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December 23, 2011—MTR Proudly Announces Charlotte Reese
Todd: Those of you who
keep up with MTR and see us at the track know that Alison has been pregnant
throughout the 2011 racing season.
She did a wonderful job all season long of doing all the tasks she
does on raceday despite things getting tougher
and tougher as her pregnancy progressed.
On December 12, 2011, we
welcomed our new little girl, Charlotte Reese Todd, into the world and we are
so happy and proud to finally have her here with us! Alison and Charlotte both made it through
the delivery process without issue and everyone has been resting and
getting acquainted at home the last couple of weeks. Thanks so much to all of our family, friends,
and fans for their support and well wishes during this time! Charlotte is excited to get to the
racetrack and meet everyone sometime during the 2012 racing season!
During the off season, you
can head over to the MTR
YouTube Channel and check out 13
of the 14 2011 Michigan Legends Series races. We’ve also posted videos from MTR’s 6 feature
wins in 2009 and 4 feature wins in 2010 so everyone can relive those
exciting moments as well! The MTR News
page kind of fell by the wayside this season, as evidenced by the last
entry being from the beginning of the 2011 season. Alison does a great job of maintaining
and updating the MTR Facebook
Fanpage throughout the season and
that site has evolved into the place to get the latest info and updates on
how MTR’s season is going. Check in
over there and see what it’s all about!
We’ll still try to update things from time to time here on the MTR News
page, but refer to the MTR Facebook
Fanpage for more frequent updates.
MTR hopes everyone has a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
See you at the track in 2012!—MT
May
16th, 2011—MTR 3-Peats the Season Opener at Auto City Speedway
and Comes Home 3rd at the Line at Dixie Motor Speedway in the
Turbo Blue Michigan Legends Series Opening Events: We headed to Auto City Speedway on May 7th
with high hopes of taking the season opener for the 3rd year in
a row. With all the hard work to get
the car race ready for 2011 finally complete and the great history we have
had at ACS, we were looking to have a good day. The weather was great for the opener and
the track was in good shape. The car
was fast in practice and I inherited the pole for the 2nd heat
race when 3 time series champion Levi Rouster was unable to get to the
track in time to start the heat race.
I led all 8 laps in the heat to take the win and was looking forward
to the feature. Thanks to the
feature lineup invert, I had to start 8th for the feature
race. I was able to tuck in behind
Chance Rice on the start and began to follow him up through the field. It was not easy going as there was a lot
of beating and banging going on in the race—more so than I can ever recall
in a TBMLS race. I was able to work
my way into 3rd by about lap 20 sitting behind Chance Rice and
Loren Short. Coming off turn 4 on
lap 23, Short spun to bring out the caution. Rice had to go to the back of the field
for causing the spin and Short got his spot back in front of the
field. I was able to get by Short on
the restart and was able to pull away enough to secure the victory. It was a hard fought win—the back of the
car was pretty smashed from all the bumping going on out there. Thankfully, I was able to keep the car straight
and take home my 3rd season opening victory in a row! It sure felt good to get that win and
start the season off on a good note!
I was even able to get a couple of MTR fans into victory lane for the
celebration and some photos, which was nice!
A crazy busy work week had
me leave for San Diego, CA at 8am on Sunday morning following the ACS win
and return at 6am on the Friday morning red eye just in time to check the
car over and get it ready for the race at Dixie Motor Speedway. The car checked out good and felt good in
practice. Dixie can be a tough track
to get a handle on and Chance Rice looked like he had the car to beat in
practice—not surprising as he is the defending INEX Pro Division National
Race Winner. I lined up 2nd
in the first heat race and tucked in behind Sean McPherson on the
start. I stayed right on his bumper
for 8 laps waiting for him to open the door, but he never did and I had to
settle for 2nd. Thanks to
the rule that says the previous week’s feature winner has to start behind
the invert in the following feature race, I was saddled with a 9th
place starting spot in the feature.
I stayed right on Rice’s bumper on the start and tried to follow him
through the pack. I made it up to 5th
spot and stalled there behind John Turnbull, Rice, McPherson, and Tony
Monge. Turnbull had us all backed up
and Rice was dogging him for the lead.
Rice was able to get by, but McPherson and Turnbull wrecked when
McPherson tried to pass, sending them both to the back. I didn’t think I had much for Rice, but
thought I could get by Monge. I
raced Monge for 7 or 8 laps but couldn’t quite find the speed off the
corner to get by. I got a good run
off of turn 2 with 3 to go and pulled inside Monge. We were side by side coming to get 2 to
go and Monge gave me the spot going into turn one. I didn’t get the best entrance into turn
one and Monge was able to crossover and make a run on my inside coming out
of turn two. This time it was my
turn to hang tough on the outside.
We stayed side by side the last 2 laps and coming off of turn 4 on
the last lap, Monge was able to pull ahead just enough to beat me to the
line by about half a car. It was a
good race and a good example to everyone in our series that you can race
side by side, give the guy your racing room, and not crash, but I was
really disappointed that I couldn’t hold on to 2nd spot after I
briefly got it. Kudos to Monge for
that crossover move and for being able to keep his car off of mine when I
was only giving him just enough room to race. That’s how the Pros do it! I hope it was at least a good show for
the fans! Rice cruised to victory—congrats
to him and his team on the win!
The TBMLS is off this
weekend and returns to Owosso Speedway for the first of 3 events at the
fast 3/8 mile track this season.
Owosso has been good for me with 2 wins in 4 starts, but it’s a
momentum track and it’s hard to make up ground there. A good starting spot will be the key to a
good finish there. I’m looking
forward to it and hope to see all of you at the track!—MT
January
29th, 2011—Michigan Legends Releases its 2011 Schedule: The 2011 racing season is right around the
corner and Michigan Legends has released its preliminary 2011
Schedule. The schedule is delightfully
different this year as there are no Canada races and no dirt track
races. This is the first time in the
5 seasons MTR has participated in the MLS that there have been no Canada
and no dirt track races and MTR could not be more pleased to see this. With waning participation at those events
over the past couple of years and general disdain from most participants
for those events, the promoter has decided to take them off the schedule
for 2011. MTR think it’s a great
move and that it really streamlines and simplifies the schedule. The series will visit 7 different tracks
in 2011, with 4 of those tracks having multiple dates. With MTR having wins at 4 of those 7
tracks, MTR is looking forward to a strong 2011 season and making a run at
the 2011 MLS Championship.
Check back early
and often for further updates from MTR!
We’ll see you at the track—MT
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