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Updated:
09/21/10

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September 21, 2010 (Cedar Rapids, IA) Hey Guss fans, the River City
Hustler and Roberts Motorsports will be returning to the West Liberty
Raceway this Friday and Saturday night, September 24 and 25, 2010 for the
Annual Liberty 100. The 58 Team will be participating in qualifying and The
Race of Champions (IMCA) on Friday night and then shooting for the win in
the IMCA A Main on Saturday night. Ray is a past champion of the
Liberty 100 and, as we all know, no stranger to West Liberty Raceay or
Victory Lane there. Ray's most recent feature win there was in his only
appearance there so far this year on July 31st.

The team has elected to take the new MasterSbilt chassis to
West Liberty. This chassis has two wins on it from East Moline this past
Sunday, but the Roberts Motorsports crew needs to log many more laps with
this new chassis to get it to the tried and true state of the the chassis
that won six different championships in the 2010 racing season. So, expect
to see the BLACK #58 on the track this Friday and Saturday night. It may not
be quite the car of its predecessor yet, but the team has very high hopes
for it going into the 2011 racing season. Ray likes the feel of the car and
dialing in the set-up will be of utmost importance.
So, Guss fans, head on out to the big half mile this weekend to see the new
car if you haven't had an opportunity yet. We'll all hope that Ken, Hershel
and all the 58 crew hit on a set-up and that Ray handles the rest all the
way to the checkers first!
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June 10, 2010 Donnellson,
QCR And Looking Ahead
(Cedar Rapids, IA) Mother Nature has had a pretty good winning
percentage in the early part of the 2010 racing season. The racing program
at the Davenport Speedway fell to the rains again this past Friday, June
4th. However, the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, IA appeared to have an
edge on dodging the rains so the Roberts Motorsports Team 58 headed south a
couple of hours to try their hand at a new track in 2010. Mother Nature
still had a say in the outcome as the clouds opened up and the rains fell
for a period of about 15 minutes just as the team was pulling through the
pit gate.
A promising night can go south pretty quickly when rain immediately
before the races makes for a very slick, sloppy, heavy track and the 58 car
has no point average to get Ray a decent starting spot in the heat and
feature. The long and short of it is that the track conditions combined with
starting back in the pack in the feature with a chassis that was "iffy" on
set-up at a relatively unfamiliar track resulted in a 14th place finish for
Ray and Team 58. Sometimes circumstances just get the best of the evening.
Saturday night at the Jackson County Speedway was rained out, but Sunday
night at the Quad Cities Raceway in East Moline worked out very well
through a combination of excellent car, great driver and luck! Ray started
the feature from Row 4 and quickly worked his way through the traffic to
grab the lead, mostly taking advantage of the high side of the track. As the
white flag was falling Ray had the 58 out front by half a lap heading to the
checkers. The half lap cushion was quite an advantage in more ways than one.
When Ray came out of Turn 4 an oil line had already come off the engine and
a fire had started under the hood. The big lead allowed Ray to coast home to
Victory Lane and grab another checkered flag for Team 58. Aside from a bit
of a scare from the fire and about four quarts of oil lost, there was little
to no harm to the engine or car, in general. It should be ready to go at
Davenport on Friday night.
Looking ahead to the upcoming racing schedule, Ray and Roberts
Motorsports team will be continuing to race at the Davenport Speedway on
Fridays, Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa on Saturday nights and the
Quad Cities Raceway in East Moline on Sunday nights. Weekly track points are
important in the chase for the track late model championships and the
overall quest for the IMCA National Points Championship.
This coming Sunday night, June 13, 2010 the 58 Team will not be at East
Moline. They will be traveling to the Quincy Raceway on Quincy, IL for the
Deery Brothers Summer Series race. This will be a pretty good test for the
team as they go to the home track of both Mark Burgtorf and Jason Frankel,
two very competitive drivers anywhere on the Deery tour.
Looking further ahead, mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 29th. The 58
Team plans to travel west in Iowa to the Hamilton County Speedway at
Webster City, IA for the Late Model Summer Spectacular. This race track is a
very large half mile, and a track where Ray has won some big races in the
past days of the old Busch All Star Series. Follow this link for all the
details.
http://www.hamiltoncountyspeedway.com/SummerSpectacular.pdf The
next night, June 30th, the venue switches to the Independence Motor Speedway
and stop #9 on the Deery Brothers Summer Series.
The River City Hustler and Roberts Motorsports Team 58, led by Hershel
and Ken Roberts, have been on quite a roll. Mark your calendar and head out
to the track near you to catch this team on a roll to the checkers! |
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June 3, 2010 A Very Fine
Month
(Cedar Rapids, IA) The month of May brings many fine things
depending on your perspective - flowers and vegetables to gardeners,
generally warm weather for the sun worshipers, the sound of lawnmowers
grooming yards, fishermen on lakes, golfers on the course and several great
wins for Ray Guss Jr. and the Roberts Motorsports Team 58.
The month of May saw Ray and the Roberts Motorsports Team take the
Mullins-powered Mastersbilt by Stuckey #58 Chevy Impala SS to race tracks 15
times. Those 15 nights of racing produced the following results:
7 WINS
2 - 2NDs
1 - 3RD
2 - 4THs
1 - 5TH
1 - 8TH
1 - 16TH
Seven wins and 13 Top 5 finishes in 15 starts in arguably
the toughest competitive late model weekly (IMCA) and regional touring
series (Deery Brothers Summer Series) in the country speaks of a great deal
of competitiveness and consistency on the part of the 58 Team. The seven
wins were highlighted by a couple of especially impressive efforts.
One of the wins came on a night that the team didn't think
there were even going to race. Mother Nature brought a great deal of rain to
the Davenport area on Friday, May 7th, raining out the night of racing on
the quarter mile bullring. Looking for a place to race because so many of
them had been rained out in the early season, Ray, Hershel and Ken decided
to make the long haul to the Iowa State Fairgrounds and the very big half
mile dirt oval. It was one extreme to the other in track size. The 58 had
not been on a half mile track in quite sometime, so the team was kind of
throwing darts at the set-up to see what the Mastersbilt by Stuckey might
like on a heavy half mile. The heat race did not produce stellar results
leaving Ray with a 5th row start in the feature. The crew wrenched pretty
heavily on the chassis between heat and feature and sat back to see what Ray
could do with it when the green flag dropped for the A- Main. What they saw
were very positive results from the chassis changes and a vintage River City
Hustler move to take the lead and win going away. By all accounts of Ray's
highside pass for the lead, it made the second place car look like he was
almost standing still. Vintage Ray Guss Jr. in a car that he can turn on a
dime!
Other wins in the month of May came at all the weekly tracks
that Team 58 will be competing at as they attempt to win the IMCA National
Points Championship. The team put up two wins at the Jackson County Speedway
in Maquoketa, IA, two wins at the Quad Cities Raceway in East Moline, IL,
one win at the Davenport Speedway, Davenport, IA and closed out the month on
Memorial Day, May 31st by putting up a big win at the famed Boone Speedway
in the Deery Brothers Summer Series. The winning ways and consistently high
finishes have put Ray and the 58 Team atop both the IMCA National Late Model
and Deery Brothers Summer Series points standings. Their 2010 racing season
team goals are very much on track but there is a long way to go and the long
grind of the hot summer lies ahead. Ray, Hershel, Ken and the entire 58 crew
are counting on their off-season homework and stepped-up maintenance program
to carry them through the long grind. So far, so good!
The foreseeable future for the 58 Team will see them
continuing to pursue the weekly points and track championships at the
Davenport Speedway, Jackson County Speedway and Quad Cities Raceway. A track
championship at one of those venues is extremely important to their drive
for the IMCA Late Model National Championship. The team must win one of
those track championships to be in contention for the National Championship.
They will also continue to pursue the Deery Brothers points in quest of that
championship. The next Deery Brothers race is scheduled for June 13th at the
Quincy Raceway in Quincy, IL. For Ray Guss Jr. and Roberts Motorsports fans,
there will be plenty of opportunity to get to the track and see them. While
you are there, see the team after the races to pick up a new Ray Guss
Jr./Roberts Motorsports t-shirt and window decal!
Keep up the great effort Team 58! It sure is fun to watch or
read about when you cannot get to the track! |
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April 23, 2010
Grading Out Well!
(Cedar Rapids, IA) A winter of doing
their racing homework and evaluating their car maintenance procedures and
practices has given Ray Guss Jr. and the Roberts Motorsports 58 Team a great
start to the 2010 racing season. The combination of homework and
maintenance have provided a MasterSbilt by Stuckey chassis that has had
exceptional handling through the first five Deery Brothers Summer Series
races of 2010 and resulted in one win and the series points lead.
The first race of the season for the
Deery Brothers late models was at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA. The
crew was confident in the car and the Ray did not disappoint the crew or the
crowd in racing to a heat race win. The redraw for the feature left Ray
starting in the fifth row. The cars came to the green flag to start the
feature but some hesitation by a car or two in front of Ray allowed several
cars to get past the 58 leaving him a tough row to hoe the rest of the
evening to work his way back to his final finishing spot of 10th.
The team was not discouraged, though, and loaded the car to head for Quincy
Raceway the following night.

