Team "W" Motorsports #6

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2009 Dirt
1 FEATURE WIN
7 TOP 4 FEATURE FINISHES
3rd in COTTONWOOD SPEEDWAY POINTS
2009 Pavement
4 TOP 5 FEATURE FINISHES
3rd in IKF REGION 3 PAVEMENT SERIES POINTS

It was a season of new experiences. Dustin advanced into the adult classes this year, which created a challenging learning curve in itself. To add to that, he also made his first ever attempt at pavement racing. We enterd the year with a full plate.
In 2009, Dustin wheeled a Legend chassis. At his disposal were two potent Animal engines, one from Waller Racing, the other from Hawk Perfomance, both strong engines. For his dirt races, Maxxis and Burris were the tires of choice, while the pavement series had a Firestone tire rule.
A special thanks goes out to our sponsor, Red Carpet Auto Group of Waterloo, Ia. Your support is greatly appreciated! 

Our first race of the season on April 25&26, was also our first ever pavement race at 61 Kartway in Delamar, Ia, to kick-off the IKF Region 3 Nothland Tour Pavement Series.
This was definatley a "unique" racetrack. An oval, carved out of a road course. There was a 25 ft. elevation change. Downhill on the front stretch, uphill on the back stretch, with flat turns. We were pretty lost. Adding to the situation, the weather was cold, windy and wet. 
Dustin went from decent to worse to decent during the course of Saturday as we struggled to find the right set-up and gearing for the track. With a "never say die" attitude, he stayed up on the wheel and managed a fourth place finish at the end of the day.
We felt we had learned a few things that would have made us better on Sunday, but the rain sent us home early.

Race #2 found us on the pavement at Coulee Raceway in West Salem, Wi. on May 16&17. We arrived on Friday evening and got in some practice. It was nice to see a "real" racetrack, and Dustin was getting around there pretty good. He ran in second place for 29 3/4 laps of the 30 lap feature on Saturday before some contact sent him spinning in the final turn. He recovered nicely for third. On Sunday, the crew chief chose the wrong gear and we ran fifth.

It was back home to the dirt on May 25th, Dustin's 17th birthday, at Cottonwood Speedway in New Hartford, Ia. It was nice to get back to doing what we knew and Dustin raced himself to a second place finish on a track that stayed dusty and slick all day. He was the only kart that was able to do much passing and he showed alot of patience and maturity. It was a great confidence boost.

The IKF Region 3 Dirt series came to Cottonwood on June 6&7. This was maybe our most anticipated weekend of the season with the Northland Tour bringing in a big field a very fast kart racers. After a rain out on Saturday, the sun was shining for Sunday. Dustin's class had 14 entries, the biggest field we've ever had. He looked pretty good in practice and we were excited. By the time we ran the heat races, our set-up was terrible. We struggled through the day. Dustin lined up 12th for the feature. The kart was better, but still not good enough. He did manage to pass a few and finished 9th. It was our most frustrating and dissapointing day.

June 13th and July 11th we were back at Cottonwood for regular shows and Dustin ran to a third and a second respectively, keeping himself in the thick of the points battle.

The weekend of July 18&19 we faced a scheduling conflict. The pavement series was in Jamaica, Ia. both days, Dustin was third in points. While Cottonwood had a points race on Saturday, where Dustin was in second place. The decision was to run the dirt on Saturday, pavement on Sunday, attempting to stay in the points battle for both.
Dustin was running strong on Cottonwood's dirt. We were still experimenting with set-ups trying to get him his first win of the season and we were getting close. Starting fifth in the feature, he began charging through the field, moving into second at about half way. Dustin appeared to be hooked to the leaders bumper as the they began to weave through lapped traffic. He was starting to TASTE IT! With two laps to go, Dustin cleared a lapped kart entering turn one, which in turn, rammed him from behind and sent him spinning into the haybales. He was scored fourth.

We pulled an all-nighter in the garage, switching the kart over from dirt to pavement set-up, and after a couple hours sleep, we left early for Jamaica. Upon arrival, we found the biggest, most high-banked, and fastest track we'd ever seen. It was AWESOME!
Dustin was not intimidated at all, and in fact, he was pretty fast. He qualified about a tenth of a second off the pole for 4th overall. He then went out and ran 30 laps, wide open. The track is so big and fast, these karts draft "NASCAR"-style. It was a blast, and he finished fourth in the feature, locking down a third place in series points.

With only two points races left on their schedule, Cottonwood rained out on August 8th. Track officials then decided to run a double show on the 15th. This created another problem for us, as it conflicted with our annual trip to the Knoxville Nationals. Dustin really wanted to maintain his second place in points, and according to their rules, we were allowed to miss one race, but not two. Dustin agonized for days over this decision, and with weather being a factor, we chose to skip it. Our gamble didn't pay-off and they got both shows ran. Dustin dropped to third in the final point standings.

Still in search of his first win, we went back to Delaware Speedway on Aug. 22 for the first time in a year, and found a large class of adult racers. Dustin is a former track champion in the junior 2 class there, and he showed'em why by winning both heat races. He led the feature early, but we'd missed the set-up a little and he, once again, finished second.

By this time, Dustin is really sick of running second. When we pulled into Delaware again on September 19, he was "takin' no prisoners"!
Dustin scored a clean sweep of the night! The two heat races contained the best racing we'd seen all summer with 3-wide racing, slide jobs, and plenty of side-by-side action. After that, everyone else was running for second place!
Dustin led every lap in the feature, winning by a straightaway! It was his first feature win of the season and his first win ever in an adult class!

We went back to Delaware again on September 26th. Heavy rains had left the track very soft and rough, and with mostly one groove, passing was at a premium. It was the same for everyone, and Dustin drove to 4th in our final race of the year.

All-in-all, it was a good season. Dustin learned that racing with the adults is a little different than the Jr. classes, and he got some valuable experience racing on the pavement, which we enjoyed, and showed well for himself at both. We're excited for what 2010 may bring.

Animal Medium class,(L-R) 3rd place Dustin Woody, 2nd place Jake Tuel, 1st place Ben Schaitel 

  Sunday, November 1st we traveled to Baldwin, Wisc. for the IKF Region 3 Northland Tour Awards Banquet that includes both the dirt and pavement series. This was, without a doubt, the nicest banquet we've ever attended. Andy Bear and the entire R3/Northland staff are nothing but first class all-the-way, and deserve alot of thanks for their commitment to racing.
Dustin competed in the pavement series for the first time in his career and brought home a nice third place for his efforts in the Animal Medium class.
The level of sponsorship commitment for this series is remarkable. We'd like to thank series sponsor's Briggs Racing, Maxxis Tires, Firestone Tires, ARC, Waller Racing, Hawk Perfomance Specialties, Goodson Tool, Vetter Sales,
Huse Racing/X-Treme Cuts, Hole-Shot Clutches, PBR, as well as our own sponsor, Red Carpet Auto Group for ALL their support! 

Group Shot of all Region 3 drivers in attendence

Dustin was recently featured in a segment of "NEWSMAKER TODAY" on KWWL-TV for his service work with Iowa's Bravest and AFJROTC.

Dustin is featured in this Waterloo Courier article on 10/8/09:
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/article_e17fea56-b41e-11de-b262-001cc4c03286.html