We raced at the Abe Lincoln Memorial Street Stock and Hobby Stock Nationals

With all points races at the local level having been decided, it’s time for end of year racing specials. On Saturday, September 19th, Jeremy and I pulled the cars to Columbus, Nebraska’s U.S. 30 Speedway for the Abe Lincoln Memorial Street Stock and Hobby Stock Nationals. This was the first time I’d ever driven at this track, even though it was the 2nd time I had a car there. When Tyler Phelps was driving my Jet Phantom in 2006, we came to this race. It was an entirely different track last night as it was a dry slick by the time our heat races came onto the track.

I felt that the track kind of owed us something as in 2006, Tyler didn’t make the invert in his heat race. He started at the back of a consi race and had raced his way into the back of the A Feature when a trailing arm broke, ending our night. I was hoping we would fare better.

If I’d been racing in the ‘60’s, U.S. 30 is the image of what the race tracks back then must have looked like. I have already made myself a note to bring lights to hook up to the generator next time we come so we have some lights to work by. We did get a concrete pad, but didn’t have a broom to push all the dirt off the concrete. Most of the cars in the street stock class were guys whose names I’d seen in the results section of dirt drivers.com. Besides Jeremy, I’d only raced against the 55 of Ron Veleba and the 46 of Jason Van Winkle. Oh, yes, I’d been lapped by the 1 of Shawn Primrose in the opener at McCool Junction this spring. L


The grandstands are a concrete affair that more than likely require some type of cushion for comfort. The lighting on the track is sufficient, but not what Beatrice Speedway or Junction Motor Speedway is like. The track itself is surrounded by railroad ties buried in the ground and protected by a guard rail. The front straightaway is a solid concrete wall. In the corners, the track levels off at the top for about a car width.


The track itself reminds me somewhat of the track at the State Fair Park. I seemed to be on the brake as much as I was on the throttle. I’ve heard it said the track is a 3/8 mile, but I’m sure the chutes aren’t as long as at Beatrice.


Jeremy drew 16, which put him on the inside of the 2nd row in his heat. I drew 26, putting me on the outside of the 2nd row in the 1st heat. We got a few hot laps and at the end, I looped my car going into turn 1. Jeremy said his engine was cutting out bad at 5,000 RPM. A carburetor change took care of that problem, even though we were afraid we’d be lacking in that department since all we had was a smaller carb. As it turned out, it may have helped instead of hurt him due to the dry slick track.


I was still trying to get a feel for the car as I only had a few laps in it at McCool Junction a couple of weeks before this. Shawn Primrose started on the outside pole, and the car alongside me was a past winner at U.S. 30. The track was already dry slock as our heat race pulled onto the track, and I was wishing I was on the inside row instead of the outside. One slow lap around the track and as we came through 3 and into 4, the green flag was flying. It’s race time!! Power down the front chute and into 1, out of 2 and into the back chute. Into 3 and I’m in about 5th or 6th place, but I’ve been able to move to the inside where I wanted to be. Most of the rest of the cars are running a higher line, but it looks like in the corners they’re having a handling problem. I can work my brakes a little and it helps my car turn.


Into 3 on the 2nd lap and the car in front of me makes a lazy spin across the nose of my car. I’m able to let off and go around him on the top, but there is a yellow thrown for him, putting him to the back. On the re-start I’m in 4th, with the top 3 going to the A Feature and all other cars going to a consi.


On the green, the cars ahead of me once again take a higher line. The track is already slick and being this is just my 1st time in this car on a track like this, I want to stay on the bottom. I’m able to close on the 3rd place car, and keep watching for him to make a mistake. Another lap or so, and I’m able to get under him in the corner, but he pulls ahead a little on the chute. One more lap and I drive by in the corner and set sail on the 2nd place car. Into 3 and he goes a little high and again, I’m able to make the pass. The leader is in sight and I wonder if I can catch him. However, all I want to do is concentrate on holding my line and not making any mistakes. The white flag is out and I still don’t have any challenges from behind, and I’m closing the gap on the leader. I’m in the Feature, so let’s not make any mistakes - concentrate, concentrate on what I’m doing and not on what the leader is doing. Into 3 and out of 4 and the checkers are out. I’ve finished 2nd and made the A Feature!! J


Jeremy is in the 2nd heat so I want to get back to the pits and out of the car so I can watch him. He’s waiting in line as I go in and I hold up two fingers as I go by to let him know I’d finished 2nd. With all the competition, I feel like I’d WON!!


