Monday September 29 - This weekend, we will head south for our final weekend of racing for the season. Chris will drive Mike Crump's 00 machine in the 2 day DLRA/MARS challenge at the Midway Speedway in Lebanon, MO. Let's hope that we can have a LOT better luck than we had at Knoxville and end the season on a positive.

Thursday September 25 - Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, IA - The 5th Annual Knoxville Late Model Nationals kicked off with beautiful weather and a fast race track. Chris timed in faster than he had ever run by over a half second, posting a 17.799 second lap in time trials. The lap was only good for 38th fastest, but Chris felt good that the car worked really well. We were a little off on gear, but other than that, we went just as fast as the car could possibly go. Chris lined up 6th in the 5th heat race and was looking to make the top 4 and transfer to the A-main. At the drop of the green, Chris followed Jeff Aikey into turn one looking to move to 2nd spot in the heat race when disaster struck. Apparently Jill George made contact with the polesitting car from behind and turned him out of control and he shot up the race track and slammed into the left front of the 25s machine, sending Chris hard into the turn 1 wall. Donnie Moran slammed into the car during the crash and ended up flipping over hard. Chris was not hurt in the crash, but the car was destroyed. It was a very frustrating way to end our run at Knoxville. Chris did not even have a chance to try and race his way into the main event. It is very disappointing when someone else's mistake costs you so dearly, but I guess that is just the way racing goes sometimes.

Monday September 22 - This weekend, it is our biggest race of the season. We will be heading to the Knoxville Raceway to compete in the 5th annual Late Model Nationals. Chris, Sonny and Lamby have been working hard on the car to get it ready to roll for this event. Let's hope we can have some good luck to go with some good performance so we can make the 100 lap A-main on Saturday night!

Saturday September 20 - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - Chris and the crew worked hard on the car all day to try and make it better for the second night of competition. Night #2 saw a lightning fast race track and Chris charged from the 3rd row of the heat race up to the 3rd spot, but a deflating right rear tire made the car very tight and Chris was nipped at the line by Brandon McCormick and had to settle for a 4th place finish. Our heat finish put us on the 6th row inside of the A-main and Chris had 35 laps to get what he could. At the drop of the green, Chris settled in and was sitting 10th when the first caution flew on lap 5. On the restart, Chris headed to the bottom and really started moving forward. During the long green run from lap 6 to lap 29, Chris fought his way to the 5th spot, passing many good race cars. Chris then fought his way to 4th spot and was passing for 3rd when the last caution flew on lap 32. Chris did not get a good jump on the restart and was unable to move forward any further, but grabbed a nice solid 4th place finish. Mike Crump, Mark Crump, Chet Mackney and Gordon Wilson worked very hard on the car over the past few weeks to literally tear it apart and try to find out what was causing our handling problems. We found 2 or 3 problems including a brake system problem and a rear suspension problem, but I think we now have the car back on track. It feels like it should feel and we had it working good this weekend. Thanks a ton to the guys for all their efforts to get the car sorted out!

Friday September 19 - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - The first of 2 nights of the MARS/DLRA clash was up and Chris headed down to join the 00 racing team to see if they could get back on track. Chris started on the pole of the heat race, but lost the lead to Bill Frye and eventually finished 3rd behind Frye and Jesse Stovall. Chris lined up 10th in the A-main and raced hard throughout the 25 lapper. Chris moved to the 6th spot past Will Vaught late in the race, but jumped the cushion and ended up with a 7th place finish. The car worked much better than it had been earlier so the hard work by Mike and the guys has definitely paid off.

Monday September 8 - We will not be racing on the weekends of Sept 5-6 or Sept 12-13. We will return to action on Sept 19-20 at the I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO to compete in the MARS events, and then we will be heading to Knoxville to compete in the 5th annual Knoxville Late Model Nationals. We are already working hard to prepare our 25s machine to make the big 100 lap A-main event. Let's hope we can have some good racing luck and put it together with hard work and preparation to make the show.

