October 2, 2004 We made the trip to Waynefield, Ohio for the Dirt Divisionals.  The weather was somewhat rainy in the morning and  made qualifying a challenge.  Tyler ran better this week with a different motor and setup.  He qualified second in the first qualifier and third in the second.  In the second qualifying round it began to rain and he was wiping his visor through the turns making it difficult to steer and his lap times deteriated.  For the feature he ran a consistent second in the first feature and in the second feature he took the lead on lap two and held it until the seventeenth lap where he made a small mistake and the back of the kart came slightly around out of turn four and Drew Charleston took the lead away and Tyler finished second.  It was a good experience and we still have some alot of learning to do before we get proficient in the dirt.  After the racing Tyler and Drew got to take some hop laps in the 07 kart of Brad Hoisington.  Both dirivers came off the track with a huge smile on their faces as the had a blast driving the National Championship Winning Rage.

September 25, 2004 This was our first weekend on a dirt track at Waynesfield, Ohio.  We had some serious motor problems and could barely keep the motor running.  Drew Charleston's father was gracious enough to loan us a motor and we were able to run a the features with a little more aggression.  Tyler took second in both lite and heavy classes.

September 18, 2004 and September 19, 2004 This weekend was the final two races for the Fall Indiana Divisional held at Vincennes, Indiana's Fast Track.  The weekend would prove to be a good one with the entire Rage Kart Team members wrapping up Divisional Championships.  First Tyler set all four poles in his qualifying efforts despite some major issues with his motor which we discovered, a little later than we would like, to be his diaphragm.  Tyler picked up three first place finishes and clinched the Divisional Championship in both Lite and Heavy Classes.  If our math is correct, Tyler will finish his rookie season second to Anthony Ryan in the hunt for the National Championship in Junior Sportsman Champ Heavy Class.  Great job Tyler!  You have shattered all of our goals for the season! 

In addition Jay Chapman picked up a Divisional Championship in Senior Champ Heavy and Brad Hoisington picked up a Divisional Championship in Senior Champ Lite.  Brad also, sealed the final points needed to officially say he is the 2004 Senior Champ Lite National Champion.  Congratulations Brad!

Wes Borman from Evansville, Indiana who picked up a Divisional Win in Junior Sportsman Champ Lite.

Also seeing his first two laps this weekend was Bob Strickland in Senior Champ Lite.  Bob did take two dollars off of Brad and Jay as he qualified fourth and was ONLY 4 to 5 tenths behind the two of them instead of 2 1/2 seconds as was handicapped.  Also, it is noted that Bob did out qualify the reigning Grand National Champion In Junior Champ Beau Browning, although I think Beau let him win.  All in all it was a fun weekend and a great way to wrap up the Divisional Championships.  Next weekend we will be trying our luck in the Dirt for the first time at Waynesfield, Ohio.

September 5, 2004 and September 6, 2004 Tyler Strickland wins the Grand National Championship at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend in the Junior Sportsman Champ Heavy Class.  Tyler started the race in fourth and was shuffled back to twelfth place on the start as he was caught on the outside.  Tyler worked his way back through the pack and made one of the best last lap moves that I have ever seen, he went high going into turn three and swooped low coming out of turn four to pick up the win.  The stands went crazy with cheers.  Tyler got out of his kart and began doing a little cabbage patch dance before proceeding to the fence in front of the grand stands where he was met with a crowd, all high fiving him.  Tyler took his place atop the podium and was interviewed by the announcer....he promptly thanked all his sponsors.  Tyler thanked his Family, Rage Karts, NC Chassis Company, X-Caliber Racing Engines, Jeff and Brad Hoisington and Jay Chapman.  Tyler hasn't stopped smiling since he left the podium.

Brad Hoisington locked up the National Championship in Senior Champ Heavy with a third place finish on Saturday.  Congratulations Brad!!!!!!!!

Jay Chapman picked up his first podium finish in Senior Champ Heavy with a fifth place finish behind Brad Hoisington who finished fourth. 

On Saturday Tyler was on the move to the front of the pack after a disappointing qualifying round when he collided with Rusty Poland's kart and went air born causing his air cleaner to fly off and Tyler was DQ'd by the WKA track officials for the loss of the air cleaner.