I get to our pit area as fast as I can and get unbuckled and back to the stands so I can watch Jeremy. He does a good job of keeping the car on the bottom and is keeping up with everybody. Then he gets in a bit high going into 3 and almost spins the car. He loses a lot of ground with that slip and can’t get it back. At the end, he has a 6th place finish. When the line-ups come out, he’s on the inside of the 3rd row in his consi.


I’m wanting to be sure the carburetor worked, and Jeremy said it was fine. Except for the near spin, I thought the car looked good. With the track being so dry slick, I don’t think the smaller carb hurt him at all.


We don’t have a lot of extra time to get Jeremy’s 6x fueled and the tires checked before it’s time to start getting lined up for his consi. There are 9 cars in his consi; three will fall in at the back of the A Feature. All the rest will load up and watch the A Feature from the grandstands.


The consi is lined up and as the lead cars are in the middle of 3 & 4, the green is out and they’re racing! However, a car behind Jeremy gets into his left rear and spins him to the infield, bringing out a yellow. The driver that got into Jeremy gets stopped by an official in 4 and is apparently spoken to. Jeremy gets his spot back and once the field is lined back up, the green is flying again and they’re racing! This time, it’s a clean start. Jeremy is able to hold his line and looks pretty good once again. He’s able to move up to 4th and needs one more spot to advance to the back of the A Feature. He’s closing the gap on the 3rd place gap when, going into 1, the 3rd place car spins in front of Jeremy. Jeremy is on the brake and gets stopped as he lightly hits the car that spun. However, the car behind Jeremy hit’s the 6x in the left front suspension, breaking the tie rod and ending Jeremy’s night.


The re-draw for all A Features takes place after the GOTRA Trophy Dash in front of the flagstand. I’d never seen it done like this before, but it’s different and I like it. The 12 drivers who are in the A Feature pick out a Frisbee that is in a line of 12 Frisbees. Each one has a number from 1 to 12 on the side that’s facing down. The drivers are called in the order they finished their qualifiers in, and they pick a Frisbee. The number on the Frisbee is your starting position. After finding out your starting position, you sign the Frisbee and toss it into the grandstands for some lucky fan. I find 10 on mine, putting me in the outside of the 5th row.


Last minute checks are made and the fuel cell is topped off. I hope everything goes OK. I’ll go watch the hobby stock A Feature and see what the track is doing. After watching a few laps, it looks like the best place to be isw still on the bottom. I go back to the pits and get strapped into the car. I’d much rather be on the inside row or at the very back of the pack. I’m nervous already.


Time to start lining up. Turn the ignition switch on and hit the starter button and all I can hear is the starter spinning but the drive is not engaging! Jeremy gets some help and pushes me out of the stall, then gets a push so the car will start. Out onto the track and time to get in place for the parade lap. We go 4 rows of 4 wide as the officials wave checkered flags between us as we go past, then drop back into our 2 wide formation to get our start. One more lap and we’re two by two - into 3 and the green is out. We’re racing!! However, before a lap is completed, the yellow is out andx it’s a complete re-start. Once again, we’re lined up and go green - something happens behind me and there’s another yellow. Once again, we’re lined back up for a complete re-start. We’re green again . Out of 2 and down the back chute - into 3 and in the middle of the turn, 5 cars are spinning ahead of me. I somehow miss the mess, but there’s a red flag as it looks like it will be a while before it’s cleaned up. We’re all directed to the infield and crews are allowed to come out and work on the cars.