Monday September 1 - Dubuque Speedway - Dubuque, IA - fter changing the engine we headed to Dubuque to compete in the 5th annual Rumble by the River event. Chris started in the 2nd row of the heat, but the car pushed hard in turn 3 and 4 on the 2nd lap and Chris faded all the way to 7th spot. Chris battled his way back up to 5th but had to run the B-main. Chris finished 3rd in the b-main and had to line up 21st for the 50 lap A-main. Before the field even got to the green, Chris had to spin to avoid some tangled up cars in front of him and ended up starting from the 23rd spot. Chris tried to run the car in the middle and on the bottom, but the car just would not get enough side bite so Chris headed to the cushion. The car went pretty good on the top, and Chris was able to race his way up to the 14th spot at the checkers. We only had 2 cautions to help us bunch the field, and we feel like the car was good enough to be in the top 5 if we had only been able to earn a better starting spot. We will have to work harder on getting the car fast early so that we can get the track position for the A-main that is so very important.

Friday August 29 and Saturday August 30 - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - Chris and Sonny took the 25s machine south to meet up with the Crump team and enter the 2 day Larry Phillips Memorial with $7500 up to the winner and $750 to start the A-main. Chris started at the rear of the toughest heat race and the car just would not run hard so he ended up finishing right where he started. In the 20 lap qualifying A-main, Chris started 19th and raced up to 14th, but the engine just wasn't running strong. We checked out the engine on Saturday and discovered that the valve springs were worn out, so we just had to make due and try to get the best finish we could. Chris ran 2nd in the 2nd qualifying heat, but when he took the checkers, the engine felt like it pulled down. Chris shut it down and coasted to the pits to find out that the radiator cap had come off and lost most of the water in the engine. We filled the engine up and started it and checked the oil filter and did not find any debris, but just to be safe we started the race at the tail and then took one lap and pulled in to make sure we did not ruin the engine. Our luck just continues to be bad, but we will just keep plugging.

Saturday August 23 - Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO - Chris headed south to join up with the Crump team to compoete in the MLRA event at the Lucas Oil Speedway. Chris started at the tail of the first heat and entering turn one a car spun around mid pack and Chris suffered some light damage to the nose of the car. The field lined up and tried again and this time the pole sitter spun entering turn one. Chris suffered heavy right side damage to the car but was able to continue. The car would not work very well, so Chris ended up with a 7th place finish and was relegated to the B-main. In the B-main, Chris was fighting with a tight race car and made contact with another car racing for a transfer spot and bent a right front spindle, forcing him to the pits for the night. It was a disappointing ending to a very frustrating night.

Thursday August 21 - We are very sad to say that last week the Smyser Racing Team suffered the lost of one of our most important members. Payton Smyser, father to Sonny and Grandfather to Chris passed away on Thursday August 14 at the age of 88. Grandpa Smyser was our hunting and fishing buddy and one of our biggest fans and he will be sorely missed. Please keep the entire Smyser family in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time.

This weekend, Chris will again be behind the wheel of Mike Crump's 00 machine at the MLRA race at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO on Saturday night August 23. The following weekend, we plan to take the 00 machine to the Larry Phillips Memorial event at the I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO on Friday and Saturday August 29-30. We then plan to take the 25s machine to the WDRL event at the Quad City Speedway in East Moline, IL on Sunday August 31, followed by a trip to the Dubuque Speedway in Dubuque, IA to attend the Rumble on the River open shootout event on Monday September 1st. Let's hope we can get the cars dialed in and have some good racing luck and take home some solid finishes.

