April 27, 2008
The Parker Farms, Copperstate Tire, Monte Carlo ran the April 5th and April 19th Tucson
events. The April 5th event was not our best night, but there were a lot of factors out of
our control.
As we move on to the April 19th event things brighten somewhat. Qualified 2nd by .09
seconds. Finished 3rd. Two years ago we would have been ecstatic about a 3rd and now, we
find ourselves somewhat disappointed. The worst of the night was the on track
unintentional contact between our car and the 13 which resulted in the 13 spinning and
hitting the outside wall and we continued on with only minor paint damage.
The 13 car of course being the only car that we are somewhat friendly with. All parties
agreed that it was a racing incident and we will all move on to brighter moments. Victor
was put to the back of the field for the incident. Victor had to use up his tires to get
back to 3rd and therefore couldn’t push any harder for the win.
We had decided to sit out the April 26th event do to busy schedules and lack of funding,
but the track is having issues with car count so they have offered 2 free tires for that
date which of course was enough for Victor and I to agree to attend the event.
The May 3rd date will find Craftsmen Truck driver Ron Hornaday competing in a late model
with us. We hope that you can attend this event as it should bring a large car turn out
and be a good opportunity for Victor. It would be great to have a large fan section to
support us on this occasion. Hoping to have Chuck LaHorgue attend, but I haven’t been
able to confirm the date with him at this point.
Let us know if you need anymore information. Hope everyone can attend.
Thanks again for your support.
Art Pfluger
2007 News and Information
PFLUGER’S SPEED TRUCK CHAMPIONSHIP CLENCHED IN A TRIPLE CROWN NIGHT -
Becoming the Youngest Champion in Speed Truck History
Under the hot Arizona desert this past Saturday there was a shootout brewing between
points leader Darren Young and sixteen year old Victor Pfluger. The two ASA Speed Truck
drivers have been the class of the field all year and heading into the final battle the
veteran Young held only a two point lead. Both drivers and their teams knew anything could
happen during the race, and until the checkered flag drops their fates had not been
sealed. The championship could come down to the last race, possibly last lap, maybe even
the last corner.
In this Speed Truck battle and be likened to the biblical struggle of David and Goliath;
Victor Pfluger as David making his stand against Darren Young as Goliath. Young has years
of experience, two Speed Truck Championships already on his resume and drives for a
well-funded race team. Victor, only 16 years old, with just 2 seasons on the Speed Truck
circuit, runs on a shoestring budget yet has proven that the underdog can be the winner.
There were two scenarios that would need to unfold for Pfluger to win the championship.
First, Victor needed to have a top qualifying time and the luck of the draw to start
within one spot of Young. And second, Victor would need to win the race.
Here’s how the night went down. Qualifying:
Victor qualified on the pole. Darren, second. Step one: done!
After a week of non-stop preparation Victor’s trucks were ready for race day. Crew
chief Chuck Lahorgue, Victor and the team had spent the night before making last minute
changes to the truck to match the conditions of the track. Saturday morning Victor did a
short session to scuff the tires and clicked off some very impressive lap times. All the
hard work had paid off and Victor set Fast Time with a blistering 15.725 second lap –
just edging out Young’s best time.
The Trophy Dash:
The next step was the Trophy Dash. By virtue of his qualifying time Victor was on the pole
and Young to his right. With a glimpse of things to come Victor pulled to the lead from
the drop of the green flag and dominated till the checkered flew. With the proverbial roll
of the dice Victor is slated for front row outside – right next to Young. This is
huge! The drivers who have been the fighting for this championship all year long are
starting on the front row together. This is going to be exciting!
The Main Event:
The crowd knew that the battle was on. The two drivers at the front of the 18 truck pack
had been praised earlier in the week by the series director, Jay Rutherford. “I am
particularly proud of both of these drivers,” commented Rutherford. “I really
couldn’t pick a winner at this point. I always hate to see the season come to an end,
but this final 2007 race at Havasu 95 Speedway will be one for the record books. I wish
them both the best in this ‘Duel in the Desert.’”
As the green flag dropped Young powered to the lead position with Pfluger tucked in close
to his rear bumper. The first 44 circuits saw Darren leading and Victor glued to his tail
pull away from the field. After two yellows and a red flag full stop the restart on lap 45
saw Young go into turn one hard, Pfluger turned under Darren to make the pass when
Young’s teammate Bear Rzesnowiecky turned under Victor making it a 3 wide charge
coming off the corner. In an instant Young’s truck slowed dramatically and pulled off
the track with a cut tire and Victor’s truck flew past looking like it had been shot
out of a cannon. From there Victor never looked back. Despite two valiant charges through
the field, even making it up to the 5th spot, Young’s evening and championship
contention ended with a collision while gunning for the 4th spot. Victor cruised to the
win and entered the history book as the youngest ASA Speed Truck champion in the series
history.
After the Race:
After saluting the fans, Victor climbed from his truck with his helmet still on, raised
his arms and celebrated with his team, family and sponsors who had gathered on the front
stretch. “I can’t believe we won this race, it is amazing!” Shouted
Pfluger. I want to thank Jim Parker from Parker Farms for all his help and for coming out
to see this race. He has supported us all year long, we couldn’t have done any of
this without him.” Victor went on to thank Chuck Lahorgue, “I can’t thank
Chuck enough for sticking with us through the past two years. This win and the
championship is a testament to his expertise with these trucks. I also want to thank Lou
Martin with Pimp Hammer who came down from Vegas for this event. I would also like to
thank Diane at the Hampton Inn at Lake Havasu for making my crew comfortable this weekend.
Of course I owe everything to my Mom, Dad who have supported my dream and have sacrificed
so much to get me here tonight. I don’t want to leave anyone out ! – Big
“thank you’s” to Brad Peterson, Matt Wolfe, Bud Harvey and everybody who
had helped through the years: including Copperstate Tire, Alpinestars, Maxima racing oil,
NGK spark plugs, Mondello, the great people at Ranchero de los Caballeros, and Mothers
Wax. This is just amazing. It has not sunk in yet but it will in a few days. This is cool!
I can‘t believe we won this race.”
This was a spectacular season for the young driver. Strong, consistent showings
overshadowed early season unfounded controversy and a couple of rough nights of racing.
However, among the most admirable notes for the year was the fact that all three of
Victor’s feature events were “Triple Crown” nights – in which he took
Fast Time honors, the Trophy Dash win and the Feature Event wins.
When you’re on, you’re on!
Second Place Finish Adds to the Excitement
The weekend Speed Truck event at the I-10 Lucas Oil Speedway in Blythe started well for
the #80 Parker Farms truck of Victor Pfluger. Practice went well with good times on
each lap and having no problems with the truck or setup made for high hopes for the race.
Race day's qualifying saw only a 4th spot after the driver overdrove a bit in one
turn.
With that qualifying spot Victor was invited back to run the Trophy Dash were he
finished 3rd. Despite being the fastest truck on the track he just couldn't get around the
#25 of Shawn Steele.
The main event line-up saw Darren Young on the pole with Austin Murphy outside him.
Pfluger was poised in row 2 outside with Andy Allen tucked on the bottom. At
the start of the race Victor was able to drop in in 5th position and instead of trying to
charge forward watched the spectacle unfold in front of his truck. Darren was leading the
pack but got passed by Allen and was frieght trained back and fell in line behind me.
With that swap came some bold moves including contact between Murphy and Allen.
The two trucks were sent to the back of the 13 truck lineup. This put Shawn
Steele's dialed-in truck in the lead with Pfluger pulled up close in 2nd.
Victor explains, "For the next 75 laps that's how we rode and on the last lap I
made a charge to the inside of Steele in turn 3. I caught up to him and we made light
contact but it was enough for me to get along side and off of turn 4 we made much heavier
contact that, if I hadn't let off would have spun out both trucks."
That scenario would have devastating, as the officials would undoubtedly would have put
Pfluger to the back of the running order. "At that point, it was important to look at
the big picture - So I settled for 2nd and it was a great run for us." Reflected the
teenager who is now even closer to his championship in the series, just a few points
behind Darren Young. "We feel confident going into the Havasu race. We're
confident that we can make up the balance and win this championship. I need to thank all
of my great sponsors - and give a special thanks to Rutland Tool for coming out and
supporting us along with Amsoil. Also thanks to Pimp Hammer for providing some killer
clothes and support."
Victor Pfluger - King of all Media - TV, Radio and Now the Movies !
On August 14th, 2007 Victor Pfluger
was invited to be a guest on radio station KBSZ - the interviewer asked some great
questions and Victor, whose maturity and poise belies his young age, gave smooth and
educated answers. You can listen to the interview, courtesy of KBSZ by Clicking Here
(MP3 File).
And now a major motion picture ...
