Lemke's Corner:
2009 TORC 1600 Light Buggy Driver

June 25, 2009 - TORC at Crandon International Offroad
After a long winter it did not seem like the first race in the Midwest TORC Series would ever get here. On December 12th Curt Gerald, my brother Nick Lemke and I started building a new GRE chassis. In the beginning we worked on it at Curt’s shop in Appleton, WI, but once the main skeleton of the chassis was completed we moved it to the Lemke Off-Road Racing shop in Sobieski. My brother and I only worked on it one night a week and a few days on the weekends here and there. We did not want it to become a burden on our families or ourselves, so we tried to keep the time spent on it to a minimum. Soon May rolled around and there was still a lot of work to be done before the big opener on June 20th and we wanted to allow some time for testing. Finally on June 12th, with borrowed FOX shocks on the rear from Craig Paitl, it was completed enough to run down my driveway a dozen times and take testing the following day.

June 12th also happened to be my 40th birthday and my wife planned a small surprise get together in the shop with all the people that helped. Among those was Beau Ambos, better known as V-man, Nick, my dad and crew chief Jim Lemke and Jim Fonferik who has been dedicated to helping the team for more than 8 years. Missing was Jeff Hosking who started helping late in the build but was a key person in completing it when we did. The 40th birthday bash lasted a little longer than anticipated, after smashing a 40 oz. bottle of Busch Light over the front bumper of the car to christen it and a few doughnuts in the shop on the pit bike we finally settled down to rest with visions of test the car in our heads.

The next day came earlier than we wanted but Beau, Nick and I were up early to go testing. The car was performing well other than it took some getting used to because it was a little smaller than the previous 13 year old car. After three rounds of a full 20 minutes of beating on it I ended up with a bruise on my right knee and both of my elbows. As far as the car went it sustained a loose tie rod end and steering rack coupler. Not too bad for our first build, although we were very through when we built it so we did not even expect that but we felt something may have been missed or loosen up during the test, and it did. It was time to take it home and get it ready for its first race at the Big House of Off-Road Racing in Crandon which was one short week away.

The week that followed I was in the shop late every night putting the finishing touches on the car, checking and double checking every nut and bolts and wondering how it was going to perform compared to the rest of the great competitors we have in our class. Everything was set to go except I still had not received the correct shocks for the rear of the car. Prior to the test day I received a pair of shocks that were completely wrong for the car. I did everything I could to make sure I was going to receive the correct shocks in time to leave for Crandon on Friday morning. I was continually assured that they would be on my step Thursday. When I got home from work on Thursday evening I was please to see a large FOX racing shox box on the porch. I called my wife and said “the shocks are here” while I ran up to open the box. My extreme excitement quickly turned into disappointment when I realized I had once again received the incorrect shocks. I immediately was in contact with everyone I could think of that could help me get some shocks that would work to make the race on Saturday.

I left Friday morning for Crandon with everything I needed for a successful race weekend other than the rear shocks. On the way I was so excited and nervous that I thought I was going to have to pull over and purge my breakfast. Excited to race the new car and nervous it would not be everything I has hoped it would be for the last 6 months. Once I arrived at Crandon I immediately headed over to the FOX Racing Shox support trailer with 7 different shocks in hopes Todd Tenbroek, FOX shox race support technician, could take what I had and build me something that would work. Not having the correct parts prevented us from getting the length that we needed. I asked the help of a fellow racer, 121 of Brian Glime, and he graciously agreed to let me borrow his spare set of shocks for the weekend. Finally at about 9:00 in the evening I had some rear shocks that would fit on my car. There were definitely not the shocks that I need for but they would get me through the weekend. We slapped them on and had the car all set for practice in the morning.

Saturday morning’s practice came and I was very nervous on how well the car was going to fly over the huge jumps of Crandon. The last thing I wanted to do was nose the front of the car off a jump and make a pile of brand new scrap metal. I took it pretty easy the first lap and slowly picked up the pace each lap after that. The car felt good other than I was getting a lot of feedback in the steering wheel. It did not feel like bump steer and everything in the front end was brand new so it was confusing on what it could be. Once practice was over we took the panels off the front of the car and began to investigate what could be causing this. I solicited the opinions of other drivers and car builders around the pits and the only thing we collectively came up with was that my steering linkage was not built rigid enough. With both ends of the steering welded and only a few hours to until the race we concluded there was nothing I was going to do about it until after the race.

