Racing

Race update:

OCTOBER 18 2003-

The team made the trip to Sandia Motorsports Park in Albuquerque for the New Mexico Salsa 100. Dan was one of the 10 fastest cars in practice that showed up for this special event that saw close to 50 late model entries. Qualifying was determined by a pill draw with Dan drawing #33. This put us in the 5th spot in the 3rd qualifying race with the top 6 going to the A main for a chance at the $5000 to win. Dan wheeled his Port City Chevy Monte Carlo to a respectable 4th place finish in the qualifier.

The main event started with a whopping 30 racecars on the 4/10ths flat oval. From his starting spot deep in the field, Dan seemed to lose alot of positions as many drivers pushed and shoved to try to make it to the front in the opening laps. As a result the race was slowed by many caution periods, Dan worked his way through the field by driving smooth and smart. In the closing laps Dan battled hard for position with the #'s 08,147 & 34. who were running in a tight draft. The end of the race saw Dan put the #08 behind him and set sail for the 147 & 34. On the last lap Dan caught the pair and pulled along the outside of the # 147 car coming out of turn four for the checkered flag. At the stripe the #147 edged Dan by a few inches . Dan was very pleased with his 10th place finish.

May 3 2004

The team finished the car just in time to make opening night at I-25 Speedway in Pueblo, CO. The car had the horsepower to compete, but a decision to race on tires that had sat(some outside) over the long winter, proved to be a bad decision.

Dan wheeled his Chevy Monte Carlo to a win in the trophy dash for the fastest 4 cars. The Main event was a little more exciting, as we move into 4th position, Dan's decision to race on tires the Flintstone's would have approved of, cost us any chance to move up any further.

Dan sits in 2nd place in the points, just 7 away from the leader after the first event.

October 2004

The team made the trip to New Mexico for the second running of the Salsa 100. After many problems (Tech crew, engine performance, & carb.) The car came to life just in time for the race on Saturday. A total of 38 cars were in attendance to try to make the 24 car starting grid. An easy 3rd. place in the heat race put us in the show.

A strong 6th. place finish with no mishaps completed a good racing season for our team.

August 2005:

We have had a pretty good season for the most part. Starting the year at Colorado National Speedway in Erie, CO. the first 3 events were fun, but after losing an engine, we started racing at I-25 Speedway in Pueblo, CO. Out of 7 races we have been to at I-25 we have 4 wins, a 2nd and 1 DNS (broke another engine in hot laps) On the USLMA tour we have ran very few races, as most events are in New Mexico & Oklahoma. (10th at CNS & 5th at I-25). The team will race 3-4 more times this year in Colorado, We are looking forward to our 3rd annual trip to New Mexico for the running of the "Salsa 100".

November 2005:

New Mexico "Salsa 100" Rained Out.

The rain put an end to our season before we could get one last race in. The car was very fast on Friday & faster on Saturday morning. Oh Well.

We all had a great time with the many friends & family who made the trip. From Colorado Shane Baxter, Glen Wheaton, Mic & Con Habinck, My family-mom & dad, Tim & Rick & their "Women", Laura & Shanzi. Also from North Carolina, Flip & Michelle Estrada. THANKS to all of you for the support!!!

March 27 2006 by geoff briggs/bigwestracing.com

The Late Model main had Roger Avants lead early over Dan Alamaa. Steve Johnson backed into the turn 1 wall on lap 6, and Chris Archer hit the wall on lap 8 to end the night for both. Cautions were needed for both cars, on laps 6 and 8. Scotty Backman marched to third on lap 9 sending Rick Smith to fourth. On lap 11 Larry Hunter and Darren Robertson got together and rookie Darren Bucklen stopped to miss Robertson. Robertson got his spot back as Hunter was sent to the rear. Backman took over the lead on lap 18 and a long battle between Yackey and Alamaa finally ended when Yackey got in the back of Alamaa in turn 2 on lap 32 sending Alamaa high. On lap 35, Robertson broke and hit the turn 3 wall. Robertson drove off, but left a trail of oil from turn 3 to the track exit resulting in a lengthy red-flag period. Alamaa’s great run ended when he needed a push start sending him to the back. On lap 37 Ronnie Hults got in the speedy-dry in turn 1 and spun forcing the late caution. Backman held on over Avants, Yackey, Joe James Jr, and Mike Gallegos.

2006 year in review

With not much competition showing up at our home track (I-25 Speedway) Our team cruised to its 1st.

championship.