A taste of Hollywood has hit Victor Pfluger Racing! Victor and the entire team was invited
to participate in the filming of a major motion picture. In the movie you will see the
famous number 80 ASA Speed Truck normally driven by Victor,.... READ MORE
FROM THE PITS
Dear Race Fans,
It was a great weekend. The Parker Farms/Copperstate Tire/Mondello Tech Dodge was on
rails. Victor started the eventing off by setting the track fast qualifier. He
then ran on to the Trophy Dash and simply raced away with the feature event. With the next
weekend being Irwindale, a track that we especially want to do well at. It was great for
me to see the truck go in the trailer without a scratch on it.
Friday night practice: Chuck Lahorgue and Victor worked very hard, making many changes
to the truck setup which obviously paid off. We were honored with a new friend at the
track. Chuck brought Mike Helwig, an old friend of his, to help us out. We want to
thank him for his efforts. He was able to join us in Victory Lane. He is in the picture on
the Speed Truck website. Of course we can’t thank Chuck LaHorgue enough for his
efforts. Chuck never takes anything for granted and is constantly thinking of a way
to get Victor just a little more comfortable so we can be just another hundredth of a
second faster. Chuck also is great at trying to keep the costs down. Other teams use many
more tires than we do and we have never had the luxury of “Testing”.
The feature started out frustrating as Victor started 3rd. His faster truck was
trapped behind the 01 and the 18. Around lap 42 Darren Young decided that it was time to
make his move. Young just got into the 01 coming thru the center of turn 1and 2 which
caused him and the 01 to push up the track. Chuck had been on Victor to stay close to
Darren, which was meant that you couldn’t see between the two bumpers very often.
When they slipped up Victor cleanly drove right past the two to take the lead.
Young’s team mate decided he was going to move him in turn three and spun Young out.
After the restart Victor set sail. He had half a lap on second place 35 and would have
possibly lapped Young but with 6 to go the yellow came out. The last restart wasn’t
any problem and Victor easily drove away taking the checkers.
I wish more of these races could be that easy.
We are meeting a lot of special people that want Victor to succeed this year and it is
hard to have the opportunity to thank them much less attempt to pay them back. So please
accept our thanks to everyone that tries to help.
Art Pfluger - Team Owner
June 27, 2007 Click for more photos Debut in Grand National Division at Infineon a Grand Experience
A mad scramble doesn't begin to describe the week leading up to the Infineon Speedway
debut of Victor Pfluger. Since the early days in karting the team has been a
shoestring raceteam, maximizing the sponsorship contributions from their loyal group of
supports - and their first forray into NASCAR was could compare with the story of David
and Goliath. The team has spent enormous energy building a Grand National car to run
at least a portion of the 2007 series. The car, prepped and constructed by Mr. Chuck
Lahorgue of Redding, CA. was finally ready for a maiden voyage at the track that Victor
has dreamed of running since he was just a kid.
With a generous tire sponsorship from Copperstate Tire Company the team knew they could
post an entry in the legendary road course race. Now, it was a week long battle to
gather the troops, and pull the car into shape. Chuck Lahorgue wrangled a number of
experienced pitmen to help with the venture, including Tony Wilhelmson - fuel, Kyle
O'Bryan - jackman, Mike Keckta, Don Frazier - tires, Diana Frazier - catchcan, Devin
Lahorgue - tire carrier.
Thursday and Friday were a flurry of activity with getting to the track, sign-in
registration and the like. The team was thrilled to be pitted between Nextel driver
David Gilliland (who would go on to win the race), and Boris Said - the master of the road
course. With high hopes and the thrill of finally getting to run Infineon, everyone
was looking forward to practice. However, thrill quickly turned to disappointment
when, coming out of turn 10 the car jumped out on a rise and slammed the wall virtually
destroying the entire frontend.
The hopes and dreams of the team were shattered. A quick checkup for Victor in
the medical center as the car was towed to the pits pronounced the driver shaken but
unscathed. Lahorgue and the team surveyed the damage, knowing their budget
limitations opted to pack up and go home. However, the NASCAR officials took a look
at the car and strongly encouraged the downhearted team to attempt to fix the vehicle.
With the determination found only in a group of racers, an epic marathon of repair
began which lasted well into the night. The check-in time for Saturday was 6:00am,
and by then the car was drivable for qualifying. Victor's theory on qualifying the
car was to just make sure it could hold together after having so many repairs made the
night before. All in all qualifying went quite well, and Victor was placed in the
34th starting position.
Off to good start, the young road course warrior held his position and bided his time
till attrition and mechanicals would thin the field. Pitting at the giant
facility in an entirely new format and configuration was a bit intimidating for the young
driver, but the first pit went just fine. Around the 40 lap mark Victor came in for
fuel and tires. After a quick stop, he headed back to the track but merging on he
collided with the #18 of Moses Smith. Smith, who was running in the second position
tagged the #80 in the driver door and sent Victor off on a little dirt-tracking. By
the time Pfluger got the car back on the track he had lost several positions and had gone
down a lap.
Charging forward he held his position and even made up a few spots. As a yellow
caution flag few Victor became the fortunate recipient of the "Lucky Dog" -
putting him back on the lead lap. Staying on the lead lap for the remainder of the
race was the cheif concern and all of the team's attention was focused on keeping that
essential position.
As the checkered flag waved for David Gilliland at the front of the pack, Victor had
managed to stay on the lead lap and finish in an impressive 26th final position ahead of
several series stars including Joey Lagano.
Reflecting back on the weekend Victor could only feel inspired and optimistic about the
entire experience. He and his father both commented on how despite pre-race concerns
about being intimidated by the new division and its ways and means, they felt welcome and
comfortable with the NASCAR officials and facility. "It was one of the first
times we have ever felt as if the racing officials actually WANTED us to be there.
Some tracks and series leave you with the feeling that you are an imposition to them -
rather than their welcomed guests." Said Art Pfluger, team owner and proud father of
Victor.
One of the only regrets of the weekend was the mishap with Moses Smith. Smith,
whom the Pflugers have long considered a friend, was running second when he came into
contact with the #80 of Pfluger. "We couldn't have imagined a worse case
scenario with whom to have a tangle - we just hoped he would accept our apolgies. We
were going to wait a couple of days for the dust to settle then contact Moses, but to our
surprise, he called us on the Tuesday after the race to check on Victor and make sure
everything was ok. Truly a stand-up guy, and a great competitor." Reflected Art about
the whole situation.
The Art and Victor would especially like to thank everyone who helped out with the
weekend. Of course, Chuck Lahorgue - thier tireless crewcheif and builder, Kyle
O'Bryan - who worked very hard to make this race possible, Don and Diana Frazier, Tony
Wilhelmson, Mike and Devin, and Moses Smith. Without the help of Copperstate Tires
the team might not have made this dream come true, so they want to recognize their
extensive contribution.
June 23, 2007
Pfluger Makes NASCAR Debut at Infineon Speedway The road course kid made the show for the Grand
National West Sunscream 200 at Infineon Raceway this weekend. Despite a tough qualifying
time, the young gun, who was relagated to starting in the 34th position stayed on the lead
lap for the entire race while holding off and passing veteran drivers. The week
leading up to this race has been a hectic battle to prep the new GN car and arrange the
tow to Sonoma. But, for the young man who has always dreamed of racing the Everest
of road courses, it has all been worth it.
Photos from Infineon Blue Lizard Suncream 200 - Grand
National Debut - click images for larger versions
FOURTH PLACE FINISH AFTER ROUGH START California Speedway - a road course - Victor's favorite racing, and a
style he has excelled at. His karting background has given him the skills to
navigate thru the turns better than most drivers. Having been the youngest racer in
ASA history to win a race - at the St. John's track, he has shown he has propensity for
turning right.
Practice went smoothly at the beautiful venue and Victor was confident of a strong
qualifying. On the first circuit of qualifying it was apparent that something had
gone amiss with the motor. Clocking in at 2 full seconds off pace proved that there
was work to be done. A quick look under the hood revealed an unhooked spark
plug wire. The Parker Farms, Lahorgue Race Car had qualified on only 7 cylinders and yet
still came up with a 10th place start.
Victor knew he had a fast truck and reckoned that with 45 scheduled minutes of racing
he should be able to make up for the weak starting position. When the flag dropped
the determined points leader immediately began picking up spots. 20 minutes into the race
the leader's fastest lap time was a 1:15:23 and Victor clocked off a 1:13:76. and was
getting faster.
The race was slowed by 2 cautions and but restarts were a breeze for the powerhouse.
27 minutes in sitting in 4th spot and another caution was pulled. As the pack came
around the bend to take the green there was an unexpected surprise. the checkers were
waving 7 mins early - no time remaining to complete the inevitable charge to the lead.
Victor later commented on the shortened race: "We now have to race twice as
hard to keep the points lead. Though it has motivated us to make sure we are at the front
of the field the rest of the year."
