July 9 & 16, 2010 Update -- Grundy County Speedway

First of all I would like to give a quick update from 7-9-2010. Kevin qualified 16.61, which was 4th quick time out of 17 cars, finished 4th in the fast heat and 3rd in the feature. Moved up to 5th place in the point standings. Overall a very good night.

7-16-2010 update:

Well the mid season championship was upon us Friday night and with it being double points night, Kevin needed a good points night to stay in the thick of the top 5 in points. When we went out for the first practice the car was pretty decent and only very minor adjustments were made to fix a slightly tight condition. In the second practice the car was where we wanted it as it was fast and felt good to Kevin so we left it alone for qualifying. In qualifying Kevin had a good 2nd lap and turned a 16.555 which is close to the fastest we have gone all year long, however 2 cars even bettered that good lap and Kevin ended up 3rd but with the fast time being a 16.459 Kevin was happy with being less than a tenth of a second off that and was confident that he can hold with him in the race.

In the first heat Kevin started off 3rd row inside and on the start he couldn’t move any positions because the top 5 stayed side by side the whole race blocking Kevin in the back. However with 3 to go Kevin made his move and made it a 3 wide and at Grundy that typically doesn’t work however Kevin pulled it off and moved into the 3rd position. He tried to run down the leaders but ran out of time, but he was very happy with how fast he was catching the leaders and that he was pulling away from the fast cars behind him. So with a 3rd in both qualifying and the “fast” heat race Kevin was excited with the points he had gotten so far and with the car as good as it was, a monster point night seemed very possible.

However all our good luck we had been having week in and week out finally ran out coming to the first lap of the feature race. Kevin started 5th row inside and had a lot of cars in front of him. On the green the front 2 rows began banging into each other which spun out one of the cars in the 2nd row causing a big pile up. Kevin’s spotter told him to go through the infield to miss it but at the last second, a car came down across the track leaving Kevin with nowhere to go, and Kevin piled into that car very hard with the right front tire. Kevin immediately radioed in saying there were issues with the steering and came into the pits. When we seen how bent the spindle was and the over 4 inches of front toe out (which means the left front tire was straight and the right front tire was turned to the right 4 inches) none of us really thought we could get him back out there, but we were able to adjust the tie rods all the way in and get the toe out down to 2 inches. We sent Kevin back out and told him to take it easy and just try to finish the race to get some valuable points. Kevin would get his spot back since it was a complete restart. Since it was the mis-season championship, the feature would be 35 laps tonight. When the green flag flew, Kevin started moving towards the front, by lap 7, Kevin would find himself up to the 3rd place. On lap 20, the fast qualifier got past Kevin and on lap 25, another car bumped Kevin very hard coming in to turn 1, turning Kevin completely sideways. Kevin hung on and got it straight again, but a couple more cars got by while he was trying to gather the car back up. Then there was a caution with 3 laps to go. On the restart, a car blasted Kevin in the rear spinning Kevin up towards the wall. Kevin was able to stop before hitting the wall. Kevin would radio in saying that the car was so tight, he could hardly drive it. With quick thinking from Dave and Dan, and the front tires being extremely hot from the toe out, they had him sit in the corner for a lap to cool the tires down. Kevin would get his 7th place spot back for the restart. Kevin just hung on and tried not to get passed as he brought the beaten and battered car home in 7th position and salvaged such crucial points. Kevin said he would like to thank his crew for not giving up when seeing the issues we had and for getting the car able to do 35 laps and stay in 7th position. Kevin was able to move up a position in points because of the crew’s hard work and now sits in 4th position in points roughly 28 points behind 3rd.

We would like to thank everyone for coming out and helping out in the pits. It is very much appreciated. We would also like to thank everyone that comes out to cheer Kevin on each week.
Thanks to our sponsors, without them, this would not be possible.

July 2, 2010 Update -- Grundy County Speedway

Well for the first time all season we were able to race back to back weeks (due to all the rain we have had) and the weather was fantastic for racing. In the first practice Kevin went out and said the car was still loose out of the corner which is a condition we have been battling all year long so we tightened the car up for the second session. Kevin then once again went out for the second session and to our surprise Kevin said the car hadn’t changed and it was still very loose. We were all baffled by what could be going on and decided to make some minor adjustments for qualifying.

