Thomas 2017

The long winding road of the 2017 ARCA Season that began way back in Daytona in January came to an end Saturday night in Indianapolis.

As the leader of all active ARCA drivers in longevity, Praytor’s 2017 speech began by recognizing team owners Wayne Hixson and James Hylton. The long time car owner’s drivers finished in the top 10 but they did not get a spot on stage Saturday night.

Praytor also recognized Briggs Cunningham & Kerry Sherrer for their 20 years of contributions to the ARCA Series as team owners. It was announced last week Cunningham Motorsports had been sold with the pair of long time owners retiring from the sport.

The Moose followed with a long list of thank yous including his sister, Hayley for dating a guy in racing so he has a new place for free parts.

A good part of this year’s speech was thanks to his crew, especially Adam Lowe. Lowe moved to Mobile after graduating UNOH last year. Lowe worked a full time job in Mobile while working full time with the race team.

The Mobile, Alabama driver closed by congratulating this year’s Champion Austin Theriault and team owner Ken Schrader.

The ARCA Championship banquet closed the season but the work for 2018 has not stopped in the DK-LOK Racing shop in Mobile. The Daytona test is less than a month away and the team is now working on a second car for Daytona.

Thomas “Moose” Praytor started his ARCA career with his thumb out begging for a ride, flash forward and the Mobile, Alabama driver leads all active drivers in longevity heading in to this year’s banquet.

In 2017 Praytor started the season by taking over the ARCA Ironman Title, followed by celebrating 100 career ARCA starts at Road America, then 100 consecutive starts at Kentucky adding 1 more for good measure at the finale in Kansas for 101 starts in a row.

“It’s hard to believe, Belmont and Venturini gave me a couple of opportunities to get their cars in the race and we really didn’t have a plan. We bought an old car from Belmont and decided to try and make Daytona. With Wayne Hixsons help that turned into Daytona, Mobile and Talladega, well we’re still here.”

Praytor is the only driver to have finished in the Championship top 10 in each of the last 5 seasons. While collecting top 10 Championship finishes Praytor has racked up 12,542 laps, more than double every other competitor in the top 10.

“The stats are incredible, I still think of myself as a driver at Mobile International Speedway. I think we’ve proved we belong, our next step in 2018 is to move our race team into a top 10 weekly finisher.”

With the 2017 season in the rear view mirror Thomas ”Moose” Praytor and his Mobile Alabama based Max Force Race Team were able to concentrate on preparing for the composite car test at Talladega.

The team faced 3 hurdles that had to be climbed in 15 days, 1-it didn’t have a car, 2-it didn’t have a motor and 3-it didn’t have a composite body.

Job 1 Car-Hayley Praytor’s boyfriend better known as Mike Abrams ferried the team’s Superspeedway Chassis to Mooresville and Billy Hess raised the halo and had it ready by Noon. One last job for Max Force as he heads into retirement, thanks Billy!

Job 2 Motor-With the team’s one and only Ilmor mileaged out they needed a motor. An ARCA team loaned the team one. Nice to have friends.

Job 3 Body-On Monday October 1^st Tommy Praytor was in Mooresville picking up a used body from another ARCA team. More friends.

With all the components in one place the team had less than 7 days to assemble a Superspeedway car and body, a body they had never seen before.

“We had a lot to do and our guys in Mobile really worked their butts off to get us there. Adam (Lowe), Craig Pickering and Brad Wallace worked some really long hours to make it happen,” said Praytor.

The team should have loaded up for Talladega on Monday afternoon but not satisfied with their progress, they kept working. Midnight came and went with the morning light on the horizon the team headed to Talladega at 4:30 AM.

“We normally have the longest trip to the track, this week we had the shortest and we were the last team there, we even had to get security to let us in.”

While the team had worked until early in the morning, there was more work to do and they spent the bulk of Tuesday finishing their new composite car.

The Ilmor guys went through the motor making sure all of our plumbing and wiring was right and the Chevy was ready to go on track.

“It was really weird, I had been inside the car working and we set the seat without the body on, so it was the first time I had set in the seat with the body on. I couldn’t believe the room, at 6”2” I have to squish down in the old car, the new car felt like I could have a party inside there.”

Praytor made a few laps and brought the new car back to the garage to make sure there were no issues or tire rubs. “I was confident in our chassis but I really didn’t know what to expect with the new body. Our new Chevy drove like a champ, really smooth and very stable.”

With time running out Praytor made another 3 lap run placing him just outside the top 10 on the speed chart.

“Really a positive day for our race team. So many people, so many moving parts all came together and our Chevy was like a rock.” Day 1 in the books.

Instead of going on track to begin day 2 the team spent the morning in the tech line having the ARCA officials go over the new DK-LOK Chevy.

“Tech was as important to us as on track. We’ve been hanging bodies in our shop for years this was our first ARCA composite body so we needed to make sure we were on the right track. Really appreciate Gadget and Tony spending so much time with us in tech. We had a few little issues but nothing too bad.”

