CALEGRUBB.COM

 
LAST UPDATE:
Sunday, May 4 @ 5:01 PM

Welcome to the Official Website of Cale Grubb and the 19 Racing Team. 2008 will be our third year of 410 sprint car racing, and will be racing full-time at Port Royal Speedway once again this season.  Any questions or comments you may have can reach us at Grubb_Motorsports@yahoo.com.  Please take a look around, and we'll see you at the races!

For the second week in a row, the Allied Milk team made the long tow to Port Royal, just to be rained on a few minutes before it was time to get heat in the motor. With this weekend seeing the All-Star Circuit of Champions visiting Port Royal, Cale can't wait to take on the traveling invaders. Riding the high of two consecutive Top 5 finishes and sitting sixth in the point standings, the entire 19 crew is very excited to see what this Saturday, our first time trial show of the year, has in store for us. Be sure to come to Port Royal to cheer on the black 19 as we go up against the ASCoC and look to continue our string of Top 5 finshes.

ACCORDING TO BEDFORD SPEEDWAY'S WEBSITE:
"There is no All-Star Circuit of Champions race at Bedford on May 11th, as indicated on the ASCoC website. The race was never scheduled. In fact, the All-Stars management and Bedford's management never agreed or talked about possibly having a race in the 2008 season. The incorrect information on the All-Stars website is an apparent oversight." 

Just as we had everything ready to go and Cale was about ready to get into his driver's suit, the skies turned black. Within a matter of minutes, the rain was falling, and it wasn't letting up. Before the car even got onto the track, the races were cancelled as heavy rains wiped out most racing last night in the area.

The team was disappointed that we were not able to try to continue our string of Top 5 finishes last night, but we will head into next weekend ready to go and keep our streak of good luck going as we enter the month of May. 

The 2008 season got even better last Saturday at Port Royal when the team came home with a second straight 4th place finish. The night began with Cale starting 5th in the heat race and dropping back to 7th on the start after getting shoved to the high side of the track. Slowly and methodically Cale began to work his way forward and by lap 5 was into the 4th position. He rode there over the remaining half of the race, earning us a 6th place starting spot in the feature.

When the green flag dropped on the main event, Cale moved up a spot to 5th and over the first 5 laps would work his way up to third. Before a caution flag on lap 13, Cale began to close on the second place car. After the restart, Cale settled back into third and began to work his way around lapped traffic over the last 12 laps. With the track being single-file around the bottom over the last half of the race, trouble arose with the white flag out.

A lapped car was running the bottom and Cale tried his best to work his way by him on the outside. As Cale did so, the lapped car also slid high, allowing the 4th place car to move by. When Cale crossed the finish line, we were scored in 4th place, for the second straight week. We couldn't be more happier about this, as the team is now sitting 6th in the point standings. We look to carry the momentum into this coming weekend, and aim for another top 10 finish.

There's always nights in racing where you can say "everything/nothing seemed to go our way." Last night's race was one where you could circle the everything in that statement and apply it to us. In the heat race, Cale started second and checked out from the start. Every lap he pulled away a little more on his way to capturing our first heat race victory of the season.

That win put us second in the feature. For the first half of the race, Cale ran in second, holding his own and closing at times on the race leader. As the race went on Cale got passed by two of the best drivers in the area, but didn't let that get him down. On a track that was much smoother and drier than it has been in the past two weeks, the car was hooked up and Cale was running with the best in the business all night. When the checkered flag fell, Cale crossed the line in 4th spot. This tied his career-best finish, which came in the summer of 2006 at Port Royal in just his 9th race ever.

Our focus this year has been to improve every week based on the prior week's performance. And as we head into next week following a 4th place finish, we strive once again to finish in the top 10 and continue to get Cale more seat time and also learn more setting the car up. This past week was a big confidence booster for the team, and we hope to continue the successful season that we have been having so far.

Following the first week of the season, our goal was to improve off of our 15th place finish on Opening Day. We did exactly that, and now look to improve off of an 11th place finish. The night started with Cale on the pole in the heat race. After losing the lead to top driver Greg Hodnett, Cale settled into second. He raced there over the first 6 laps before being passed by both a former Port Royal Speedway track champion, as well as the feature winner on Saturday night.

We discovered the reason for losing these spots was due to a broken shock mount. Cale said as he hit a rut on Lap 2, which were once again numerous around the track, he could feel the car lay over on the left rear, and it was evident down the straigtaways that the car was rotating from side to side. It was very encouraging to us that even without the left rear shock being non-exsistant to the handling of car, we were able to hold off two very good drivers for so many laps.

In the feature, we started in 7th and slipped back to 10th in the first few laps. Cale settled into a groove and began to gain back on 9th place as the car was setup to come in later in the race. With the leaders setting a blistering pace, we were caught a lap down, in 10th, when a caution flag came out. Following the restart, Cale settled in as the 4th car running on the track as the top 3 worked their way in front of him. For many laps, it appeared as though we had the 4th fastest car on the track until another caution waved with one lap to go.

On the restart a car slipped by Cale on the outside of turn 4 coming to the line, slipping us back to 11th place. Despite losing the Top 10 on the last lap, we are very happy with how the night went and, while looking back on 2007, are keeping in mind where we have come in just one year. We go into next weekend looking to break into the Top 10 for the first time this year.

Opening Day was upon us last Saturday at Port Royal Speedway. On a very rough track that had ruts and bumbs all of over it, the conditions were less than ideal for the first race of the season. In the heat race, the Allied Milk #19 started in third and Cale worked hard over the 8 laps to work his way around the tricky surface. When the checkered flag fell, we lost one spot and wound up in fourth.

That finish gave the team a 7th place starting spot in the feature event on a still tricky surface. Over the first few laps, Cale lost a few spots as he tried to find the best line to race to avoid hitting the ruts that were very prominent in the entry of the turns. After falling to 11th, Cale settled in and began to close back in on the top 10. On lap 15, Cale hit a rut going into turn 1 which turned the car sideways into the inside wall. The result was a flat left front tire.

Since going a lap down and having the motor running a little rough, we decided to call it a night, on a track that just didn't favor any possibility of picking up more spots. We finished in 15th place, with the car in one piece, ready for next weekend.

Just a reminder to those who are planning on coming to Port Royal on Saturday to cheer the 19 team on, T-shirts ARE available for $18. Be sure to stop down and pick one up to cheer on one of Central PA's fastest young drivers.

Our 2008 season opener will have to wait a week as Port Royal cancelled their race due to cold temperatures. The team can't wait to get to the track and get the new season underway. Our current plan is to race at Port Royal this Saturday, but depending on the weather and track conditions, a trip to Williams Grove on Friday is a possibility. Be sure to check back later in the week to see where the 19 will be racing this coming weekend!