Updates from Tony Velez

With only a few spots available on the Winners Cir...

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:28:57 GMT

With only a few spots available on the Winners Circle Racing NASCAR development team, I was not picked to join. I am however, very proud of the fact that I was one of 36 drivers to be picked to tryout out from over 740 resumes. There are other ways into NASCAR and I will find it!

The 2009 racing season is over and it was a great ...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:55:00 GMT

The 2009 racing season is over and it was a great year. I had 8 wins between the heats and features and I came in third in the season points. I could have been a contender for the championship if it weren't for the mechanical failures.

I have also been invited to California for a driver shootout. Ron Suttons Winners Circle has received over 600 resumes and of those resumes, he pick a couple dozen of us to come to California for a shootout. If I am one of the lucky ones to get picked from there, I could be part of a NASCAR development team.

A WINNER!!!

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:23:16 GMT

A WINNER!!!

2008 Season

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:07:03 GMT

I has a great rookie season in mini cups in 2008. I had a feature win at Rockford Speedway in Rockford Illinois, I was consistantly in the top 5, and I would have had the rookie of the year award if it weren't for the 3 dnf's and the mechanical breakdown. (that's racin') I finished 3rd overall in points in the tristate series and 7th overall in points in the Central States Series. You can view the entire season and where I finished in each race at www.supercupracing.com.

I am looking forward to taking the championship in 2009.

Retired from karting

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:21:48 GMT

This was my last season in karting. 2008 I will start competing in stock car racing. I hope I am as successful in stock cars as I was in karting.

Route 66 Series

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:24:33 GMT

This past weekend was the last race in the regional Route 66 Series at Pevely MO. I qualified 4th, prefinal finish was 4th and final finish was 4th. Not much passing was to be had as everybody basically was equal in speed and talent and remained in the positions the whole weekend.

This finish gave me 3rd in overall points for the series.

Midwest Sprint Series

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:02:06 GMT

This past weekend I finished the last race of the series in the MWSS at New Castle Motorsports Park. I came in 9th after having a really bad kart all day.

My overall points in this series is 5th place.

Route 66 Series

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:10:13 GMT

This weekend we raced in New Castle Indiana. I qualified 6th, finished the prefinal in 4th and also finished the final in 4th. Good weekend.

Mini Cup Car

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:22:44 GMT

I took my first ride in a super mini cup this weekend. It was awesome! If you don't know what that is, it is a 1/2 scale NASCAR cup car. That is what I will be riding next year. I will be getting out of karting after this season. Check out my pics to see the car.

MWSS Concept Haulers Motor Speedway

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:50:51 GMT

This weekend was awesome!! It was the Mid West Sprint Series at Norway and I qualified 5th. In the prefinal I moved from 5th to 1st and in the last lap of the prefinal, me and another guy trying to go into the same corner at the same time wiped out and I ended up finishing the prefinal in 4th. The final was an awesome event, I went from 4th to 1st and me and another guy were batteling for the 1st spot for about 4 or 5 laps until I finally took the 1st spot for good. I won the final and I had fast time in the prefinal and final. What a great weekend!!

Route 66 Series

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:43:33 GMT

It felt good to be home this past weekend! Racing the route 66 series at my home track helped elevate me in the points standings. I qualified third, finished the prefinal in third and finished the final in second. See below for the news article:

As if he hadn’t raced enough classes, Erdmann then took part in the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group of sixteen racers. Erdmann barely edged Mike Welsh for the pole by .02 of a second in qualifying. Welsh, Erdmann and Tony Velez finished nose to tail in the prefinal to determine the final starting order. About the only thing that had a shot at derailing Erdmann was a first lap crash and that’s exactly what got him. With the dew setting in on the track, a couple of karts got together in turn two, and Welsh simply pulled away from this mess. Welsh looked to be the class of the field and probably didn’t need the help, but it never hurts. With several karts scrambling to get going again, it really spaced the field out, with Tony Velez coming home second, about three seconds behind Welsh. Becky Kaestner, who nearly lost a chain while scrambling to get going again, brought home third, followed by Steve Schiewer, and Patrick Reilly.

