Sunday, July 26, 2009 - 18:08
Well so far so good this year! Not exactly perfect, but I'm doing pretty well. The part-time program engineering the three FR500S Speedworks Mustangs for the Ford Racing Challenge has been just about perfect, but I still get pretty tired.
With summer in full "bloom" we are keeping our fingers crossed as last year this is where summer and fall allergies pretty much kicked my butt. This year we are holding out hope I will make it through as Mustangs are starting to show up at my door hoping to be "Kenny-ized".
Muscle Mustangs will have an article from VIR (Virginia International Raceway) where I taught Editor, Pete Epple, the finer points of track driving in the awesome CSR-69 with the my new GT-4 suspension. So I had better be up for the flood of inquiries that will follow.
That's not the real news though... The REAL NEWS is I was able to drive at VIR, yes me for the first time in over four years at speed and it felt good, really good. I drove pretty hard and gave Pete firsthand experience in driving Mustangs fast. Though I have to admit, the new GT-4 package made it pretty easy.
Paul Brown and Terry Lingner have done all of the testing for me so far on the GT-4 suspension package, so this was the first chance I had to drive my new S-197 GT-4 suspension and I was amazed. Even the super twisty North Course couldn't slow me down. The new GT-4 suspension and the Pirelli PZero Corsa tires gripped like there was no tomorrow. That's what I love about track driving, feeling massive G-loads in the seat of your pants as the car grips and turns. I had almost forgotten just how good it feels to drive one of my cars. The only down side was my stamina still needs some work as I was only good for a handful of laps before I had to take a break and rest. But - every lap was well worth it!
Thank you for all your well wishes and support that keep coming!
Sunday, February 15, 2009 - 15:51
The last half of 2008, I had some real ups and downs with a series of dreaded asthma flair ups. It looks like I’m past the flair ups and on the mend. I’m working on building up my strength and stamina for the upcoming Season. I’m even on a workout program to increase my pulmonary functions and “beef up” my scrawny body from the past three years of medical fatigue.
My ultimate goal is to get back to the track and driving for this season. And - with the updates going into the CSR-69 Mustang, I can’t wait – it’s going to be awesome!!! More on that soon…
I’m working on a lot of new car, parts and other fun projects for 2009. So look for lots of new stuff – performance street cars, hot cutting edge parts, interesting partnering relationships, new programs and track services for the 2009 season.
Thanks for all your continued support and best wishes!
Friday, November 14, 2008 - 17:39
I apologize for not getting more updates to the website this past month. I had to another “pit stop” for some unexpected medical stuff. A while back Cari, my wife, caught a nasty cold. We were able to keep it away from me for about a week, but it was too persistent and really nasty and it finally caught up with me.
I had the cold for about a day before it turned into pneumonia, again, what a drag. A couple of weeks of meds, a couple of weeks to rest and I’m back at it again.
I especially want to apologize to the folks from Northwoods Shelby Club for not making it to Autobahn in Joliet, Illinois in October. I was really looking forward to being there. Trust me, I would have much rather been doing “Seat” time at Autobahn with the Northwoods group than “Sheet” time at IU hospital.
Friday, August 8, 2008 - 21:39
Hey everybody, I’m still here and unfortunately still fighting my way back from death’s door, what a drag. I apologize for the long delay from my last posting but it seemed like every time I thought I was ready to get my life going again I would have another flair-up or major set back.
Three years ago if someone would have told me it could take three years or more to recover from the complications of triple-pneumonia I would have laughed. Well I guess the laugh is on me, as it’s been two and a half years and I’m still on a very, very slow – but still upward - recovery path.
Don’t get too excited as I’m still dealing with residual issues, but with the many, many requests and hundreds of emails urging me to get back into it, I’m going to go ahead and try some small steps forward.
Friday, August 8, 2008 - 21:37
Before I go further, I want to thank the hundreds and hundreds of well wishers and emails pulling for me and wishing me well. When you deal with a serious illness for an extended period of time, some days it gets pretty difficult to see beyond the relentless disappointment each day seems to bring. When I’m having really bad days, Cari, my wife, prints off a handful of your emails and reads them to me to help keep me hopeful, looking forward and know I’m not alone in my struggle. Thanks again for giving me a little bit of purpose and incentive to continue on, as there were some days (and still are) when I really needed it.
For those who emailed with questions and haven’t received an answer, I apologize. The shear volume of emails matched with my incredibly small staff over the past few years (Cari, part-time) has made it impossible for us to answer them all. Looking forward, we are planning on grouping similar questions into subject groups and posting tech info and other answers in a FAQ section, so don’t be afraid to keep your questions coming.