With weather moving in to the area there was time for the Moose to make one more 4 lap run putting him P6 in single car runs. Rain capped Praytor’s on track laps for 2 days at 10.

“Really proud of our race team and the car they put together in less than 7 days for Talladega. Lots of people involved in getting us to Talladega and I can’t thank them enough for their help. We still have so more work to do but we are really looking forward to Daytona.”

Next up, PRI Trade Show and ARCA Series Championship Banquet, December 9^th in Indianapolis.

After its final ARCA outing Black Betty clad in Randy Patrick Wears Pink Colors will be back in action this Saturday in Downtown Mobile for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.

The DK-LOK/Randy Patrick Wears Pink Ford will be at 205 Dauphin Street in front of “The Vault” until Noon on the walk route. Mamma Moose, Julie Praytor and Sister Moose, Hayley Praytor will represent Max Force Racing taking part in this year’s Walk.

The Walk begins at 8AM on Saturday and winds its way through Downtown Mobile’s Entertainment District. Clubs along the route are providing entertainment and necessary “fluids” for walkers.

The Walk begins and ends at Bienville Square were the big throw down party will begin as walkers finish up. It’s not too late to take part in this year Walk. Registration begins at 6:45 on Saturday morning, Walk contact Marlene Rathle, SouthAlabamaStrides@cancer.org (251) 414-1307.

This weekend’s walk will also be the final event of this year’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign. It’s not too late to donate to Randy Patrick’s Effort:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCCY17MS?px=46103311&pg=personal&fr_id=85085

The regular season finale in Kansas usually has 2 types of competitors, I’m locked in so I’m taking it easy or I’m trying to gains points so I’m going for broke.

Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK/Randy Patrick Wears Pink Ford were locked in to 7^th place in the Championship just by starting the race. But the team took a totally different approach to Friday night’s ARCA Series finale.

“We’ve been working on the handling of ours cars all year and instead of sitting back our guys spent hours making wholesale changes to our car. We never give up.”

Off the trailer the team was really disappointed with the speed of the Ford and spotter Tab Boyd quickly put the whip to the driver.

“Tab was on me from the moment I hit the track he was almost as bad as my regular spotter. After a couple of rounds my Dad came over to the window and said something like, “Hey you dumb ___ I know you don’t listen to me but you got one of the best spotters in the business on the roof you should listen to him!” I had to change a lot of my driving style but it paid off”.

While the Moose was working inside the car the team was working outside the car and the final lap of practice was his fastest. Out for qualifying Praytor picked up a couple of more 10ths for the new fastest lap of the day.

“A long 2 hour practice session really gave us time to work on a lot of different areas of the car and it really paid off. Of course the extra weight of the Randy Patrick Wears Pink stickers slowed us down! (Laughing)”

After the wreck fest of the last few races the season finale turned into one of the cleanest of the year with few cautions and some great racing. The team and Praytor continued to work on Betty every lap and every caution trying to send her out on a good note. Betty and the Moose turned their fastest laps of the weekend in the closing stages of the race. Praytor started the night 22^nd and finished 20^th.

“My guys kept working all night on making us better and it paid off. A lot of people would have phoned the last race in but we are always working on new ideas trying to improve our race team. We think we hit on a few things that really brought our DK-LOK/Randy Patrick Wears Pink Ford to life over the course of practice, qualifying and the race. Cant thank Tab enough for coming over and helping us again. Congratulations to Selfie on his first win and Austin and the entire Schrader bunch on the Championship, they really had a great year. Gonna miss Black Betty next year but we have a lot of cool stuff coming up.”

Kansas 150 at Kentucky Speedway: As the season comes to a close so will the ARCA life of Roush Chassis #461 better known as “Black Betty”. Thomas “Moose” Praytor took Betty for her first spin in 2014 at the ARCA Mobile 200 and was the car he recorded his best career ARCA finish in. “Betty and I have made a lot of miles together and with ARCA changing the wheel base rule in 2018 this will be the last time I get to drive her in an ARCA race,” said Praytor. Picture-“Black Betty” at the ARCA Mobile 200 in her first outing in 2014.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and Praytor has joined forces with Mobile Sportscaster Randy Patrick to help raise money for the American Cancer Society’s “Real Men Wear Pink”. The Randy Patrick quarter panels have turned into a drinking/fund raising game in Mobile. If you see “Randy Patrick” on FS2 broadcast you take a drink and make a donation. Hopefully by the end of the race you will have had enough to drink to make a big donation! Use this link to donate-

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the car to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and Betty has been utilized tne times in 2017, Salem, Toledo, Madison, Iowa, LOR, Winchester, Road America, Kentucky, Salem & Elko. Betty is a 105” car and this is her last year for ARCA competition, Praytor is attempting to finish the season with his favorite car.

Kansas 150 is a hectic 2 day event starting off with inspection on Thursday. Friday kicks off with a 2 hour practice session starting at 9:30, followed by General Tire Pole qualifying at 2:30. The race to checkered flag, and the end of the season will begin at 7:30 CDT. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be televised live on Fox Sports 2.

