America's Finest Support the Atwood Outlaw in Iraq--------------------------------------------------
MODIFIED FOCUS
JULY 26, 2010 --- This past weekend, the Atwood Outlaw and the UpFront Performance crew kicked off their weekend on Friday night at Camden Speedway in Camden, TN with both the Crate Late Model and the Modified. Qualifying got off to an encouraging start as Herndon set second fast time in the Late Model behind eventual event winner, Tanner English out of Benton, KY. Herndon also won his qualifying Heat in the Modified to sit on the pole in the Modified Feature. As the Late Model Feature event got underway, Herndon planned to ride for at least half way through the 30 lap Feature but got jacked up and turned around in front of the entire field on lap four. The #139 GRT sustained serious body damage along with damage to the right side nerf bar which eventually cut his right rear tire down which ended Herndon’s night in the Late Model. In the Modified Feature, Herndon took his frustration of the previous race out on the abbreviated field of drivers as he took the green and led the Feature from flag to flag to take the win. Following Herndon to the stripe were Jamie Mann, Michael Turner, Andy Norris with Blake Roberson rounding out the top five.
On Saturday night, Herndon opted to leave the Late Model at home and focus solely on the Modified as he once again traveled back to his home track at Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN. In the qualifying Heats, Herndon finished 2nd to qualify for the 4th starting position in the Modified Feature event. As the Modified field took the green flag, Herndon scurried toward the front and began to apply pressure to pole sitter Shane Akin out of Medina, TN. Herndon would make the pass for the lead on two occasions which were called back due to a caution before he was able to make the third and final pass stick approximately six laps in. After Akins retired early, Herndon and Kenny Lovins put on a driving exhibition for the remainder of the event with Lovins in the bottom groove and the #1 Shaw by Outlaw just inches off the outside wall. Lap after lap the cars would pull door to door in the turns with Herndon’s momentum off the top side keeping him at the point. As the checkered flag flew over the field, it would be the Atwood Outlaw taking his second win of the weekend followed closely by Kenny Lovins, Ashley Newman, Brandon Poppenheimer, Bart Richardson, Matt Cooper, Jimmy Halford, Jamie Mann, Justin Cherry with Josh Cherry rounding out the top ten. This weekend, T.J. and team will make their first trip ever to West Plains Speedway in West Plains, MO in hopes of making the field in the $5,000 to win Show Me Modified Shootout.
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BACK ON TRACK
JULY 19, 2010 --- This past weekend would prove to be a good one for the Atwood Outlaw and the UpFront Performance crew after enduring a hectic week. After being forced to miss the SMP Oklahoma Speed Week Tour, thanks to Larry, Kevin and the gang at Larry Shaw racecars, a car that was pretty much demolished at Clayhill the previous Saturday night, was repaired and returned to Atwood by Thursday night for the crew to begin re-assembly. Herndon kicked off his weekend by making the pull to Camden Speedway in Camden, TN on Friday night. In addition to running his Modified, Herndon was also asked by Mike Ainley of Paris, TN to drive his Hobby car for the night. In the Hobby class, Herndon qualified to start the Feature in the second row but a late arrival to the staging lane forced the yellow #4 to enter the track a half straightaway behind the field as they took the green flag start. The Atwood Outlaw continued a march toward the front which resulted in a last lap pass for a 2nd place finish in the Feature which was won by Eric Pinson followed by T.J. Herndon, Dale Nelson, James Cooper with Scotty Fisher rounding out the top five. In the Modified Feature, Herndon who had won the Heat to qualify for the pole earlier, grabbed the lead on the first lap and continued to hold off the hard charging Michael Turner and Jamie Mann for the win. As Herndon took the checkered for the win he was followed to the line by Michael Turner, Jamie Mann, Danny Howe with Todd Bates rounding out the top five.