It was finally time to go racing and again I was so excited and nervous that my stomach was in knots. I drew a 9th starting position out of 17 racers which is a pretty good spot to be in at Crandon. It is a straight shot to the center of the ever famous Crandon corner. Fey climbed the tower, slid the board to yellow at which every though I previously had completely cleared my mind. I was now focused on the race that was about to happen in 3-5 seconds. I rev the car and the green flag flies, I dump the clutch and the field races away from me. When I let the clutch out the output shaft on the tranny snapped. Since we need to run stock VW parts, that shaft could have been over 30 years old and occasionally failures happen without warning. All the hard work, anticipation and drama that lead up to the green flag flying was suddenly turned into disappointment, frustration and anger.

I was watching the race from the impound area near the starting line and I cannot even recall the feelings I was having. My brother Nick, who was positioned in the hot pit area, came to my side for some comfort and at that point I realized, this is why I do it. Winning is great, racing is fun, but doing it without the help and support of my family and friends it wouldn’t be anything. Suddenly everything changed and I said “Well that’s how it goes little brother, we will fix it and give it another try tomorrow.”

We towed the car back to our pits and immediately began to work on pulling the motor and changing the transmission with one that was freshly built by Curt Gerald. In a couple of hours we had the car ready to go for Sundays race other than the nagging feedback I was getting in the steering wheel. I wanted to use Saturdays race to try and figure out exactly where it was coming from in hopes to make a change for Sunday. Without getting any additional track time, Sunday practice for the Sportsman’s classes was canceled, we decided to leave it the way it was for the time being and do the best we could with what we had.

Sunday came and all the same feelings I was having Saturday were back in addition I was starting 17th out of 17 since I never even left the line on Saturday. This added a little extra anxiety but I was prepared to play the card I was dealt. Again the board went yellow and then finally green and for the first time, after 6 long months, the car was racing down the track. Entering the gravel pit I was around 7th position. In the middle of the timing corner I was hit in the rear by the 100 car and spun sideways. I was able to correct it in time not to get t-boned by another car, for a split second I though “OH NO, the first damage to the car!” While trying to get pointed the correct way down the track I was headed for a three inch diameter pipe buried in the ground and the same thought went through my mind as I let off the gas and cleared the pole. With that I lost a few spots and crossed the timing line in 9th position. I was attempting to battle back to the lead pack and while making a pass I was pinched off by the 162 car and again lost positions finally settling into 11th. Off in the distance I could see the 188 car of the V-man. I was starting to get the feel of the new car and began to press a little harder. Although I always want to beat every one, in a friendly way I really want to beat the 188 of Beau Ambos. Finally on the last lap I caught up to him and made the pass for 10th position where I finished the race.

Although the weekend was stressful, frustrating and disappointing at times it did have some positive outcomes. I was able to get some seat time in the new car and each lap I took without incident was a little faster than the previous. The cockpit of the car felt great, the new MasterCraft 3G seat held me tightly into the car. I would always have a neck and head ache in addition to a sore back after I was done racing the old car, this time I felt nothing and I believe it is because of the seat. The response of the motor felt good and I was pleased with the way the BFGoodrich tires held the car to the track. It jumped and landed well even with a set of rear shocks that were not set-up for the car.

We are planning to get the steering problem figured out, get the correct shocks and make some suspension tweaks before the next race in Bark River July 11th -12th and give it another try. Currently we are 14th in points which means we will be starting in the back row so we will have our work cut out for us. Hopefully with a good finish on Saturday we will get back in the 12 position inversion and push hard towards a podium finish.

I would like to thank everyone that help make this new car possible, all my family, friends and sponsors for sticking by Lemke Off-Road Racing and believing that we can do it.

- Todd Lemke

Name: Todd Lemke
Sport: 1600 Light Buggy
City, State you reside in: Sobieski, WI (20 miles North of Green Bay)
Single/Married: Married to Cori Lemke
Kids: Jadin and Laci
Age: 7 and 4
Age When First Started Competing: 30
Favorite Spot: Any place quiet and outside
Favorite Vacation Spot: Any place where I am away from the normal every day routine.
Inspiration: My family and a drive to suceed.
Career Honors, Awards and Highlights: 1st place finish my first year racing in an old 2 seater.
Took 3rd in the year end points in 2003. (I need to verify the year)
When I’m not competing I like to: Spend time with my family, hunt, fish and snowmobile.
Other interesting Info : My first off road race I rolled my car and broke my wrist but still finished the race. Served in the United States Air Force (1988-1991). I can't dance!
Quote: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail " - unkown