What to look for this weekend: With Kansas hosting the finale everyone will be fighting for their spot in the Championship standings. In the middle of the Championship fighters will be young guns only going for the win, it’s always wild!

Praytor Joins Team Patrick for Kansas

Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile based race team have teamed up with long time WKRG TV 5 Sports anchor Randy Patrick for Real Men Wear Pink at Kansas Speedway.

Patrick and a group of 2 dozen male community leaders have joined forces to promote Breast Cancer Awareness while raising money for the American Cancer society. The annual contest pits some of Mobile’s heaviest hitters against each other as a unique way for men to support Women in their fight against breast cancer.

To Donate to Real Men Wear Pink for Randy Patrick: https://tinyurl.com/ycm956ur

“I think everyone knows someone who has been touched by cancer. We recently lost one of our Channel 5 family to breast cancer, it is just a horrible disease,” said Patrick. “The Praytors have always given back to our community and having them part of my campaign, helping promote the cause on National TV is really cool.”

The Randy Patrick Wears Pink car will race at Kansas Speedway on October 20^th live on FS1 starting at 7:30.

To Donate to Real Men Wear Pink for Randy Patrick: https://tinyurl.com/ycm956urthis

“We lost my Grandmother to Cancer, my Dad has had cancer plus many more friends and relatives have had to deal with this disease,” offered Praytor. “Every year we’ve changed our numbers to Pink at Kansas to support Breast Cancer Awareness, helping Randy raise money for the fight against Cancer is a natural for us.”

Praytor, the Ironman of the ARCA Series will be making his 102^nd consecutive ARCA start at Kansas Speedway closing out his 5^th consecutive year in the top 10 of the ARCA Championship standings.

To Donate to Real Men Wear Pink for Randy Patrick: https://tinyurl.com/ycm956ur

After a short night with a bad motor in Chicago, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team were looking for a rebound in the Bluegrass State of Kentucky.

With a fresh set of Ford horses from Professional Engine in Mobile Black Betty was percolating off the trailer.

Praytor’s Ford Motor was strong but his Ford Fusion was having a hard time turning.

“It’s always a constant battle getting the balance in the car. Last week we were free (car turns too easy) and this week we were just bound up (car won’t turn). We threw a lot at it and got it better but we felt like we were still missing something.” Praytor timed in 22^nd for the Crosley Brands 150.

The start of the race was a solid indicator of the night that was ahead for the 30 plus teams and drivers in Sparta, Kentucky-lap 2 caution, lap 10 caution-you get the idea.

With each caution Praytor was called to pit road when the field got the one to go signal to top off with Sunoco fuel in case the race took on a long green flag run.

Once under green the DK-LOK Ford was tight (not turning) in turns 3 and 4 and just about perfect in turns 1 and 2.

“Really frustrating we kept freeing the car up to help it turn but when we got in traffic the back end would get light around others cars and try and spin out.”

The race finally settled down and the field made some laps with a caution just before the halfway mark.

“With the long green flag run we got a lap down and while the rest of the field came down pit road we stayed out to get our lap back. The extra fuel we had been packing in paid off.”

Back on the lead lap Praytor needed a quick caution to get some fresh General Tires, 5 laps later the ARCA Ironman got the caution he needed. The DK-LOK Ford came to pit road for 4 General Tires and Sunoco fuel.

At some point in every race the front runners settle down and log some laps, but that didn’t happen on Friday night.

Praytor spent the bulk of the back half of the race dodging bullets and having fun on restarts.

“We didn’t have a car that could run up front on a long run but I was having some fun on the restarts. We could catch 5 or 6 guys sleeping and pass them before the first turn. They would get wound up and pass us back but it was a lot of fun.”

As the laps clicked off Praytor kept improving positions one at a time. If the race had been crazy in the first 90 laps it was going to just plain stupid in the final 10.

“You could see some of the guys up front getting antsy and they really went crazy 4 and 5 wide cars went everywhere. Then we tried it again, same thing luckily we were laying back keeping out of the mess.”

After a couple of tries the field finally made it to 150 miles and Praytor rolled his DK-LOK Ford back to the hauler in one piece and a 14^th place finish.

“Nice rebound from last week, our new motor was really strong, our guys had good stops and our pit strategy went our way all night. We’ve got a few weeks off before the finale and after this last 6 weeks I think our whole team can use the time off.”

The Crosley Brands 150 at Kentucky Speedway: In a state that puts a premium on horsepower Thomas “Moose” Praytor will have a fresh set of Ford Horses under the hood for Friday night. “Our guys at Professional Engine in Mobile were waiting on us with a fresh motor when we got back from Chicago. We were on the chassis dyno with it on Wednesday and it looks like we may get a few more horses out of this one.” Horses will be in demand at Kentucky, one of the fastest mile and a half’s on the tour. “Last year we ran a special scheme for Chive Charities/GoodBookey at Kentucky, we had a lot of fun with the Chive Fans, they are crazy!” In 2016 Praytor recorded a career best at Kentucky and he’ll need to be on his game again Friday night to hold on to 7^th place in the Championship standings. Pictures Top-2016 Chive Charities/Goodbookey Car, below Praytor on the chassis dyno testing new motor.