On Saturday night, T.J. and crew returned to Clayhill Motorsports in Atwood, TN in hopes of finishing a race at his home track without major damage. After winning his Heat to qualify for the pole in the Feature, Herndon would take the early lead and carried the #1 Shaw by Outlaw to the high line. With the car too tight to effectively run the bottom groove, Herndon continued in the top groove as Bart Richardson eventually got by for the lead on the bottom. Midway through the Feature, Matthew Cooper also had caught up to the front two and began to apply pressure to Herndon as Richardson began to open the gap. Cooper seemed poised to take the runner-up spot from Herndon before allowing his car to jump the cushion in the middle of turns three and four resulting in hard contact with the outside retaining wall ending his night. After Cooper’s caution, the field enjoyed a long green flag run which resulted in a win by Bart Richardson followed to the stripe by T.J. Herndon, Brandon Poppenheimer, Shane Akin with Lucas Lee rounding out the top five.
On Sunday night, the UpFront Performance crew took to the road and made their way to North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, AL for a make-up show that had been previously rained out on Friday night. Herndon qualified for the pole of the Modified Feature by advancing from the last row of his Heat to pass fellow Shaw by Outlaw pilot, Ray Alexander for the lead on the last lap of the short six lap qualifier. Herndon’s Shaw by Outlaw cars looked to be the class of the field as Alexander took the early lead which was nullified by an early caution. On the restart, Herndon took the point and refused to relinquish the lead for the remainder of the event although the F-80 of Alexander continued a full stalk waiting on that one mistake. As the checkered flag flew across the field it would be the Shaw by Outlaw Chassis occupying the two top spots with Herndon taking his second win of the weekend followed by Ray Alexander, Jeremy Greenway, Craig Skinner with Ron Bailey closing out the top five.
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INDEPENDENCE WEEKEND
JULY 6, 2010 --- The Atwood Outlaw kicked of this past weekend of racing on Thursday night at his home track in Atwood, TN. Herndon decided to attempt to make the field of the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals by installing one of his Modified engines in his Crate car as well as run the weekly Modified event. In the Super Late Model portion of the program, Herndon was fortunate enough to make the field with a 4th place Heat finish. With the uncertainty of being competitive enough to make the Feature, Herndon chose not to purchase four new tires to compete in this one race and planned to run the tires that he ran weekly in the Crate class at Clayhill. After being told in the driver’s introduction that he had to have Hoosier tires to compete, Herndon returned to the trailer and installed the LM20’s that he had qualified on earlier. After starting 14th in the Main event, Herndon hung with the crowd fairly well until the softer tires started to go away forcing him to find a safe exit to the infield to watch the conclusion of the race culminating in an 18th place finish. The event was eventually won by Billy Moyer followed by Dennis Erb, Jason Feger, Billy Moyer Jr., Shannon Babb, Tanner English, Brandon Sheppard, Wendell Wallace, Jason McBride with Ryan Unzicker rounding out the top ten. In the Modified portion of the program, Herndon drew his usual high pill to start dead last in the last Heat. After the qualifying Heat, Herndon secured himself a 9th place starting spot in the Modified Main event. As the Feature got underway, it became apparent that the track had locked down to one lane and most drivers made little progress as the front three finished exactly as they had started. As the checkered flew over the field, the big check would be taken home by Brandon Poppenheimer followed by Shane Akin, Kenny Lovins, Michael Lee, David Esch, Lucas Lee, Jimmy Halford, T.J. Herndon, Bronson Berry with the #17 of Justin Cherry rounding out the top ten.
After taking Friday night off, Herndon and the UpFront Performance traveled to Thunderhill Speedway in Middle Tennessee to compete in the USCS Outlaw Modified Touring Series Speedweek event. The night got off to a favorable start as the Atwood Outlaw laid down a 13.328 second lap to best a field of eighteen drivers from four states while qualifying on the pole for the Main event. That’s where the good fortune ran out for Herndon. As Herndon took the green in the Main event, he immediately took the lead in the first turn but lost all power as he continued down the back straightaway and entered turn three. As the #1 JR Motorsports entry coasted through turns three and four, many cars started to stack up and make significant contact as they tried to get shut down and avoid the melee. After returning to the pits, Herndon found the problem to be a broken rotor button in the distributor. Although the crew had no time to replace the bent spindle, ball joint and upper A-frame, they were able to replace the tie rod and eyeball the toe close enough to get T.J. back out before the race was restarted. In spite of his damage, Herndon managed to advance from a 16th place starting position to finish 4th in a twenty five lap Feature that was won by Jason Markewitz followed by Ashley Newman, Randy Todd, T.J. Herndon, Eddie Rhinehart, Jeff Weaver, Steve Maughan, Murray Vaughn, Ron Bailey with Jamie Land finishing tenth.