May 5, 2007
REBOUNDING FROM TURMOIL Sixteen year old Victor Pfluger proved a lot this past weekend.
This, the first race after the disconcerting claiming of his motor, proved beyond a doubt
that this young gun is definitely a force to be contended with... With a 4th fast
qualifying time and a pill draw of 6 the road course expert was starting second row
inside. As the flag dropped and turn one loomed ahead the leader Scott Franchimone
spun his truck and 2nd place Jim Putnam drove in too hard and slid up the track handing
the lead to a vigilant Pfluger.
Pfluger led the race for four laps before the veteran Darren Young was able to get
around to the lead. Victor hugged Young's bumper for the rest of the race. On
the last lap Pfluger made a hard charge and nearly had the win but the wily Young hung low
and had the advantage for the checkered.
"It could hardly have been better; except for a win, that is" said a proud
Pfluger. The truck started out tight, but with the help of crew chief Chuck Lahorgue
post qualifying changes put the truck into better shape for the main event.
After the race Victor Pfluger was all smiles and said "we really had a good day.
The truck was really hooked although we didn't qualify where we wanted to. But
everything's all good. The new motor that we put in for the race really pulled strong and
we ended up with a second place finish which will help out our points lead and, hopefully,
we can keep up this pace for the rest of the year. "
The incident of the claimed motor turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
"As it turned out, we got a brand new motor which certainly helped us take home
second place and even move us ahead further in the championship points
standings." said Pfluger.
In addition to his fantastic Speed Truck run, Victor pulled double-duty this weekend.
The team brought their recently renovated late model to the road course. This was
the first attempt to run a car with a four speed transmission in preparation for his
hopeful debut in the Grand National West Tour later this season. "With all the
work to put the new motor in the truck the team didn't have a lot of time to invest
in setting up the Late Model properly for the road course. We had kind of a mix, a hybrid,
of circle track and road course parts in the car. However, it proved to be no
challenge to Victor." quoted father, Art. Its a tribute to Chuck's ability to build
us such versatile cars.
Pfluger, who favors road courses, wheeled the late model right past veteran drivers
exclusively run only road courses. Crew chief Chuck Larhorgue wasn't concerned about the
Victor's abilities but was curious to see how Victor would handle the car. Needless
to say,. he was pleased and feels more confident in moving up to the Grand National level.
After a hard fought battle in the truck race Victor got out and right into the Late
model, he started 19th in the GTSC class. He moved him rapidly through the field. Running
some laps 2-3 seconds faster than the leaders. Victor charged into the third spot, and
with time enough to challenge the leaders a flat tire ended the day and the car was put in
the trailer. Victor had a great time in that car while it lasted.
"I want to thank Parker Farms, Maxima Oil, Copperstate Tire and everyone who has
made this possible. Special thanks to Bud Harvey for an awesome transmissions that
takes the beating a road course can dole out."
Next Race - June 1st - California Speedway !!
March 4th, 2007
Pflluger Sets the Bar at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway in Blythe
Victor Pfluger, the 16 year old driver from Morristown, AZ had a fantastic set of runs in
both the Late Model Winter Blast Series and the first race of the ASA Speedtruck
Challenge. Saturday was a double-duty day as Victor and his team had to scramble to ready
both this Late Model and his rebuilt ASA Dodge Speedtruck. Crewchief Chuck Lahorgue was on
hand to make both cars handle perfectly and tag-team spotting with Victor's father, Art
Pfluger. With the Late Model dialed in, Victor stepped out and grabbed the evening's fast
time of 14.784 seconds, well over the second runner's 14.812. The Main Event saw a nine
car field with Victor starting mid-pack. He methodically passed cars till he climbed in
the second spot, but with only a few laps left he wasn't able to take the lead from the 26
car of Gerchman.
Last year in the ASA Speedtruck Challenge the 15 year old Victor finished 4th in overall
points and, this season he is off to a powerful start in his chase for the championship.
The team was apprehensive about this first race in the 2007 Speedtruck series, having
faced mechanical issues and a poor start to the season last year. Add to this the fact
that they hadn't had a chance to shake down the truck and was running it green without any
practice sessions. Apprehension quickly turned to relief and excitement as Victor set
another fast time with a 14.823 second lap edging out Andy Allen and Jim Putman. The
Speedtruck Trophy Dash saw Victor dominate the field to take the checkered for the win.
The Main Event had 15 trucks starting and the line-up put Victor inside second row behind
pole-sitter Jim Putnam and second spot Andy Allen. From the first lap on Victor ran a
strong second place as he and Putnam pulled out to a commanding lead over the rest of the
pack. At times the duo was nearly half a lap ahead of the third spot. When the checkered
fell, Victor had taken second place and proven he is a contender for the championship this
season.
"We are thrilled to have such a great start in the trucks this year." Said a
exultant Victor. "We are very grateful to Chuck (LaHorgue) for coming down and making
this evening such a success, and want to thank Bud Harvey who built us a great
transmission that worked without a hitch." The next ASA Truck race is at Orange Show
Speedway, a favorite of Victor and many of the other truck racers. For more information
about Victor and to see where his point standings end up after this great weekend - visit:
www.VictorPfluger.com
From the Pits
Dear Race Fans, The Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/Copperstate Tire race team has been busy. Victor
took his late model to Blythe for the Feb 3rd race and the Feb 17th race. While we didn't
take home a win, we have learned some things that will come in very helpful during the
upcoming season
Feb3rd race. We went out on Friday for practice. Chuck Lahorgue had given us a new set-
up to try. We went out for two sessions and the car was so good we were tempted to
load it and wait for race time. We tried a few more things and over the course of the
weekend we found that the front brakes were beginning to show a performance degradation,
however we didn’t worry about it too much.
On race day we went out for practice and again the car was good. There were 12 cars
which is a good car count for Blythe. Victor qualified 3 tenths of a second faster than he
has ever done in the late model at Blythe with a 14.9 but Justin Johnson broke the track
record with a 14.61. We got our race tires broken in and Matt noticed that the left front
had lost a lot of air, I went and spoke with the tire guy and he said we should go out and
qualify and then he would check it out. The tire turned out to have a fatal hole. He gave
us a new tire but it was too late to get any laps on it and it was a lot different size
than the other so it really played havoc on our set up.
Chuck advised us to use the left front from practice even though it had a lot of laps
on it because the size was closer. Victor was doing real well, it was a 50 lap race and it
went 30 laps green. Then we had a couple of cautions. We were running 4th. With 7 laps
left they restarted and Victor got a good run on the 3rd place car. The 3rd place car
decided to come down the track and try to pass the 2nd place car at the same time. Two
cars in the same real-estate doesn’t work. Blythe rules state that all cars
involved in a yellow flag incident go to the back. We felt bad for the other car, but it
was a racing deal and we meant nothing intentional. We had 6 laps left and went from the
12th spot to a 7th place finish. Not what we had hoped for, but the car handled so well
until the tire problem threw off the setup, yet we were happy.
The weekend of February 17th was a fight from the minute we unloaded. Victor and I
rebuilt the brake calipers and put in new pads and felt that we had solved the brake
problem before we had left home. But we were wrong; the master cylinder for the
fronts was done. We don’t carry a spare. Seems that others had the same problem we
found 3 other teams that replaced the same part so no one had any spares left. Matt Wolfe
was coming on Saturday to help so he brought some spare stuff but he didn’t have
exactly what we wanted. We installed what we had and made the best of it, but we
just couldn’t get the handle back that Victor wanted.
In qualifying Victor laid down a 14.794, what a surprise. Only problem was Shriner ran
a 14.790, now that’s close, we gladly took teh second and went on. Went out for
the feature 35 lap race. There were only 8 cars this time but the front 4 checked out.
Victor was in 3rd from the drop of the green and was right there all night. There
just weren’t any openings to get around. At lap 25 the 39 had used up his tires
trying to pass the 26 and was sideways the whole back stretch and finally lost it. Victor
got blamed. I couldn’t really fault officials as, unless you were standing at the
right angle I’m sure that that’s the way it looked, but when it was over the
front of our car didn’t have a mark on it, but we had to go to he back.
With 6 laps left, they dropped the green and Victor went to work and made his way back
to 3rd at the end. As the cars came into the pits the 39 came in after us and rear ended
Victor to let him know how he felt. We spoke with track officials and they again assured
us that they may have made a mistake and they would speak with the 39 car and team about
proper behavior. The sad thing is that with the low car count and these other problems
they are contemplating suspending the rest of the season for this division. We will have
to see what they decide.
