Back From the Brink

I know my last blog post was over a year ago, and I apologize for the long layoff . However, 2010 was, by most counts, forgettable. I survived what I have come to call “the tri-fecta of s---” in 2010. The economy impacted me as it did many others, and I wound up taking work that I otherwise wouldn’t have considered. However, with 3 small children to support, you do what you have to do sometimes. As well, I became a single dad in 2010. Additionally, my elderly parents had begun to falter physically. So this is why I say the “tri-fecta of s---”. As you can probably imagine, the combination of these 3 things along with a sponsor deal that went very sideways pretty well sucked the life out of me this past year. However, aside from my parents’ health, the other issues of 2010 are, or have been, dealt with. So, I roll out of 2010 and into 2011 with a renewed energy and sense of optimism for the future. Optimism of new friends, new relationships, new opportunities, and new possibilities!

This is quite an about-face from just a few months ago when I had all but decided to hang up my driving gloves. However, it was the words of a few of my friends that stuck in my head as I was getting through the holidays which made me first reconsider and then recommit to driving again. At the end of October, I went to my old race track, the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois where I was the assistant track manager for 3 years until the spring of ‘09. It was the last event, last day of the Autobahn season and there were many people I wanted to talk to and see. Most all of them are members, but I consider them friends. The long and short of that day was that although I went to the track purely for business purposes, An employee who used to have to report to me and has been around motorsports seemingly forever and has seen pretty much everything and everyone over the years, waved me over to where he was, and leaned in to tell me how much he truly missed watching me drive. That simple compliment stuck in my head. It meant so much to me to know that I had affected even one person, let alone possibly others with my driving in that way. That one interaction was the lifeline I needed. Subsequent to that I had mentioned to a couple of my other friends who know me and my racing, that I was considering quitting driving altogether. One had responded by saying that she was very disheartened to hear that because she also enjoyed watching me drive and that she saw such joy in my driving. A fellow driver friend said that he couldn’t imagine me doing anything else. I think his exact words were “I’ve seen you drive, you’ve got it!”. He even thought that I could be one of the top road racers in the country in the next 5 years.

So, all this continued to “marinate” in my head, and the more I thought about those comments, the more I realized that I wasn’t done. I still had more in me to give and to do with regards to racing, and specifically, my driving. I feel like I’m not done yet! In fact, I have much to do! This, along with some positive new friendships and relationships spurred a renewed energy and inspired me to get back after it again. It's amazing what a small taste of success and some encouragement from those close to you can do for your spirits and drive! So, to an extent, I’ve gone through a rebirth, a renewal in my life these past several months. Not entirely unlike that mythical creature the Phoenix. I have to say, one of the best lessons I’ve learned over the past year or so, is the value of good friends and the people around you. Thank you to those who have offered that heartfelt encouragement. You know who you are, and I will never forget.

So, let's fast forward to today. Now, I have some very positive, motivated , supportive people around me in all aspects of my life, and I’ve decided to pursue what has been known as the Patron Porsche GT3 series. Since I pretty much made the decision late, we are going to focus on the GT3 series round at Road America August 18-19, and make that happen, and we'll see where it goes from there. Some other sports car possibilities have surfaced, which we are looking at. I still have options in the Indy Lights series which, as you know, has been my focus for the better part of the past couple of years. However, Indy Lights is not my primary focus. If we can still do something in Lights, that would be great, but my focus has shifted to sports cars, and the GT3 series is the first step in that direction. As well, I look to get back to doing much more driver coaching and instruction. So, as you can probably tell, I've been to the brink, and now I'm back! And I’m coming back bigger and better than before, and with a vengeance!