The Crosley Brands 150 is a busy 1 day event on Friday. An hour and half long practice session starts at Noon CST, followed by Menards Pole Qualifying at 4:10 CST and the green flag at 7:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. This race will be televised on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday at 7:00 pm, Channels in Mobile Comcast/Xfinity 49/241HD, Mediacom 52, Direct TV 219, Dish 150, AT&T Uverse 652.

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the car to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and Betty has been utilized seven times in 2017, Salem, Toledo, Madison, Iowa, LOR, Winchester, Road America, Salem & Elko. Betty is a 105” car and this is her last year for ARCA competition, Praytor is attempting to finish the season with his favorite car.

What to look for this weekend: Kentucky was repaved last year and again this year, General Tire is bringing a special tire for Kentucky to handle the heat from new asphalt. Over 20 teams tested on Wednesday and there will be a lot of data to absorb before Friday.

Over the last 5 seasons Chicagoland Speedway has been feast or famine for Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile, Alabama based DK-LOK Team, 2017 famine.

With Tab Boyd on the roof spotting the DK-LOK Ford unloaded 5 tenths off of their 2016 speed and the team quickly went to making changes.

“Having Tab on the roof and the Boss on the ground we quickly started making gains on speed and handling. The bumps down in turn 3 really upset our DK-LOK Ford, with Tabs help I started adjusting my style and line it made a big difference on the bumps.”

As the hour and half practice moved forward Praytor kept ticking off faster lap times until he was quicker than 2016 and still gaining.

“Practice was going great and going down the back stretch the motor just went flat.”

“I made a lap and the motor was just done. We had done all we could and Darrell Basham came over and went to work on it, dead. With 20 minutes to go before race time we had to go to the backup car to just make the race and stay in the top 10 for the Championship.”

The team unloaded the backup car and with help from a couple of other team was able to make the starting grid.

“I’m glad we had the backup but with just 20 minutes to get it ready to race all we were able to do was get it ready to make a few laps. Not what we were looking for but it was a big win for us. We kept my start streak alive and we were able to make the start to keep up in the points chase for this year’s Championship.”

No rest for the weary, Team DK-LOK will be back at it on Friday at Kentucky Speedway.

The SCOTT 150 is a 1 day event with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying and the GreenFlag on Thursday at 7:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. Live TV Coverage on Fox Sports 1. Channels in n Mobile Comcast/Xfinity 77, Mediacom 179, Direct TV 618, Dish 397, AT&T Uverse 651.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, REALTOR, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, MAECO Fabrication, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Greer’s Food Market, AQUASALT, Wade Distributing, Campbell, Duke & Campbell, Omni Fitness, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Praytor Realty

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the car to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and Betty has been utilized seven times in 2017, Salem, Toledo, Madison, Iowa, LOR, Winchester, Road America, Salem & Elko. Betty is a 105” car and this is her last year for ARCA competition, Praytor is attempting to finish the season with his favorite car.

What to look for this weekend: Chicagoland Speedway is wicked fast and will reach out and wreck competitors if they let their guard down. Handling will take a premium over air this weekend but air will still be part of the equation. How the cars handle the air or better known as aero will always be present at Chicagoland. When cars get behind each other they can become “aero tight” or won’t turn. You will also see cars gain ground on the car in front of them and then be unable to pass because the air off the car in front slows them down. When cars are side by side it can take the air off the car on the inside and cause the car to spin.

Chicagoland Speedway Track Specs:

Speedway: 1.5 mile D-shaped tri-oval
Banking: turns: 24 degrees; straights: front stretch 11 degrees, backstretch 5 degrees
Backstretch Length: 1,800 feet Frontstretch Length: 2,322 feet

After a solid effort in DuQuoin, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK team were looking forward to Throwback weekend at the Eddie Gillstrap Motors 200 Fall Classic at Salem Speedway.

The Intimidator inspired Ford started slow then picked up speed during practice. An aggressive qualifying set up pushed the Moose back to 18^th.

“We were trying for something big in qualifying and it just didn’t work. We did learn some things we can use later but they didn’t work Saturday night.”

With changes made during final adjustments Praytor was on the move with the drop of the green flag.

“We unscrewed ourselves from qualifying and our DK-LOK Ford was really good and we picked back up some spots we gave up in qualifying.”

During the first half of the race Praytor moved up into the top 15, using a little pit strategy the Moose moved even closer to the top 10.

“We had a good battle all night with Ed Pompa and Mike Basham. We snookered them on a pit stop putting them a lap down to us and we were in good shape for the back half of the race.”

As the leaders set a torrid pace for the next 50 laps Praytor’s brakes started to fade and by lap 150 there wasn’t much to push.

“I’d hit the pedal and she wouldn’t even think about stopping. I could pump them up going down the straightaway and get enough to turn but each lap they got worse.”