We want to thank Matt Wolfe for his assistance the last two races. Matt has people of
his own to try to ready for the season. Matt has tried also to help with some discounts on
some new safety gear for Victor. We look forward to having Matt help us more in the coming
year. Chuck LaHorgue of course still is the brains in this operation and we look forward
to racing with Chuck at the track with the start of the Truck season. With the
improvements in the late model the last two qualifying session it is exciting to get the
truck season under way. Mr. Mondello has furnished us with some new parts that should help
our engine program this season. We hope to get them in play soon.
December 4, 2006
Dear Race Fans,
We are, like a lot of teams, trying to come up with new ideas to get our need of sponsor
message out in front of more people. In an effort to do this we took the Parker
Farms/Mondello Tech Center/LaHorgue Race Cars/Copperstate Tire Speed Truck to the annual Toys
for Tots Car show. The entry fee was an unwrapped toy. While I had previously
started to repair the bodywork in anticipation of next year, it was far from perfect.
After all, it is a race car, not a show car.
There were over 500 cars in attendance, so you will share our surprise when we were
given a top 10 plaque. Car Shows at this level are a lot less stressful than a race. Our
intention was to just have a new opportunity to meet new people, which of course we did.
Initial response to our sponsorship requests were met with enthusiam, and we can hope that
someone will go home and figure out the benefits of a sponsorship of our team and contact
us for arrangments. We do get to leave knowing we did our share to help a worthy charity.
They raised a lot of money and gathered a lot of toys.
Art Pfluger
November 17, 2006 - View Slide Show from
the Race !
Dear Race Fans,
The Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/LaHorgue Race Cars Speed Truck season is over and what a
season it has been. In our area the race season is never over for very many days.
Sometimes I’m not sure if that is a good thing.
It has been a challenging year. Many things that were out of our control kept pushing
us on our toes and struggling to keep the car at its best. Every team starts the
season hoping to be a key player for the Championship, but the championship was not to be
ours this year. Troubles began when we had the unfortunate insurance situation with
the Irwindale race. We weren’t allowed to run because of an miscommunication between
by the series and the insurance company. This left me unsure if we could make the top ten.
At the Las Vegas race in June we cut down a tire under green flag and lost crucial laps.
Each race presented new challenges and struggles ...
The point is that everyone connected with our team never gave up. Finishing this
tough series in fourth place was a great step up from last season when you consider our
18th place finissh. We are proud of the fact that we were only out of the top ten
when we lost the tire I think we need to be happy and start working for new goals in
’07.
I want to thank Mr.and Mrs. Parker for their continued support for this season and
their commitment to help us again to the ’07 season. Mr.Mondello played a part
with all of his technical input and for connecting us with other people that helped.
Mr.Mondello has promised even more support for the coming year and will be
assembling some motors for us in ‘07.
Mr.MacQuarrie at NGK Plugs gave us great support with Spark Plugs this year. His
company supplied us with all that we needed and the “right ones” this year. Pro
Blends gave us some of their additives which played a part in the fact that we ran our
drive train to the limit and it all lived for the whole season. I can honestly say that
there weren’t any of the top ten teams that can say that.
Bud Harvey gave us even better transmissions this year than last. We didn’t know
that was possible. We were the ONLY team to make the season on one transmission. Jim
Clinton, thanks for hanging tough and working many hours looking for more support so we
can keep going with the dream. Jack Waterman has done a beautiful job with the
website and donated it all. He has been a great source of support when you come home and
things haven’t gone all that well.
Thanks to Ben and Mary Weidling for the support they gave. We welcome our newest
sponsor Copperstate Tire in Phoenix. We hope that we can get everyone that lives in our
area to support their business. Jerry Auck from Danny’s Chrome Oasis is a continual
friend and has taken his time to find ways to assist. There are many more but I’m
running out of paper. I hope every one has had some enjoyment from the season and will
continue to follow and support Victors’ career as he continues on.
Last I need to thank Chuck LaHorgue. The man has been through hell this year with us.
He never stops working from the time we hit the track until we go home. He puts up with
us, especially me. I know I have annoyed him more than once, not intentionally. I have
learned volumes from him this season and still know little. He never stops looking to help
Victor and us. I really don’t have the words to express how I feel and I’m
frustrated as he has become such a huge part of our lives. I bother this man many days a
week interrupting his work to ask questions. We take him away from his family many
weekends a year. My sincerest hope is that we will work together for many years to come.
We still have T shirts for sale and will have DVD’s of the last eight races
available for purchase soon, so tell all of your friends. I hope everyone is finding
opportunities to see the broadcasts of the races this year. They are very well done.
I’m told that we will have 14 races televised next year on this same channel. This is
what the sponsors want and have asked me for, is the TV package, so we will be returning
to the ASA Speed Truck Challenge next season.
Thanks many times to all. Have a safe and wonderful holiday season.
And lets get ready to RACE.
Sincerely, Art Pfluger
October 7, 2006
ASA Speedtruck Firebird Road Race The Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/LaHorgue Race Cars entry had another solid race
finish at the very technical Firebird road course. We had a disappointing qualifying
session with an 11th place effort, but Victor redeemed the weekend for all of us finishing
4th in the main event. In addition to another top five finish, I believe that we might
receive the Hard Charger Award.
About halfway through the race the 35 truck was just a little faster than us. He
overdrove the number one corner in an attempt to pass us and ended up spinning Victor.
With good reflexes and cool thinking Victor was able to keep his truck running and grab
another gear and get back on track without giving up any positions. We were however some
distance behind the 35 truck. Victor did his best and did reel him in but there just
wasn’t enough time and equipment to get to catch him and make the pass. The 35 had
been penalized with a stop and go for spinning the 15 truck a few laps earlier.
Friday's practice was an unusual affair with morning rain and cooler temps. We were within
a tenth of the fastest trucks all day. Race day, however, was significantly warmer and our
truck picked up an unexpected push. With his many laps on road courses Victor was able to
make the best of it and use the runoff curbs to try to help get the truck to turn. This
race, as with the recent St.Johns race, found the top running teams willing to spend money
for new tires most every session. Limited by budget we could only get Victor one set for
practice and one for race day. While many of the other trucks experienced
transmission problems, we are still running the same transmission that we started the year
with. The effort Chuck and Bud put into changes this season to help transmissions life has
paid off.
We believe that we should have picked up fourth place in the points if you do the math to
figure out the throwaway race. We hope all will watch the upcoming Television coverage of
the past races. We of course haven’t seen them and it will be interesting to see how
they compare to last season. (Click Here for TV Schedule)
We continue to be grateful to everyone that has helped in anyway this season to help. We
have 2 races left.
Art Pfluger
October 2, 2006
Blythe Season Opener
Dear Race Fans,
The Blythe Late Model season opened this weekend and with a bang. The race was as as
exciting as you could hope to see. The top 5 this season are going to be something to
watch and some of the new competitors have the potential to be fast after they get a
little experience. Veteran Blythe competitor Mark Schriner said “It used to
be that I had to worry about one or two other guys here now I have at least 5 guys I have
to contend with and until all of the other tracks end their seasons it could get even more
competitive”.
Victor ran one of the best races I have seen. We were struggling this weekend but the
Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/LaHorgue Race Cars still finished a strong 2nd. We didn’t
get the car together in time and missed practice. Chuck was very busy this weekend working
with Cattanach at the Win-River 100 and it was difficult to get his input. We qualified
3rd but we were .4 seconds behind. We didn’t let it upset us as bad as we used to but
it was still worrisome, but Blythe is such a tight track passing is done only if the guy
in front of you over drives a corner so you can get under him or if you turn him around.
The 39 car started right behind us and beat on our bumper for the first 25 or so laps.
Ron Daniels has been running Late Models for many years. After the race he told Victor,
”I did everything but turn you around and you did a hell of a job hanging on to
it. You saved it more the once and still ran your race”.
None of us want to turn anyone. You don’t want to get sent to the back and mostly
none of us want to pay for a lot of damage. Late in the race Victor was able to get around
the 2nd place car and head for the 1st place car but ran out of time. At one point while
working his way around the 86 car we thought we took him out. After the race his spotter
told us that he made a mistake and told him he was clear and he turned down on the nose of
Victor. The 86 did a great job of saving it but used up the right side bodywork of our car
doing it. I guess I will be doing my best imitation of a body man before the next race.
This month is very hectic with races every weekend for the next few weeks. The Speed
Truck race the 7th at Firebird, back at Blythe the 14th and the Speed Truck race and a
Late Model race at Havasu on the 21st. We will go over the set up with Chuck in the
coming week and try to find ideas to give Victor something better.
Thanks to all of our supporters.
September 21, 2006
Dear Race Fans, What a
race, Victor finished a strong 4th. It was what you expect from a ¼ mile track, carnage
en masse. There were 18 trucks, but there were some that didn’t make it to the end.
