TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2010 - We continue to work toward the season-finale this coming weekend at Kankakee, Illinois as our Formula 3 boat team competes at the Powerboat Nationals for a shot at seeing where we stack up against everyone from the powerboat racing world from across the U.S. and Canada.  To this point we have been competing against teams from our league and some regional racers who have come to one or two of the events.  This weekend's races will see boats from every racing series out there, including the SuperLeague, PROP Tour and others.  I suspect the core racers will be those we compete against weekly in the SuperLeague, but I do expect to meet some new people and see some new teams this weekend.  We hope to continue to learn and posting a Top 10 finish would be a plus.

In other racing news, our Nationwide Series driver Brett Rowe was loaned to our sister organization, Faith Motorsports, this past weekend for the NAPA 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada.  Brett held his own in the #89 Chevrolet and even sat on the race pole after the first group of six racers went out for qualifying laps.  Brett bettered the times of teammate Morgan Shepherd, Nationwide veteran Kenny Wallace and a handful of road race ringers.  Brett had to retire from the race early but it was a major accomplishment to have made that race on time and the team's payday of about $25,000 wasn't half bad for a 41st place finish either.  Congratulations Brett!

Herd Racing will have a presence this year in the annual ChiliFest in Huntington, WV in two weeks.  The event, which draws dozens of chili cooks from across the country to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House charities, pretty much shuts down the main downtown area of Huntington along 3rd Avenue near Pullman Square.  Herd Racing plans to have a booth at the event and display one of our race boats, possibly one of the #75 Nationwide Series race cars and we may even pull out the pit stop simulator so visitors can see their time at changing a NASCAR tire.  Eric Himes is working on a Herd Racing 2010 highlight DVD that we can play on the big screen throughout the day.  If you are in Huntington that weekend come on by the display and sample some of Chief Engineer Eric's famous chili.  The team will be competing for the People's Choice Award so cast your vote for the race team in green and stop by for a free DVD, some driver post cards and probably some other giveaway items.  I'll blog more about this as we get a little closer.

The team may also be participating in cruise-in event that same weekend at Glockner's GM Superstore in Portsmouth, Ohio, again to help raise funds for charity.  Morgan Shepherd's #89 Chevrolet show car is on display at Glockner now through the September 18 event, and we are working toward possibly Brett Rowe joining Morgan at the event to sign autographs and meet with fans.  About 2,000 people are expected at the annual fund-raising event.  The team and its equipment will be committed to Chilifest that day, but Brett is considering slipping over to Portsmouth for the evening event there to help the cause raise some money.

Dana Tomes