First race of the year -

The first race of the year is always exciting and nerve-racking. It was also exciting to get back to Waterford Speedbowl with the MRS. Last time we were at Waterford with the mod, we were off, so I was ready to get back and show speed.

We were able to get through tech and get tires with no issues. It’s always nice when that goes easy and helps get the day started. My nerves were still high as we began to practice though. The nerves of making sure everything is right and will stay together.

In the first practice - we were okay, but not great. A little snug in, but super loose off. We made some changes to help the loose-off, but it made the car super tight in the middle now and it just was not turning. This led us to put everything back and make a different change to help the car turn in the middle for the 2nd practice. Unfortunately, during the 2nd practice the RR tire was losing air and by lap 2 the RR tire let go sending me for the spin cycle. Luckily, I was able to get it locked down just in time. We just got the wall with the front bumper. Just a scratch and no damage. Though this left us with almost no laps to know if the change helped. It did feel like it did, but it was onto the heat race.

As a team, we decided to keep the change we made and to see how it takes on new tires. From there we will be able to make changes for the feature. We started 3rd in the heat, I got a good start and pushed the 14 down the straight away. This helped me get clear into 2nd position going into turn 1. The car turned really good through the middle. It was a lot better than practice, but I could feel the car being loose off, so I rode in 2nd place for the whole race. The 24 looked for the position a few times, but by staying smooth, and consistent I was able to hold him off and stay there. 

With the good heat race finish this put us starting 5th in the feature. However, I still struggled with drive off and we needed to work on that. We added some wedge to the car and made another change to try to help that. We had a good start, but I could tell pretty quickly I was still struggling with drive-off. As the race went on, I could feel it getting looser and looser off. We just struggled with drive off. We fell back but held on for all 75 laps. We rode around 10th to 12th all race. We just had nothing to move up from there. We had a close call on lap 50 but were able to get it locked down and saved the car. After several restarts, we kept hanging on, but just couldn’t get better. The car stayed consistent, but consistently loose the whole race. However, I kept the car in one piece for all 75 laps and brought it home P12. Not our best finish, we have a lot to build off.

We already have things to work on to make it better. The car was solid but just lacked the drive it needed to make it competitive. We had the power in the motor! But couldn’t get it to the ground. So, on to the next one! I cannot thank all my sponsors enough for making this season happy. NH Oil Undercoating, Skilled Trades Partners, GRE6, Ashaway Performance Engines, Fubar Studio, and Track Day for Veterans.

Our next race is with the Nema Midget at Waterford on May 25th. I spent the day Wednesday at Circle Performance working with John on the motor. Picked it up today and it will be going in soon. Excited to have better luck with that. The mod's next race is scheduled right now for June 22nd, BUT,  that may change! Stay tuned as things develop.

Race Season is coming up very fast. The first race of the year is scheduled on April 27th at Claremont Speedway with the NEMA midget. Our final schedule is coming together and will be released soon. We are looking at a variety of different modified races and NEMA races. As always, the amount of races depends on marketing partnership support and dates. 

Dad has put a lot of work in while I have been traveling for work and racing. I have one more trip planned to Minnesota for the Midwest Motorsports Expo, presented by Wehrs machine, where my focus shifts back to the cars. He has been able to get the modified almost race-ready. We have a few things to button up, and have a month and half to go through to find any binds, work on setup, and make sure everything is 100% ready. 

The NEMA Midget moved into the shop a week ago. We have most of the body panels off and are going through all the heims and shocks to make sure everything is ready to go. We are planning a cleaning of the oil system, a maintenance piece on the engine, and then to completely go through the setup of the car. They made a few rule changes this year, which should help our car with a little more speed and make the whole field closer. At the end of the year we made a lot of gains on the car, and I started to get a handle of it. The midgets are a very different driving style. Dad found a lot of setup pieces that will help us progress much earlier in the next year. 

All of this is not possible without our great partners. I cannot thank NHOU Protective Coatings, Miranda Contracting, Shibles Mattress, A-1 Automotive, Circle Performance, and the newest sponsor to the A-1 Horn family-owned car Monadnock Ford enough. As always, we are always looking for more. With at least two cars this year we have packages for everyone that will help grow your business!