Sprint Race at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:27:51 GMT

This weekend I went to a local club race in Norway, IL. I took first place and I now hold the track record for the racetrack. Pretty good weekend!!!

MWSS Dousman

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:10:20 GMT

First time at Badger Kart Club in Dousman Wisconsin. I was fighting a push all weekend. The weather was HOT!!! I qualified 10th out of 17 racers. Finished the prefinal in 10th and finished the final in 11th. Could have been a better weekend but finishing mid pack isn't so bad.

Route 66 Series

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:58:06 GMT

This weekend was the Route 66 Regional Series at 61 Kartway in Iowa. This was my first time there. I got in 2 1/2 practice rounds before qualifying. I qualified 3rd overall and was off the track record by 4 tenths of a second. I fell back in the prefinal due to what I though was a right rear tire going flat. I finished 5th in the prefinal. Then in the final I fell back one more spot due to a crazy tight condition. I was hopping all over the track. I finished 6th in the final. NEXT TIME!!!

MWSS USAIR

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:54:01 GMT

This past weekend was the Midwest Sprint Series in Shawano, WI. This track was totally awesome. It had elevation changes and a lot of technical corners. It was my first time there. I qualified 13th out of 21 drivers. Top 5 qualifiers were a second better than the rest of the field. The rest of us were very close. Just a few 10th off of each other. In the final, my kart was so tight I couldn't drive it. I finished where I started, 13th. I'll get them next time in Dousman, WI.

The Central States Super Series

Mon, 28 May 2007 09:46:33 GMT

At Norway, my home track, I took the pole in qualifying, the win in the prefinal and the win in the final. I won by 18 seconds. Great start to the Memorial Day weekend.

Route 66 Series

Mon, 21 May 2007 12:42:19 GMT

I Did well this weekend, not like the first race of the series when I got spun at the green flag. This time I finished the race! I got the pole in my qualifying run. My kart was handling PERFECT! In the prefinal, I got loose and my kart went into the grass a bit so that let 2 drivers get by me and there wasn't enough laps left in the race to pass them back. In the final, I started third, the guy in front of me got a terrible start off the green flag which put me back to fifth, still with a loose condition in my kart I was able to come back to fourth place to finish my race. Pretty good weekend overall. Following is the article written on the series website:

Erdmann wasn’t done there, as he then set his sights on the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite category. Tony Velez paced the field in qualifying by a mere .03 over Erdmann. Tony Nielson threw his name in the ring by winning the prefinal over Jeff Green. At the start of the final, Erdmann made no contest of this one as he just began pulling away on his Triple E powered Margay, and he never looked back. If he would have, he would have seen a great battle for second between Nielson, Green, Velez and Becky Kaestner. These four were trading positions almost every lap, as the four of them finished within .2 of a second of each other. Nielson was in the not so preferred front spot coming down to get the checkered and Green used a little help from the draft to slide into second ahead of Nielson, Velez and Kaestner.

Route 66 Series

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:18:16 GMT

New Castle, IN was the track this weekend for the first Route 66 Series race for 2007. I qualified 7th out of a field of 17. My prefinal race went ok. I got knocked off the track, came back on and finished 6th. The final race did not go so well, I got knocked out right after taking the green flag and two other karts ended up on top of mine so I could not go back and finish the race. Hopefully I'll have better luck next weekend when I race the Midwest Sprint Series at South Bend, IN.

Indoor Winter Karting

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 07:03:23 GMT

My indoor series is over now and I am waiting to find out where I finished. Hopefully rookie of the year and a top 3 finish in the points standings. Go to www.kirl.net to see a few blurbs about me.

2007 Schedule

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:40:05 GMT

You can view my 2007 racing schedule by clicking the "view all" button under my events.

2006 Accomplishments

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 10:26:25 GMT

My club racing this year went well. I became the Sr. Supercan class champion. In regional racing I finished 4th overall. It came down to the last race of the season between me an 3 other racers to take top spot.. I'll get 'em next year!