Two of them were in the top three in points. These experienced racers sure aren’t
looking at the big picture. Of course we got our share of bodywork homework. We got
slammed in the first couple of laps then later drilled by a driver in the rear which
almost put Victor in the wall. Several laps later he over drove turn 4, rubbed the wall
and knocked the front end out of alignment. He had to settle for riding around and ending
up laps down.
Photos by www.101foto.com
After all this we got freight-trained and ended up back in 9th behind the 38 truck.
Victor was faster than the 38, but the 38 could hold the bottom of the track. Wanting to
race clean as always, all we could do is keep the pressure on and ride. Victor got inside
of the 38 around lap 50 and they went several laps side by side. The caution came out and
the track officials scored the 38 in front. So Victor had to start over.
This about the time when the #9 truck of made hard contact with Boat and into the back
straight wall he went leaving him with heavy damage. A few laps later the 9 decide
to try to muscle Lee Hatch. The two of them went at it for awhile until they finally
took each other out. The #9 did return to the track but was laps down. Through all
of these antics Victor just kept working the #38. We finally got around him about lap 70.
Victor set sail and the next couple of trucks had a little more respect and let us go with
only a little challenge.
At lap 90, Victor made it up to 4th behind the #35 truck. He was having the same
problem, he was faster than the 12 truck, in second, but didn’t want to turn him.
Victor worked on #35 bumper for ten laps right up to the checkers, and took 4th.
It was a 100 lap event, but they counted all of the yellow flag laps. If they would
have run it without the yellows counting, like normal, we would probably of had a
different outcome.
Officially we will now move into at least 5th. Until they post the official scoring we
won’t know exactly where we are. In the meantime I will be very busy with repairs to
have the 80 truck ready for the challenging Firebird West Road Course. Remember the date
has changed for the Lake Havasu to Oct 21. This change has left us without a Crew Chief
again as Chuck LaHorgue has a prior commitment.
Art Pfluger
September 6, 2006
Dear Race Fans, St. Johns
has come and gone. Victor scored a great 4th place finish, not bad as a follow-up
from a victory here last season. Trying to duplicate a win on a track, especially a
win where you were the youngest driver in history to claim the checkered is a tough
prospect. We did have a good time and enjoyed the cooler temps. Going from the
hectic times at circle track races to the slower pace at a road course was hard to adjust
to. The weather played a big factor. The track conditions changed dramatically thoughout
the day and the race. We missed having Chuck LaHorgue with us and fully understood the
situation, but sure wished he was there. We want to thank the Parker Family and the crew
from Danny’s Chrome shop, Jerry, Jennifer and Marco for making the long drive and
attending the race. Bud Harvey, who builds our transmissions and helps me from time to
time with a variety of projects made the long trip and was with us for the whole weekend.
We did get a little racing luck this weekend. When we got the truck home we found that the
truck had a puncture in the right rear tire. We will never know if this had an impact on
the handling of the truck later in the race. After the race we were required to take the
truck to tech, normal procedure. It had started sprinkling a little rain the last few
laps, but as we rolled into tech it really cut loose. We therefore didn’t get a
chance to record any post race tire info. They ended up canceling post race tech
inspection.
We are steadily moving up in the series points after the huge hit we took because of the
first Irwindale Insurance fiasco and the cut down tire at Las Vegas. Neither of these
situations was in our control. We have come back from the 14th spot to 6th in points at
this time. There are still enough races left in the season to continue to improve our
position and we plan on doing just that.
Next on the schedule is Orange Show for the last time this season. We did very well there
last time with a 3rd place finish. So we are all looking forward to that. We sincerely
hope that we can have all of our supporters at the Firebird Road Course in Oct.
July 18, 2006
Dear Race Fans, It was a scorching hot night at Madera Speedway on the track
and off. Victor's Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/Lahorgue Race Cars entry was ready to go the
100-lap distance and run up front. Victor again had a good qualifying effort ending up 5th
quick, .06 seconds behind Darren Young the pole sitter. “I was real happy to be in
the Trophy Dash for the second race in a row, said Victor. We are having a lot better year
than last.”
The inversion was again 6 trucks putting Victor outside pole. Starting on the outside
is difficult at these small tracks in a spec motor vehicle. You don’t have enough
difference in power to be able to jump out front when the flag drops. Lee Hatch pulled out
to a one-truck length lead in 2 laps and pulled Chad Boat along with him, there just
wasn’t any room for Victor to get to the bottom. A hole opened up in front of Randell
King and as Victor moved down King picked up enough to lay a bumper on him. Victor was
able to recover and hold position but slowed just enough for Scott Dodd to make a bonsai
move coming back into turn one. Dodd used us for brakes and took Victor around. Victor and
Dodd were sent to the rear of the field.
Victor immediately started working his way back up thru the field. Later in the race
Victor made slight contact with another truck trying to get thru traffic and knocked the
front-end alignment out on the truck. It didn’t really affect us until the final 20
laps but that along with the fight to move forward we used up our tires. With 5 or 6 laps
left Dodd was able to pass for 6th place. The last 20 laps we could see 5th place and were
closing on Darren but ran out of truck and laps.
We have been top ten, with the exception of Irwindale (not allowed to race) and Vegas with
the cut tire, all season. We are really having a good season and are a team on the move.
We had a few minutes to visit with Robbie Moore who is the official tire supplier to the
Speed Truck series and to some of the other tracks that we run. He is always a friendly
face. We expressed an interest in trying to find a way to run the Grand National series
next year. Mr.Moore came back a few minutes later and said he would be real interested in
helping us with contacts and finding crew people, etc. He was really into the idea by the
time the night was over. It still is going to be an enormous task to try to put something
together for this series. Of course Mr.Moores interest also hinged on Chuck heading up the
team.
This was the first race taped for TV to be broadcast on OLN. With the in-car cameras in
almost every truck it should be an interesting show. We are waiting to hear as to whether
we will be allowed to race the up coming Irwindale race.
Breaking a two race slump, Victor Pfluger stormed back to a 3rd place finish at the ASA
Speedtruck event at Orange Show Speedway on Saturday. A 5th place qualifying time only
6/10th of a second off fast time combined with an inversion to put the young hotshoe on
the outside pole for the start of the 100 lap feature. As the green flag dropped Victor
settled into the second spot for a long ride trailing Darren Young. Forty laps of chasing
the leader and dodging lapped traffic afforded the young driver a lesson in patience. But
it was lap traffic near the halfway point that allowed former Speedtruck champion Lee
Hatch to push past Victor to take the second spot. For the remaining laps Victor driving
his Parker Farms, Mondello Tech Center powerhouse held a strong line and held off Chad
Boat and fast time qualifier Randel King as well as the rest of the Truck Challengers.
Coming from a Karting and background and taking several Dwarf Car honors, Victor has
quickly moved up to Late Models and the Speedtrucks. Last year the Pflugers and
Thunderwave racing joined forces with Chuck Lahorgue of Redding California after being
introduced by the Cattanach race team. "Chuck is a great person to work with and
gives 100 percent to all of his customers" says Victor's father Art. Victor is
grateful for having such a supportive team, "We will never know why Chuck LaHorgue
and Kyle Cattanach decided to take us under their wing last season but it sure has had an
impact on my career”, said Victor. “My dad works all week to try to give me a
great car to take to the track, but it is Chuck that is giving us the setups. At the track
after each run in the Late Model you will see either my dad or I on the phone with Chuck
getting his expertise on how to change the car.”
The ASA Speedtruck series has been a real challenge for Victor and the Thunderwave Racing
Team. Starting the season with two top ten finishes Victor was fated as one of the young
drivers turned away from the Irwindale Speedtruck race due to an insurance debacle. The
fourth race at Tucson was then canceled when the facility changed management. The Las
Vegas race had good potential to continue his top ten finishes, but a cut tire relegated
him to a 12th place finish.
In breaks from the Truck schedule Victor has been traveling. Victor's Late Model program
has been the strong suit all year and at the encouragement of car builder and crewchief
Chuck Lahorgue Victor made the long tow to Northern California to run back to back
weekends at Shasta Speedway Park. The first race was the North State Challenge Series
where an early race tangle in just in front of Victor left him no where to turn and the
damage sustained forced him to end his night. However, spending a week of non-stop work on
the car under the experta tutalage of Lahorgue Victor was ready to take on the seasoned
drivers of the Westcar series. Entering the show as a rookie Victor wowed the officials by
setting the 3rd fastest time which left him primed for the Trophy Dash where he dominated
over more experienced drivers to take the win and cash. But it was the Main Event that
proved Victor's skill. A gas cap mishap forced Victor to a quickstop on the parade lap
dropping him from front runner to a last place start. Despite this the young powerhouse
smoothly, cleanly and patiently wended his way back to a 7th place finish.
Next stop: July 15th at Madera Speedway and a 100 laps around its 1/3 mile oval. Victor is
anxiously waiting for the St. John's Grand Prix on Sept. 2nd. Victor was the youngest
driver in history to win the ASA Speedtruck event at this race. His skill in Karting is
really put to use here at this challenging course.
