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Salem, Indiana  - I Finally Won!!!

Clermont, Indiana  - More bad luck as I broke the right front hub in practice, taking away much needed practice time to tune the car for qualifying.

Richmond, Virginia  - Driving the Fatheadz.com/ Jet Star Sprint car to 5th starting spot this really looked to be my race. I was running in 2nd position 47 laps into the 60 lap feature when my right rear shock broke. I struggled in the Silver Crown qualifying starting 14th but patiently moved my way up to 9th place and was moving forward when a small oil leak stopped my charge on lap 48. I really need some better luck to finish these races.

Winchester, Indiana - I was having a great run driving from 10th starting spot passing for 4th on lap 22, when I got together with another car coming off turn 4 ruining my chances at a top five finish.

Anderson Little 500 - finished 30th after being caught up in a wreck on lap 49, it was very disappointing for me after qualifying 2nd quick. Watching the rest of the race from the infield was torture, I can't wait to get another crack at this historic race.

Anderson, The Banjo/ Glen Neibel Classic - I messed up in qualifying with a 19th spot and couldn't move forward enough in the heat race relegating me to the last chance race. I corrected my errors and recovered to win the last chance race but was still starting 19th in the 100 lap feature. I really like long races and was looking forward to this one. I steadily moved forward and once again looked to be capable of a top 5 finish but only was able to make to 8th spot.

Winchester, Indiana April 27,2008 - After the rainout last weekend I was ready to hit the high banks in attempt to beat the half-mile speedway. Knowing I have the best possible crew behind me with Clint and Jack French running the team, I was very confident in the cars ability to run fast. Earlier in the week I had talked to Brian Tyler about how to drive the track and found many of his tips useful throughout the day. Thanks Brian!

After the first round of practice we were fourth quick overall and knew that we had a good car for the day. During the second round I just scuffed tires in preparation for qualifying. After two solid runs under my belt I felt extremely comfortable in the car and thought we could pull out a top 6 qualifying effort. The first two laps went great and built a great deal of speed for the final lap. Coming off turn 2 I allowed my inexperience to get the best of me as I squeezed the accelerator a little too hard cracking the back tires loose and costing me enough time that I ended up 11^th. The heat race was uneventful but gave me another chance to get used to driving in traffic.  

Race Time. As the car fired and I pulled up onto the track my nerves began to calm and I was focused. Starting on the inside of the sixth row I knew that I would have to get a good start to have a chance at making it to the front of the field. In the heat race I had struggled on the initial start and couldn’t afford to make the same mistake in the feature. The green flag flew and I stuck to Jerry Coons Jr.’s tail tank as the field entered turn one. Moving up the track to the high groove where I would make the majority of my passes I began to feel out the track and my car. I was running in twelfth, which is where I made my way into line, on lap 10 when the first of three cautions flew. I now had things felt out and was ready to make a charge. On the restart I put the Fatheadz.com, Jet Star, Claxton Chevy, #07 to the top and began hunting the lead pack. Passing Cole Whitt, Jerry Coons Jr., Eric Gordon, Levi Jones, and Dakoda Armstrong before the caution flew on lap 23 for Chris Windom spinning on the front stretch. Now running sixth I was ready to make my move on the top 5. As the field came to the green my car stumbled badly and let Brian Gerster who was running fifth pull a whole straightaway ahead. The car jumped to life and ran down the front-runners in 2 laps. I jumped back to the topside of the track and began to work away again. As I pulled beside Gerster for the fifth position the caution flag flew again. This time I was determined to get a better restart but the car stumbled once again exiting turn four. The dash to the finish was on as I had caught the pack again with the white flag in the air. I was determined to make a move but spun the tires coming off of turn two and brought the car home 6^th. 

After a great first race I would like to thank everyone for his or her support and efforts making this all possible. Now I’ve got my sites set on the next race at Anderson, May 21^st and the little 500, May 24^th.