Sunday August 17 - State Fair Speedway - Sedalia, MO - After the guys thrashed all day Saturday to repair the car, we headed to the MLRA event at the MO state fair. Chris started from the pole in the heat race, but the car was too tight and he faded to 4th behind Terry Phillips, John Anderson and Al Purkey. We got the 15th starting spot for the A-main and we set the car up expecting the track to lay rubber and get tighter. In the early laps, the track was slick and Chris was able to race his way up to the 10th spot and was challenging for 9th when the track began to rubber up. The 00 machine got too tight, and Chris could not advance any further, settling for 10th. We had a tight car all night, so we have some work to do in order to get it freed up, but we feel like we are very close to getting it really going good.

Friday August 15 - Tri City Speedway - Granite City, IL - Chris headed south to join up with the 00 team to race the Friday night show at Granite City. We had made some setup changes to the car and wanted to see how the car was going to work. In the heat race, Chris started from the 4th row outside and was moving forward on the 2nd lap when a car up in the pack spun out in the middle of turns 1-2. The track was blocked and Chris had nowhere to go and ended up slamming into the pile and went to the pits on the hook with a damaged right front suspension. The guys worked really hard to get the car back together for the A-main and Chris started from the tail looking to move forward and learn as much as he could about the car. At the drop of the green, Chris took a couple of cautious laps to make sure there would be no crashes and had just started racing hard when several cars got tangled up on the front straight. Chris took a hard right to miss the pileup but could not get the car turned back and ended up hitting the outside wall and damaging the nose of the car. Chris pulled to the infield and the guys decided the damage was too severe and Chris headed to the pits. The squirrels were definitely out on the track all night and we got caught up in the messes. It was disappointing because we tore up a bunch of stuff for no good reason and did not learn anything about the car.

Saturday August 9 - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - The 00 team headed south to the I-44 Speedway for a Saturday night regular show. We were hoping to learn some things that will help us for the $7500 to win special coming up on August 29-30. The track was very fast and tacky and the car was very tight in hot laps. Chris started the heat race on the outside of the front row and was able to hang on to take the win, but still the car was very very tight and hard to drive through the corners. For the A-main, the guys worked to get the car turning better, but at the drop of the green, the car just wouldn't turn entering the 1st turn and Chris fell back to the 4th spot. Chris was fighting to get the car working when it pushed over the bank entering turn 3. Chris got the car restarted and took it to the pits. We definitely have some things to work on to get the car freed up on a tacky track. We will be working hard to figure the car out and make the right changes to make the car more driveable.


Friday August 8 - Tri City Speedway - Granite City, IL - Chris headed south to join up with the Crump team to race the Friday night show at Granite City. Chris ran 2nd in his heat race to Billy Faust and then started and finished the dash in 6th spot to earn the 6th starting spot for the A-main. At the drop of the green in the A, Chris quickly drove to the 4th spot and was challenging for 3rd when he made contact with one of the large tires marking the inside of the race track. The left front upper control arm was damaged and it broke the #1 spark plug. Chris was able to keep hustling the car and was able to stay in the 4th spot to the checkers. Given the damage to the car, 4th was a strong run, but we were disappointed that we gave away a shot at a top 2 finish.

Thursday August 7 - This weekend, we are planning to run the Friday night race at the Tri City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois.  We are unsure as to our Saturday plans at this point.  If we can find someplace to race, we will let you know.  Stay tuned here for the latest Smyser racing news and updates!

Saturday August 2 – I-55 Speedway – Pevely, MO – The rescheduled Tri-Track Challenge event was on tap with $6,000 to win up for grabs.  Chris was the fastest qualifier in his group and earned the pole position for his heat race.  Chris surged into the lead at the drop of the green in the heat and led every lap to earn the right to redraw for one of the top 4 feature starting spots.  Chris naturally drew the #4 starting spot and lined up for 40 laps of tough racing.  We gambled on the tire combination and went with 3 soft tires and one hard tire on the right rear hoping the track would hold some bite.  The track slicked off quickly and Chris slid back to 7^th early on.  Chris held onto the 7^th spot and raced hard with Randy Korte for the 6^th spot for the 2^nd half of the race.  At the checkers, Korte narrowly nipped Chris out for the 6^th spot.  Finally we had a good night!  We timed in good and raced hard in the heat.  If we had made the right tire choice, we would have probably had a solid top 5 car.  We are learning though.  The car worked pretty solid and we were definitely competitive.