August 22, 2004  This was our tenth and final race of the sixteen races at Barberton.  Tyler spent the weekend celebrating his 11th birthday with friends at Cedar Point and finished with racing on Sunday.  He was fatigued and somewhat distracted having his friends at the track.  We had some motor issues and the engine kept cutting out during the heat races.  Tyler started the feature in third and raced to a third place finish.  We exchanged some paint with Scott Menlin down the back straight away and got shuffled back  a few kart lengths and we just didn't have the number of laps needed nor a drafting partner to catch back up to Evan and Cullen.  It was kind of disappointing  since we had not finished lower than second all season but we were satisfied with the finish considering the weekend we had.  Evan Finley picked up his second first place finish of the season with a win over Tyler and Cullen.  Congratulations Evan.  Also in the hunt was Kyle Hornacek and Kyle did pick up a fourth place finish.  Great job Kyle! 

Jay Chapman took a feature win in the Senior Champ class as he held off Jeff Huber and Jeremy Deposky for the victory.  Jay's Coming on strong at the end of this season and will be a force to recon with the balance of this season and next season.  Great job Jay!

August 14, 2004 and August 15, 2004  We traveled to Vinncennes for the Indiana Fall Pavement Divisional.  Brad Hoisington, Jay Chapman, and Evan Finley made the trip with us.  Tyler qualified third in both heavy and lite classes on Saturday and finished Second in Heavy and took a feature win in Lites.  On Sunday we struggled a little and qualified outside pole and fourth and ended up finishing third in lites and fourth in heavy.  Unfortunately, we had too much fuel in the tank on the lites class and the motor bogged for the first two laps.  It was great racing all weekend in the Junior Sportsman Champ class with down to the wire finish for the top four karts in each race.  Evan Finley made his first divisional of the season and made great improvements over the two days.  Evan picked up three fifths and one sixths over the weekend.  Wes Borman made a good showing at the divisional as well as he improved his times despite some issues with his motor and clutch.  Wes is currently racing the asphalt after having good success in the dirt.

Brad Hoisington had trouble qualifying on Saturday and started each feature in sixth, but was able to finish second in all four races this weekend.  Jay Chapman had his best showing of the season as he ran in the lead pack and picked up three thirds and a fourth for the weekend.  It was a great day of finishes for Rage Karts and XCaliber Racing engines as they had racers in the top three of every class.  Our next race will be at Barberton on the 22nd of August and we will be in Charlotte North Carolina over labor day weekend for the final National race at Lowes Motor Speedway and then we will complete the divisional at Vincennes Indiana on the 18th and 19th of September.

August 8, 2004, Tyler took a first and second in the heat races and finished second in the feature race.  He has nine races out of ten in the books and it looks like he has the second place position locked down for the season.  There was some great racing today and we had some new racers in the class which made things very interesting as the leaders came upon lapped traffic.  In more than one occassion lapped traffic played a factor and in the feature lapped traffic was in the way prohibiting Tyler from making his move to take the victory, but that is racing.  We are off to Vincennes Indiana next weekend for the Indiana Fall Divisional.

August 1, 2004,  Today was a great session of racing at Barberton.  Tyler started the first heat race in the back of the pack and worked his way to the front and finished in second.  The second heat race he started second and finished first.  The finish was so close that even the drivers didn't realize who won until the tower made the call.  In the feature Tyler led the field until the last lap when Cullen Mumaw made his pass stick and Tyler settled for second after making a run to the finish.  Most of the finishes in this class have been by less than a kart length margin of victory.  Congratulations to Cullen on his victory and in winning the season championship.  Cullen always races us clean and is quite a competitor.  Jay Chapman drove the Rage #14 kart to a victory in the Senior Champ feature.  Jay showed up to the track and was talked into racing by his team mates.  Congratulations Jay!!!!!

July 24, 2004 and July 25, 2004, This weekend was the fourth races for the National Pavement Speedway Series.  We are anticipating a tough weekend of racing and felt confident we were going to be fast since we had pretty good success at Chapel Hill.  Tyler went out in qualifying and took the pole position on his second qualifying lap and his time held.  Tyler started the feature on the pole and led the field.  The race was plagued with yellows and the race was called based upon the time limit.  Tyler was in third place at the time the race was called and he picked up his first pole start and his first podium finish.  We felt that Tyler's kart was gaining on the leaders and if we had an additional five laps we could have reeled them in, but we didn't get the opportunity.  Tyler wants to thank all those that helped him this weekend, especially Brad and Jeff Hoisington, Jay Chapman, Rob Nervo and John Nervo.  He especially wants to thank Rage Karts, NC Chassis Company for building a great kart, the '04 kart performed great.  Also, X-Caliber Racing Engines for building that one in a million turquoise plate motor.  Thanks to everyone for all their help....we can't wait for the Divisional and the Grand National in Charlotte. 

