Plans Shaping Up For 2010 Racing Season

January 31, 2010

(Cedar Rapids, IA) The snow still covers most of the ground, and race tracks, in the midwestern states, but that doesn't mean that race teams are not in full swing preparing their race cars and working out plans for the tracks they will be competing at over the course of the 2010 racing season. Ray Guss Jr. and the Roberts Motorsports 58 Racing Team are definitely in that mode right now. You can see below that the car is pretty much ready to go. Look over the pictures closely and you will see some new sponsors on the car as well as the many long-time, faithful sponsors of Roberts Motorsports. All of you race fans know that it would be difficult to put the car on the track without the great sponsors you see on the car. They will be featured prominently on the web site in the future.

The car you see in the pictures is a 2008 MasterSbilt by Stuckey with a Mullins powerplant under the hood. Mullins, located in Mt. Olive, IL, will be the power of choice for Roberts Motorsports in 2010. The chassis and engine programs and preparation are done deals heading into the season, which leaves the racing plans as the other important part of the puzzle to be put together. To that end, Ray, Hershel and Ken have already discussed their primary and secondary objectives for the season, which should provide some exciting racing action for racing fans.

Primary among the racing objectives for the 58 Team this year will be pursuing the Deery Brothers Summer Series schedule. Ray and team combined to win five Deery races (most in the series in 2009!) last summer and were leading three more that they were unable to finish due to mechanical problems. By running the Summer Series last year the team was able to assess their relative competitiveness against some of the top IMCA late model teams. That proved positive as they were able to determine a couple of areas where they had weaknesses and turn their focus on improving those weaknesses heading into the 2010 season. So, 58 fans, look for Ray, Hershel, Ken and all the 58 crew to set out to make a run at the Deery Brothers Summer Series championship.

Beyond the Deery Series, the 58 Team will also be focused on running for the IMCA Weekly points championship. The track at which they will run weekly will be the Davenport Speedway on Friday nights as long as there is no conflict with the Deery Brothers Summer Series. Ray won the driver's late model track championship at Davenport in 2009 and will be seeking to repeat that feat in 2010. Davenport is the most competitive IMCA late model track participating in the drivers' run for a sanctioned track championship. Repeating will be a difficult and competitive task for Ray and the 58 Team. Secondarily in the weekly points pursuit will be racing at Maquoketa and possibly West Liberty on Saturday nights. Yes, you read that right. There will be six IMCA dates on the West Liberty schedule in 2010 and there is a strong possibility that you will see Ray Guss Jr. back at the West Liberty Raceway again after what seems to have been a long hiatus! Long time Guss fans know how well Ray handles getting around that big half mile! Also secondarily on the weekly schedule will likely be Sunday nights at the Quad Cities Raceway. Plans for racing at East Moline are still a little cloudy, which means it is possible that race fans could see Ray piloting the Roberts hotrod at the Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway early in the season. West Liberty and Dubuque...........a potential "back to the future" for championship-winning River City Hustler!

Another article featuring the sponsors of Ray and Roberts Motorsports will be forthcoming. But the closing of this article will give fans just a short re-cap of the success that Ray and the Roberts-owned 58 Team had in 2009 once they joined forces.

38 Night of Racing

14 WINS!

15 2nds

2 3rds

2 4ths

1 9th

3 DNFs

75% of the finishes were either 1st or 2nd

Winner of the Boone Super Nationals (Late Model)

Winner of the IMCA portion - Yankee Dirt Track Classis

Winner of the Iowa Governor's Cup

Winner of the Davenport Speedway Late Model Track Championship

Winner of the All Iowa Points - Late Model

Look for more news in the near future!

GO 58!

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