DRIVE4COPD 300 RACE REPORT

Michael Annett

No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang

Michael Annett started the 120-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway from the 16^th position. Annett finished the season opening event as follows:

27th—Michael Annett, No.43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang

Saturday marked Annett’s first race with Richard Petty Motorsports.

Annett ran in the top-15 for the majority of the 300-mile event and was scored as high as third place before getting caught up in a late race accident.

James Buescher claimed the victory Saturday afternoon after a race filled with eight cautions

Timmy Hill was the highest finishing (seventh)Ford Mustang at Daytona

Two NASCAR Nationwide Series records for Daytona International Speedway were set Saturday, the most lead changes (38) and the most leaders (16). The previous record was 35 lead changes among 12 leaders

Unofficially, Annett sits in 16^th place in the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver point standings heading into Phoenix next weekend

Annett’s Thoughts After the Race: “My Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang was really fast today, but we just got caught up in some unfortunate circumstances at the end of the race and it ruined our chances for a good finish. I can’t say enough about my Richard Petty Motorsports crew, they did a phenomenal job today. We had a few bumps and bruises out there, but they never gave up. I think today was a good learning experience for us all. It was a total team effort and I appreciate all of their hard work.

“I’m really excited to go to Phoenix next weekend and see what kind of a Pilot Flying J car we’ve got. Daytona is so unpredictable and the best car doesn’t always win. This was the first time I have ever raced in a Ford Mustang and I was really impressed with the power underneath the hood. I’m expecting a fast car next weekend and I think we’ve got a good chance to finish up front at Phoenix. I can’t wait to get to the west coast and get my second race with RPM in the books.”

Landon Cassill in Daytona 500!

Landon Cassill in Daytona 500!

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Landon Cassill has a job for the Daytona 500 for the first time in his career.

Cassill said Thursday he's been hired to drive for a team that purchased assets and last year's points from the now defunct Red Bull Racing team. Cassill will drive the No. 83 Toyota, he said, and the points Brian Vickers earned in that car last year guarantee Cassill a spot in the first five races of the season.

Cassill said he has a deal with the new team to drive all year.

"It's my first time going into a NASCAR season with a signed deal knowing I'm going to be in the car every week," Cassill said. "It's my first time attempting the Daytona 500 -- wait, I am locked into the Daytona 500. That's a pretty big dream came true."

Doug Richert will be the crew chief for the No. 83 team, which is being fielded by investors who had previously backed TRG Motorsports. Cassill said the owners will announce the team name and sponsorship in the coming days.

Cassill has been working the NASCAR garages since he was 17, and five years later, his search for something steady has finally ended. He's made 33 starts in the second-tier Nationwide Series since 2007, and has made 48 Sprint Cup Series starts over the last two seasons. His best finish was 12th at Michigan last season while driving for Phoenix Racing.

Cassill was originally planning to drive a start-and-park car for Front Row Motorsports when the opportunity with this new team was offered to him. Front Row had given him a clause to leave the team if he found a full-time ride.

The opportunity was created when this new team was able to complete a transaction with energy drink company Red Bull, which pulled out of NASCAR after five seasons. The team fielded two cars last year, Kasey Kahne ended the year 14th in the standings, and Brian Vickers was 25th.

The new team now owns the points for both entries, and could field a second car alongside Cassill in the Feb. 26 season-opening Daytona 500.

Former TRG general manager Harry McMullen will have the same role with the new team. The team is working out of Randy Moss Motorsports shop in Statesville, N.C., and will get its engines from Triad.

"I've got a lot of faith in this deal. These guys want to get to the race track, want to do it right, pay their bills and they really want to have a good reputation," Cassill said. "They want to race and they want to do it right. They got away from that (at TRG) and have moved on and created a pretty neat opportunity."

TRG Motorsports ran three seasons in NASCAR, but was forced to start-and-park at times. TRG shut down its Sprint Cup team this winter, and owner Kevin Buckler is not involved in this new team.

What To Do In The Off Season? Part 2

Ok with the first batch under our belts, we wanted to make a larger batch of from scratch wine.

Again this is following hours of internet research to find a recipe that would be good for beginners.

