Sunday August 31, Unger Racing once again fell on hard times at Eldora Speedway. With 46 modifieds checked in, we knew it would be a tough night. We began on the pole for the third heat race. Shane had a strong start, but was forced to the bottom of the track. He battle to get up in the race groove and ended up losing 4 spots. He continued running strong, and ended up 6th at the checkered flag. We quickly adjusted the car, as we were supposed to line up third for the second B main. Once in the staging area for the B main we had a ignition problem, and the car would not fire. By the rules, if you need a push start, you start at the tail of the field, which is what we had to do. With 14 cars starting, and only taking the top 3, we knew it would be tough to make the feature in only 8 laps. Shane battled and used all of the track, but was only able to get the 5th spot. With that being the final points race of the season, we continued our progress to unofficial finish 17th in the Eldora season point fund.

Saturday August 24 the Unger Race team decided to travel to Montpelier Motor Speedway in Indiana. This was only our second time there, as the first time was a year and a half ago. We then were told that because of a shortage of fuel, and them running a make up feature, they would not be having warm ups for modifieds. Shane started 3rd in the first heat race, and after a fun battle with Doug St. Myers ended up 4th. Good enough to transfer straight to the feature. In the feature we started 13th. Shane battled throughout the race and at the end of 20 laps, Shane had worked his way up to 7th position. With a good performance , we are anxious to get back to Eldora Speedway next Sunday night for the Baltes Classic. Hope to see everyone there.

Unger Racing once again raced at Eldora Speedway this past weekend. Shane ran 7th in the first heat, Which got us a decent starting spot for the first B main. After making some good moves to get up to second, The handling on the car started to fade. Shane tried maneuvering to different lines, but unfortunately lost 2 spots in the closing laps to fall to 4th, 1 spot out of transferring to the A. Once again a tough night at the Big E, but we all learned from it, and are looking forward to our return on Labor day weekend. It was nice to see the all the fans attend and come down in the infield for the special autograph session. Hope to see everyone at The Baltes Classic.

Unger Racing once again made a trip to Waynesfield Motorsports part Saturday. With the great Ohio weather, we finally had a nice dry slick track. While many people dislike tracks like that, they don't bother us as bad. With only 20 cars, Shane used the heat race for a test and tune. By the team the feature rolled around for the modifieds, there was next to no passing. We hoped for some lady luck to help us out, but unfortunately she wasn't there. We started 16, and Shane was able to make some moves to get up to 14, but that was all the car would do. We ended the night in 14. We got some good notes, and will be better prepared for later this summer on the dry slick tracks.

I would like to apologies for taking a little bit longer to post. With work schedules, and seemingly never ending of bad luck this year, I have been staying pretty busy. I would like to to begin by telling you the week leading up to the Summer Sizzler. We had decided to go to Waynesfield the Saturday before, just for someplace to race. With high hopes of turning our luck around we drew a tough heat race. Despite Shane holding down the final transfer spot throughout the race, on the last lap he got beat by a bumper. We lined up 3 for the B main. Shane quickly showed that he could run with the top guys and pulled away from the field with the leaders. When the beating started with first and second, he quietly backed off a little, comfortable with 3. For the feature he started 19, and quickly disposed of 4 cars. After multiple cautions Shane found himself with a fast racecar, and in 8th place. On lap 15 of the 20 lap race, he came off of 2 and threw a drive shaft. We ended of placing 13th. Unfortunately our spare parts bin had been sucked dry, and we had to come up with a Bell housing and a drive shaft by Tuesday, to continue our hunt of a top 15 place in Eldora point Standings. With a couple of good friends, we were able to find a Bell housing, and Todd Sherman Delivered us a new drive shaft Tuesday at the track. The weather was terrible, with a thunderstorm moving through Eldora at 4 pm. The track crew did a good job, and despite mud everywhere, we would be able to race at least. Shane had a decent start and was running 7 as they were taking the top 5 when he jumped the cushion and packed about 10 pounds of mud in the right front tire. That caused a major vibration in the car, but he gamely held on, and was able to finish 8. We started 9 in the loaded b main, but knew we would be able to run with them. He moved into the top 7 at one point, and on the final lap was running 8, unfortunately some racers in front of him decided to try to push themselves into better position. Coming out of 4 to take the checkered flag to guys got together, Shane dropped low to try to avoid them, but caught them with the right rear. Badly bending our rear end, and some of the frame. They ended up scoring us 10. 