Racing is/and life (What I've learned this year)

Well, everyone, first off I want to apologize for the long, long layoff since my last blog post. While there hasn't been a whole lot to talk about with my racing efforts, there has been no shortage of things going on. So, I thought I'd take this time to bring everyone up to speed (pun intended!)on what the latest is with my racing, as well as share with everyone what I've learned this past year. I had actually planned to post this on New Year's day, but my computer suffered a tragic, epic demise.
OK. First off. My Indy Lights program seems headed for a bit of a short detour. Our primary sponsor prospect backed out rather unceremoniously towards the end of the summer. Fortunately, I've got some very good people helping me find the sponsorship needed to get back in the car and finish what I started. Thanks Jason for your fast and growing friendship, support and belief in my abilities. Thanks too, Elio and Dan, for being such great friends over all these years, and continuing to be right there with me to make this racing dream a reality. So, with all that said, where is the program at right now? Well, at the end of this past season, Elio, Dan, Jason, and myself all decided that everything was on the table, and while I have a lot of experience in sedans, like Porsches, Corvettes, etc., our focus turned to the Star Mazda series. Certainly the fact that the Indy Racing League formally introduced their ladder system at the PRI show in December which now includes the Star Mazda and USF2000 series' helped with our decision. My primary goal is still to get to Indy for the 500 while still keeping my hand in sports cars for the long term. In the meantime, we have a developing relationship with another driver through Jason that may actually lead us to competing in the USF2000 series for 2010. It's not a done deal by any means, but it is looking very encouraging. While it may seem, on the surface to be a step backwards, we may actually be able to structure this with a team that has an existing Indy Lights program that is very competitive and could afford us the possibility of "skipping" Star Mazda, and moving right from F2000 to Lights and then we're well positioned for an Indy Car attempt. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards (especially in the current economy) in order to take two steps forward. Did you get all that?
As for my other racing related endeavors, there's plenty to talk about. I recently got a high degree of satisfaction from a process I started 3 years ago. In my role as the Assistant Track Manager over at the Autobahn Country Club, I had approached the IRL about certifying the Autobahn as an Indy Lights testing track. Certainly, having just completed my rookie test in a Lights, I had a vested interest. Well, just over a month ago, Tony Cotman, the IndyCar Vice President of competition approved the Autobahn North track as Lights testing certified. Yea! My persistence finally paid off! As well, I will be the point person at the Autobahn coordinating and booking all Lights testing at the track. Also, I have stayed in close contact with the Autobahn, since being asked to move to contract status in March of 2009 due to cost cutting measures at the club, and we have enjoyed a very open and positive relationship. I still have privileges at the club and do quite a bit of private coaching and development work for member teams based there. Having spoken with them over the recent holidays, they have expressed a strong interest in having me involved at the club for the foreseeable future in not only the role I just described but also to do some instruction for their various programs they plan to put "on the books" for 2010. That's a good thing. Also, I'm working on some winter driving programs that may also keep me busy during the cold winter months here in Milwaukee. Hopefully, we'll be able to get those nailed down in the next few weeks. Check back on my blog and websites for the latest updates on that!
In the meantime, I'm keeping very busy. My family is definitely keeping my hopping. The kids all have alot going on with school, winter softball, hockey, performances, etc. I'm also working on expanding my driver development company, Red Arrow Autosports, and I'll be taking some classes at a small business center here to help with those efforts as well as another business that I'm strongly looking to get started in addition to growing Red Arrow. The recent news that a couple high profile names have started driver development and management companies just tell me I had the right idea already a couple of years ago. It would seem perhaps, the timing is right in the market. (Either that, or I was just ahead of my time! I'll go with that!).
So, what did I learn this year? Damn good question! Well, first of all, I learned that you can't count on anything! When I permanently moved from Phoenix, it was due to the Autobahn wanting me there full time, year 'round, and my wife had secured a full time job in downtown Milwaukee. That was before the economy tanked and the automotive industry took the brunt of it. Certainly, when you work in the automotive related world, you are not immune to it's struggles. That not only caught me out when it came to work, but it also has hurt us in our hunt for sponsorship as it has many other racers. However, that also taught me even more about not giving up! When you're passionate about something, you absolutely cannot give up on it! That's one of the most important lessons I feel I can teach my children.
I also learned that no matter how good a deal seems and how sincere someone can sound, unless you've known them for a long time, you can't trust them. The main sponsor I mentioned at the beginning of this blog made a big deal of his word being his bond, and about old school handshakes essentially being the same. Well, after all of that talk, his word turned out to be worthless. After having jumped through hoops to accomodate him, he didn't do what he said he would. Lesson learned. Any of you racers out ther relate to this? I have learned from that mistake and won't make it again. Fortunately, I took the high road, as did my "team" helping me, and we can go forward knowing that we did everything right, and can live to fight another day, and feel good about how we chose to handle the whole situation. Consider it a step to a bigger, better relationship that will really work for everyone and that will provide a strong measure of satisfaction.
I also learned how much I'm glad to be able to spend more time with my family. The past few years when I was splitting my year between the Autobahn and the Bondurant school, I was away from my family for substantial periods of time. I'm grateful for getting to be much more intimately involved in the daily trials and tribulations of my kids in particular with everything that they are doing and contending with every day. It's nice to know how much more of a positive influence I've had on them, being able to be more "hands on" every day.
Finally, I've learned that not only do bad things happen to good people, but also that at some point, eventually, life is going to kick everyone of us in the teeth, or in the gut and put us down. At that point, it's not about what has happened to us, but what we choose to do about it. I choose to keep getting up and fighting again, being persistent and never quitting. It's like I say on my emails; it's the absolute refusal to fail. Call is personal pride, call it stubbornness, call it whatever you want. But I know that you can't keep good people down for long. And if there's anyone who doubts that, just look at the picture of our good friend Mr. McQueen in this blog to know my thoughts on that.
Now, while the challenges of 2009 aren't totally behind me as yet, there is sufficient cause for optimism going into 2010, and I am very excited to make 2010 a better, stronger year than 2009. I expect to be back on the regular blogging path here on this blogsite, at least monthly, if not twice a month. Stay tuned!