The annual trip to Sanida Motorsports Park in New Mexico on October 15th was the highlight of the year. We struggled with the setup in fridays practice session but after discovering a sway bar bolt had come loose the car came alive in the final practice session. Saturday was cold bun NO RAIN! In time trials we qualified 12th with a time of 19.80. This put us on the out side front row for our heat race. No problems as we hounded the leader on the inside. The caution flew with 2 laps to go and we cruised to a 2nd place finish. The Main event saw 31 cars take the green flag. Starting on the 6th row, right behind 2006 southwest tour series champion Rip Michels we stayed glued to his bumper. There was alot of action so I dont remember everything but I do Know we lost the power steering 30 laps into the 100 lap affair. A few run ins with other cars made for some exciting racing from my view. I did bounce off the front straight wall once. In the closing laps we passed the for mentioned NASCAR Southwest tour champion for position. With 2 laps to go the caution flag flew for the final time, setting up a green, white-checkered. On the restart the #12 of Michels schooled me & got by. With the white flag waving a laped car spun in turn 4. No caution flag was displayed but the yellow lights were on as I rolled out of the gas going into 3. The checkered flag waved, ending our bid to break into the top 5. We finished a respectable 6th. I want to thank everyone that made the trip to help. Also Congrats to teamate Shane Baxter in the 82 Modified for finishing 10th.(Next time leave the crown royal at home, I still have a headache!!!) KEEP WATCHING HERE FOR OUR PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR.......

3/27/07 *****Press Release*****

Dan Alamaa Racing is proud to announce that a marketing partnership has been formed with Budweiser. Plans for the 2007 racing season are quickly taking shape. Look for the #28 Budweiser Select Chevy Monte Carlo Late Model back at I-25 Speedway to defend our title, and at a few USLMA races. Also be sure to check out the new Budweiser Grand American Modified in action as well.

SCHOOL IS NOW IN SESSION.....

On June 2nd 2007 our race team showed up at the track with the new Budweiser Grand American Modified racecar. With no laps on the car at all, We set a new track record with a time of 12.488 seconds. Thats an average of just over 72 mph! The first real race with other car was the trophy dash. From our starting spot in last (8th) we wrestled our way to second place.

Next up the main event...All I can say is WOW! Starting deep in the field the Budweiser Chevy rocketed near the front of the field. With less than 10 laps to go we were set to take the win. All we had to do is pass 1 more car. When the green flag droped the bull$^*% started. On the restart The Bud chevy pulled alongside the leader on the inside. As we entered turn 1 he decided if he was not going to win he would wreck himself and us as well. He came down, or pinched us off, causing us to make contact and spinning him. As the yellow flag waved, it was determined by a track official (that needs glasses) that we caused the spin. This sent us to the back of the field, handing the win to him. There could have been a big fight over all this but the Budweiser racing team held their cool and left knowing we will have the car to beat EVERY WEEK.

The 2007 season saw many changes for our team. We sold our late model and were set to put all our efforts into making our Grand American Modified un-beatable. Just 3 weeks after selling the car the owner of a USLMA late model, Tommy Peluso, asked if I would take over the driving duties for his former driver.

A deal was make & I found myself doing double duty once again. Our first race was in New Mexico and managed to not only make it into the trophy dash , We won it . In the main event I raced with Dan Savage for over 50 laps side by side, swapping paint just 1 time. If this had been for the win It would have been the best race in USLMA history. We managed a strong 5th place finish, just behind Savage.

Next race was Colorado National Speedway where again we make the trophy dash and finished the Main event in 6th place. I feel like this team will win some races in the near future.

The modified is still very fast. We missed some races due to the fact we have been traveling to other tracks with the new late model. I got to race in New Mexico with the modified and finished 9th despite a rear brake caliper coming apart. We also made a trip to Cheyenne Wyoming to race. Without ever racing there We got quick time, 2nd in the trophy dash and WON the main event, despite starting DEAD LAST!!

The USLMA finale at CNS was canceled so we loaded up the Mod and headed to Gearing Nebraska for the fall classic. I have never been there and manage to qualify 2nd out of 18 cars. The race was very long and a solid 5th place finish capped off our season .

September 08

With the season winding down we are in a tight battle for the championship with the modified. We are currently leading by a skant 3 points. Anything can and will happern, But it has been a good season whatever happens.

With one race left for the late model, looks like we will be the highest finishing legal car in this class. The winner has blatently been cheating all year with a so called spec engine that was suposed to conform to CNS rules. You can see illegal parts with just the hood being off (Aircleaner, carb spacer, ect) It is not right but we were told even if we protested the engine that they were going to allow it for the sake of car count. It is a no win situation, but I can almost guanantee you will never the the orange #39 at this speedway again on a weekly basis after this year.