The track is finally cleared and we’re lined up again. One of the cars involved is towed off, moving me to the inside of the 5th row. I’m still wishing I was at the very back so I wouldn’t be in the middle of the sandwich if something happens. At least now I’m on the inside row…..


Into 3 and the green is waving in the middle of the turn. On the gas, I’m on the inside where I want to be and feel a bit more comfortable. Into 1 and a car behind me gets inot my back bumper. I can feel it start to come around and try to save it, but the track is too slick and I’m going around. As I do, I’m hit by other cars going by me. I come to a stop in the middle of 1 & 2.


The safety crew is at the car immediately. One guy is over to check on me and another is checking on the other car that is stopped. Once they know I’m OK, they check the damage on my car. I’m told I have a flat left front tire and the nose piece is half torn off. He says they can pull me into the pits where I can get the tire changed and get back onto the track.


The wrecker gets me to the trailer and keeps me off the ground so Jeremy can get the tire changed. The nose piece is only hanging on by one side, so they pull it off. The wrecker lets me down and goes around behind me to push start me. I get going and pull up to the track - there’s a yellow out, so I’m able to pull onto the track. I fall in behind the pack and when we’re lined up, the green waves. I notice the lap counter - I only lost 3 laps. The car handles fairly decently and even though I’m down 3 laps, I pass several cars. At one time, it seems like the engine may be smoking, but I can’t tell if it’s my engine or somebody else’s. I keep an eye on the oil pressure and water temperature and all seems OK. The white flag is finally out and in another lap, it’s checkered flags. When all is sorted out, I finish 16th in my first U.S. 30 Speedway Abe Lincoln Memorial Street Stock Nationals.


In checking the total damage later, I find both the upper and lower control arms and tie rod ends on the right side of the car are bent. I’m hoping that the car handles as well when everything is back in place the way it’s supposed to be.


Next race for R & R Racing - Octoberfest 2009. We hope to have both cars at Beatrice Speedway on Saturday October 10th for the stock car portion of the show. We’ll close out the season on October 17th & 18th at the Cool McCool 100 at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction.

All about me

Let me introduce myself. My name is Ernie Reiss. I live in Beatrice, Nebraska where I’ve been a Police Officer since November of 1989. Before that, I was a Police Officer in Grand Island, Nebraska for almost 5 years.

I was born and raised in Crete, which is about 35 miles northwest of Beatrice. My parents still live in the house I grew up in. My brother Dave and his wife Anita live just a few blocks away from Dad & Mom. He has two sons; Charlie, who is a career Marine based out of Camp LeJeune, North Carolina; and Dean, who manages a retail store in Kansas City. My sister Ann and her husband Randy also live in Crete. She has two sons; Aaron and Dale, and a daughter, Emily. Dale will graduate from high school in 2010.

I graduated from Crete High in 1970 and attended Technical School in Milford, studying automotive mechanics. I graduated from Milford in October 1973.

I have spent all of my life since graduating from high school wearing some kind of uniform. In February 1970 I joined the Nebraska National Guard. When I moved to Grand Island, I transferred to the U.S. Army Reserves where I remained until September 1988. I started working for the Hall County Sheriff’s Department as a Corrections Officer in May 1983 and in November 1983 I was hired by the Grand Island Police Department.

I have three daughters. Heather and her husband Dana live in Greeley, Colorado and are proud parents of Landon, who was born February 28th this year. Hollie and her husband live in Grand Island and have a daughter, Tatyana, and two sons, Talon and Hayden, who was born on my birthday two years ago. That’s one birthday I should never forget; of course, sometimes I miss my own birthday. Abby and her husband, Joey, also live in Grand Island, where Abby works in her mom’s flower shop and Joey works at a local implement dealership.