KK

Coaching and Winning

Hey everyone! While it's been awhile between posts, I've been busy! The work on finding the budget for my Indy Lights program is non-stop and we're getting closer. I'm expecting to have a number of sponsorship related meetings around the IRL race at Chicagoland Speedway at the end of the month.
In the meantime, I've been busy coaching. I worked with Speed World Challenge GT driver Tim McKenzie in his Porsche. With all the work I've been doing with Eurosport lately and with Porsches in particular, they asked me to lend a hand to Tim in preparation for the Autobahn Grand Prix last weekend since Eurosport was supporting Tim for the weekend. Now, while Tim was, I believe 2nd quickest in the early practice, he got caught up with another driver relatively early in the race and didn't finish. Unfortunately, that likely ends Tim's season. Hopefully he'll be back soon.
The better news from that same weekend though is that I did some coaching for a friend of mine from my Bondurant days, Andy Lee in the Volkswagen TDI Cup series. Both Andy's and my efforts were well rewarded as Andy scored pole and the race win in his first ever visit to the Autobahn Country Club. Hopefully, this helps propel Andy in his efforts to secure the funding he needs to continue. He's a talented guy, and I wish the best for him, and possibly we'll be working together more in the future.
Well, that's about it for now, but there's some very interesting things I'm working on but aren't quite to the point where I can share them yet. But stay tuned, I'll keep you posted! See you soon!

Keepin' Busy!