Season End News

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT

My final race in the Route 66 Series went well. I finished the race 3rd and had the fastest lap time. Overall, I finished 4th in points in this series. Most of my finishes in this series were top 5 finishes with 1 pole position. Not bad for a newbie to the regional racing circuit. My club racing this year was great. Most of my races were top 3 finishes with serveral wins and a few pole positons. I finished this season the Yamaha Sr. Supercan track champion! Regional racing series year end wrap up below:

Crepin was looking for the triple in the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group. This class was as wide open as any of them all through the year. AJ Codalata started off the year in dominating fashion, by walking away from the field at NCMP. Crepin claimed round two at Midstate, with Adam Sullivan claiming the win at CHMS. Brandon Adkins claimed round four at Kartplex. An action packed race number five took place, with no less than four people trying to grab the title. Luke Blazek emerged as the race and series champion, ahead of Crepin, Sullivan, and Tony Velez.

Route 66 Series at Kartplex

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Practice started out great on Saturday. I was posting the second fastest lap times which would have given me the outside pole. We put on new tires for qualifying and it killed me. My kart got so tight I could get around the track fast enough. By the time the final came around, I finished 5th. Moral of the story? New tires are not always fast tires. Race article below:

In the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group, it was all Brandon Adkins. Brandon set quick time in qualifying by .7 of a second over Adam Crepin. Crepin found some speed by the end of the day, as he was able to hang with Adkins, but could not mount a challenge. Adam Sullivan won the battle for third over Luke Blazek, and Tony Velez.

Route 66 Series at Concept Haulers Motor Speedway

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT

What a rush! I was never so fast in my life. I qualified on the pole by a half a second over the second place qualifier. That`s huge. The best thing about this pole is that it was a regional race against people that have raced for years and I am only going into my 3rd season. Article written follows:

Adam Sullivan is quickly proving that he is a force to be reckoned with wherever he shows up. Sullivan’s weekend did not get off to the start he was looking for as he missed out on the pole in the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group, as Tony Velez lit up the track with a lap of 49.47, over Luke Blazek. All three of these racers have extensive experience at CHMS and they used it to dominate the group for the entire weekend. These three broke away from the pack in the final, and they were all nose to tail as all of their fast laps were within .03 seconds of each other with Blazek having the best at a 49.42. Blazek looked to be able to make his move in the final, but Sullivan was able to hold on for the win. Velez trailed closely in third, followed by Adam Crepin and Scott Goolik who had their own battle for fourth. Sullivan had an easier time in the Mychron 4 Yamaha Supercan Heavy group, as he bested Greg Grafton, Brett Johnson, and Chad Krueger for the win.

Route 66 Series at Springfield

Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 GMT

This was my first race at Springfield and I felt like I was home! I finished in the top 5 in my class and I just missed tying the track record by a few 10ths of a second. I had a great weekend and it was a blast. Here is a copy of an article written on the race:

Speaking of domination, Adam Crepin’s name has to come to mind in the Adkins Speed Center Yamaha Supercan Lite group. Crepin paced qualifying over Luke Blazek. For the start of the prefinal, Crepin decided he would like to keep his preferred starting spot and had distanced himself by about one second over the big battle for second claimed by Adam Sullivan. Sullivan and Brett Johnson were the only two brave enough to run both the lite and heavy Supercan classes. Not wanting to mess with success, Crepin took off in the final and again pulled out to about a one second lead as his Haase/Laukaitis came in right away. Crepin would maintain the advantage throughout the final and claim his first of two wins on the weekend. The battle for second was anything but this easy, as Blazek, Sullivan, Tony Velez, Brett Cogo, Matt Riggs and Greg Dingess were fighting for this position. At one point these six were running nose to tail with Blazek punching the hole in the draft for the others. Blazek held this spot for the first half of the race, but Dingess was coming through the pack, setting fast lap of the race in the process. By the time Dingess was able to get to second, he was about three seconds back, but he ran out of laps to chip away at Crepin’s insurmountable lead. Dingess prevailed in the battle for second over Blazek, Sullivan, Velez, Cogo and Riggs.