We will be in Versailles this weekend, and have our car on display for the annual Darke County Relay for Life, Hope to see everyone there.

Unger racing ran at the ultra competitive Limaland Motorsports park last night. With this being only are second start there this year, we knew it would be tough with over 30 cars there. We drew a very competitive heat race, and Shane battled just to run 7th with a ill handling car. We went to work trying to get everything better for the B main. 16 cars started with 4 spots to the feature. We started 10 and had worked up to 7 when a car got sideway in front of him. Shane was able to keep going, but unfortunately it had broke a bolt in our rear suspension. Shane stayed out, and ended up 8 in the final run down. Next week, we will be back at Eldora Speedway Saturday night. We will also have our car on display at Gover's Harley Davidson Saturday morning. Hope to see everyone there.

I would like to begin with apologizing for such a long time to post. Last week was one of the most frustrating and hectic weeks we have had since we begin racing three years ago. As the last post said, the Saturday before the prelude, we were involved in a 4 car pile up on the first lap, with left 4 badly bent racecars. The rear of our car was bent over at least a foot from where it is supposed to be, along with to twisted bars over the roll cage. Saturday night after talking to Todd Sherman, of Sherman racecars, we stripped the car. Sunday morning Shane and I took the car to Todd's shop hoping he would be able to put it together in time. Monday afternoon Todd called and said he was finishing it up, so dad and I begin the trip up. For those he don't know, Todd's shop is about 2 hours away from where we are located at. Dad and I didn't get back till after 11 Monday night. Tuesday with the help of friends, we were able to get everything back together. At eleven at night, we diced everything was good, and pushed it out, washed it and loaded it. At the Prelude we went to fire the motor to put heat in it when we discovered that it would not start. We changed starters and everything, and were running out of time, so we elected to try to get it push started. Unfortunately after 2 laps of trying, we still couldn't get it to stay running. Once again, Todd Sherman was over trying to help us out, along with a lot of other teams. We finally found the problems, which was a loose fuel line behind the fuel filter. The motor was running good, and we thought we had finally shaken the bad luck. We rolled off 18 in the feature, but unfortunately that was the highest Shane would be able to get, as we blew a right rear tire on about the fourth lap. I would like to extend a personal thank you to Todd Sherman, and all the others that chipped in to give us a hand the whole week. While in racing a lot of times things don't go your way, you realize why you do it. You love it, and there are so many wonderful friendships you make along the way. Thanks for all that helped, and hopefully we will see everybody and the Poultry Days Parade this Saturday.

Last night Unger Racing ran at Eldora Speedway. What begin as a fun and hopeful day turned sour right before warm ups. With the car set up for a nice dry slick track, Eldora decided to water the track in between warm up sessions. Shane noticed and didn't push the car. After watching the sprint car heat races, we decided to leave the set up as it is. With the track quickly drying out, we lined up for the heat race, after bringing the cars to staging, they again decided to water just prior to our heat race. With the track not at all what everyone was set up for, there was a lot of beating and banging, and unfortunately, Shane got hit and blew a left rear tire. We ran 7 in the B main, which was the last transfer spot. The start of the feature was not good, as on the second lap there was a pile up, which unfortunately collected Shane. Once the tow truck pulled us in, we saw how bad it was. The complete rear end of the car is junk. All the bars have moved over a foot. I guess that is just racing. Unger Racing is still trying to get everything together, and will hopefully still be able to make it to the Prelude.

