As you can likely see I have not done anything with my website in a very long time. There has not really been much news on the racing side of the spectrum.

First, I would like to mention my crew. It is hard when I call them to tell them nothing is going on. We got together with Jim and Marshall about a month ago at the corn maze! I would have to say if it weren't for Jim and his "built in" compass, we would still be stuck in the maze. It was pitch black out, and the help from the light of our cell phones and a little paper map, Jim was able to lead us out of there! It was fun getting together with them again. As always, I was teased :P

School is probably my main focus right now. I only have three classes at my high school, which is actually better than I expected it to be. I do believe we should fully experience the "High school" environment, but I was getting sick of it. High School was just getting to be too much of cliques and kids that don't respect their surroundings. That is why I decided for this year that I would get into the Running Start program and get in a new, more adult environment. Everyone at the college level is cool. They are there for an education, not to sit at the lunch table and talk about the new rumor going around. The two classes I have at college are going good, math is harder than I expected, but am working hard at it.

Another one of my focuses is starting a small graphics business. Because of school scheduling, I don't have the time for a part-time job. And because I spend alot of time with computer programs, such as dreamweaver and photoshop and flash and those sorts of things, I decided that I would get into that kind of stuff. I do all my own coding and graphics for my site already.

I also have a 24" vinyl cutter. I hope to also get some business from that, whether it's signs or lettering up racecars. I also hope to intergrate the 3 aspects (Websites, signs, and Graphic Design) services together.

About 2 weeks ago I switched hosting companies. I was so full on my server that I couldn't even add a new page. I have much more room now, along with more features like PHP. Such as this new blogging software. I think it's going to make my site much more easier to navigate, and also I think it looks more professional. I will soon have all my other updates from previous months/years and all will be archived.

I believe this is all I have for now. Here are some links to the new stuff added:

TJ Hartman Racing Updates

TJ Hartman Racing News

Pleasantly Bluteam (I promised my dad I would make a blog for him) :)

Dirttrakker Graphics

8/25/09

I had such a great time with Paul and Shane. I spent about 3 weeks with them, starting from out here in Cottage Grove, then heading on the road back east. After Cottage Grove and Friday and Saturday, we headed to Cameron, Missouri at U.S. 36 Raceway.

Driving down the road with them was really fun, even though I slept through alot of it! Shane usually drove during the day time, and part way into the night, while Paul drove until early morning. They were singing alot too! I think we heard the song "Second Chance' by Shinedown about one million times. I know every word to the song now.

They always like to tease me about things. It would be about anything, cars, school, or girls. haha! I tried to tease them back some, but they would always have something else to throw back at me!

Everywhere we raced we ran pretty good. Shane is a very smart driver, and knows how far to take the car each lap. Paul, like they all say, is a legend when it comes to being a crew chief. Shane says don't tell him that to his face though! LOL! But they are both very smart, and that's why when they are together as a team they are just about unbeatable.

The tracks we ran were U.S. 36, Belleville (which is CRAZY fast, like you have to be there to understand how fast it is) and then we ran Oskaloosa, and Knoxville. The whole Knoxville experience was fun. They are so many people walking around town come time to race day. It's like a zoo, with the people, and all the souvenir stands. We ran both the 360 nationals and 410 nationals. I personally think Knoxville is too big of a track for the 360's. It's just flat out the whole time. If I ever had the chance to go race back there, I would not run that track every week just because of that, I think you can learn alot about dirty air though, and that would help you with passing on those types of tracks.

You definately need to be on your A-game when at Knoxville. Every car there is a potential car to win. You have to have near perfect qualifying nights to have a good chance for Saturday on the A-main. We we're in the A-main at the 360 nationals, and while going into turn 3, a bolt broke on the RF steering arm, and sent Shane into the fence head on. It was a nasty looking wreck, and everything was destroyed on the car. Looking at the wrecked car afterwards reminded me of my wreck, and I felt like I had wrecked it, even though I wasn't driving. It was very scary and I was glad Shane walked out okay from it.

We spent the next day getting the spare car that was in the trailer ready to go. Oh, the trailer that Paul and Shane use. It's a 28ft trailer, that can carry a whole car, a spare car, and enough parts to crash multiple times. Paul put that trailer together in 4 days, and until you see it up close, you cannot describe it. Every little thing has it's place, and it definately pays off because if you needed to run back to the trailer to grab a part, you know exactly where it is everytime. Everything is wrapped up too. All his spare parts look brand new, and not all scraped and scratched up.

The 410 nationals went really well. The first night was just chaotic. It rained, so we we're racing until 3:30 in the morning. I think they should have maybe called that one, because all the drivers we're pretty wore out. We were all in the pits for over 14 hours. Shane did well, and we had enough points to make it into the A-main. We would start 14th on Saturday's A-feature. Saturday rained out, and we ended up racing Sunday night, where Shane would finish up in the 5th spot on a last lap pass. Shane drove really good, and it felt awesome to be a part of their victories.

I have a really funny story to tell though. And Paul might hate me for this! LOL! But, me and Paul we're standin in line at Subway in Knoxville, and I could tell Paul was thinking what he was going to get. He was looking up at all the options, and then he said, "What are you getting babe?" I just looked at him, like, oh my gosh did he just call me babe?! I didn't say anything, and a few seconds later he looked at me, and I just stared at him! Haha! He then noticed he called me babe, and he was like NO! I didn't mean it! The lady making the sandwiches even looked up at Paul, and Paul was so embarrassed. I told everyone about this. Even Paul's girlfriend! She was laughing really hard! So now, everytime Paul and I talk, we call each other babe. LOL!

I cannot thank Paul and Shane enough for letting me go with them. When I heard from Paul that I could travel to Knoxville with them, I was so excited. They are both really cool guys. I wish I could have stayed longer with them, but I had to be back for all my school orientations. I have a really good schedule this year, with 2 classes at Pierce College in the running start program, and 3 classes at the high school. I'll be done with high school after first semester, and the plan is to continue on at Pierce for another quarter. I'm excited for this, and cannot wait to see what happens.

You can go here to check out all the pictures: http://s268.photobucket.com/albums/jj16 ... rs%20Pics/

Thank you to Roger Kolb for taking these pictures and letting us use them for our updates! You and Mark treated me really good, and I had fun seeing you guys there!

Thank you to all who continue to support me! Be sure to check out Shane's new website also! Created by Nick at Createwithshift! www.ShaneStewart.com

-TJ Hartman