Friday August 1 – Tri City Speedway – Granite City, IL – Chris headed south to join up with the Mike Crump team to race the Friday night show at Tri City Speedway.  Chris got banged up in the heat race and had a car spin in front of him which led to him starting 14^th in the A-main.  Chris had worked his way up to 7^th at the midpoint when he was chopped and hit in the right front on a restart entering turn 1.  Chris lost several spots and ended up working his way back up to 10^th at the finish.  It was a rough night of racing on a rough track.  We were glad to just get out of there with the car mainly in 1 piece.

Tuesday July 30 - After being off on the weekend of July 25, we are returning to action this weekend. We plan to compete at the Tri City Speedway in Granite City, IL on Friday August 1 and then we plan to head to the I-55 Speedway in Pevely, MO on Saturday August 2nd for the $6,000 to win tri track challenge make up event. Let’s hope we can continue gaining on the car and have a couple of good runs!


Saturday July 19 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO – The Lucas Oil Series traveled to their home track for another $10,000 to win show. Chris timed in 14th out of around 35 cars and started the heat race in the 2nd row. Chris fought hard to hold the 4th spot and make the A-main, but John Anderson got past with only 3 laps remaining in the heat. Chris lined up on the outside front row of the b-main and raced hard with David Turner for the lead over the first 4 laps. After a caution, the car got too loose and Chris faded back to a 5th place finish. We got lucky and earned a provisional start for being the fastest car in time trials that did not qualify. We tightened up the car and started in the 12th row. Chris moved up 6 spots to finish 18th. The car was working decent, but we did not have the right tires on for the A-main. We ran our hard tires and we needed some medium compound tires which would have really helped the car be faster. Still, the car worked pretty well, so we definitely feel like we are moving in the right direction. Now we just need to do some more racing and learn all we can!


Friday July 18 – Tri City Speedway – Granite City, IL – The Lucas Oil Series was on hand for a $10,000 to win show. Chris timed in 18th out of nearly 40 cars. In the heat race, Chris got crowded up exiting turn 2 and nearly hit the wall, losing a bunch of spots. Chris was forced to the B-main. In the B, the track was black and slick. Chris raced from 8th up to 5th and needed to make 3rd to get in the A-main. As the B went on, the car became very tight and chris faded back to a 7th place finish and missed the show. We were disappointed to miss the show, but we did learn quite a bit about the car, so we will take what we can from this and move on. At least we loaded it up in 1 piece!


Sunday July 13 – 24 Raceway – Moberly, MO – The MLRA event was run on Sunday under a sunny sky. The races started in late afternoon, so the race track was rubbered up for the A-main making passing very tough. Chris started in the 9th spot and worked his way up to 5th before getting shuffled back to 9th on a restart. Chris was trying to ride out the show and get a top 10 finish when he was crowded up near the fence by another car exiting turn 2 late in the race. Chris got in the loose dust near the wall and could not keep the car off the concrete. We ended up with heavy right front suspension damage which ended our night. We are just not having any luck at all with the 25s this summer. Let’s hope we can get that turned around!

Saturday July 12 - The MLRA event at Moberly has been postponed until Sunday due to rain. We will be heading down to compete. Hotlaps are at 4:15 with races at 5. Let’s hope we can get another solid run in this weekend!

Friday July 11 – Midway Speedway – Lebanon, MO – Chris, Sonny and Lamby headed south to join up with the Crump team to compete in the MARS/DLRA event at the Midway Speedway. Chris raced from the 3rd row to a 3rd place finish in his heat race to grab the 11th starting spot in the A-main. The track got very slick and slow and the bottom groove was the preferred line. Chris ran a steady patient race and worked his way to a solid 6th place run at the checkers. It felt really great to finally have a decent night and get a decent finish! The car was working good and now we are starting to get things going.