Unger Racing once again tackled the high banks of Eldora on Saturday, May 17. We had hoped for a big day, as it was the annual Family fun night. With a lot of sponsor and fans in the stands, the night begin on a sour note as the motor shut off in the middle of warm-ups. We quickly discovered the problem, but it put us behind in getting the car ready for qualify. We qualified with a 19.701.  We ran 7th in the 1st heat race. We tried a different set-up for the B main, Shane quickly jumped to 2nd on the start, and then took the lead on the 2nd lap. He continued to pace the field until being over taken on the last lap. We finished the B in second place, good enough to transfer to the feature. We started 19th, but on the 3rd lap we sheared a bolt off our upper A arm, and were a sitting duck. Shane continued but off the pace. We ended the feature in 22nd. While not the kind of night we wanted, we were able to  pickup some much needed points, and bring the car home in one piece. 

Unger Racing begin this weekend hoping against mother nature. After calling local tracks all day, we hoped Union County would be able to race. After calling and calling, they finally called there racing night after we were about a hour into our trip there. Saturday the weather was a lot nicer for our night at Eldora. While getting ready for hot laps we broke our steering shaft, luckily we are on good terms with the track welder, and were able to fix it in time. Shane once again ran 5 in the heat race in which they took the top 4. We started on the pole for the 1st B main and ran 2nd. We started towards the rear off the field for the feature, and was just making laps while others were trying to push there way to the front, unfortunately Shane was unable to miss a spinning car, and made contact. While he was able to continue, he had a very badly bent lower A arm. In the end it turned out alright as we finished 14, and improved our points position 4 spots to 19th.

Heat 1: 1. Jerry Bowersock (Wapakoneta, OH), 2. John Brooks (Wayne, OH), 3. Scott Orr (Columbia City, IN), 4. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill , ), 5. Shane Unger (Versailles, OH), 6. Tom Treon (Piqua, OH), 7. Steve Billenstein (New Weston, OH), 8. Mike Chrisman (Celina, OH

B-main 1: 1. Eddie Shaner (Wapakoneta, OH), 2. Shane Unger (Versailles, OH), 3. Schuyler Nahre (Indianapolis, IN), 4. Steve Billenstein (New Weston, OH), 5. Ryan Sutter (Coldwater, OH), 6. Justin Matson (Ft. Wayne, IN), 7. Tom Treon (Piqua, OH), 8. Mike Chrisman (Celina, OH

A-main:1. Jerry Bowersock (Wapakoneta, OH), 2. Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill , ), 3. Todd Sherman (Churubusco, IN), 4. Todd Sanders (Rossburg, OH), 5. Tim Richardson (Comber, ON), 6. David Smith (Richmond, IN), 7. Gary Richard (Wapakoneta, OH), 8. Mike Dirksen (Union City, OH), 9. Mike Roediger (Rockford, OH), 10. Chad Oberson (Fairfield, OH), 11. Josh Morton (Piqua, OH), 12. Zach Schroeder (Leipsic, OH), 13. John Brooks (Wayne, OH), 14. Shane Unger (Versailles, OH), 15. David Treon, Jr. (Piqua, OH), 16. Chad Rosenbeck (Versailles, OH), 17. Jon Henry (Ada, OH), 18. Scott Orr (Columbia City, IN), 19. Eddie Shaner (Wapakoneta, OH), 20. Lenny Guyton (Ada, OH), 21. Jeff Babcock (Wayne, OH), 22. Schuyler Nahre (Indianapolis, IN),

Next weekend we will be running Eldora on Saturday night, and Waynesfield Sunday night.

This past weekend, Unger Racing took the week off to take our car to the Annual Frenchtown Trailer Sales customer appreciation day. We had a great time socializing with all of Frenchtown Trailer Sales customers. We will once again be on the track next week at Eldora Speedway. Hope to see you at the track.