Victor and Art want to give special thanks to The Parkers of Parker Farms, the Mondellos -
Mondellos Tech Center, Jerry Auck from the Chrome Oasis and many more are constantly in
our thoughts as we are eternally in debt for their efforts. You can find out more about
Victor and follow his career at his website - VictorPlfuger.com.
From the Pits
July 3, 2006
Dear Race Fans,
It was hot, but a great night at Orange Show Speedway for the Parker Farms/Mondello Tech
Center/LaHorgue Race Cars entry. Victor scored his first top five on an oval in a Speed
Truck. He qualified 5th, which is our best this year, and finished the night in 3rd. We
were in the trophy dash but in 5th place you really don’t have a chance to win
without risking the safety of the truck. We just used it for a last minute test. Victor
was fast all weekend. His times would have put him solidly in the show from the first lap
on Friday practice; we just worked to get a little better. If you take the two races out
of the Speed Truck year that we had no control over, Victor has done very well with 2 top
tens and one top five. It was disappointing not to take the Late Model, I love to watch
him drive that car, but we couldn’t find any help and it was probably just as well
because of the heat. We will try again to take it when we return there in the fall. The
Speed Truck officials have announced that there will be a TV package after all. It will be
on OLN this year with 8 races being broadcast. We will get details out, as we are made
aware. The next race at Madera will be the first to be taped for these shows. It will be
cool this year with the in car camera that Victor has. If anyone wants their logo on the
in car camera let us know and we will get the financial details.
The relationship between Victor and Chuck LaHorgue just gets better every time we race.
Victor and Chuck worked through the heat and just fine-tuned the setup until we were
pretty awesome. Truck number 35 Randall King was fast time at 14.095 and Victor came in
with a 14.15. That is close, especially for us. We have watched as some of the new drivers
come into the series and set some pretty good qualifying times only to be very slow once
the feature race starts. We seem to be the opposite. During the middle of the race Darren
Young seemed to just be on cruise control. He would pull a lead on us and then just sit
there, but late in the race we had a better set up and we were catching second place Lee
Hatch. Both Lee and Darren are veteran drivers of the series and have many years in these
trucks. Also we tried some new things with engine tuning that I believed helped and I want
to thank Daryll Patullo and Joe Mondello for their respective input in helping me make it
better. I will be working with them again before the next race to try some more ideas.
Our next race is at Madera California. We haven’t ever been there before, but
neither have most of the other drivers we will see if this levels the playing field a bit.
Please check out the website as Jack Waterman has worked hard to come up with some new
content. Jack has done a great job with our site and has become a great friend and
supporter. We hope we can keep his creative genius going. Lastly, Jim Clinton has worked
very hard to come up with some new things for the team and we are finishing these up this
week. If anyone of our fans have any marketing ideas let me know and I will pass them on
to Jim or put you in touch with him. We also have hero cards available to everyone for the
asking along with posters. You can furnish these to your local pub or dining
establishment, just let me know.
Sincerely, Art Pfluger
June 28th, 2006
2006 NATIONAL TELEVISION
We were notified yesterday that SPEED Channel will not broadcast our television shows in
2006. However, the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) has agreed to broadcast 8 original and 8
repeat ASA STC television shows in the 4th quarter of 2006. We are finalizing the
agreement with OLN and NeWave Video Productions currently. We will announce formally today
or tomorrow with the broadcast dates and time on OLN which delivers its broadcasts to 72
million homes. As we have stated before, “It’s not how you start, it’s how
you finish.”
Upland, California….June 28th, 2006….ASA Speed Truck Challenge president, Jay
Rutherford, Go Fast Sports and Exposure Racing are proud to announce that after diligently
pursuing several major networks to negotiate a very special ASA Speed Truck Challenge
television series, an agreement was reached today to broadcast on the Outdoor Life Network
(OLN) with a sixteen broadcast (8 original and 8 repeat) program. The television shows
will broadcast consecutively in the 4th quarter of 2006 when race fans are hungry for
racing. Broadcast dates and times are being pulled together currently, and will be
announced soon.
ASA Speed Truck Challenge continues to run its exhilarating 2006 schedule and the
introduction of televising this new format show will certainly add much to the overall
program and the financial possibilities for all driver partnership sponsors. Especially
with 4th quarter broadcasts as sponsors can see the shows while creating their 2007
advertising and sponsorship budgets. Steve Grein from NeWave Video Productions states
“We have worked very hard for several months to advance the ASA Speed Truck Challenge
from a 25 million household network in 2005 to OLN which is in over 72 million homes for
2006. It is a huge jump for everyone involved and we are very excited for Jay, the Speed
Truck teams and the sponsors. This is truly an awesome deal for the series.” Grein
concluded.
“All those associated with this tedious process, NeWave Video Productions, Purcell
Productions, Exposure Racing, Go Fast Sports, ASA and many others, are to be thanked for
their efforts on behalf of ASA Speed Truck Challenge” stated Jay Rutherford.
“And, we wish to express special thanks to all owners and drivers for their patience
as ASA Speed Truck Challenge put the final touches on this major national television
broadcast decision and we will continue to grow to meet new challenges in this competitive
industry.” Rutherford concluded.
OLN is the leader in competitive and adrenaline-charged content. Now in more than 72
million homes, OLN is the cable home of the National Hockey League and best-in-class
events like The Tour de France, The America’s Cup, Professional Bull Riders (PBR),
the Boston Marathon and USSA Skiing. The network offers unique programming in four primary
areas: Action Sports, Field Sports, Bulls & Rodeo and Awe-Inspiring Series, and is the
exclusive home of Survivor in syndication. OLN, a wholly owned company of Comcast
Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite
operators throughout the United States.
Contacts:
Jay Rutherford, President
Barb Winston -
Bill McCloud, Managing Partners
ASA Speed Truck Challenge
Exposure Racing
909-949-4780
888-986-1022
June 19, 2006
Dear Race Fans,
It was a challenging weekend for the Parker Farms/Mondello Tech/LaHorgue Race Cars. Early
in the race we cut a tire down. By the time it could be changed under green flag
conditions our night was over, we were 6-9 laps down. Victor went back on the track
a number of laps down to put in time and salvage the points we could.
The night turned into a wreck fest. Chuck told Victor not to race with anyone, just put
in the time. No sense in tearing up the truck. We have no idea at this time where we
officially finished due to all of the trucks wrecking and having mechanical problems. We
also weren’t the only people to have cut tire problems. Taking that into
consideration we decided to continue to gain points.
Victor has matured a lot and is very good at following Chuck Lahorgue's instructions
and not let the situation get to him. I’m very proud of his progress and the
relationship between driver and crew chief. Victor was very calm at Shasta in the fuel cap
incident and stayed calm and listened to Chuck and worked his way forward. He gained a lot
of respect from the Westcar officials by doing this.
Through all of this I realize that inspite of the challenges and problems, I am a lucky
man. I’m consumed with the daily problems of readying race cars and worrying to death
about where the money will come from and if am I making the right decisions for all of
this. On the long ride home today I stopped and thought long enough to realize that I do
have problems that could end my sons career before he can realize his potential, but some
of my friends are fighting life and I wish that there was something that I could do to
help. I also have a great wife that tolerates Victor and I through this racing business
and she does all of the crummy work that needs done but doesn’t get any glory. I know
that my wife would like to go to a couple of races and sit in the stands and watch her son
with out having to run a stop watch or video camera. Just watch him race. I also have a
son that works very hard at his schoolwork while racing and continues to make me proud by
just being a good person.
On fathers day I’m also thankful that somehow Chuck LaHorgue came along and has
helped us learn and grow as a team. If we can keep him and find the other things we need
to continue I know that he and Victor will have many more wins than flat tires. I of
course am grateful to those people that do see a future for Victor and do what they can to
contribute in many different ways to keep us going. The Parkers, the Mondellos, Jerry Auck
from the Chrome Oasis and many more are constantly in our thoughts as we are eternally in
debt for their efforts. There are more people than I can mention today, so keep checking
that sponsor page on the website where we try to honor the efforts of all of the friends
that work hard to keep Victor at the track. I can only ask that these fine people continue
to support our efforts.
This week we have a weekend off. We will go to Orange Show Speedway next in San
Bernadino, Ca.