July 7
This week, we are planning to race on Friday July 11 in the MARS event at the Midway Speedway in Lebanon, MO. On Saturday July 12, we will be attending the MLRA event at the 24 Raceway in Moberly, MO on its newly rescheduled date. Let's hope that we can have a good car on both nights and get some good finishes. I think I'll stop asking for luck because we all know that isn't working!!

Saturday July 5 - - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - Chris and Sonny headed down to join up with Mike and the crew to run the 00 car at Lebanon in the weekly show. We had struggled very bad with this car at the UMP Summernationals events, and we were hoping that the changes that we made would have it fixed. The car was much better in hot laps, but the left rear tire went flat on the first lap of the heat race so Chris was forced to start the A-main in the 10th spot. At the drop of the green in the A, Chris began to charge forward. Chris had made his way to 2nd spot and was pressuring the leader very hard when the engine let go with about 5 laps remaining. The car was definitely good enough to take the win, but the monkey on our back just won't come off.

Thursday July 3 - I-44 Speedway - Lebanon, MO - With the MLRA event at Moberly, MO washed out, Chris and the crew loaded up and headed to the MARS event at I-44 speedway. Chris fought his way to a 2nd place finish in the heat to earn the 7th starting spot in the A-main. Chris jumped to 5th in the early running of the A-main, but he began to struggle with the car and fade back through the field. Chris hit a rut and broke the right front suspension and ended his night just before halfway. We discovered that a plug wire had come off before the suspension broke, and this was a big reason why we were fading. More tough luck again for us.

Monday June 29 - This week, the Crump crew will be working hard to figure out what the problem is with the 00 machine. Meanwhile, Chris will head south on Thursday July 3 to the MLRA event in Moberly, MO. If everything goes well we plan to then head over to the MLRA event in Grain Valley, MO on Friday July 4. Let's hope we have a LOT better luck this week than we had last. It certainly can't get much worse! If the car will turn, that will be a great first step!

Wednesday June 25 - Lake Ozark Speedway - Eldon, MO - Our 2nd night with the UMP Summernationals went about the same as the first. The car would not turn at all in hot laps or time trials. We had decided that something must be messed up in the front end from the banging around that went on during the b-main at Wheatland, MO the weekend before. We tried all night to get the car to turn and just couldn’t get it. Another disappointing night ended without making the A-main.

Tuesday June 24 - State Fair Speedway - Sedalia, MO - Chris traveled to Sedalia to drive Mike Crump's 00 machine in the $6,000 to win UMP Summernationals event. The car was extremely tight in hot laps and would not turn the corner. The guys made some changes for time trials, but the car was still way too tight which cost us a good qualifying time. We tried more changes for the heat race, but the car still just would not turn. We made even more changes for the b-main and the car was better, but still almost too tight to race well. Chris came from 10th to 6th in the b-main and missed the show.

Monday June 23
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chris is planning on racing the Mike Crump 00 machine in the UMP Summernationals events at the Sedalia State Fair Speedway on Tuesday June 24, and at the Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO on Wednesday June 25.  Let's hope that we can have a little better racing luck than what we have had so far in 2008! 

Saturday June 21 - Lucas Oil Speedway - Wheatland, MO - The O'Reilly Shootout was on tap with $10,000 to win up for grabs.  Nearly 70 cars from 9 states came to town to fight for a starting spot in the A-main.