We had very strong runs in the TQ midget to open the year. I am excited to take that and move it to the outdoor season. Stay tuned for the schedule. It is almost race season!

​We all had high expectations going into the weekend after the run at Allentown. Each time we hit the track we knew we were improving the car, and we were excited to see how we would end up at Atlantic City. Atlantic City is the biggest indoor race for the TQ midgets, and always brings some of the top names in motorsports. Even more reason to try to get the car in the A Main and have a good run.
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Unlike Allentown, we had an extra practice day. We spent Thursday shaking the car down from some of the changes we made as well as seeing how the track changes over the course of the day. This is one of the hardest parts of indoor racing as we have to constantly monitor the track including how much coke syrup they spray and which groove is becoming dominant. We were decently happy with the car we had for Thursday. We knew it was a solid piece that was repeating itself from the speed we showed at Allentown. We were just a little snug and made a small change going into Friday.

We had good speed in practice on Friday. We were not far off, but needed to change a lot to get us over the top and into the top 20 which we were shooting for. The car would be twitchy one run, then tight the next. We were close, but had to find the right change for us that would get speed. The time trials were grouped for 45 minutes, which allowed us to go out four times.The difficult part is based on the last run time which is the time you keep for your time trial time. In other words, if your first time was your fastest but you kept going out as the fastest then the time was voided. We continued using the sessions to try and find speed. We were flirting right around the top 28, but every run was the same exact time - 8.4. We just could not break the barrier of the 3’s which would of jumped us up some spots. Unfortunately this put us 35th. 

This year rather than having the regular format, they changed up the racing format to give some excitement to the fans. The top 28 who qualify get into two 20 lap qualifiers, and  the rest of the field goes to heat races to try and qualify into the 20 lap qualifiers. With us qualifying 35th we were in one of the two heat races in attempts to get into the 20 lap race. We made a spring change from the time trials to the race in hopes we would find the speed we needed. We started 5th and quickly got to 4th. For 8 laps we were right on 3rd places bumper but could not find the space to get around him. Knowing the top 7 moved on I was buying my time and making sure I kept the car in one piece.  We got a caution with 3 to go which bunched us back up. We fired off good on the start but unfortunately another car, that I rolled inside of, got impatient and pushed us into the tires. There is a fine line between saving your car and not racing at all. I did everything I should have to try and make the qualifier but also race. When we made contact, this broke the LF. I went down the back stretch and had to make a quick decision. The wheel was leaning up on the hood and it was not moving. We had a lap and half to go and I was in a qualifying spot. I was not giving up. I got the car to turn on three wheels somehow. I held onto 5th for the last lap and a half and locked us into the 20 lap race. Unfortunately after surveying the damage and the quick turn around we were not able to make the race. The damage was just too much and we had to get the car ready for Saturday.

Frustrating indeed, as I thought I was patient and doing it right, but that’s racing. You can only be so careful and can only control so much. My crew, once again, showed why they are great and prepared the car for the next day. I was ready to refocus, find more speed, and lock us in another A main.

With Saturday on a different schedule and having the practice Thursday, we were only able to have one round of practice. The car repeated most of the speed we had on Friday, but was diving right when I lifted and it felt a little off. We went over everything we fixed Friday night, made sure all of the front end settings were right, and changed a few things to try and fix that. I was overall happy with the car.

Unfortunately the bad lap in practice put us early in time trials. You always want to try to go later, but it was the hand we were dealt and we were ready to make the most of it. We laid down a good lap but it was only good enough for 35th again. We knew we had a car that could race, just didn’t get the lap I wanted.

This put us starting 6th in the 5th heat race. They were taking the top 3 to the A main so we had our work cut out, but I was more than ready to make that happen. We got a decent start and we're battling right where we needed. A few cars were bounced around during the race. This put us finding ourselves 4th to 7th and everywhere in between during the race. At one point we were on the bumper of 3rd which was the final transfer spot, but as it happens with indoor racing the track changed and our car just didn’t like it. We ended up crossing the line in 6th. We were in 5th for the last few laps but lost it right at the line. I didn’t expect the track to change that much and was not prepared for it. We were still right there with the pack and knew we had a car that could make it through the B main.