Salem is tough enough, Salem without brakes is just miserable. Praytor once on the move was now sliding back through the field and giving up spots to folks he had already passed. The Moose would bring home his DK-LOK Ford 16^th.

“Just really disappointing, we had a good car and it just slowly slipped away from us, lot of fun racing with Ed and Mike. Appreciate the fans and Salem Speedway putting on the throwback weekend it’s really cool seeing all the old cars.”

A really short week in Mobile and the team will be headed back up I-65 dodging what’s left of Irma to get to Chicagoland by Thursday.

Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200 presented by Meadow View/Salem Crossing at Salem Speedway: The entire team is getting into this year’s Earnhardt Intimidator throwback paint scheme. Along with the Moose driving the car, the team will wear Max Force Racing Crew Uniforms from 2001. You can also expect to see Tommy return to his ARCA Racing This Week attire for a special throwback interviews, Venturini, Kimmel, Basham and Smith straight out of 2001! Nothing was hotter than beanie babies in 2001 and the Moose will be giving away 100 of them during the driver autograph session. “We’ve had a lot of fun with the throwback schemes, Mr. Allison was at the race with us last year and this year’s Earnhardt scheme has a lot of great memories for me. Salem, has been a good track for us, looking forward to Saturday night!”

MEET THE MOOSE: Thomas “Moose” Praytor will be meeting fans and signing autographs on the front stretch at 5:45 EST. THE TEAM’S THROW BACK CAR IS FROM 2001 AND PRAYTOR WILL HAVE 100 BEANIE BABIES FOR THE KIDS!

INJURY REPORT: Tevin Bair tire specialist, tire changer and over the wall coordinator will be out this weekend at Salem. “Tevin is a gamer and wanted to be there this weekend but he’ll be going back Pennsylvania to get checked out by the Doc’s after the race in DuQuoin. We expect him back for Chicago.”

Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200 is a two with Golf Tournament, hauler parade, unloading and Fan Fest Event at the racetrack. Saturday it’s down to business, with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying with the Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic kicking off at 6:15PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the radio broadcast of the race will be on ARCARacing.com. TV Broadcast of Salem race will air on MAVTV on 9/23 at 9:00 CST, LISTEN TO THE SALEM RACE ON ARCARACING.COM SATURDAY NIGHT AND WATCH THE RACE FROM ROAD AMERICA ON MAVTV AT 9:00 CST.

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the car to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and Betty has been utilized nine times in 2017, Salem, Toledo, Madison, Iowa, LOR, Winchester, Road America, Springfield, DuQuoin & Elko.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: There is no other track like Salem on the tour and is a thrill ride best enjoyed from the grandstands. The drivers bounce off the walls and each other at break neck speeds with tire wear at a premium. Cars are up against the walls in turns 3 and 4 and funnel to one spot headed down the front stretch. The team that can make their car get forward bite off the corners without burning up the tires is going to have a good race.

SALEM SPEEDWAY TRACK SPECKS:
.555 mile asphalt
Banking-33 degrees in corners

Over the last few season Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK team have not just gotten use to the dirt but enjoy playing in the dirt for the two ARCA Series Dirt starts.

A couple of weeks ago in Springfield Praytor kept his legacy equipment on the lead lap finishing 13^th and looking forward to the General Tire Grabber 100 at DuQuoin.

Off the trailer the Moose was quick and thinking about a lot higher finish than 13^th. The team spent practice building in some adjustability for the race.

“I’m far from a great dirt racer but I can hold my own with a lot of the dirt guys and all of the asphalt guys. We made some changes to our car after Springfield and our DK-LOK Ford was really good,” offered Praytor. “I over drove turn one in qualifying and I think we started 18^th.”

With the start of the race Praytor was clicking off miles logging laps while the field worked to the fireworks at around the end of the race.

Praytor spent most of the race swapping spots with his dirt mentor Joe Cooksey in the #3. “I had a great race going with Joe but I felt like he was just toying with me and when it got go time, he would go!” (Picture above Praytor racing with the #3 of Joe Cooksey)

A caution at lap 37 let the team top off with Sunoco and make some adjustments. Too soon to take the whip to his car Praytor kept biding his time.

After a few spits and sputters with a stop for some more fuel it looked like everyone was ready to get down to business.

On the ensuing restart at lap 75 or so Praytor took the riding crop to his DK-LOK machine and started closing in on the #3 of Joe Cooksey and the top 10.

The Moose caught the veteran dirt racer on lap 92 and started working for a way around him. On lap 93, the trio of Cooksey, Kimmel and Praytor caught lapped traffic.

“These guys were side by side in the middle of the racetrack. Joe slipped through and I didn’t think Kimmel and I were ever gonna get by. Tangling with lapped traffic allowed the leaders to close in on Praytor and one of the ended up punting the Moose down the front stretch (In car camera should be good).

Praytor kept digging and on the ensuing restart that ended up sending the race in to overtime, Praytor slipped by more carnage and some more competitors to move from 15^th to 11^th. Cooksey who didn’t tangle with the lap cars had a clear shot driving in to the top ten and finished 6^th.