Brad Hoisington qualified third and finished third in the Senior Champ Lite class on Saturday as he moves forward toward the National Championship.

Racing was cancelled on Sunday due to rain and all drivers were awarded first place points that were signed in.

July 11, 2004, Tyler had a great day at the local track this weekend.  He started the first heat race in the fifth position and bump drafted Cullen Mumaw for the entire race until with two laps to go when he was instructed to make his move.  He did as instructed and past Cullen and took a first place finish.  The second heat race he started in fourth and bump drafted the #97 of Evan Finley for half the race when he decided to make his move and took the lead.  Tyler finished the second heat race with a win.  The feature Tyler started on the pole with Finley starting outside pole, Mumaw in third and Kyle Horancek in fourth.  The race was real close with Tyler and Mumaw exchanging the lead at the half way point when Tyler regained the lead from Mumaw in turn three.  Finley followed Tyler under Mumaw for the pass when the two were tangled and Finley spun in turn four.  Hornacek was a close fourth and locked up his brakes to avoid the wreck when he spun and hit the wall in turn four causing major damged to the rear of his kart and giving him a severe headache.  Kyle was fine and actually got back into the kart and ran a few laps before pulling off.  Tyler and  Finley ran up front for the balance of the race and Tyler finished in first with Finley coming in second.  Mumaw was penalized for the wreck and was placed at the rear of the field for the restart at the mid point of the race.  Cullen was faster than the rest of the field and moved up to third at the finish of feature.  All in all it was some great racing at Barberton by the Junior Sportsman Champ Class.  We will be off on the 18th due to a wedding and will not race again until the 24th and 25th at the Nationals in Vincennes, Indiana.

June 26, 2004 and June 27, 2004,  What a great weekend full of peaks and valleys.  Tyler  qualified on the outside pole on Saturday.  He ran up front for most of the feature and took the lead and led all racers for five of the twenty laps.  He was shuffled back to third and was spun out with three laps to go by the 56 kart of Ownby.  Tyler's kart could not continue and he finished 21st.  On Sunday he qualified outside pole again and missed the pole by four one thousandths of a second.  He ran up front as high as third and was making a pass with about five laps to go when he got pinched low by another kart and both were spun off the track.  Tyler regained his speed and finished 18th.  Tyler was dissapointed that he was unable to get a podium finish, but we feel he earned alot of respect from the other drivers in his class and established himself as a front runner for future events.  Brad and Jeff Hoisington and Jay Chapman spent a lot of time helping Tyler get his kart ready for the races and Tyler wants to thank them for all their help and support.  A special thank you to X-Caliber Racing engines for building on heck of strong motor.  Thanks Carl and Brandon!

Brad Hoisington had a great weekend with a qualifying position of outside pole on Saturday and a second place finish in the feature race.  On Sunday Brad qualified on the pole and finished the feature in first.  Brad has the lead in the hunt for the National Championship in both lite and the heavy classes.  Great Job Brad!

June 13, 2004, Tyler just got back from a two week vacation and headed for the track in Barberton for father racing.  Tyler ran well and qualified on the pole.  He and the rest of the pack ran well and there was a yellow  just after the lead pack took the white flag (Tyler was in the lead at the white flag.   There was some controversy over the officials lining the karts back up and starting them with a green, white, checkered.  Tyler was started in second place behind Cullen Mumaw.  Cullen and Tyler battled with Cullen winning by a nose.  Great racing again by the Junior Sportsman Champ Racers.