Chris came from the 12th starting spot in the heat race up to 5th, but that was only good enough to put him on the outside front row of the 2nd B-main.  Needing to finish in the top 2 spots to advance, Chris grabbed the lead at the drop of the green and rolled into turn one.  Polesitter Trace Westling drove into turn one way too deep and got loose, shooting up the track and slamming into the side of Chris and knocking him up the track.  Chris gathered up the car and started trying to fight back forward.  On the 3rd lap he was hit hard in the left rear and turned sideways and lost another spot.  Chris was able to finish the demolition derby, but not after being nearly put in the wall by Mike Collins later in the going.  The front end was knocked out of alignment by the first lap contact, and Chris was unable to make the final transfer.  It was a very disappointing way to end the night after making such a strong run through the heat race.  The race car performed well, so we can take away something positive from the trip.

Saturday June 14 - Adams County Speedway - Corning, IA - The MLRA headed to Corning, IA for a $3,000 to win event and Chris and the crew took the 25s GTO to compete.  In the heat race, the car picked up a bad miss in the engine and Chris struggled to a 4th place finish.  The 4th place finish earned Chris the 16th starting spot in the A-main.  The track became very rough due to all the rains for the A-main.  Chris gambled on a free set up to try and make the car work in the rough, but he could not get enough grip to run on the high side where the track was slick and smoother.  He struggled to a 15th place finish.  For only the 2nd race of the season, we were glad to at least make the show, but were frustrated that we could not move forward.

Friday June 13
Due to the heavy rains last night, the MLRA event at the Lakeside Speedway has been cancelled. We are still planning to attend the MLRA event at Corning, IA if it does not get rained out. We will post an update here on the site once we find out anything.

Next weekend, we plan to head south to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO to attend the O’Reilly Challenge $10,000 to win event. Chris will be driving Mike Crump’s 00 machine in that event.

Friday May 30
Well, Mother Nature is at it again. The races at the Tri City Speedway in Granite City, IL are rained out for tonight. I guess we will have to wait until next weekend to get back to racing. We are planning to attend the Friday night show at the Tri City Speedway again next Friday night. Let’s hope for some drier weather and good racing luck!

May 25
First we apologize for the web site being down. The domain name expired and we had a heck of a time getting it renewed. Now that we have it running, we will try to keep everyone updated with our racing plans.

Sunday May 25
 The Fed Ex 50 at Granite City, IL was rained out. We are tentatively planning to race the weekly show this Friday night at Granite City, IL and then the following weekend we plan to compete in the MLRA events at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS and the Adams County Speedway in Corning, IA.
 

May 1
This weekend if the weather permits, we hope to finally kick off our 2008 season by competing in the World of Outlaws late model event at the I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, MO on Saturday night May 3rd. Chris will have to shake off the rust very quickly if he expects to make the show against some of the toughest cars in the country. Let's hope we can have some good racing luck to start off the year!

April 7
We apologize for not updating the site sooner, but Chris has been working extremely long hours at John Deere on a new project he is managing.

Due to this work, Chris was unable to attend the MLRA opener at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO last Saturday night and we won't be attending the MLRA events that are coming up this weekend either.

Chris is hoping that he will be able to attend the events on the schedule for the 18th and 19th of April, but at this point, he does not know.

We are chomping at the bit to kick off our 2008 season. It has been such a long winter and we are ready to get to it!

We will update the site as soon as Chris can confirm when he plans to head to the track!

March 23, 2008
After a long cold nasty winter, spring is finally starting to win out over old man winter. We are ready to release our tentative 2008 schedule.

Please note that this 2008 schedule is tentative and subject to change without notice. Always check in at www.smyser-racing.com for the latest news and schedule updates. We plan to start the season at the MLRA opener at the Midway Speedway in Lebanon, MO on April 4.

The following night, we will head to the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO for another MLRA event. Chris will be behind the wheel of Mike Crump's 00 machine in both events.

The following weekend, we plan to head out with the 25s machine to the MLRA events at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS and the Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, KS on April 11 and 12.

We are undecided as to whether or not we will chase any points in 2008. Chris's work schedule and the high cost of fuel to travel will both play a big part in that decision. If we make any decision of that type, we will post it here. Let's hope for a fun and safe 2008 season with a lot of wins and top 5 finishes!