“We had a really good car all day, the dirt is a big equalizer for us running the legacy motor. Can’t help feel that the lap cars cost an opportunity to finish right behind Cooksey. Not really sure what the 2^nd place guy was thinking when he turned me coming off of turn 4. He hit me several times each harder than the one before until he finally turned me. Those things have a way of coming back to haunt you. Really proud of our guys and their effort today. It was a great points day for us to.”

A short week in Mobile before heading to Salem Speedway for the Eddie Gilstrap Motors Fall Classic 200 by Meadow View/Salem Crossing on Saturday night. It’s throwback weekend for the ARCA teams and Praytor’s DK-LOK Ford will carry the Earnhardt Intimidators colors.

General Tire Grabber 100 at the DuQuoin State Fair: Thomas “Moose” Praytor’s fondness of the dirt tracks started as a bad first date 5 years ago but has progressed to a love connection in 2017. “I was really lost my first time on the mile dirt. Mr. Wayne (Hixson) is an old dirt racer and he really helped me get going then Joe Cooksey got me going fast,” offered Praytor. Since then I keep improving my slideways and I really have a good time. The dirt has a way of equalizing the playing field for underfunded teams.”

General Tire Grabber 100 is a 1 day event with technical inspection, practice and General Tire Pole Qualifying and the Green Flag on Monday, Labor Day, afternoon at 3:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. MAVTV Live TV broadcast on American Sports Network or americansportnet.com.

MEET THE MOOSE: Thomas “Moose” Praytor will be meeting fans and signing autographs in front of the Grandstands from 2:00-2:30 on race day.

What to look for this weekend: Springfield was one of the roughest dirt races in the history of the Series at Springfield. You figure a road course would help settle everyone down but with the carnage at Road America just about everyone is on edge headed in to this weekend. DuQuoin’s dirt is different than Springfield’s and the track races differently. Like Springfield the driver that slides that best at the end of the race will have a good day if they can keep up with an ever changing track surface. Tires will not be critical unless the old dirt gets hard and has solid rubber base on top.

In 2001 Kerry Earnhardt drove the Kannapolis Intimidators Chevrolet in the ARCA Series for three events, winning at Michigan and Charlotte (Insert Michigan Win).

The special Intimidators Paint Scheme was significant to Earnhardt as a salute to his Dad, Dale, Sr., who passed away in February and the Kannapolis Intimidators, a minor league baseball team, Dale Sr., had become a part owner of during the off season.

For this year’s Eddie Gilstrap Motors 200 Fall Classic at Salem Speedway Thomas “Moose” Praytor will run the Earnhardt/Intimidator Throwback Paint Scheme as a salute to both Earnhardts.

“Growing up I was a big Dale, Sr. fan, he was the man. In the early 2000s my Dad was doing ARCA TV for the Outdoor Channel and spotting for Dan Pardus. Mr. Kerry would always come and hang out at Mr. Dan’s motorhome. I just thought that was the coolest thing. Mr. Kerry was always nice to us kids, a lot of the drivers just blew us off. I think he was more kid than grown up. Throwing back to Mr. Kerry’s winning car and the Intimidators is really cool for me.”

The Kannapolis Intimidators baseball hat Thomas is wearing was given to Thomas’s Dad in 2001 by Earnhardt to wear on TV. The Intimidator diecast Thomas is holding has been in his collection since it came out in 2001.

The Eddie Gilstrap Motors 200 Fall Classic presented by Meadow View/Salem Crossing starts on Friday September 8^th with a Golf Tournament, Hauler Parade and Fan Fest at the track on Friday night. Saturday it will be time to get down to business with practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying and the green flag at 6:15CST.

Not known as a road course ringer, Thomas “Moose” Praytor wasn’t exactly thrilled with Road America being start 100. As the rain fell on race day and the rain tires were being bolted on his DK-LOK Ford something happened to the Ironman of the ARCA Series that hasn’t happened in a long time, nervousness.

“Racing has become second nature and I really don’t get nervous or anxious before we race but Sunday morning, staring at a 4 mile road course, 10 Xfinity drivers and racing in the rain, well let’s just say I was paying attention and talking to every road racer I could find,” said Thomas.

Prior to Sunday the weekend had gone as planned with the anticipation of reaching the 100 start milestone while surviving the 4 miles of Road America. The early practice went so well Praytor didn’t go out for the second.

“I told the guys the place is so big and I’m so bad I could stay our here all day and I would still be trying new stuff. We really wanted to conserve our equipment for the race and make all 100 miles.”

After the practices sessions on Saturday, with the stream of Motors, transmissions and gears going up and down pit road to replace the broken ones, conservation seemed like a good idea.

As the rain fell all the way up until the decision time for rain tires or slicks the team opted for rain tires and it never really rained again but the Moose was in good company the entire top 20 had changed.

With the drop of the green flag Praytor and his treaded rain tires weren’t getting along like the he did with the slicks on Saturday.

