May 19 - The second race of the year at Thunder Alley was also the second frustrating night for the 25R team at Thunder Alley SpeedPark (see May 5th writeup on "Notebook" page for details on the first race) Friday night.  After making the two hour haul north to Evans Mills, the team arrived to find the track was not in race condition.  All the competitors were called to pack the track down,  and the first heat race started after 8PM.  In his heat John picked up one position, starting 5th and finishing fourth to earn a eighth place starting position for the feature.  With the track heavy and rough,  John was in seventh position early in the feature when heavy contact from a competitor broke the right front shock bolt.  With two consecutive cautions and one red flag,  John returned to the feature in 20th place.  From there John steadily moved up to eighth place midway through the feature.  On the following caution the flagger told John he was actually two laps down,  so John decided to pull in instead of abusing his car further.  John p

May 14 - Sail panels returned to the cars at Utica Rome Speedway Sunday night for the "Remembering Alex" 68 lap ROC Big Block/Small Block race.  John put the panels on his car for the event,  which included 41 drivers.  The event started out quite well for the team,  as John drew the fourth starting position in his heat,  and was able to drive to a second place finish;  he would eventually be given credit for the win when Pat Ward withdrew his winning car and would run his backup for the feature.  John would pull the third starting position for the feature.  After making adjustments to the car, including trimming the height of the sail panels, John drove a great race,  keeping his small block glued to the bottom of the speedway.  John ended up 13th overall,  but was mainly passed only by the big block competitors.  He ended up the second highest finishing small block,  and was also the fourth highest Utica Rome competitor across the line.  Check out photos from Big Joe Alexander from the event here.

May 13 - The final results didn't show it,  but the 25R Fastline Performance Big Block had an encouraging night at Can-Am Speedway Saturday night.  John started his heat race 5th, and drove to a second place finish.  In the feature,  John was able to move forward from his eighth place starting spot up to third early in the race.  However the car developed a problem that caused the motor to lose power down the straightaway,  and John pulled in rather than risk damaging the engine.  The team was able to determine a fuel line issue,  and are ready to compete at Can-Am again next Saturday.

May 7 - John completed the first full weekend of racing at Utica Rome Speedway Sunday night.  Bringing out the new 2005 Christian chassis,  the team was chasing the right setup throughout the night.  John started his heat 3rd and finished 5th.  After changing the car around,  John started 13th in the feature and finished 15th.  The changes to the car did not have much of an affect,  and the teams believes the left rear bar may have gone bad.  John then took out the Evans Mills car out at the end of the night for a few hot laps,  with encouraging results.  See you next Friday at Evans Mills.

May 5 - John Ramsey and the 25R had quite the evening at Thunder Alley SpeedPark for the Season Opener Friday night.  After arriving at the track with their 358 Modified ready for action,  the team was notified of changes that would need to be made in order to compete with the Big Blocks.  After much discussion the team made the necessary changes, (including purchasing new Hoosier tires), and in making these last minute changes missed the Heat race draw.  As a result, John started last in his heat and finished 5th.  All the changes to the car had the crew guessing on the feature setup,  but John was able to move forward from his 14th place feature start to finish 7th in the final rundown.  Not a bad finish to a less than ideal situation to begin the season at Thunder Alley.

April 29 - The 2006 Season for John Ramsey and his 25R crew began in the Big Block at Can-Am on Saturday night.  John started his heat race 6th and finished 5th,  giving him the 19th place starting position for the feature.  The first racing action of the season with the car found some brake issues that the team worked on between the heat and the feature,  and other changes made the car better for the rest of the evening.  John would be able to move up from 19th to finish in 13th out of the 33 car field.