I am a dirt track racing enthusiast. When I lived in Grand Island, we went to stock car races at Mid Continent Raceway located near Doniphan, Nebraska. I met a late model driver, Al Humphrey, and started working on his pit crew in 1975. Back then, we raced 3 nights a week and sometimes more. On a normal weekend, we would race at either Hastings or Red Cloud on Friday, Doniphan on Saturday, and either Lexington or Midwest Speedway in Lincoln on Sunday. In 1976, Al started racing at Sunset Speedway in Omaha on Sundays. That made for a long Sunday night and a real early Monday morning. We were all young and foolish then. I’m now almost 58 years old and I know I could not race three nights a week like we did then.

I met my wife, Jan, at the Beatrice Speedway. I was on Peanuts Volesky’s pit crew and we raced at Beatrice on Saturday nights. Jan is a LPN and worked with Peanuts’ wife at Beatrice Community Hospital. One night after the races she came into the pits. A few weeks later we had our first date - we went to the late model races at Sunset Speedway.

At the time we met, I was riding a 1981 Honda Gold Wing and was (and still am) a member of Blue Knights, which is an International Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club. My chapter, Nebraska I, is chartered in Grand Island, having come into being in 1986. The Midwest Regional Conference, which Nebraska I belongs to, Has a Spring Conference in June and a Fall Conference in September. There is also an International Conference in July of each year. The 2010 International is at Billings, Montana and we are looking forward to making that trip on our 2006 Gold Wing.

Jan’s two sons, Jason and Jeremy Rosenthal, live in Beatrice. Jason is married to Emily and they have a son, Evan and a daughter, Ava. Jason also has a daughter, Mikayla, from a previous relationship. Jeremy is married to Carin, and they have a son, Isaak, who was born July 27th. Their lives have suddenly changed with the addition to their family.
Jan and I got married in June of 1996. We planned our honeymoon for several months. No, it wasn’t a romantic cruise to a foreign destination. We spent over two weeks on the motorcycle, which by then was a 1984 Honda Gold Wing Interstate. We got married at the Gage County Courthouse on a Friday afternoon with Jan’s parents, Jason and Jeremy, Heather, Hollie and Abby, Dave and Anita, Peanuts and his wife Kathy and several Blue Knights from Grand Island in attendance. We had an informal reception with a DJ in the park and later in the evening we took off for a Blue Knights gathering at Hiawatha, Kansas.

We got back home Sunday afternoon and did some laundry and packing and we left on Monday morning, taking a general southwest direction. Somebody made a “Just Married” sign at the courthouse and we put it on the back of the trailer we pulled with the motorcycle. As we traveled, we had a lot of people pass us and honk, giving the thumbs up. We stayed at Dodge City, KS Monday night, Albuquerque Tuesday night, Flagstaff Wednesday night, rode up to the Grand Canyon early on Thursday morning, and stayed at Blythe, CA on Thursday night. Hollie was living at Irvine, CA at the time and we got to her house just after noon on Friday. We spent the weekend with her, going to Santa Monica Pier on Friday night for Jan’s first-ever visit to the ocean, Universal Studios on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday. On Monday we rode the Pacific Coast Highway from Huntington Beach to Camarillo, where we stayed the night with my uncle and aunt. On Tuesday we rode to Las Vegas, staying there until Friday morning. On Friday we rode from Las Vegas to Richfield, Utah and on Saturday we rode to Rifle, Colorado where we visited Jan’s uncle and aunt. Sunday was a long day as we rode all the way to Republican City, where we stayed over night. We then rode back to Beatrice, getting home Monday evening.

We plan to someday ride east. We want to visit Nashville, and I think the best way to travel is by the motorcycle. We got the 2006 Gold Wing new in July of 2006 and currently have 24,000 miles on it. The big 1832 CC six cylinder engine has all the power we need to occasionally go fast, but the electronic cruise control never lets the speed vary on road trips. Sirius satellite radio makes the rides even more enjoyable.