Hello Everyone,
Well, there's no rest for the wicked (and the weary) they say, and that has certainly been the case for me the past couple of weeks. I was out doing some more chassis tuning on a Porsche Cup car with the RSR package just over a week ago with the guys from Eurosport, and had a long day. We managed to make the car better, just not quite where I wanted it though. So, after some discussion and a couple of flat left rear tires, we decided to work on changing the rear suspension geometry which Nick from Eurosport did, and I guess was better according to the car owner, but I haven't yet driven the car with the changes myself to see and tweak it to really get it dialed in. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to do that in the next week or two. Additionally, I did a private lesson with a regular client of mine who now has one of the baddest-ass Lotus Elises in the country. This thing has a supercharger which now makes the power output of that little 4 cylinder motor around 280, not to mention different tires and suspension, and only 1900 pounds! This thing rocks! Anyway, I have a big meeting tomorrow with my main sponsor regarding my Indy Lights program, the possible Atlantic race at the end of the month and some other things. Wish me luck, and I'll talk to you soon!

Kevin

June Spints- Old Acquaintences and new opportunities

Hey gang! Sorry for the long delay between posts. While I haven't written as often as I'd planned to, there has been no shortage of things going on! We're a bit closer to finding the funding for my Indy Lights program. I now have additional marketing support helping me to find the funding necessary. This past weekend I was up at the June Sprints at Road America supporting 2 of "my drivers" in my Red Arrow Autosports driver development program. Ryan Osiecki was competing in his first June Sprints in Spec Miata, and Cole Bosanoz was also competing in his first June Sprints in Formula Enterprises. They both fared well, bringing home top 10 finishes. Additionally, I ran into an old friend from Phoenix, Paul Marciano who was there supporting a customer in the Formula Atlantic class. So.......the talk now, is maybe running in the Pro Atlantic race at the Autobahn Country Club in July. Stay tuned!.....................

From the Spotter's Stand

Well gang, it was a long day at the Speedway and we didn't get the result we hoped for despite a strong run by our driver, Mike Potekhen. Mike didn't qualify particularly well, but knew he had a good race car and was intent on moving up through the field, which he did. Let me say, that the guys up front put on a GREAT show for the fans in attendance for Carb Day at the Speedway. I definitely earned my keep in the spotter's stand in this race. I must've done a good job, though, as virtually everyone, including Mike, commented that they thought I made some great calls to keep Mike out of trouble with some quick thinking. There were 3 yellows in the race altogether, two of which were virtually right in front of me! Unfortunately, the last yellow was for Mike. Mike was going around James Davison on the outside of turn 3 when Davison's right front tire touched Mike's left rear, causing Mike to spin. Mike did a great job keeping the car off the wall, however his race was done, as the spin did terminal damage to the drivetrain ending his race up to 6th position. So, the end result was disappointing for everyone. Afterwards, I stuck around and met and talked with several people that may well wind up helping my program at some point. I've got some pictures from my 'perch' in the spotter's stand in Turn 1 at the Speedway (pretty incredible view, isn't it?), and from being with the Alliance Motorsports team at the event. Hope you enjoy them! I'm anxious for the day when someone will be spotting for me! Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well gang, the week has definitely picked up! Late last weekend I got the call (not THE call), but the call from Alliance Motorsports and Tyce Carlson to take on Spotter duties for my good friend, Mike Potekhen in the Freedom 100 Indy Lights race this Friday at Indianapolis. This is a good way for me to stay close with the series and also to work more with Tyce and his group. Could help in the future with my program. Always do your best. Also, I've got a BIG conference call today regarding our possible TV show (yes, a TV show about us!). That could be a big one and we have several 'players' on the call. After that, I'm on KGKIradio.com from 4:30-5:00 CST with my good friend and host Gregg Kielma. We'll talk about my program, the Indy Lights race, the 500, and possibly the Monaco GP, and who knows what else. Tomorrow, I've had to rearrange my schedule some due to the new commitments for the Lights deal at Indy, but I will be at the Autobahn Country Club doing some chassis tuning on a Porsche Cup RSR and then getting ready to head down to Indy. I'll be there from Thursday through Sunday doing my spotter gig, talking to A LOT of people about me deal and Red Arrow Autosports, my driver development company and more. Whew! I can't wait!