This past weekend Unger Racing was finally able to race twice in the weekend. While hoping to run Union County on Friday, We learned that the track was not prepared, and they had canceled there first night of racing. We decided to go to the tough quarter mile track of Limaland Motorsports Park.. While not sure what kind of short track setup we would have this year, we decided to scrap last years notes, and try something different. We were pleasantly shocked as we were decent right from the start, Despite not running the right gear, we ran 4 through most of the heat race. We thought we had things locked up until taking the white flag and getting muscled out of the position. we ended up 5 and unfortunately, they only took the the top 4. We continued to adjust the car for the B main, and once again found ourselves in a transfer position until the last lap when Shane pushed up the track and got hung up in some ruts and lost the final transfer spot. We loaded the car a little disappointed, but happy with the positive notes we had for the night.

Saturday saw us back at Eldora again, and hoping for our luck to turn around. We started fourth in the 1st heat race. The outside pole setter didn't take of on the start, and Shane was stuck watching the rest of the field drive right by him, he shuck it off and raced his way back to 5, which gave us the pole for the B main. The car was handling good, and we felt positive with just making little changes, despite a lot of heavy hitters in the B main. After some rough driving by some of the cars, Shane stayed smart, and knew all he needed was a top 6 to qualify for the feature. Shane ran a smart race and brought the car home 6. We continued the little changes for the feature, and things played out well. Shane hang out at the back of the field, and let the cars put some distance between them, and started picking them off. At the end of the night, we were happy to start 22 and race our way to 16.

It was very clear that this past Saturday was a full moon, and definitely not a good thing for Unger Racing. Do to work schedules, I was unable to leave early in the day with the car, and was pressed for time just to make it to the track in time. After a bad draw, we figured the night would be tough. After 2 laps in warm-ups, Shane noticed some engine problems going on. We discovered that our fuel return hose had worked loose. We tightened that up, hoping that was the problem. In the heat race we plain got outran, and unfortunately the B main went about the same way. We did get a lot of experience from the night, and hope to figure the motor out early this week. 

We are hoping a nice weather this week, and run at Liberty on Friday night, and back to Eldora on Saturday.

Heat 4: Brian Ruhlman, Jon Henry, Jerry Bowersock, Tim Richardson, Mike Dirksen, Mike Chrisman, Jeff Babcock, Schuyler Nahre, Shane Unger

B-Main 2: Jeff Babcock, Mike Dirksen, Steve Shute, Mike Chrisman, Steve Billenstein, Schuyler Nahre, Chad Overson, Shane Unger, Josh Scott, David Treon, Jr.

Unger racing finally has opened the 2008 season at Eldora. Despite the bad weather forecast for the Friday April 11 show. The Eldora track team did a great job getting the track prepared despite heavy thunderstorms on Thursday night. The evening events started just an hour behind the start time.

With a strong field of 40 cars, we were ready to go.When Shane took the to the track for warm-ups, he was fairly happy with the car, and eager to get to his heat race. Anthony and I weren't as pleased, and decided to switch all of the rear end bars. We started 5th in the first heat race. Shane ran a nice smooth race and was able to maintain that position through out the race. Unfortunately they only took the top 4 to the feature, but we would start on the pole for the first B main. 

As we started the first B main, the Eldora officials weren't happy with the intentional start, and elected to switch the front 2 rows. On the second restart, Shane got a bad jump and fell to fifth by turn one, he was able to pass 2 cars, but unfortunlty was also passed by 2 cars . We ended up 5 of 12, and they only took the top 3.

We at Unger Racing were very pleased with our first night out. We felt we were competitive, and with a little more tuning and some racing luck, we think this will be a successful year.

Heat 1: Joe Hunley, Todd Sherman, Bob Burch, Chad Rosenbeck, Shane Unger, David Treon, Jr., Josh Greber, Skyler Nahre, Steve Billenstein, Jeff Harris

B-Main 1: Chad Overson, Jeff Harris, Mike Roediger, Steve Billenstein, Shane Unger, Steve Shaw, Skyler Nahre, Josh Greber, Ryan Sutter, Steve Brown, David Treon, Jr., Greg Socha