Quincy Raceway, located in Quincy,
IL, is the home track to two of the toughest IMCA late model drivers
competing in the Deery Brothers Summer Series. Mark Burgtorf and Jason
Frankel are tough drivers to beat when racing them anywhere. Racing them in
their own back yard just adds to the complexity and difficulty of beating
them to the feature checkers. Ray, not known for his luck in drawing for
starting positions, drew a high number and started the 58 dead last in his
heat race. In the end, he would guide the car to a 3rd place
finish in the heat and redraw and 11 for the feature. Starting inside the 6th
row, Ray steadily worked his way through traffic to earn a 3rd
place finish in Quincy. Who finished 1st and 2nd? You
guessed it, Burgtorf and Frankel!
The second weekend of Summer Series
racing had engines firing at the Davenport Speedway quarter mile in
Davenport, IA. The weather was beautiful and the racing results for the
River City Hustler and Roberts Motorsports Team 58 was even better. It was a
night for checking out on what could be considered one of Ray’s home tracks.
He won his heat easily, redrew a 7 to start the feature in the 4th
row and the mission to the checkers was in complete control. Not to anyone’s
surprise, the early leader of the race was Burgtorf, but it was very evident
to those in attendance that the 58 was going to be the car to beat on this
evening. Ray passed cars from the 7th starting position up to 2nd
in just a few short laps and then began his pursuit of the point. Just a few
laps before the crossed flags signaling the halfway mark Ray moved past
Burgtorf and planned to put distance between the two cars. Unfortunately for
the 7 car, a mechanical failure would end the night for the points leader on
the very next lap. Once the green fell again, Ray took off and was not to be
challenged the rest of the way. He and Team 58 won their first Deery feature
of 2010 by at least half a lap. The 58, on this night, may have been even
better than it was at Tipton last fall and that was nearly perfect!

