferable 1st place.

The WORLD Racing team has been working around the clock to prepare our machine for battle. We are confident that we are prepared mentally, physically, and technologically to be the team to watch out for in Las Vegas. The last time we ran this track was exactly a year ago when NHRA teamed up with D1GP for the great event. This year I expect another great event with Battle of the Imports teaming up with Formula D to put on an awesome event for us competitors and for the fans.

I hope that everyone who reads this can make the event this weekend at LVMS and stop by the WORLD Racing pit to say "what up!" to me and the guys. I'm looking forward to a great event, and hopefully a 1st place win! See you at the track!

Chris

Since this is my first entry to the lvms.com driver blog, I will tell you a little about myself and the rest of the H-Town Racing team. We currently have four cars that compete at The Bullring. The #1 Super Late Model driven by myself, Jim Petrie, the #2 Late Model driven by team member Jeff Bargerhuff, the #1 Modified driven by my older brother Pat Petrie, and the #1 Charger car driven by team member John Wright.

We have been very lucky over the last few years and have had great sponsorships, during that time I was able to move up to the Super's. We were able to build a new modified for Pat, add the Late Model for Jeff, invest into the Charger, and launch Jimmy Petrie's (my six-year-old son) racing career in a Micro-Kart that competes at the Las Vegas Karting Club track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After we realized how lucky we have been we decided we needed to give something back to the youth of the Las Vegas Valley while using our racing. We started the Race to Success Reading Program in September of 2007 at two local, at risk, low income elementary schools, Dr. C. Owen Roundy Elementary School and C.T. Sewell Elementary School. The program was more successful then we could have ever dreamed of and the results were astronomical. Between September 2007 and May 2008 the fifth grade students at the participating schools read over 1,300 books. The program helped bring the students back to being able to enjoy reading, which is especially important in today's computer, video game, and i-pod world. Not only did the students learn how to enjoy reading, but the program also helped raise reading scores, build confidence in students, and made them part of the greatest sport in the world, racing!

Fast forward to today, we are still running all of cars, but are unsure from week to week if we will be able to make it to the track the following week due to the loss of our primary sponsor. We sit down each and every week to see what the budget is and what we can afford to run the next week. We have found ways to make sure the Super, Modified and Late Model have been at the track every week. We have had to miss a few nights with the Charger, but John is doing alright for himself, currently ninth in points.

I have been working night and day to secure funding for not only our racing but for the Reading Program as well. If our current situation does not improve it looks as though we may have to cancel the reading program for the upcoming school year, since it is funded entirely out of our racing budget. This is where it saddens my heart, when we first implemented the program it was just a way of giving back, but as the school year went on and I saw the results, excitement and success it brought to the students, my outlook for the program changed. The Race to Success Reading Program became my primary focus and being on the track became secondary. However, as I always say to my kids, "Never give up!"

We would like to thank our 2008 sponsors Findlay Chevrolet, Las Vegas Orthopedic's Dr. Mary Ann Shannon, Cookie Rivera - Earn Extra Money and, SFC USA Inc.

The Night of Fire was exactly that for the H-Town Racing #1 Super Late Model, very, very, hot! We ended up arriving at the track with three cars: the Super Late Model, Late Model and Modified.  We practiced the night before but were still unhappy with our lap times, especially myself in the Super Late Model. The team practiced for three sessions and then I decided I needed to rest to be able to make all 76 laps, even though we made the car better we still were not where we wanted on the stop watch.

We rested and tried to stay cool until the driver's meeting. We headed over and listened to our track director say, "Outside temperature is 118 degrees, and track temperature is 149 degrees!"  All I could think is that everybody out here must be crazy!

We qualified poorly, as usual. I really need to work on that! We ended up in the 17th position for the beginning of the race.  I always run faster in the race, so I always say it's racing not qualifying :).  We were able to pass our way up to 8th, where we finished on the lead lap, without getting passed by anybody. By the end of the race we were running with cars that have won features and qualify for the dash every week, so I think during the break we will work very hard on our qualifying set up to see if we can't crack the top five by giving ourselves a better starting position. 

I had a great holiday with my family, we are very lucky that we got to spend so much time together.  We started out by having a great time at the track on July 3rd, both on the track and in the stockyard.  We then had all three of our cars as floats in the Boulder City Damboree 4th of July parade.  We had three of the nicest trucks out there, of course from the best Chevy Dealership in the world Findlay Chevrolet, and we decorated our trailers and had special guest Pit Boss and dealer Patricia with us.  I walked the route handing out promotional stuff not only for H-Town Racing, the best Chevy Dealership in the world Findlay Chevrolet, but also to help promote LVMS.  We ended up handing out over 5,000 promotional items!  We then headed over to the family BBQ, ate and celebrated Independence Day for the greatest country on planet earth!  All in all a great racing and family weekend, and isn't that what it is all about!

Jim

Hi. My name is Cheyanne Schindler and I am 14 years old. I have been involved with racing for four years now. I got into racing because my family has raced for a long time and I decided to give it a try!

I love racing and once I started, I could never get it out of my mind. All I wanted to do is get on that track and race. I lost my mom when I was 12 and I miss her sitting in the bleachers cheering me on. I miss her dearly and wish she could be here right now.

I race the No. 88 Semi-Pro Legends Car, sponsored by: Thomson Motorsports, Rolling Thunder Motorsports, Foxy Construction., Paint by Wiebe, Chris Clyne Motorsports, Route 66 Lounge, Al Budd Racing, Chuck Trickle, CT Power, Surf City Bar & Grill, David and Cathy Spaine and Canyon Electric.

This past week I visited my teammate and best friend, Amanda Gubler in Peoria, Ariz.  I have known Amanda for three years and I've never had a friend as close as her. Amanda was racing Bandoleros a year ago, crashed and hit the wall pretty hard. She broke her leg but she's brave enough to get back in a car. She is now racing my old Bandolero, the No. 88, since I moved up to legends.

This week, I've been getting ready to race at the July 3rd Night of Fire at the Bullring.  The Night of Fire is my favorite race because they have the most exciting themes going on. I have never raced on July 3rd because they never have Bandoleros race in it.  But now, since I'm racing in Legends Cars, I'm going to be in it. I'm very excited to be racing it!

This 4th of July, I'm going over to Jonathan Eakin's house (the No. 44 Bandolero Bandit driver) and we are going to have a huge BBQ and relax. I can't wait!

Cheyanne