Sincerely,
Art Pfluger
From the Pits: Dear Race Fans,
There has been so much happening with the Parker Farms/Mondello Tech Center/LaHorgue Race
Car and most of it while we are on the road. I will try to fill you all in. As most know,
the Tucson race was cancelled, so our Crew Chief Chuck LaHorgue made some arrangements
with the track promoter at Shasta Raceway to allow Victor to race a couple of races
at the Anderson California track. We ran both the NSCS (Northstate Challlenge
Series) and the Westcar
Shasta Raceway is a gorgeous facility and George Wade, the promoter, was a wonderful
host. We can’t thank him enough for all of the courtesy he extended to us. We
hope to return for a Westcar race at this track in October. Victor felt that
he had some big shoes to fill at Shasta Raceway. Our Late Model Car was purchased
from Kyle Cattanach and he had done well with it and this is Kyle’s backyard.
It is also home to LaHorgue Race Cars so we of course wanted to put our best effort in.
Kyle has been someone for Victor to model his career after and most importantly he and his
family have been great friends to all of us.
The North State race was kind of like going to a gunfight with a popgun. There were
cars there with over 800 horsepower. Chuck had warned us not to get our hopes up and
to just take advantage of the seat time. Our motor wasn’t designed to run with a 4
barrel and it was Victor's first time at this track and on 10” tires. The
Friday practice rained out which left us at a real disadvantage. Victor and Chuck worked
real hard on race day practice to dial the car in but chased it hard right up until
qualifying. Our qualifying effort wasn’t as good as we hoped for and we were 23 out
24. We were only a few hundredths away from a better starting spot but it didn’t
matter as they decided to start all cars. Victor got caught up in a wreck on lap 9,
breaking a pitman’s arm and ending the night. For those first laps we were right
there and left knowing that we could have been a decent car. We spent the next week
literally camping at Chuck’s shop fixing the damage to the car and getting ready for
the Westcar race. With other cars being unexpectedly wrecked that are customers of the
LaHorgue facility, it was a busy and stressful week. There was more than once that Chuck
would have been happy to get rid of me but we all muddled thru and made the best of it.
Chuck is a great person to work with and gives 100 percent to all of his customers.
On to the Westcar. We rolled thru Tech, we had some things that weren’t up to
their rules, but at first they didn’t want to worry about it. They didn’t feel
that we were all that fast. After the third practice we went from a second behind the pace
to 3rd fastest. But then there was a problem. Chuck had to make some innovative trackside
changes to get the officials happy. As always Chuck just made the best of it and we got
everyone happy. We went out for qualifying, which has been a weak point for Victor. Victor
went 3rd fastest, which put him in the trophy dash.
In only his second start at Shasta, Victor won the trophy dash fairly easily. It was
time for the main. On the parade lap we could see fuel coming out of the car. Victor was
forced to pull in and Cattanach’s crew quickly put the fuel cap on correctly that I
had messed up. I just didn’t get it on straight. We were penalized and put to the end
of the field, 20th of 20. Though it was a long climb thru the pack of cars Victor made a
head-turning 7th place finish. It was an excellent finish for our first race in this
series. Also it was only Victors 9th race in this type of race car.
I’d like to include more but we have to check out of the motel and get on the road
home to get ready for Vegas next Friday. As always we want to thank all of our supporters.
We especially want to thank Jim and Sheila Parker, Joe Mondello, and Chuck LaHorgue.
Without these people it wouldn’t happen.
Sincerely,
Art Pfluger
April 29, 2006 Victor Pfluger scores Bullring Top 10 Win
Dear Race Fans, Competitors in all sports probably agree that anything less
than winning isn’t what you are there competing for. At the same time most of us that
start a sport and move up through the various levels of the sport have to realize that it
takes time and effort to improve your skills. That’s where Victor is at this time. We
are competing in the toughest series we are allowed to run at this time and we are
improving every time we leave home. This weekend we again found ourselves with the deck
stacked against us. During qualifying the electronic scoring device known as a
transponder, unknown to us, wasn’t working. Victor had a qualifying run we estimated
to put us in 10-12 starting position. Victor took his machine back to our pit space for us
to start prepping for race time. We had a rear wheel apart trying to tighten a wheel
bearing and check the drive flange when the track officials arrive and tell us we have 2
minutes max to make it back on the track to requalify. We also were informed that this
time, we would get only one lap. Needless to say we didn’t have a good qualifying
effort. It was an unfortunate mess and not of our doing. We qualified in 16th place out of
a 25 car field. Regardless, that that was better than the alternative of starting last. We
finished on the lead lap in 9th. Victor did get the Hard Charger Award of the race for
moving up 7 positions. This is his first of these awards for our driver.
It wasn’t the finish that we wanted, but our crew chief Chuck LaHorgue was happy.
Chuck said, “The main thing is that Victor is learning and improving every time we go
to the track.” Even though we are all extremely happy with the relationship between
all of us and Mr.LaHorgue I think we have had our expectations too high. We can’t
expect to go from inexperience, to the winners circle, in the first several races just
because Chuck is running the show. He and Victor need time to go to a few of these tracks
and work together and get in a groove so that all of us can fine tune these setups for
Victors comfort level. We will gain some ground in the points with this finish with plenty
of time to continue to move up. There are a lot of races left in the season and 2 top tens
isn’t something to hang your head about. We are also coming home with our truck in
one piece. Some cosmetic paint, vinyl damage, and a couple of cracks in the fiberglass is
all we have to deal with. Many of our competitors are dealing with a lot worse. We are
happy with the improvements in our truck program but there isn’t any doubt that
Victor would rather be in a late model series. There are many reasons to stay in the truck
series at this time, but Chuck feels that Victor needs to continue to race this series
with the high level of competition. The truck also forces Victor to continue to become a
finesse driver.
We want to thank Rick Fasano for coming to Las Vegas and making a contribution to the
efforts in the pits. Of course we also want to make it expressly clear how much we
appreciate Chuck LaHorgue and his contributions. We want everyone to keep checking the
website for new information. We are also asking that everyone please notify the team of
even the smallest lead on any potential sponsors.
Thanks for your time. It is time for me to start preparing the truck for Irwindale on
May 13th.
Art Pfluger
ASA Speedtrucks to Run the Bullring “The April 29th race will see new sponsors highlighting the 101 lap race in
appreciation for 101foto.com and United Nissan stepping to the plate for this race and the
June 17th race with the new fees associated with business model changes at the Bullring.
We can’t thank them enough for their help and support. Chek ‘em out at
101foto.com and United Nissan.com.” Rutherford concluded.
From the Pits: April 17, 2006
Dear Race Fans, In his 7th start ever in the Parker Farms/Mondello Tech Center /LaHorgue
Race Car Late Model stock car, Victor Pfluger scored his first win in the season closer at
I-10 Speedway in Blythe Ca. Victor is coming off a great start to the Speed Truck season
at Orange Show Speedway and a 2nd place finish in his LaHorgue built Late Model at that
venue. We would like to thank Lucas Oil, Mr. Scheidecker, and his staff for giving us a
great venue to race at.
Fate is a funny thing. Victor has had a couple of people involved in his racing career
that have had an important impact. Two of the best are named Chuck. “We will never
know why Chuck LaHorgue and Kyle Cattanach decided to take us under their wing last season
but it sure has had an impact on my career”, said Victor. “My dad works all week
to try to give me a great car to take to the track, but it is Chuck that is giving us the
setups. At the track after each run in the Late Model you will see either my dad or I on
the phone with Chuck getting his expertise on how to change the car. I like it better on
Speed Truck weekends when he is right there, but there have to be compromises.”
We sincerely hope we can keep Mr. LaHorgue interested in coaching our team for a long time
to come. Chuck Esterline has been building my Karting motors and was the one that kept us
racing on those days when things didn’t go so well. Mr.Esterline along with Daryl
Patullo built our motor package for our late model. In the end the driver still has to get
up on the wheel keep his concentration, run his line and not over drive his piece. Victor
has the ability to get in that groove and just keep going.
We will have to park the Late Model for now as we are running dangerously low on race
funds. We will have to conserve what we have in order to finish the truck season. “I
really hate to do this”, said Victor. “Running the Late Model teaches me a lot.
It is more seat time, which I need and I would have liked to take a run at the Rookie
championship at Orange Show this year.”
We still have dreams of heading to Wisconsin in August to run with the ASA Late Model
division up there in preparation for next year, but even that dream is fading fast with
the lack of funding. We will continue to garner new sponsorships with companies looking
for an excellent advertising opportunity. For now we have a hard time not smiling. A race
win does that to you. Art Pfluger
April 10, 2006
Dear Race Fans,
It’s one of those times where I don’t even now where to begin. It was a rough
tough weekend, an all too familiar weekend, with too many reminders of last year. When we
left home we had no doubt that we could make it into the show on time. Victor wasn’t
cocky, just confident. Last year we went to our first race at Irwindale and we
weren’t allowed to practice because of Victor’s young age and when it came time
to qualify we were terrible. The B main wasn’t any better. So this race when we found
ourselves qualifying 24 out 26 we were disappointed. Last year we didn’t have any
data to work with but this year we didn’t have that excuse. Low funding has also been
an issue that we continue to deal with. We didn’t have the money to do any preseason
testing to shake down the truck and test any of our setups or the changes in the chassis
that our crew chief Chuck Lahorgue had made.