Florida 400 & PRI Race- It’s winter in Indiana and I’m in Florida racing, isn’t this great! I am writing this as the team and I are on the way back from Florida after a great week and a half of racing. We first traveled to Desoto Speedway in Bradenton , Florida for the 2^nd annual Florida 400 sprint car race. The schedule had us practicing all day Thursday, practicing and qualifying Friday, and Racing Saturday night. This would be my first sprint car race; thanks to Rico at Fatheadz.com. Rico hooked me up with Darrell Guiducci who is the owner of the Walker/Guiducci Racing, Jet Star, Jeff’s Jam-It-In, #11 that I tested at the end of last season. We picked up the car in early November and my brother Clinton went through it to make sure everything was up to par. He tore the car down to the bare frame and carefully re-assembled it making sure ever part was just right, something he had learned from working with his mentor Jack French.

            I felt very anxious Thursday during practice knowing that I would get a chance to prove myself as a good racecar driver. Jack French came with us to help with the car setup and keep Clint in line wrenching on the car. We were one of the fastest cars all day during Thursday practice. When it came time for qualifying I didn’t know what to expect. I went out and laid down a lap good enough for 7^th quick over all. That is a decent starting position being on the inside of the third row on the three wide start of the race.
            Race day brought along mixed feelings for me; I was very nervous and very excited to get the race underway. The festivities started off with a bang when the human cannonball shot himself for a world record distance over 18 cars. The promoters had an autograph session for the fans and it was nice to meet some of the locals as well as travelers from other states. The cars lined up on the front stretch and prepared to be pushed off for the start of the 400 lap event.

            When the green came out I quickly fell into line sitting in 7^th I tried making some moves early but repeated cautions and short runs made that very tough. The race was uneventful for me until right before the first pit stop. I tangled with a car coming off of turn two sending him around and I maintained my position. It was time for the first pit stop which was something that the whole team was ready for. Due to a miscue on when to pit I went down 1 lap to the leader, Dave Steele. Following the stop there was a long green flag run, in which the car fired and took off. I unlapped myself from the leader, coming clear back around the track and took the lead from Dave Steele. I knew at this point I had a car to win. Our second pit stop went flawlessly and the race was in my hands. Around lap three hundred while passing a lapped car I brushed the wall and bent the rear sway bar causing the car to become extremely tight. Dave Steele then passed me back for the lead and with thirty laps remaining Bobby Santos moved me back to 3rd. I rode out the rest of the race hanging on to a fantastic third place finish. In victory lane I was ecstatic to be on the podium with two guys that I had watched and learned from many times. Getting to run side by side with these great drivers was a great experience. For my first race I thought I faired pretty good but I realize there is always room for improvement, especially in the area of conserving the racecar and taking it easy. Rob Klepper was awesome to talk to after the race. I can’t wait to race one of these cars again!

            Next we went to the PRI Sprint and Midget Classic on Thursday at Orlando Speedworld. I once again was very nervous and excited at the same time. I would be racing with the best pavement sprint cars drivers in the country and they would be a tough crowd for sure. We new that the top 14 drivers in qualifying had spots in Friday’s 40 lap feature event and the rest would line up and race 12 laps for the final 10 spots. The track was very difficult to drive, it seemed very slick and there was no grip when you slipped out of the one groove. I was 13^th fast in the first round of practice, which made us all pretty uneasy thinking about the top 14. Jack gave me some advice about qualifying and I gave it all I had, qualifying 7^th out of 33 cars. I was .007 seconds behind 6^th place who started on the pole after the 6 car invert.

Friday we worked on the car and got it to rotate in the middle better and went 10^th quick in the final round of practice just before the oil filter blew a seal. I shut the fuel off immediately and rode the car out into turn one before spinning out in my own oil in turn 2; I kept it off the fence thank God. There was a small oil fire that went out on its own but it shook me up a bit. We got the car back in the pits and cleaned it all up, found and repaired the faulty filter, added 2 quarts of oil and were ready to race.