Kevin was third out for qualifying and on the first lap he turned a 16.63 which was quickest of the 2 laps. Kevin held the top qualifying spot for quite a long time before 3 straight cars went out and bettered his 16.63 so Kevin ended up in the 4th slot.

He would line up 3rd row inside for the “fast” heat race. We tried a different set up for the heat, and immediately after the green it was apparent the car handled a lot better now as Kevin started to fight his way through the field, he got himself up to 4th but by that time the top 3 cars had separated themselves by 8 car lengths, however Kevin never gave up and reeled them in, however he just ran out of time as he crossed the checkered bumper to bumper with the 3rd place car for a 4th place finish.

So before feature time we knew we had a good car and we were having a great night so far and a good feature run would make it a wonderful night. Kevin was slated to start 4th row inside for the feature, however the car in front of Kevin had mechanical problems before the green and was forced to pull off moving Kevin up to 3rd row inside for the start. On the start the leader took off a bit early from the designed spot which caught many cars sleeping, therefore allowing cars to fall into a single file line with Kevin running 6th in the line. Kevin had a great car and we could all tell he was very fast and all over the cars in front of him. He slowly picked cars off one by one and moved the #2 car up to the second position when a caution flew. On the restart Kevin got a little too excited when he seen the lead that close to him with just 8 laps remaining. On the restart he tried to really get a good one and he broke the tires loose allowing the 3rd place car to slide underneath and take over second from Kevin.

Kevin’s spotter Dan did a fantastic job getting him down into third where he ran until just 4 laps to go. But the car was starting to go away from Kevin as he was now loose again exiting the corner and with 3 laps to go Kevin got too loose and had to chase it up the track making contact with the outside wall he recovered from it well only losing one spot in the process and brought the car home in 4th position.

Racing continues next Friday at 8PM at Grundy County Speedway.

Kevin is currently in 5th place in the point standings and also leading the rookie points.

please click on the link below to see the race update from the Grundy County website http://www.grundycountyspeedway.com/raceresults.htm

We would like to thank everyone for all their help at the track and also at the Oval Engineering shop during the week, where we made a lot of changes to the car.

Thanks to everyone who came out to watch and cheer Kevin on.

Thanks to all of our sponsors for their support.

June 25, 2010 Update -- Grundy County Speedway

We made a few changes during the week to try and get the car to handle better. We moved the seat back 6" to try to get more rear weight. When he went out for practice, he said the car felt better than before, but was still a little loose. We made some minor adjustments and bolted on new tires for the second practice session. He said the car felt good. We jacked the car up to take temps etc., and I noticed that the right front tire was locked up. We changed the line and bled the brakes and everything seemed ok. We were going to go out first to qualify, but after all the work that was needed, he was the last cat out to qualify. He turned a lap time of 16.65 which would make him 5th fast time. When he cam in, he said that he had hardly any brakes. The pedal went to the floor. After checking everything out, we found the left front tire was now locked up. We then had to change the master cylinder and bleed the brakes again. In the heat race, he would start 2nd row inside. When Kevin came for the green flag, he realized he was not in 4th gear. (rookie mistake) Kevin the dropped to the bottom of the track falling back to 6th place. Kevin ended up coming back for a 4th place finish. In the feature, Kevin would have to start 4th row outside. Kevin got hung up on the outside behind a slower car and fell back to around 10th place. Kevin was able to come back for a 6th place finish.
 
Joliet Tent
Signarama
John Lawsons Auto Rebuilders
C&D Supply
Urbasek Insurance
Oval Engineering
Jurak Flooring
Al,s Garage


Kevin Gentile

May 28, 2010 Update -- Grundy County Speedway

We finally had a beautiful night for racing. Kevin went out for the first practice session and the car was loose. We tightened up the car a little and bolted on 4 new tires for the second session. We had a hard time getting the right stagger out of the new tires. When Kevin went out, he said that the car felt good except a little tight in the center of the corner.

We made some minor adjustments and sent him out to qualify. Kevin got a little sideways on the first lap and turned a lap time of 16.708. On the second lap he looked a lot better and turned a lap time of 16.553. This would make him 5th fast out of 17 cars.

This would put Kevin 2nd row inside for the 10 lap fast heat race. Kevin was up to second place up until lap 7 when he got bumped a little. He ended up with a 3rd place finish.