The Summer Series moved on to the
Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa, IA on Saturday, April 17th.
The “unluck” of the draw (a 90) would give Ray a dead last start in his heat
race. The car was handling well but Ray would not drive through cars racing
side-by-side in front of him and just simply ran out of laps to get past the
6th finishing position. He had to run one of the B Mains,
starting in the second row and running away with the consi win. Even with a
consi win, Ray would still have to start the Roberts wrenched 58 on the
inside of the 8th row. On a night when passing was at a premium
on a relatively narrow track, Ray improved 11 positions to grab a 4th
place finish. Now it was on to Dubuque.
The Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway is
a track where Ray Guss Jr. had taken many, many feature wins in years past
on his way to track and region championships. It has been a great track for
him which leads to heightened anticipation of a good night when he comes to
Dubuque in an awesome car like the Roberts-owned 58. The night had a rather
ominous start to it when Ray pulled a 95 out of the hat to determine his
heat race starting position. As you might surmise, drawing a number that
high earns a shotgun on the field start. However, on this Sunday evening in
Dubuque, Ray piloted the 58 from last to first in the heat race by Lap 3 and
won the race by half a lap. The Mullins power plant combined with a near
perfect MasterSbilt by Stuckey chassis was on a rail! Just like the
Davenport race two nights earlier, Ray started the feature from the 7th
position. The difference from Friday to Sunday, though, was that he was
leading by Lap 9 and checked out! Ray had a half lap lead by Lap 30 when
the first real misfortune of the season struck in the form of a broken right
header. The break sapped the Mullins power enough to allow Burgtorf to close
and overtake Ray by Lap 46. Despite the broken header, Ray held on for a 2nd
place finish and maintain a slim points lead in the Series with five races
in the books.
Driver and crew are very optimistic
about the piece they are putting on the dirt each night out. The weekly
racing grind will start with their next race off the hauler. That would have
been tonight at the Davenport Speedway quarter mile, but mother nature took
the checkers tonight. The 58 Team will try to get on the track in Maquoketa
tomorrow night, weather permitting. Don’t miss an opportunity to see Ray and
the Roberts Motorsports team on the track this season. Doing your home work
and paying attention to the details usually earns you good grades. After
five races into the 2010 season, you can clearly see that the 58 Team is
earning a very high grade!
Guss fans interested in picking up a
58 car decal can do so starting with the races this weekend. If they are not
rained out in Maquoketa tomorrow night, head for the pits after the races
and decals will be on sale from the team. Guss fans interested in picking up
a new Ray Guss Jr./Roberts Motorsports t-shirt will be able to do so by
mid-May. The team is working on finalizing the design details for the shirts
and will soon have them ready for purchase. Don't miss out! |
# 58
2010
MasterSbilt Late Model
Ray Guss Jr., Milan IL
Roberts Custom Software
Stuckey Enterprises
Sears
Seating UAW
A & W Root Beer
C J Now
Long
John Silvers Ostrand Decorating
VanHoe
Funeral Home
Shawn’s Auto Service
Gett
Industries Ltd
Jim’s Knoxville Tap
Eriksen
Chevrolet
Slugger’s Pizza
Freebern
Chiropractic
Rudy’s – Moline, Rock Island
Ted
Graff State Farm Insurance
Global Fire Control, Inc
Mach
1 Racing
Courtesy – Moline
S & S Printing & Race Wraps
Roemer Machine & Welding
J & J Camper Sales
All State – qcallstate.com
Mullins Race Engines A-1
Bonding
Simpson
Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil
Performance Bodies
Winstein Kavensky Attorneys
In
Memory of Carol Ann Cole 1937 - 2003
Roberts Motorsports
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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!
Webmaster
www.raygussjr.com
High Point
Publishers |
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Check out the pictures of the 2010 Roberts Racing race car below! |



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