We made big spring changes for the B main to try and get grip. We started P5 and had to get up to top 2 to make the A main. I was ready to dig and make it happen. Right on the start we got into 4th. The driver ran out of talent the next corner and I looped it. 100% my fault. This put us in the back. I regrouped and got by a few cars quick. I regained my position at 5th, but couldn’t get to back to the front cars to move forward further. Frustrating end to our night, just did not have the overall speed or luck that we needed.

With that, it ended our indoor season. We had a great Saturday at Allentown, and just came up short on luck both Friday races. I can not thank my crew enough for all the hard work this indoor season. Thank you Nick G for allowing me to while this hot rod. We really showed everyone what we can do and I’m excited to continue making gains on it. Thank you Mark for making all the changes and getting it fine tuned every time we hit the track. Huge thank you to Timmy and David for all there help! Thank you Ashaway performance engines and Mertz racing for their support this indoor season. Without these sponsors we cannot do what we do.

We have some time in between seasons while racing continues. The next race is scheduled for April 27th at Claremont Speedway with the Nema midget! Make sure to keep an eye on social media as we start to put our schedule together.

The start of the 2024 Season has finally come! 2023 was a humbling year. We struggled with silly things in the TQ to start the year. We had skips, wrecks, and just no luck to get us success. Then we built a new mod, and had engine issues after engine issues, but closed the year showing a lot of speed. The NEMA we were able to find a little success at Wiscassett Speedway, but it was a learning curve on how to drive with the wing and the increased down force it gives. We were able to finish on the podium in all 3 races with the Pro 4 Mod, and by the end of the year, I was ready to refocus, reset, and get to 2024.

Dad has been working extra hard in the shop. We have a new body, new paint on the chassis, and motors being refreshed as I write this. Hopefully, in the next week or so, the power plant will be going into the car, and we can start to focus on the small details to be ready for when tracks start to open up for practice. After the mod is ready to go, we will be focused on getting the Nema Midget ready as well as getting our second motor for the mod prepared. Last year was a struggle waiting for parts on the motor. Luckily for us, our engine builder Norm from APE, came up big with a borrowed SK motor to keep us turning laps and learning the new car.

For the past three seasons I have had the privilege to open the race season behind the wheel of the 34.5 TQ midget for Nick G. This off-season Nick, Mark, and Timmy made a huge change to the car by moving the fuel cell to a more strategic spot to help the setup. Each year we have been getting closer to the big goal of making the A main. I knew we just needed a little more speed and patience to make the A main! We took off to Allentown, PA for indoor race #1 of the year with high hopes.

The format is always fun during the indoor season, as it is two separate days of racing. Friday we unloaded with a lot of speed. Right out of the box, I could tell a huge difference with the fuel cell moved to the left side. The car was very consistent and had a lot of drive-off. We were solidly in the top 15 all day. We were a little off-in-time trials, but still had an excellent run. Our best run yet for an indoor time trial - P20. This puts us starting P5 in the heat with them taking the top 4 to the A Main. With the speed we showed all day, I knew we could compete, and possibly finally make our first A Main. Unfortunately, all hell broke out at the start of the race. We got bounced around, and on lap 2 the tires got pushed out. I was driving aggressively trying to get around a car, got the tire, and bent a few rods which ended our night. Very frustrating, but part of racing. It was too much damage to repair it for the B Main. It was now on to Saturday. Though indoor racing can be rough, as a racer when you know you have been given a car that can make the A main, and have speed, you get mad if you make mistakes. As it may not have been all my fault for wrecking, I still made mistakes that led to the car being wrecked. My crew worked hard Friday and Saturday to get her fixed. These guys always fight behind me, so Friday weighed even heavier on my shoulders. 

We had decent speed early in practice Saturday, but were just too tight. Mark and I have great communication which helps. We were 20th on the speed charts but knew we could be better. Each run we got more comfortable. We think by the time we got to the group time trails we finally hit on something, but unfortunately got caught behind a slow car and got a decent time, not a great time. We were 24th quick on the charts which put us starting 6th. Since I ran up on the guy so fast and I knew we were faster, I just had to remember we had a better car than 24th and had to take the heat race as it came. 