May 30, 2004 Today was a night race scheduled at Barberton.  Competition was good with a strong showing by all that attended.  Tyler started the first heat in last position and managed to pull off a third place finish.  The first heat got off to a rough start as a couple of less experienced drivers got together and spun out.  The second heat race put Tyler in first and he finished a second to Cullen Mumaw.  The feature was exciting as Cullen started on the pole and Tyler started outside pole.  Within the first five laps Tyler and Cullen started swapping the lead which allowed some of the other karts to keep close.  As the race came to an end it was Cullen in first and Tyler in second with Scott Menlin taking a third place finish.  Other finishers included Kyle Hornacek finishing fourth, Kyle Henline finishing fifth, Evan Fenley finishing sixth,  Kieran Hornacek finishing seventh and Andres Yoder finishing eighth.  Good racing by everyone involved today. 

May 23, 2004, Today was a great day of racing.  Tyler started the first heat race in sixth and finished in second behind Cullen Mumaw.  In the second heat race Tyler started in third and finished in first.  The heat races ended up giving Tyler the outside pole for the feature, with Cullen on the pole.  At the start of the feature race Tyler and Cullen went two wide thru turns one and two with Tyler getting the lead.  Tyler and Cullen were closely followed by the 97 kart of Evan Finley and the 06 of Kyle Hornacek.  It was a great race with the lead changing hands on the last lap with Cullen passing below Tyler in turn three.  Tyler tried to sling shot under Cullen but Tyler came up just short at the finish.  This was one of the best races of the day and the class is showing a lot of promise as five karts were all competitive today.  We had a lot of support today with Jay Chapman, Brad Hoisington, Jeff Hoisington and Dennis Boggs working on our setup all day.  Tyler's mom and brother Spencer were there along with his Grandma & Grandpa Codding, Uncle Larry & Aunt Kim, and his cousins Kaitlyn and Michael.  Tyler had a lot of support today with 18 people in his pits.  He definately didn't disappoint anyone with a great race and finish.

May 16, 2004,  We arrived at the track for racing today, however, Tyler began throwing up and got very ill and we decided to repack the trailer and headed for home.  We'll have to get them next week.

May 9, 2004, Race number three in the Barberton Kart Racing Association points series.  We ran a good race today with lap times in the 19.5's we feel the crew had the kart working properly.  Tyler took a second in both heat races to Cullen Mumaw and started the feature on the outside pole.  He was coached to stay behind Cullen until the last two laps which put the two of them almost a quarter lap ahead of the next closest kart before Tyler made his move to go low under Cullen at the finish.  At the finish line it was Cullen Mumaw getting the win by about a foot and Tyler picked up second place points.  Congratulations to Evan Finley on a great run and third place.  Our pits were full today with it being Mother's Day, we decided to cook out on the grill and hang out at the track.  Special thanks to Tyler's pit crew today Brad Hoisington, Jay Chapman, Jeff Hoisington, Dennis Boggs and the newest rookie Seth Thompson (A classmate of Tyler's).  Seth was a great help in the pits today and will surely by taking a few laps in a kart in the near future.  Also at the track today was Toni and Nicole Strickland, Dave and Channie Gavlak, Sue and Spencer Boggs.  After today Tyler and Cullen should be tied for first place in the series.  Nice job guys!  We are looking forward to the next race on May 16, 2004.

May 1, 2004 and May 2, 2004, Race number two of the Pavement Nationals at BeaveRun Race Track in Pennsylvania.  We had four good rounds of practice on Friday and were within a few tenths of the fastest karts on the track.  Saturday we dialed the kart in and qualified a disappointing inside seventh row.  As the race started we were shuffled back and forth during a few cautions and Tyler did a great job of fighting to get his spot back before restarting.  The kart was hooking up great and the tires came in around lap seven and Tyler moved up to the eighth place position and had made some great moves in passing karts in moving through the traffic.  After making a great pass in turn three he was bumped from behind and spun out. He regained his momentum but was at the back of the field.  He immediately began passing slower traffic and worked his way back up to the number twelve position.  A kart spun in front of him on the second to last lap and he got sideways moving him back into the sixteenth position, which is where he finished.  The finishing position of sixteenth was disappointing to Tyler however, he drove a great race and picked up some serious confidence points.  This was some of the best driving Tyler has done while racing the Nationals.  Sunday was a rain out and all drivers registered were awarded first place points.  Tyler is looking forward to race number three in this the five race series.  It was nice to see some of the local racers do well at BeaveRun.  Brad Hoisington won the Senior Champ Lite race and Jay Chapman had a strong showing making some great passes in moving through the field.  Cullen Mumaw, Jeremy Duposki, Jeff Huber, Jake Kos, Bobby Gindlesburger, Dale Dodge and Don Rambler all made a great showing, it was nice to see the Barberton racers holding their own at the National level.