For the feature, Kevin would be starting 4th row outside. On the start, Kevin was spun out by the car on the inside going in to turn 2. There would be a complete restart. On the next restart, the car got into Kevin again, but he was able to save it and the race was underway. Kevin would work his way up to 5th place. When he was passing a car on the 4th lap for 4th place, the other car got high and bounced off the wall, hitting Kevin very hard in the right front, spinning him out. Kevin would have to start in the rear. On the start, Kevin said that the car was bent from the wreck. The right front had some damage. Kevin continued to race hard. They were running tight on lap 23 when kevin went to the inside to make a pass for 8th place. Kevin got loose and bumped the car on the outside. Kevin's car turned sideways and started to climb up the side of the other car. Kevins car climbed over the top of the other car and landed in the pit entrance in turn 2. Kevin brought the car around for us to look at it. There was some more damage to the right front, but with only 2 laps remaining, Kevin would try to finish the race. Kevin did finish the race and ended up 11th.

Overall the night good considering the 5th fast time and the 3rd place heat finish. Kevin is currently in 8th place in the overall points (only 29 points from the lead) and leading the Rookie points.

Thanks to everyone that came out to help. We really appreciate it. Also, thanks to everyone that comes out to cheer Kevin on; I know he appreciates that.
 

May 14, 2010 Update -- Grundy County Speedway, Opening Night

We finally got our first full night of racing in for the 2010 season. In the first practice session, Kevin said that the car was loose. We made some adjustments and sent him out for the second session. He said the car was better, but wanted it tightened up a little more for qualifying. We tightened up the car a little and he went out to qualify. On the first lap, the car appeared to still be a little loose, but Kevin was able to turn a lap time of 16.533, On the second lap, the car got loose again, but he turned a lap time of 16.470. We were very satisfied with his qualifying times. The track announcer was also very impressed with Kevin's lap times.

Kevin would start the fast heat 7th. (3rd row inside). The race went smooth and Kevin finished 4th. Kevin still complained of the car being a little loose. We made some minor adjustments to the car for the feature. Kevin would start 9th (4th row inside) in the feature. On the start of the race, the leaders checked up (hit the brakes coming for the green flag) which stacked up the field in a chain reaction collision, Kevin's spotter (Dan Cheranko) is very heads up with this class, telling Kevin to back off for the start. Kevin backed off narrowly missing the cars in front of him, but the cars behind Kevin began banging into each other and ended up spinning Kevin, and then he was hit in the right rear, bending a rim. Kevin had to pit and we changed the tire. Kevin would get his starting spot back as it was a complete restart. On the restart, Kevin was doing great picking cars off 1 at a time. He was up to 4th pace, when on the 5th lap, Kevin was spun out by another competitor. He was sent to the rear of the field along with the car that spun him. Kevin was very discouraged, but fought back from the rear to finish 9th.

We are not going to be racing this Friday 5-21-2010 due to the Mid-America traveling series coming to Grundy. Kevin wanted to race. but after some discussion, we decided not to, since it was a non-points night. Kevin is running for Rookie of the Year. He also has very little seat time in the car, and we felt with the calibur of drivers coming to race, that he would be better off watching this race. We would like to run at least one series race at the end of the season if everything goes well. We will continue racing Friday 5-28-2010.

Thanks to everyone that came out to help on the car, also thanks to everyone that came out to cheer Kevin on in his Mid-America racing debut.

Qualifying 5th fast 16.470
Fast heat 4th place
Feature 9th place

Thanks to our sponsors for all their help.
 

April 10, 2010 Update -- Illiana Motor Speedway Practice #1

Everything went well at practice last week at Illiana. Car looks awesome. Kevin ran some pretty good lap times, considering we had 5 year old tires on the car. We went there to just shake the car down, do a bolt check and make sure everything was ok. When Kevin gets in the car, he does not believe in "taking it easy". We had to tell him a few times to back it down a little. We had the Grundy set up in the car, but it handled pretty good on the 1/2 mile at Illiana.

We are going to Grundy this Saturday, 4/17, to test from 12-5. Grandstand admission is free if anyone wants to come out and watch. Our regular season opener is April 30, 2010 . We will be running every Friday at 8pm at Grundy County Speedway.

