Archive News...
The New York Weekend ends on a high note. After a long haul across NY State, the weekend of racing began for the Jim O’Brien and Sons NEMA Lite team with more bad luck at the new for NEMA – Chemung Speedrome. A ruptured fuel line and persistent engine stalling plagued the team for the night’s warm-ups. With the help of family friend and ace engine man, Jon Andruk of Circle Performance, the team identified the problem with the fuel pump and system. In the heat race, the engine ran strong but the lack of practice resulted in a very loose race car. Adjustments were made for the feature, which made some improvement, but unfortunately the strong running engine could not control its temper, and Dennis was forced to retire it to the infield halfway through the race.
Immediately following the night’s race, the team packed up and headed north towards Evans Mills speedway to be first in line at the FD hosted breakfast buffet, but mainly to show off the Purple People Eater to the locals and help promote NEMA. One of this family’s favorite things to do besides racing... is to “talk racing”. Dennis graciously stayed for the duration of the morning with the midget and happily spoke with all the fans that were on hand for the event.
At the track, the team spent the majority of the afternoon with chassis adjustments. An evil-loose race car at Chemung was now a pushing-like-a-truck race car at Evans Mills. However, Dennis and crew were able to finish the heat race and get a pole position for the nights feature event. As NEMA Lite young gun, Anthony Payne, son of the great Joey Payne, cruised to his first NEMA Lite victory, Dennis steered the strong running Purple People Eater, and the Ford Focus engine from Jeff Johnson Motorsports, to a 6th place finish! This is Dennis’ best finish to date in the NEMA Lites. The team looks forward to the NEMA Lites’ next stop in their backyard, June 6th at the New London Waterford Speedbowl, where Dennis looks to improve that record. (see Schedule)
Immediately following the night’s race, the team packed up and headed north towards Evans Mills speedway to be first in line at the FD hosted breakfast buffet, but mainly to show off the Purple People Eater to the locals and help promote NEMA. One of this family’s favorite things to do besides racing... is to “talk racing”. Dennis graciously stayed for the duration of the morning with the midget and happily spoke with all the fans that were on hand for the event.
At the track, the team spent the majority of the afternoon with chassis adjustments. An evil-loose race car at Chemung was now a pushing-like-a-truck race car at Evans Mills. However, Dennis and crew were able to finish the heat race and get a pole position for the nights feature event. As NEMA Lite young gun, Anthony Payne, son of the great Joey Payne, cruised to his first NEMA Lite victory, Dennis steered the strong running Purple People Eater, and the Ford Focus engine from Jeff Johnson Motorsports, to a 6th place finish! This is Dennis’ best finish to date in the NEMA Lites. The team looks forward to the NEMA Lites’ next stop in their backyard, June 6th at the New London Waterford Speedbowl, where Dennis looks to improve that record. (see Schedule)
White Mountain Motorsports Park
July 18, 2015
Details Coming Soon
July 18, 2015
Details Coming Soon
Busy day at the races for Dennis and his NEMA Lite team. It was certainly a beautiful Spring morning at the races - the sun was shining and the race engines were screaming! However, for this team the day began with a short lived practice session due to disjointed rear sway bar. The next practice session was cut even shorter as a problem occurred with the pick-up in the fuel cell. However, both problems were easily fixed by the team. Come qualifying time, Dennis opted to start his heat race at the tail of the field due to lack of track time, and cautiously cruised to a respectable finish. This green flag marked the first race in history for both the NEMA Lites and Dennis at Thompson Speedway.
Some minor set-up and gearing adjustments were made for the feature and hopes for a good finish were in place. Unfortunately, about half way through the big race, the "Purple People Eater" stalled coming out of turn four after advancing two positions, forcing Dennis to steer the machine to the infield. Not the way the team had hoped to start the year. But on the bright side, the new Ford Focus engine from Jeff Johnson Motorsports showed some muscle, Dennis finished the day safely at this lightning fast track, and as always, the Jim O'Brien & Sons Engineering NEMA Lite team still managed to have a fun day at the races. The team will be working hard in preparation for the New York double header this May. (see Schedule)
Some minor set-up and gearing adjustments were made for the feature and hopes for a good finish were in place. Unfortunately, about half way through the big race, the "Purple People Eater" stalled coming out of turn four after advancing two positions, forcing Dennis to steer the machine to the infield. Not the way the team had hoped to start the year. But on the bright side, the new Ford Focus engine from Jeff Johnson Motorsports showed some muscle, Dennis finished the day safely at this lightning fast track, and as always, the Jim O'Brien & Sons Engineering NEMA Lite team still managed to have a fun day at the races. The team will be working hard in preparation for the New York double header this May. (see Schedule)
Dennis O'Brien and crew gearing up for NEMA Lite's historic Thompson appearance. After shaking out the bugs in 2014, Dennis is looking to rebound his sophomore year in his Ford Focus powered "Purple People Eater". Last year in his rookie season, Dennis took the green at every NEMA Lite race and finished all but only two races, including a 9th at the "Steel Palace" in Oswego, NY. That earned the team a top ten in championship points and the NEMA Lite Hard Luck Award. However, this past winter the team has made some big improvements to both the power plant and the chassis, and hope to kick those motor gremlins to the curb once and for all. This weekend, the team looks to get off to a great start at the 2015 Icebreaker.
"The Northeastern Midget Association has long considered Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) the ultimate "separate the men from the boys" facility. While any Thompson checkered is a treasure, winning the first ever NEMA Lites feature at this year's ICEBREAKER event will be a goal high on the list of many attendees." Read More...
"The Northeastern Midget Association has long considered Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP) the ultimate "separate the men from the boys" facility. While any Thompson checkered is a treasure, winning the first ever NEMA Lites feature at this year's ICEBREAKER event will be a goal high on the list of many attendees." Read More...