“It was just a completely different feel I couldn’t get them to hook up at all and I may have done a little agricultural racing back around turn 7. There was no TV back there so it’s my word against there’s!” But radio did bust him.

The first batch of leaders came in around lap 4 or 5 and Praytor was headed to pit road when rain started to fall on the carousel. The team opted to stay out, driving on rain tires may be hard but driving on slicks in the rain is impossible.

As quickly as it came the rain went away and now Praytor was hung out to dry with the rain tires. Looking for a caution that never came, the team brought him down pit road on lap 10 under green for 4 tires and fuel, 2 laps later the caution came out. The move put Praytor down a lap.

“It’s pretty frustrating, just about every call we made on Sunday did not go our way.”

With slicks on Praytor was picking back up spots and was now faster than he had been in practice on Saturday.

A late caution sent the race in to overtime and a single lap to decide the winner. The pushing and shoving was on before the field even turned the sharp right hander to the front stretch and by the time they reached turn 1 it was happening.

“We picked off the cars we could on that last lap and it got us in the top 20, not too bad for the way everything went.”

“The whole 100 start deal is still just surreal. I appreciate all the ARCA officials taking time to congratulate me. The other drivers, crew guys just everyone, it was really cool to have people recognizes you for your accomplishments. Frank Kimmel was one of the first guys to congratulate me, the guy has over 500 starts and a truck load of wins and championships. We talked for a while it’s pretty awesome that a guy like that considers you to be a driver and making a contribution.”

After getting beat up in Winchester, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team returned to the first dirt track that produced a top ten in 2016.

For a guy who had never really raced on dirt until his first dirt ARCA start 5 years ago, the Moose has taken to power sliding like a 5 year old with a big wheel, he ain’t done till the tires melt.

Sunday Herr’s Chase the Taste 100 at the Illinios State Fair was no different, literally.

Within a few laps of unloading, the ARCA Ironman was extremely comfortable with his DK-LOK Ford and the crew worked on building some adjustments for the 100 miles so they could keep up with the ever changing dirt surface. Praytor would qualify 19^th.

The first part of the race was spotted with cautions allowing the team to make changes to get the just right for the final half of the race. It should be mentioned here that with Summer break from school, vacations, babies and work our crew for the weekend consisted of 1 guy, Adam Lowe.

If we had a change, Adam made it. Gas, Adam fueled the car and when we had to change tires, Adam borrowed a Jackman from the 27, carried his own tire, took off the old tire and put on a new one. All the while keeping Praytor on the lead lap!

Of course Adam didn’t fly completely solo, we suited up Julie, Thomas’s Mom. Her job was to hold the sign to stop the car, then go over the wall and clean the dirt off the grill so the motor wouldn’t over heat.

The best part was watching the high dollar over the wall crews getting beat by Adam and Julie.

By halfway, Praytor was rumbling around the old horse track and was a full second faster than his qualifying effort staying with the lead pack and on the lead lap.

Things were going Praytor’s way and a massive pile up started in turn 3, cars wrecked in front of him, beside him and behind him, while the Moose snaked his way through into the clear.

“Stuff was going everywhere and you really couldn’t see because of all the dust. I missed the 18, thought I was going to hit the wall, the hole closed behind me and more cars piled in, then I barely missed the 34 spinning, it was wild.”

After the wreck Praytor started to lose touch with the lead back and radioed in his right rear tire was gone. The hard sliding Alabamian had turned a treaded tire into a slick, just like a big wheel.

With a new right rear the Moose was loose again on the dirt and taking back spots lost on the burnt up right rear. More cautions led to a 20 lap shootout with Praytor remaining on the lead lap and taking home 13^th, the best performance of the 2017 season.

“Congratulations to Grant Enfinger and Kelly Kovski, great win for them really glad to see Kelly back at the track. Congratulating Grant in Victory Lane was like old times when he was winning the Championship. We had a solid day, the dirt really helps bring the Ilmors back to us. The last couple of years I’ve become a big fan of the dirt. Headed back to the road course next week, not a fan yet.”

All season long we have been sharing some great pics from the race track, thanks to Harlen Hunter, Jay Alley and Rich Corbett. These guys do a heck of job, thanks!

Herr’s Potato Chip 100 at the ILLINOIS STATE FAIR: Sunday marks the final day of the 2017 Illinois State Fair with a big double header, the ARCA Series taking to the dirt followed by John Mellencamp. The rumbling sound of horsepower will get the day started when 30, 700 horsepower ARCA cars start slinging dirt around the 1 mile horse track for 100 laps. “The fairs are some of the coolest place we go, the Ferris wheel hanging over turn 1 reminds you you’re at Springfield. We’ve been getting better on the dirt every year, had a couple of top 10s last year. We’ve learned a lot about “Betty” this year and we are going to keep taking her to all the tracks we can. Taking our best car last year paid off for us. If we can just keep Dad out of the Moinkballs at the fair we’ll have a good day.”

MEET THE MOOSE: The Moose will be signing autograph and meeting fans on the front stretch Sunday at 12:30 CST.