The race was intense but passing was nearly impossible, I see why they have the $50,000 bonus, it would be pretty tough to claim. I moved up to 5^th in the race before brushing the wall on a restart at the halfway point of the race, losing a spot to Aaron Pierce. I pretty much rode around in line until Kody Swanson got under me in turn 3 and moved me back to 7^th; where I would finish. I was happy to race again but wished we could have been a little racier. Thanks to Fatheadz sunglasses, Jet Star, Jeff’s Jam-it-in Storage, Lucas Oil, Conroy Pneu Bleeders, Rod End Supply, Jack & Betty French, Joe Conroy and Capt. Jack & Kathy Knowling. I would never had this opportunity with out you. I hope to race more this year but even if I don’t I will always have fond memories of December 2007 in Florida.

O'Reilly Raceway Park, Clermont, Indiana THE BANJO BIG CAR 100 Friday September 14th

Berlin Raceway FOX 17 150 June 13th- It seems like its been forever since I last raced the "big car". The day started out with practice and I was really struggling to get the car to handle coming off turn 2. Dad and Clint fixed the engine from the last race and it really picked it up a bunch which made it hard to keep from spinning the right rear tire coming off the corners. I found a decent line but messed up in qualifying so I had to start 14th. As my luck would have it; we forgot to raise the radiator and pulled away on the warm up lap. Clint radioed to me to stop on the apron and he raised it but the officials felt that we worked on the car and had to go to the tail on the start. This wasn't all bad luck though, Ryan Newman had missed qualifying and was on the tail, so I had someone to work with going to the front. We both moved through the field quickly, my car seemed nearly perfect now and was real fast. I was 10th and Newman was 9th on lap 36 when I felt the Right rear tire go down. I radioed my crew and they did their best to change it, but we had to stop under the green and lost 7 laps! So much for a good run. The new tire wasn't as good as the first set and I fought a loose racecar for the remaining laps of the 150 lap race. Newman went on to finish 4th without pitting, so who knows, I might have had my first top 5 finish! Check out the Gallery page- I have some new photos up from the race. Many thanks to the photographers that get them for me.

South Georgia Motorsports Park 150- April 7-9 -Time for the first race of the season race fans. The Wilson Bros. Racing team traveled down to South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel , Georgia for the first race of the Premier Racing Associations season. We arrived at the track Thursday to test for Saturday’s event. After making one lap under idle to see if we had any leaks, I began to leave the pits for the second time. This is when the motor locked up. I thought I had only stalled the motor but it was really the timing gears shredding. Not knowing this had happened yet, crew chief and Brother Clinton tried re-firing the motor and bent 10 of the 16 push rods. Luckily the track owner hooked us up with Wild Cat Racing Engines right up the road from the track. After putting in a late nights work we had to run to Atlanta the next morning to get parts.

            Friday afternoon after arriving back at the track with our new pushrods, we began to get things put back together. The motor fired and ran at 10 P.M., but had a slight miss, due to the valve lash not being set right. The next morning we tried to reset the lash and the motor ran great. As practice rolled around it was time to see if we had got it right. We went out for only 3 laps before I noticed a motor problem. Any Guesses? More bent pushrods. Clint and Dad replaced the 4 bent ones and got me back out on the track for the last 4 laps of practice. So far I have completed 7 green flag laps, and now it’s time for qualifying. In qualifying we had severe handling trouble due to too much rear stagger and too much left rear weight. This landed me with the 14^th starting position for the feature. Bad news fell again for WBR as we were notified that since we have to be push started we must start at the tail of the field. This was fine seeing how I had now only completed 9 good laps. As the green flag flew for the start of the feature I wasn’t sure what to expect from the field. I held my ground and began trying to work my way to the front of the field. The first caution flew at lap 40 with a car in the outside wall in turn 2. At this point I had made my way up to 13^th position. The green flag flew again and I immediately moved my way into the 12^th position. I held my ground there until the yellow flag came out once again on lap 75. Then came the longest green flag run of the night in which I moved up to the 10^th position. The yellow was brought out by a two car incident in turn two right in front of me and second place runner Ryan Newman. The rest of the race was uneventful ending with me in the 10^th position. After the race the autograph session was great meeting lots of new people and signing lots of things for a lot of fans. Race one was a great learning experience as we look to improve for the May 16^th outing at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis .

Rumble in the Buckeye State- Friday, January 19^th - On the way to the track Friday, we decided to stop by the Air Force Museum, located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Seeing all of the memorials made me think about all of the men and women over seas making sacrifices so we can be free here. After the unbelievable experience of seeing all of the air planes from the past wars we headed on to the Coliseum. We arrived at the track around 2:30 and began to unload around 3:15. Shortly after I decided to go look at the track. The track was very small having drag strip straight-aways, and very tight 180 degree corners. Practice time finally rolled around and I was excited to hit the track. The first two rounds we were laying rubber down on the track to prepare for the main event Saturday. The third round I was finally able to put power to the ground and get some good times. We were running near the top of the speed chart, and I was very pleased with our performance.

 Saturday, January 20^th

            Saturday morning began with a bang when younger brother and teammate, Clinton Wilson decided to unload his car and compete in his first ever indoor midget race. After wrenching on his car all morning we went out for practice. I was running very quick and broke into the 6 second range with a 6.91 on the stop watch. The rest of the field was being clocked in the 7.1 to 7.4 second range. After practice came a 5 hour break before qualifying which made me very nervous because, of the ever changing track. I got a lot of attention from the other teams as some were struggling with the tight indoor arena. I was really pumped about getting to race against Ken Schrader. When five o’clock rolled around I began to get into the racing mood again and focused on what was the beginning of a good night. Cutting 2 very quick laps I was feeling very confident about my qualifying effort. I knew it was good when I saw my dad running from the arena smiling. I set the quick time with a 7.137. Beating out dirt sprint car standout 2^nd John Stanbrough, 3^rd Billy Wease, 4^th ARCA star Brandon Knupp, and 5^th the Tony Stewart Racing machine of Mike Fedorcak and Nascars Ken Schrader. He came to our pits after qualifying to see what the fastest car and driver looked like, I have to say that was cool.

Although earning quick qualifier is a great honor, it did have its disadvantages. This placed my 07 midget on the outside of the second row in the first heat, because of the 4 car invert in each heat. At the beginning of the race I made my way to the inside in the sixth position and started my hunt for a transfer spot. Quickly moving my way into the third position, I began to track down the front two of Blake Fitzpatrick and Mike Fedorcak. From a ¼ track back I made my way to the 97 car’s back door. With only 2 laps to apply pressure, I placed third, one position out of a transfer position to the feature event.

One of the benefits to the quick time qualifier is the pole position in the last chance qualifying race. I then led from start to finish with Ken Schrader following a straightaway back. My little brother Clint had an super run, plowing his way to 3^rd and really working Schrader’s rear bumper over trying to make it in to the feature. He got inside of Schrader and Ken pushed him into the truck tires in the infield ending his run. My consolation races win earned me a 9^th place starting position in the A-Main. The beginning laps were very frustrating, knowing that I had a car capable of moving forward. Settling in about 7^th place, stuck behind a group of cars that were unable gain an advantage on each other. These cars also had enough grip they could not be bumped up the track an inch. Around lap 25 I hit a slick spot in the track causing the car to become extremely loose and brushed the outside wall. This cut down the right rear tire, leading to a very bad push for the rest of the race. I held on to the 7^th position and managed to pull away from the leader in the remaining laps. The weekend was a great time and experience builder for me. I want to thank my brother Clint and my Parents, Dave Fuhrman and all the guys at Wilson’s Autotech and Wilson’s Towing for the help.

Rumble in Ft. Wayne- VIDEO!