April 25, 2004, Barberton Speedway was rained out today.  The weather was uncooperative and we were awarded first place points and went home. 

April 18, 2004  Barberton Speedway Today was a great day for racing.   The temperature was around 80 degrees and the skies were clear.  We decided not to practice on Saturday and showed up to the track ready to race.  Our practice sessions really didn't give us much to work from so we rescaled the Kart and adjusted our cross and made both a driver and rear gear change, which we used last season.  Tyler started outside pole for the first heat race and battled with Evan Finley the entire race.  At the finish Tyler took a first.  The second heat race Tyler started at the back of the field and worked is way up into first place.  On the second to last lap Tyler and another kart bumped coming out of turn two, which scuffed off Tyler's speed moving him from first to third and there wasn't enough time left to catch the leader.  Tyler finished third for this heat race.  The feature race had Evan Finley on the pole, Tyler was outside pole, Cullen Mumaw started third and Kyle Hornacek was fourth.  Tyler drag raced Evan and Cullen into turn one and as they came out of turn two Tyler was neck and neck with the leader when they left him no room between the karts and the wall and he brushed the wall and dropped into the third position.  Luckily the kart sustained no damage during the brush with the wall and Tyler was soon back in first place he held onto first with alot of pressure from Cullen.  They were running nose to tail for most of the event with Cullen challenging for the win at the finish, but Tyler was able to hold him off and take the Victory.   The pit crew of  Dennis Boggs and Wayne "Rookie" Boggs did an outstanding job of getting the kart ready in between races....Thanks guys!

March 18, 2004 thru March 21, 2004   Lowes Motor Speedway Charlotte, North Carolina, The Nationals Speedway Pavement Series Sponsored by NC Chassis Company.  The weekend started off with rain for most of the day Thursday, but the clouds went away and we did manage about three practice sessions.  On Friday we fine tuned our setup and Tyler worked on his line running a 16.56 best lap during practice.  On Saturday, we had two practice sessions and posted a solid 16.41 best lap.  During the two lap qualifier our weight jacker was loose and caused the kart to react inconsistently, however, Tyler was able to qualify 19th for the Junior Sportsman Champ Lite class.  We worked out the kinks in the kart and started the feature from 19th.  The class was plagued with yellows and Tyler managed to run as high as 9th place.  During the final full green lap run there was a kart spun out in turn two which brought out the caution and Tyler was placed in 12th position for the restart.  While still under caution the driver behind Tyler in line rammed his rear bumper which eventually spun Tyler out before the green flag was to fall.  Tyler struggled to return to his spot in 12th place before the green was to fall.  Once the green flag fell there was another spin and full course yellow which is where the race ended.  Upon posting of the results Tyler was erroneously scored in 18th place, which we filed a protest.

On Sunday the 21st, we practiced two sessions and turned in a best lap time of 16.25 seconds.  Upon qualifying that time slipped to 16.673 seconds and we qualified 14th for the feature.  Our time slippped due in part to the toe for the kart being out over 1/4 inch since the track was so rough.  Tyler started the feature and as the green flag dropped he moved high and right and advanced to the number 7 position when two karts spun in turn two leaving Tyler no where to go except thru the #12 kart.  The collision sent the #12 kart cartwheeling end over end two times and Tyler went off course thru two bales of straw and hit the Guard rail at speed.  The impact caused Tyler to deeply bite his tongue, bruised his left cheek, banged his ankle on the steering shaft and he hit his two fingers on the body.  He was bleeding from his mouth from the injury to his tongue and the rescue workers removed him from the kart and placed him in the ambulance for transportation and review.  He was checked out and cleared and our day was over.  The kart sustained damage to the right spindle, body work nose, front bumper, etc....  We were extremely proud of Tyler's performance for his first national.  Had he not had some bad luck on both Saturday and Sunday we felt his performance was good enough for a top 15 finish on Saturday and possibly a top 5 finish on Sunday.  Racing isn't always fair. 

Congratulations to Cullen Mumaw on his 4th place finish on Sunday.  Cullen was running great all weekend and it was nice to see one of our local racers on the podium.

We had a great time, met some good people and enjoyed the whole experience.  Tyler and I can't wait for BeaveRun.