Post Phoenix and Irwindale Decision
2023 is off to a rocky start to say the least. Our plan was to run most, if not all, of the ARCA West Series schedule but that is not going to happen. When we decided to embark on this ownership adventure we went into a contract with Last Chance Racing that would benefit both of our organizations for the 2023 season. What we did not know at the time was the true status of Last Chance Racing and what would unfold as we moved towards the Phoenix Race.
Our organization worked diligently with the VFW to get them a booth set up at the track and prepared for our first start of the season. I brought out the entire family, and we were really looking forward to finally getting that photo of my son and I walking across the driver introduction stage at Phoenix. Everything was lined up and ready to go on my end. As we sat in Phoenix roughly 18 hours out from race day when the hauler was about to start making the trek to Phoenix is when the news struck that a massive snow storm had hit Idaho, and Nevada which essentially blocked the roads for the team to bring the car to the track. We were devastated to say the least. I elected to then drive the family up to Vegas to watch a friend compete in the Mint 400, and then back down to Phoenix during the Xfinity race to sign autographs and work with the VFW to help them with their recruiting efforts. In this regard it was a massive success that weekend supporting a friend and building upon my relationship with the VFW. What I did not know was the information being withheld from me at the time, and that was the true status of the cars preparation to hit the track.
We licked our wounds and prepared for the next race at Irwindale. This time I took more precautions and started to dig more into what was going on with the car. Living in North Dakota and the car being in Idaho I had to rely heavily on the phone calls I made and the information that was being passed to me. I flew out to Idaho several times to check the progress, get fitted to the car, and help where I could, Each time being told that the car was almost ready, we are good to go, and look at all these shiny new parts going into/onto the car as we speak. This is when it finally hit that my contract with Last Chance Racing had been broken on several accounts and the wool had been pulled over my eyes. The car was not complete and was a mess, the engine was blown, the transportation method we agreed upon was pulled right out from under me, and I was in the worst position possible; bleeding money with no end in sight. We immediately broke our ties with Last Chance Racing. We put out a press release that stated: “Furthermore, our mission, vision, and future endeavors no longer align with that of Last Chance Racing and we have broken ties with their organization. We wish them the best of luck this season with their program but we have decided to press in a different direction at Triple R. We will continue to drive forward to get the car on the track as soon as possible. Stay tuned for future updates on where we plan to run our first race for the 2023 season! GULDT! “ Our season was in shambles before it ever started. I then made a call to a another team I had ran with in 2022, and that call was the Andy Hillenburg of Fast Track Racing.
I felt that this was the biggest failure of my lifetime in every way. Here I am now, driving across the US from Idaho to North Carolina with a Penske Truck and trailer with everything I owned for racing in the ARCA series. It was the lowest point in my 15+ years of racing by far. I’ve wrecked, flipped, totaled cars before but nothing compared to what I was dealing with at this point in time. I felt like the biggest laughing stock/joke in the West and a change needed to happen. So here we are… traveling to somewhere new to start anew. Keep grinding, keep my head up, never falter, prevail.