We Found it! .....Gainesville and Vegas Very Productive.....        

        Casper, WY -- We just came off of two races where we got beat first round. Most teams would consider that a complete failure. We don't consider it that at all, these two races were different. We ran fast and learned a few very important things about our racecar. 
        Last year we were fast, real fast in the back half and real slow in the first half of the track. That's changed, we found it, or, I should say we found "them". We found the things that were making us slow at 60', 330' and in some cases 660'. I won't tell you what we changed but it really wasn't anything earth shattering but it wasn't just one thing either. 
        If you are going to be fast to 330' you have to have your car aggressive and it can't shake. I'm not talking about a little "tire wobble" or "quiver", I'm talking all-out, teeth rattling, bone jarring shake. Your car can't do that and be fast. The momentum of the car is killed in tire shake. Your acceleration can go from +4g's to -2gs in about one tenth of a second during tire shake. If someone with a fast car is in the other lane you've lost, you're done!

        We found the sweet spot. Everything we did over the winter and a few things we have found over the past two races have made the car fast at 60' and 330'. Very quick, very smooth and no shake, and that's cool! Not especially for me, but for Kris. I really think he was just tired of it (the tire shake). The constant brain-rattling shake has to get old, even with as much fun as these drivers have driving these cars. It has to wear on you wondering every time when you get in if you're going to have a head ache or concussion after the run. 
        Now my job is to stitch the two cars together, the fast "back half" car and the fast "front half" car. I think we have accomplished that. At Vegas in the last qualifying session and the first round we were top 3 quick both runs. We got beat on a hole-shot first round but we had a fast car that was set up "kinda" soft, and still was very fast.
       Before I close the book on Las Vegas I would be remiss to not mention the great time we had with our celebrity apprentice, and good friend Katie Sullivan. Katie traveled down to Las Vegas to hang out and help us during the race. Katie and her dad campaign a Pro Stock Motorcycle. They are tough, and smart, and just need some more funding to be a real pain to the tour regulars. Showing Katie how we do things and comparing that to how that relates to Pro Stock Bikes is good for both of us. You get better by learning, and we learned from each other. All good drivers, crew-chief's, and teams have certain characteristics that make them great. The more you can learn from how these teams run their programs the better you will be. Katie is young and her eyes light up just being at the track. We all had that early in our racing careers. It's fun to be around it, and a great reminder. If we ever lose that feeling about racing we'll quit. Thanks Katie for coming to help us. 
        It's now time for Houston. We ran good there last year, but when I look at the car we have now compared to the car we took there last year we should be so much faster. And, it's a good thing, when you look down the list of cars that are entered you had better have a fast car. The field is stout!...and we are ready for them. See ya in Houston!

Kris Hool

Hool drove his and brother Kevin's Gripper Hand Cleaner Monte Carlo to a 5.71 at 253 mph to stop Ferro, the reigning Gatornationals champion, whose Ryco-sponsored entry trailed with a close 5.78 at 251 mph. "It was a great race between two of the top 10 cars in the country last year," said Hool, who scored for third time in his career, including his national event victory last season in Brainerd and a divisional win in Bradenton, Fla.

With a telepathic .002 reaction time, Hool had the lead from start to finish. "I didn't mean to cut it that close," he said. "It was totally dark when we ran the final, and everybody sees the Tree better at night. I study drivers, and Mickey's definitely one of the best leavers out there. He's usually in the .030s or .040s, so I knew I had to be on it. We both probably should have run a lot better. Last year, the track here was slippery and no one was getting down it, but this year the track was excellent. Kevin said that we definitely could have run in the .60s, but a .71 was enough to get the job done."