After utilizing much of Sunday afternoon to repair the damage sustained the night before, Herndon and crew traveled to Camden Motorspeedway in Camden, TN to once again catch up to the USCS Touring Series. Things once again began to look encouraging for the Atwood Outlaw after winning his qualifying Heat and putting the #1 Shaw by Outlaw on the pole for the second straight night. Herndon once again powered to the lead on the first lap but immediately discovered that he had put the car up too tight to be effective. After holding onto the point for the first twelve laps, Herndon had punished his right rear tire to the point where he was fighting every lap just to maintain his current position. After allowing Ashley Newman and Mike Bowers to slip by on the inside, Herndon continued to fight every lap just to hang on. As the race concluded, Ashley Newman took the win followed by T.J. Herndon after Bowers unfortunately lost an engine in the closing laps. Herndon was followed by Lucas Lee, Jonathan Rowan, Michael Turner, Jamie Mann, Mike Gardner, J.C. Waller, Jason Maurer with Mike Bowers rounding out the top ten.
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TUNED OUT
JUNE 28, 2010 --- After getting washed out before the program got underway at Camden Speedway on Friday night, T.J. Herndon and the UpFront Performance team chose to compete at Clayhill Motorsports on Saturday. Upon arrival at the track, Herndon promptly drew at the rear of the qualifying Heats in both the Crate Late Model and Modified divisions. At the conclusion of the Heats, Herndon managed to advance forward to secure a 6th starting position in the Feature event of both divisions. In the Late Model Feature, Herndon methodically worked his way toward the front. This week, as in weeks past, Herndon once again would get slammed into the back straight wall causing suspension damage but was fortunate enough to continue. Late in the race, the Atwood Outlaw had managed to make his way into the runner-up position but with the expiration of time looming had no time to contest for the lead. The Feature was eventually won by the #12 of Jeff Glisson followed to the stripe by Herndon, Ronnie Cooper, Kyle Berry with Jessie Bailey rounding out the top five.
In the Modified Feature, Herndon continued to experiment with the set-up of his new Shaw by Outlaw in efforts to find the sweet spot prior to the running of the Modified Motor Madness coming up in August. Herndon immediately discovered that his car was to be a handful as he had badly missed the Feature set-up. The #1 J.R. Motorsports Modified pretty much held it’s own as the track continued to lock down more and more as the night continued. Midway through the race, Herndon barely clipped a loader tire on the inside berm of the racetrack which sent him on a collision course with the larger tire that ended his efforts for the evening. The Modified Feature was eventually won by the #73 of Ashley Newman followed by Matt Cooper, Brandon Poppenheimer, Kenny Lovins with Bronson Berry rounding out the top five. For complete results along with the latest news from Clayhill Motorsports log onto www.clayhillmotorsports.com.
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SHAKE DOWN
JUNE 21, 2010 --- This past weekend T.J. Herndon and the UpFront Performance crew once again returned to Clayhill Motorsports after taking Friday night off to complete the assembly of his Modified. In the Crate Late Model class, Herndon finished second in the third qualifying Heat and managed to parlay his sixth place starting position in the Feature into a 4th place check.
In the Openwheel division, Herndon broke out his new Shaw by Outlaw chassis to shake it down in just his second time out this year in a Modified. In the qualifying Heat, Herndon experienced a severe tire rub that hindered his run forcing him to start 9th in the Feature event. As the Feature unfolded, the Atwood Outlaw managed to work his way forward into his second top five finish of the night. Asked what he thought of his new chassis, T.J. responded: “I was well pleased with the car. We had to work through a few problems but nothing out of the ordinary for a new car that’s never been on the race track. We’re kind of going old school with our motor deal this year in the Modified and we don’t expect to win as many as we have in the past when everyone was on a level playing field. We’ve got a steel headed, lower rpm motor in right now and it’s not going to be as competitive as the high dollar engines on a heavy track like this weekend but if I can save $12,000 per engine, I think that I will be ahead financially at the end of the day.” For complete results along with the latest news from Clayhill Motorsports log onto www.clayhillmotorsports.com.
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