I found lots of information pointing to Jack Keller, a winemaker from Pleasanton, Texas, just south of San Antone. Wine making is his passion and for years he has been making wine from just about anything both fermentable and nontoxic. He has won many awards with his recipes.

We decided that we would like Strawberry wine and with them being out of season we opted for using frozen ones and Jack has a great recipe for that.

Frozen Strawberry Wine

• 3 lbs. frozen strawberries
• 1 11-oz. can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate
• 1 lb 14 oz. light brown sugar
• 2 tsp. citric acid
• 1/4 tsp. grape tannin
• water to make 1 gallon
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
• 1 sachet Red Star Côte des Blancs wine yeast

This makes 1 gallon so we tripled it all but the yeast and started our 3 gallon batch.

Long story short we had it put together and ready to ferment Sunday afternoon after we completed the 1 gallon red wine.



This is what it looked like in the fermenting bucket. The strawberries where divided up into 3 sanitized new panty hose socks. (To cheap to spring for a mesh fermenting bag & at $.33 a pair for panty hose why would you!)

Mal took this picture and also got to use it in her photo class at school under the heading of Scary Halloween photos. She had a lot of fun in class letting class mates guess what nasty things where floating in that bucket of blood colored juice!

Now other than checking on them daily to stir the strawberry and check specific gravity to see when they are done fermenting, we just have to wait and stare at them! Patience and time are very critical in wine making. The red grape wine from the kit will be ready to drink as early as 7 weeks or so. The strawberry from scratch will be best after 6 months or so. Can't wait!



On the 7th day we removed the bags of fruit and let the juice drain back into the bucket.

Then we racked (transfer with hose) the wine from the bucket to a 3 gallon glass carboy, leaving as much of the sediment in the bottom of the bucket as we could.



Now the strawberry is ready to sit for 45 days in the carboy to allow the dead yeast to settle to the bottom and the wine will begin to clear up.

Gonna be a long winter, I will probably start brewing something else real soon! This is very addictive!

What To Do In The Off Season?

Well with the racing season winding down I needed to find something to occupy my free time.

I decided to do something I have been wanting to do for quite some time, Home Made Wine!

As anyone who knows me will could imagine, I did what I always do when I want to learn something new, I spend thousands of hours on the internet researching it! I spend way to much time here in front of this electric glow so why not use it wisely?

I spent a few months gathering up some basic equipment and then went for it!

Sunday we made a family project out of turning our kitchen into a make shift chemistry lab, Mal said it looked more like a meth lab... (joking of course!) We had fun with it and made a couple of batches to get us started.

The first one was a WonderWine kit I picked up off Ebay for $8. I figured not much of an investment if it goes bad! It was a small package including powdered grape juice, yeast and a clearing agent. I had know idea how long this kit sat around so I threw away the included yeast and used a new Lalvin wine yeast I had picked up. I also added a tsp of yeast nutrient to help it out. We mixed the kit in a big bowl with the amount of sugar listed to make a semi-sweet red.
Poured it into a 1 gallon glass jug and installed a bung with an airlock. (You can imagine the fun we had talking about sticking a bung plug into the bottles bung hole, Yes these are wine making terms and we do act like little kids sometimes!)

The wine started to bubble right away and the airlock bubbled off the unneeded gasses. Mal wanted to know how the yeast worked and in my most technical voice I told her that the yeast eats the sugar and poops out the booze! (Not real wine making terms!)



I will post more on this and info on the second batch latter!

The Next Event On The Schedule Is Saturday October 1st At Hawkeye Downs Speedway In Cedar Rapids!

Please Note: Due To The Weather Cancelling The Farley Speedway Event, It Will Be Rescheduled For Sunday October 9th!

Update For Race'em Or Wreck'em Sept. 25th @ Farley Speedway

Update For Race'em Or Wreck'em Sept. 25th @ Farley Speedway: The racing divisions that will be running at the Race'em & Wreck'em are the IMCA Modifieds and the IMCA Sport Modifieds. Event starts at 1:30. Also on tap is Popular Trailer Races, 2 classes of Demolition Derbies, Rollover Contest, School Bus Races/Camper Races. Admission is Adults $12.00, Seniors(62& over) & Students (11-18) $10.00, Children (6-10) $5.00, Children 5 & under FREE with paid adult.