When you look at the heat race lineup and see 2 of the last 2 winners in it, you have to shut that stuff out and go run it as it comes. People may say you have the hardest heat race or stacked heat race, but we are all racers. We race and it’s what we do. I got a decent start. I got shuffled back to 7th, but the guy who moved me out of the way for 6th spun the next corner which put me right back to 6th. I knew we had a good car, but had to settle in and get laps in. On the restart, we fired off well. We were right there battled. On lap 4 or 5 the leaders got together. We had to restart again and this put us in 4th. Right on the restart I jumped to 3rd. They were taking the 4th. I was able to drive away from 4th and stay in 3rd. This put us into the A Main! This was a feat in itself, and I am so happy we finally put this car into the A Main against some of the best drivers in the nation. 

This put us starting 13th in the A-main. After a lot of thinking, even knowing the track may change, we kept the car the same. We fired off decent. Knowing it was a 40-lap race, which I know is a long race, I settled in and just stayed in line. We were going between 9th and 13th, and staying consistent. Unfortunately, around lap 10 I got indoors - and spun. This put us in the back. We guessed a little wrong on the car and just did not have the noise we needed to pass. We held on the whole 40 laps to stay on the lead lap and finished 18th. We are very happy to make the A main, but always want more. It was a great first A main and we have a lot of notes on track changes to better us next time. I am excited about AC now. To back up this run. 

I have to give a huge thank you to Nick G. for letting me run his car, Mark G for all the changes to the setup all weekend, Timmy for all his hard work in the shop, and at the track. Normally he is my eyes in the sky at the track, but this week he made sure the car stayed together. Also, a huge thank you to David, Brett, and Josh for all the hard work. This A main was for all of us.

Another huge thank you to Mertz Racing, Ashaway Performance Engines, Kluth Racing, and NHOU for all the support. If it was not for our partners we could not have this success. This was truly a fun weekend. We are now on to AC to back up this run and get in both A mains. We are also aggressively putting together the mod schedule. We have a good idea but as always the more support we can get the more races we will run! Good start to 2024! Now to make it continue!

And the start of the Season is here.

With the decision to build a new car for the 2023 season, we had a lot of excitement but a ton of nerves going into this race weekend. There were a lot of unknowns going into the first time a car hits the track, let alone a car that is hitting the way for the first time.

With final details needing to be done to both the car and the trailer, we were unable to attend the Friday practice. This put all the pressure on Saturday. The goal was to run as many laps as possible, learn the car, and come home in one piece. With limited practice time - just one 20-minute round- we could get out for one run. We were able to lay down four solid laps to shake the car down and start getting me comfortable. Right out of the box for the first run, I felt comfortable in the car overall. We did have a slight skip in the motor, but overall, everything felt really good. We hoped to get back out after going over the car to ensure everything was tight, but we just missed getting back out.

On to the heat race - we elected to stay in our 5th starting spot. Though I had little fast laps under my belt we all felt comfortable starting there with who was around us. I had a little mess up at the start with my shifting (I thought I missed the shift but didn’t). Luckily the guys behind me just got in line, pushed me, and off we went into turn 1. We felt really good. On lap 2, I started to get racey and was looking to start push the outside line (2nd place) into the lead. Unfortunately, I lost the nose in turns 3 and 4 and had to check up hard. I lost the front pack and rode for the rest of the heat. The car felt really comfortable but was a little off on the handling. Plus, we unfortunately still had the skip, and I didn’t wanna push too hard and wreck it. Once you lose the draft at Loudon, it can be tough to get the pack back. The draft plays a big part there.