Also we are having t-shirts made. If anyone is interested, They will have the Gentile Racing Team logos on the front and back, and also the sponsors on the back. They will be approx. $15.00 each. Please e-mail us at rasin223@aol.com; we need the sizes to place the order no later than 4-22-2010.

We would like to welcome Urbasek Insurance and Jurak Flooring as new sponsors for the 2010 season, and thank our sponsors for the continuous support!

September 6, 2009 AND 2009 Season Recap

Well this was our last race for the season. It was a special 33 lap feature, There was no qualifying, or heat races, as the track decided to line everyone up by the current point standings. Kevin was in 7th place going in to the night. With this being a double points night, (every position was worth 4 points) a good finish was critical. There is a very tight points battle going on from 7th to 10th, with only 25 points separating them. Kevin is 79 points out of 6th place.They inverted 18 cars which would put Kevin starting 6th row outside. In the first practice, the car was tight in the middle. We made some drastic changes for the final practice to try to loosen him up. He went out for the final practice and the car was very loose. We made some minor adjustments as it was 3:00 in the afternoon, and we would not be racing for about 6 hours. The track normally tightens up in the evening hours. Well it is finally race time. When the cars pulled onto the track, the 6th place points car was having transmission problems. He pulled back into the pits, which meant Kevin now has a chance to move up to 6th place in points. During the pace laps, all of the street stocks did a 4 car wide salute to the fans. (track officials say that the street stocks are the only class there that can pull that off without crashing). When the green flag flew, Kevin was running very good, but the car was still loose. He was up to 4th and running with the leaders. As the laps went by, Kevin was not able to keep the car down. Kevin lost a couple positions. On lap 29, Kevin was lapping a slower car up high, at the same time another car was racing side by side with Kevin. The car turned up into Kevin, causing him to spin and back into the wall. Kevin would have to start at the rear of the lead lap cars, which was 14th. Kevin needed to gain a few positions to maintain his points position. On the restart, Kevin passed 1 car, and was passing another car on lap 31 coming out of tur n 4, when the other car got sideways. Kevin thought the other car was going down, when all of the sudden, it turned right, hitting Kevin very hard in the drivers side, pushing Kevin into the wall. When Kevin came by, the left front fender was hanging off, the hood was all buckled up. They red flagged the race to clean up all the debris and remove the other car, which had come to rest at the pit entrance. When the caution came back out, Kevin quickly came into the pits. The crew went to work, removing the fender and taping the rest of the side together to finish the last 2 laps. Dan also made a tire pressure adjustment to tighten the car up. Kevin would start back in 12th. When the green came out, Kevin quickly passed another car and ended up finishing 11th. When he came into the pits, we noticed he was not stopping too good. When he got hit, the brakes master cylinder got bent and disconnected from the brake pedal, therefore he did not have any brakes the final 2 laps.

When we tallied up the points, Kevin ended up 6th (by 1 point) with 903 points. 7th and 8th tied with 902 and 9th was 898. Kevin also got "Rookie of the Year". There were 42 different drivers this year and 10 rookies. Overall Kevin had a great season. He did a great job keeping the car together. As you remember, Kevin crashed hard on his 3rd lap of practice at Grundy to start the season. And had no other major crashes until 2 laps from the end of the 2009 season. Kevin had 2 fast heat race wins, and 6 top 5 heat race finishes, Kevin also had 2 top 5, and 6 top 10 feature finishes this season. This was Kevin's first season driving a stock car. (or any car for that matter)

We would like to say thanks to all that helped out in the pits, and in the shop this year, making the car the best and safest it could be. We would like to thank all the fans that cheered him on during the year. We would like to thank his sister (Kristi) for writing the tire temps, pressures, etc. notes and for demanding Kevin race on the night that she graduated from High School. We would like to thank his mom (Donna) for keeping all the statistics all year. (and keeping things in line some nights). We would like to thank all of our sponsors for all there help this year. Without them this would not be possible.

We are looking forward to the 2010 season. We are unsure what class we will be competing in. We are thinking of moving up to the Mid-American class. We will be making a decision in the next month or so. We are also looking for more sponsors for next year. If you know anyone with a small or large business that may be interested, please let us know.


Oval Engineering
Wolfs Sealcoating
Joliet Tent
John Lawsons Auto Rebuilders
C&D Supply
Al's Garage
Lockport Well and Pump

Thanks.
Kevin and Mike Gentile