Before
I get too far along I want to thank a few people. Brad Peterson and his son Carlton took
the time and money to come and assist us this weekend. They were both an invaluable help.
We would not have been able to run both entries without their services. They ran
themselves to death and were an amazing help. Chuck LaHorgue was someone that we know and
trust. When we asked him to assume his duties we were hopeful but I didn’t realize
how dedicated and hard working he really is. It will be a lot more work for Chuck to be
Victor’s crew chief because they don’t have the years together that Chuck and
Kyle had. Chuck was a steady and positive influence all weekend. Nothing slowed him down,
nothing got him down. Even when Victor and I were down Chuck kept us focused and taught us
a great amount in a little time. I hope we can keep Chuck interested in Victor’s
future for a long time and a friend forever.
We had missed almost all of practice on Friday due to motor problems. An all too familiar
broken rocker stud problem was the biggest issue. I was able to repair it but I knew that
there were still issues with this motor, but not enough time to do anything about it. We
needed to go and run the B main and make it in to the race. Victor was also running his
Late Model this weekend, which helped in many ways. He qualified 3rd fast in that car. So
between qualifying the truck and the time he had to go run the B main he ran the heat race
and Trophy dash in the car. This returned his confidence. Also at this time we found the
spring out of the perch in the left rear of the truck, an easy fix, but something that
would have changed the setup significantly. Victor ran very well in the B main and
finished fourth. We made the transfer. Our spirits returned, our confidence returned, it
would be a good weekend after all.
Lets finish the Late Model news. In his second ever start at Orange Show Speed way in a
Late Model Victor qualified third. He won his heat race. He finished second in the Trophy
dash and finished second in the feature. Because we were there primarily for the truck we
didn’t have time to make all of the changes we could have to the car to make it
handle better. This was the season opener for this track, so we are second in points and
first in the rookie points. This was the largest fieled of Late Models they have had on
one night in the last 15 years. We won’t have the funds to make all of the races,
which is a shame, I would like to see Victor get rookie of the year and take a shot at the
championship.
Back to truck action. We are now in the feature.
Getting the truck ready for the race we found the radiator cap leaking and put on a new
one and dismissed the problem as that. I knew that there was more, but no use worrying
about with little time to do anything else. We started 20th in a 22-truck field. That is
the most trucks they will start at this track at one time. Victor had chuck helping him on
the radio and the off we went. As the race progressed the truck was slowly losing power,
but Victor was slowly picking up spots. Chuck preached patience and running a clean race.
At this track you are bound to rub a little. I will have three body panels to repair and
repaint this week. Around lap 90 of the 100-lap race they put out the red flag.
Victor’s water temp had been creeping up all night, this wasn’t good news. We
were up to 260 degrees. When they stopped it shot up to 280 and we had to shut off the
truck for the flag, something we don’t like to do. With the automatic transmission we
are forced to use you can’t push start the truck, so if it won’t refire you are
done. While sitting there the truck boiled most of the water out, but we were up to 10th
position. The truck did restart, I think because the ring tension was gone due to
excessive heat. Now the question was would the motor last to the end of the race with most
of the coolant lying on the track? Yes Race Fans, It would. Victor finished 9th or 10th
unofficially. Check back in a couple of days and we will let you know the official
scoring.
After the race we all had a few minutes to talk. Victor and Chuck were all smiles knowing
that we will go to the Las Vegas Bullring next. If our scoring is verified this was the
best Oval Track finish in a Speed Truck for Victor. Our season is underway. Our confidence
has returned. We can see that Mr. LaHorgue is a great asset to our efforts. Life is good
again. I’m am bone weary tired, but I will recover. It will be interesting to see
what the in car camera saw, if they will share the footage with us.
Sincerely,
Art Pfluger
March 28, 2006
For Immediate Release,
Morristown’s own Victor Pfluger is off to a great race season. In 4 outings, Victor
has scored 3 wins and 1-second place finish on the Kart circuit. His only second-place
finish came as the result of a last lap wreck. Perhaps most noteworthy was that one of the
victories came against Buddy Rice, 2004 Indy 500 winner. Victor is also running a Late
Model Stock Car in the winter series at the I-10 Speedway in Blythe, CA. The last race he
got to the track late and missed practice and qualifying.
The penalty for this is starting at the back. “I had to start 17th in a 17 car
field, on old tires, because we were late. I just wanted to run our new motor package to
see what we had”, said Victor. “I just kept picking off cars. When it was over I
was in second.” Not a bad finish for Victors 3rd race in this type of racecar.
“My new Esterline/Patullo engine package really worked for me”, commented Victor
after the race. Victor’s team, ThunderWave Racing, will compete at 3 more Blythe
events before the season is over. Victor will be racing again in the ASA Speed Truck
series, which is televised on the OUTDOOR Channel. As the youngest driver to ever win a
race in the history of this series there are still many challenges ahead for the young
racer to master. Victor’s team still has room for sponsors and is in need of help
working on the race vehicles. “To have a successful season we need some help, mom and
dad do their best, but to race at this level it takes more people” said Pfluger.
ThunderWave Racing has hired racecar builder Chuck LaHorgue of Lahorgue racecars to crew
chief the truck this season. “My parents do all they can and more, said Victor, but
they just can’t do it all so we brought Mr. LaHorgue in to assist”. We are also
welcoming Jim Clinton to the ThunderWave Racing team. Mr. Clinton will take care of
marketing and promotional projects for Victor and his team. All of us can be reached at
602-679-0519
MCDOWELL FINISHES FOURTH AT HOMESTEAD
McDowell & Gidley in the hunt for the Championship
Homestead, Florida (March 25, 2006) As the season gets under way and the Championship
battle heats up, Michael McDowell and Memo Gidley prepared for the start of the Homestead
Miami Grand Prix. The car turned extremely competitive lap times during the morning
session, finishing with the fourth quickest time. McDowell, anticipating the drop of the
green flag pulled the car three a breast down the front straight heading into turn one.
With 43 race laps completed and the team’s first pit stop finished, McDowell
continued to run just out of the top- five. “The No. 19 machine ran great
tonight,” said McDowell. My stint went well but we just didn’t have quite what
it took to catch the Porsche. We just didn’t get the breaks we needed at the end but
hopefully we’re leading the points.”
When Memo Gidley slid behind the wheel for his stint, he powered the car into the second
position where he ran for several laps. “We’re really close,” stated
Gidley. “We’ve been working on our package for the last several weeks and I
think we’re just about there. I really think we’ve got what it takes to be
competitive at every race; it’s just a matter of time. There’s plenty of races
left to win one and that’s what we plan on doing – Winning!” The
Playboy/Uniden/Palms/Vonage Ford-powered Crawford finished 4th, while continuing to earn
the valuable points needed to chip away at the Championship.
Be sure to check out www.mmcdowell.com
to see the latest stories along with photos from the event!
Complete News - 
What a
race, Victor finished a strong 4th. It was what you expect from a ¼ mile track, carnage
en masse. There were 18 trucks, but there were some that didn’t make it to the end.
Two of them were in the top three in points. These experienced racers sure aren’t
looking at the big picture. Of course we got our share of bodywork homework. We got
slammed in the first couple of laps then later drilled by a driver in the rear which
almost put Victor in the wall. Several laps later he over drove turn 4, rubbed the wall
and knocked the front end out of alignment. He had to settle for riding around and ending
up laps down.
St. Johns
has come and gone. Victor scored a great 4th place finish, not bad as a follow-up
from a victory here last season. Trying to duplicate a win on a track, especially a
win where you were the youngest driver in history to claim the checkered is a tough
prospect. We did have a good time and enjoyed the cooler temps. Going from the
hectic times at circle track races to the slower pace at a road course was hard to adjust
to. The weather played a big factor. The track conditions changed dramatically thoughout
the day and the race. We missed having Chuck LaHorgue with us and fully understood the
situation, but sure wished he was there. We want to thank the Parker Family and the crew
from Danny’s Chrome shop, Jerry, Jennifer and Marco for making the long drive and
attending the race. Bud Harvey, who builds our transmissions and helps me from time to
time with a variety of projects made the long trip and was with us for the whole weekend.
In his 7th start ever in the Parker Farms/Mondello Tech Center /LaHorgue
Race Car Late Model stock car, Victor Pfluger scored his first win in the season closer at
I-10 Speedway in Blythe Ca. Victor is coming off a great start to the Speed Truck season
at Orange Show Speedway and a 2nd place finish in his LaHorgue built Late Model at that
venue. We would like to thank Lucas Oil, Mr. Scheidecker, and his staff for giving us a
great venue to race at.