After the heat finish, it put us starting 15th. We made some changes to the car to help try and get more feeling in the nose. With so few laps on the car, though, we only wanted to make one significant change. We want to continue to learn this car and not keep swinging by changes. We want to see how it reacts to changes. Right at the start, we settled in with the draft and felt really good. I just wanted to ride and take cars as they came back. On lap 2 we got our first caution, and I elected to pit as the nose was a lot better, but I felt like the rear was a little loose now. I elected to get a little wedge now, so I hopefully didn’t need to pit again. The little wedge really helped. I got back in line and started logging laps. The skip was still there, but with the draft, I was overcoming it and staying right there. As laps rolled off, we felt good. The car was handling a 7 out of 10. It was really solid, but I could tell we had some adjustments to make. As a few cautions dropped, I kept electing to stay on the track. The changes I needed would not be done on pit road, and I just had to ride it out. I knew if I stayed in the draft, we would overcome the skip and could roll the top and stay with the guys. Overall, I was happy with how the car was for its third-ever run, and just one adjustment. With cautions, cars pitting, and passing some cars we found ourselves up to 8th just 15 laps in. We just kept rolling the outside, and we stayed there. Unfortunately, an impatient driver drove straight in turn 3 around lap 16 and put us in the last grove, and I had to back way out of the throttle. This put us in the back of the pack, and just couldn’t catch the draft. All good, it was time to ride and see if I could catch back up. For a few laps I was starting to close in on a car and was ready to push them and log laps. But as the run went on, the skip became more apparent. If I could keep the momentum up, I was ok, but the car was becoming very unstable, and snappy. This was keeping it hard to keep the momentum up. Each lap it progressively got worse, and I felt the skip was bad. I decided after almost taking the wall down 3 laps in a row that it was time to park it. We never got the caution I was hoping for. As we returned to the pits, we saw the right rear tire was into the right rear quarter panel. After further investigation, we found the pan hard bracket moved on the rear end, which put the RR into the body panel and really upset the car. It also meant that if I had kept running it, I might have cut a tire.

Though we didn’t finish every lap we got a lot of laps, I felt really comfortable in the car overall and learned a ton. We still need to figure out the skip, and I know we will. We also have good notes to tweak the setup moving forward and how to fix the pan hard bar from moving. Everything we wanted to accomplish yesterday happened. You must have goals with a new car and know you will have bugs to work out. We will be good for the next race!

I must give a big shootout to Willie and the Milton Cat Modified racing series for a great event! Also, ACT and Pass for putting the event on. The future for Milton Modified Racing Series is bright. 22 cars attempted to make the race this weekend. Up 8 cars from last year! I have to thank my dad and mom for the chance to race! Dad - thank you for believing in us and building this car. I know the good finishes will come. Thank you, Timmy, for being the eyes in the sky. Nick, and Steven for wrenching all day on the car, and Ian did a great job on the tires for your first time with us! I know I may be picky about my tires, but you did great with our system, and I am excited to have you doing tires this year and helping us.

I have to give a big shoutout to my sponsors. Thank you, NHOU Protective Coatings, Miranda Contracting, and Shibles Family Mattress, for the support each race weekend. The good finishes are coming!

Our next race is May 6th with the Dave Wheeler V6 pro four modified! Then it’ll be May 27th back in the V6! Then June 3rd for the second race with the new modified. Then a race on June 10th that I am excited to announce soon! We may have a few weeks of downtime right now, but Dad and I have a busy few weeks preparing the Pro 4, the tour mod with all the changes I want, and fixing her up and for the tba car ;)!
Race season is here! 

First off, Welcome! Welcome back to DerekRobbie.com, or if it’s your first time here, welcome, and thank you for stopping by. In the last year or so, I got away from my roots. Not my racing roots, but my roots of updating the website and social media. Luckily for everyone, my dad has a way of getting me back on track, and I am more than ready to step my game back up on social media, my website, and in racing. 

We are already in full swing into 2023. We have a new modified race car for the 2023 season. We have been able to get everything fitted and, for the most part, fit together. Currently, we have it torn down to the chassis for painting. And it’s cool; we are returning to our roots with a blue chassis. Dad and I are excited about this new car and ready to continue the momentum we found at the end of 2022 and get the results we know we can. 

Each week I will continue to update this section - The Journey. It may be an update of two sentences updating how the car is coming along, thoughts on the next race, or a novel on how the last race went. It will be focused on my thoughts about what is going on and what’s next! As always, I will make sure to have regular updates on Facebook and post a link to this page every time I update! So, keep checking here and on Facebook to see what is happening.

If there is anything you want to see more of (I know videos are a big request) or have any questions, please reach out to [email protected] or reach out on Facebook. We want to continue to give everyone an insight into our family-owned team and how we compete at a top level against the best in New England modified racing.