Towards the end of 1997, Jason and I bought a race car together. During the winter, we rebuilt it and for the next three seasons, 1998, 1999, and 2000, Jason drove the car every Saturday night at Beatrice Speedway. We sat out the 2001 season and put up a garage. That being done, we got a car ready to race for 2002. A week before the season started, Jason broke his leg. I thought about driving the car myself, while Jan suggested we sit out another season while Jason healed. I finally made a deal with her - I would drive the car myself. If, after the first night, my underwear was still clean, I would keep driving.

I admit, as each Saturday arrived, I was scared to death. I hoped it would rain. I prayed for rain! As the season went on, something happened. I got a bit more confident and started to feel more comfortable in the car, even though I sucked as a driver. When I was able to drive the car onto the trailer at the end of the night, I felt like I’d had a good night. By the end of the season, I was starting to feel pretty comfortable in the car, even though I still sucked as a driver. I stayed with it because I mostly enjoy doing it, and this year there are two stock cars in the garage. We’ve been racing both at Beatrice Speedway on Friday nights, with Jason and Jeremy splitting time in a 2004 Jet Phantom while I’ve been piloting an SCS chassis we bought at the end of last season and put together over the winter. On my weekends to work, Jeremy has been driving that car for me. Other weekends have seen Bruce Lang, our Police Chief, and Jay Murphy, who is a Sergeant with the Police Department, driving the Phantom. At the Gage County Fair this year, I finally got to race against Jason. He finished 11th and I finished 12th. I was practically glued to his back bumper the entire A Feature, but just couldn’t make a pass on him. I hope we can do that again.

On my Saturdays off, I’ve been pulling to McCool Junction, Nebraska to race on the track there. It’s a big, wide track and I like racing there. The last time I looked at the track points standings, we’re in 8th place in points at Beatrice and 10th in points at McCool Junction.

The summer has been pretty busy what with trying to keep two race cars running and ready to race every weekend. We always try to get a couple of weekends away on the motorcycle during the summer, too. We’d planned to go to Des Moines in June for the Blue Knights gathering, but Landon was baptized that weekend, so we didn’t make the ride. We will be going to the Fall Conference, even though it’s only in Omaha. Since Jan & I both work nights and a lot of times we work opposite nights, we really look forward to having a day or two off together.

I was able to take off on the Gold Wing for a few days the end of July. I rode out to Greeley and spent two days there before coming back to Beatrice. Talon was staying with Heather and Dana and we took a motorcycle ride around Greeley on Tuesday afternoon. The skies were pretty dark and I was sure it would start raining at any time, so we didn’t go very far. I’d have just LOVED to go up to Estes Park as Hwy 34 from Loveland to Estes Park is one of my favorite rides. However, I also HATE getting wet on the motorcycle!!

Talon seemed to always want me to make a right hand turn when I was already in the left turn or straight ahead lane. I’m not sure he really knew where he wanted to go, just that he wanted to go. He really enjoys riding and made the comment he wanted me to take him back to Grand Island when I went home. However, I had no room for his bags as well as mine.
The second day, we all piled into the SUV and took a trip to the Royal Gorge. When you look on the map, it’s not too far; just about 3 inches or so. But when you start looking at the miles, it’s about 150 miles each way. Even though we left shortly after 8 AM, it was well after dark when we got back.

I’d spent some time at Ft Carson in the early ‘70’s and had the opportunity to get out and do some sightseeing then. In the 30-plus years since, things have changed so much. Colorado Springs has gotten so much bigger. Even Hwy 115, which runs along the edge of Ft Carson to Penrose, didn’t look the same with all the housing along the road. One thing hasn’t changed, though. We ran into a heavy thunderstorm along the way. When I was at Ft Carson in the summer, there was always at least one thunderstorm daily. This was a typical gully-washer that made me REALLY happy that we were in the SUV instead of being on the Gold Wing.

Having satellite radio on the Gold Wing makes the riding even more enjoyable. I change back and forth between the NASCAR station, 50’s on 6, and some of the country stations. If I wanted, I could ride from coast to coast without having to change stations. Before our first trip was over after we got the Gold Wing, we’d decided to invest in a satellite radio. We rode to Minot, North Dakota and about 40 miles out of Grand Island, I had to start searching for a new radio station about every 15 miles or so. I swear that we’ve ridden through areas where there should have been signs posted that said “You are in the middle of Nowhere!”

On my way home from Greeley I had the Nascar channel tuned in. There is a morning program called “Trading Paint” which is hosted by Danny “Chocolate” Myers and Rock Benjamin. This is a call-in program that covers a wide variety of topics and there’s usually a lot of good discussion. Chocolate started telling about how he got a phone call from his 20-yr old college student daughter. She had been pulled over by a police officer and she told her dad she didn’t know why she’d been stopped, but the officer was pretty upset with her. When the traffic stop drew to a conclusion, she received a stern lecture from the officer and a written warning for aggressive driving. She told Chocolate what happened to initiate the traffic contact and said she didn’t feel she’d done anything wrong.
This started a serious discussion about the youth of today learning to drive. Here in Nebraska, there are so many different classes of Operator’s Licenses that it is confusing at times to know if the driver is legal. However, the entire discussion centered not just on the driver’s license itself, rather the training our children and grandchildren today get prior to obtaining their driver’s licenses.

Driver’s Education classes are still being taught in most places. When I took Driver’s Ed, it was during the summer and, if I remember correctly, my parents paid $20 or $25 for me to attend. During the course of the summer, we had textbook training as well as actual driving time. It’s been so long ago, I don’t remember how long the classes were, or even how many hours of actual driving time we got. One thing I do remember is that the driving was under very controlled conditions. We drove around town at or under the speed limit. Same thing with when we left town. We had the big “Student Driver” sign on the roof of the car. I don’t think our Driver’s Ed car even had a radio in it. The teacher had a brake pedal on his side in case we didn’t slow down soon enough to his liking.

We did slow speed maneuvers. We practiced parking using traffic cones at first. When we mastered that, we got to park between real cars. I don’t know how much the training has changed these days, but what I don’t remember is learning to do maneuvers at a higher speed. There was a lot of discussion of what to do if you had a blow-out or if you dropped a wheel off the edge of the road, but I don’t remember ever having a blow-out or dropping a wheel off the edge of the road in Driver’s Ed. I know we didn’t drive on snow or ice since it was summer. I’m thinking we may have driven on some gravel roads.

I was talking to a friend about this the other day. He said he has had two of his kids through Drivers’ Ed classes in the last couple of years. The cost now is very high, so I’m sure there are fewer students. It’s too bad, because these kids NEED to take Drivers’ Ed. But, they also need some realistic training.

Myers and Benjamin talked of driving schools in their neck of the woods that actually teach the kids high speed maneuvers under more realistic driving conditions. Given the news reports in Nebraska the last couple of weeks of young people being killed on the highways, I think we need to change the ways our youth are being taught to drive.

We all have opinions of events that happen in life. Some people in certain professions are not allowed to voice their opinions publicly on certain issues. Police officers are in that category. We may have a strong opinion on something controversial, but if we voice our opinion, we may get in hot water. Sometimes, I look forward to no longer being a member of the Law Enforcement community.

Jan & I have talked about what we would do when we retire. Each of my paychecks has money withheld and that money is put in a retirement fund. The city also matches what is taken out of my pay and puts that into the retirement fund, too. In the past, there have been peaks and valleys in this fund, but over the first 18 years, it earned modestly. However, since January 2008, it has lost money consistently. I am now concerned whether I will actually be able to EVER retire!! We said in the past that in order for that to happen, our house would have to be paid for and we would have to have all our other bills paid. We are slowly reaching these goals. However, with my being diabetic, what will I do for insurance? I have insurance through the city, and also am eligible for care through the V.A. In reading through the pros and cons of the “ObamaCare” package, I do not think that is the way that America wants to go. I certainly don’t want to be a Police Officer until I’m 70 years old.