Herr’s Potato Chip 100 is a 1 day event with technical inspection, practice and General Tire Pole Qualifying and the Green Flag on Sunday at 1:30 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com live. The race will be broadcast live on MAVTV.

What to look for this weekend: Springfield and DuQuoin are the superspeedways of dirt and dirt racing fans come from miles around to take in this event held in the middle of the Illinois State Fair with tens of thousands of people in attendance. The driver that slides the best at the end of the race will have a good day if they can keep up with an ever changing track surface.

Since entering the ARCA Series five years ago, Mobile, Alabama based Max Force Racing has utilized University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) interns as over the wall crew. The first few years the team was able to build from UNOH with little attention but with a 5^th place finish in the Championship standings in 2016 NASCAR teams have been taking and using crew members.

“For us, it is the ultimately complement to our program that NASCAR teams think enough about what we do and how we do it to take guys of our team and put them to work,” said driver Thomas “Moose” Praytor.

Every returning UNOH team member from 2016 has worked in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or Xfinity Series Garage in 2017. Along with moonlighting in the NASCAR garage at companion races some have already moved to full time over the wall status in NASCAR.

“For our UNOH guys, it’s what they are here for. For us we’re happy for them but it also means we have to reload crew members and that can be tough,” offered Thomas.

No one knows that better than crew chief, Adam Lowe. Lowe was the first UNOH student assigned to Max Force Racing, has made every race with the team and now lives in Mobile working in the shop every day.

Lowe helps recruit new students and makes sure there are enough people to pit the car on race day.

“It’s never ending, we started with 10 people this season and now we have 4. This business is hard, plus we have one of the most demanding owners in racing,” offered Lowe.

That owner is Tommy Praytor. Praytor is part Drill Sergeant, part Bobby Knight and part Billy Martin, that’s on a good day. One fan even said, “if you need to learn some new cuss words just listen to Tommy on the radio.”.

“Everyone thinks Tommy is hard to work for but it’s pretty simple you do what he says, his way and you’re good. Deviate from that and hang on,” Lowe.

Third year UNOH intern, tire specialist and over the wall tire changer Tevin Bair, who is still with the team while moonlighting on companion weekends in the NASCAR garage, offered the following; “Tommy will take the time to teach you anything you want to know about in racing, especially how to do your assigned position, like tires. I know what I’m supposed to be doing but when I hear where is the *&%$* tire guy? I know I have screwed up. But I can tell you the butt chewings I’ve gotten have saved me from making the same mistake and maybe losing my job in the NASCAR garage.”

With 20 years in the racing business Tommy Praytor has worked at almost every level of the sport. NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, Trucks, ARCA and local short tracks.

Praytor is one of the most “colorful” and vocal owners in the ARCA garage having spent more time in the ARCA penalty box the last couple of years than any other owner in the Series. His passion for racing, his race team and the Series comes through in every conversation, sometimes a little too much.

While some may take issue with his methods there a few that can deny the success the Mobile, Alabama team is having.

“The fact is I’m very hard on our UNOH kids. They all come in here 18, 19 20 years old thinking they have it all figured out and they don’t know jack crap. Our number one job is to keep them safe. Fact is this is a dangerous business, you make a mistake people get hurt and you tear up equipment,” said Tommy.

“Once we get them past not killing themselves we start working on what they know and don’t know. I usually have a project I work with them on or ask one of the new guys to do. I’ve actually had one of them ask me how to put a drill bit in a drill before. Some of our guys start with no knowledge but are always learning and then there are others that have it figured out and don’t listen, they don’t work with us very long.”

The attrition rate for UNOH students at Max Force Racing is extremely high but the success rate for those that stick it out and work hard is even higher.

“Dad I’m having to talk people off the cliff from quitting every week, you have to ease up on them.”

“Do you always want to have a crappy team or do you want to build a Championship team?”

A year later Praytor finished 5^th in the Championship standings with UNOH student Adam Lowe as crew chief, an all UNOH crew and not one paid employee.

“We feel like we still have a long way to go to be a Championship caliber team but everyone that works with us understands where we are going and wants to be a part of it,” offered Thomas. “Our team is a lot like our UNOH guys it’s not about what we are today but what we want to become tomorrow.”

The World’s Fastest Half Mile proved it’s title again this weekend with 6 ARCA competitors breaking the existing ARCA track record at Winchester.

With a smoking hot field of cars, Thomas “Moose” Praytor timed in his DK-LOK For in the 18^th position for the Winchester 200.

“We had a really good balance on our DK-LOK Ford in practice but we just never really gained any speed. At a place that eats tires we took balance and it probably hurt us qualifying but we were thinking long term.”

With the drop of the green flag the leaders set a torrid pace continuing to run under the old track record during the race. It wasn’t until lap 50 in the field had a chance to breath and come to pit road for tires and adjustments.

With all the leaders coming to pit road, the call was made for Praytor to stay out and take the wave around getting a lap back in the process. Plus trapping other cars a lap down the Moose was competing for position with.

In order for the wave around to work there needs to be a caution shortly thereafter so you can get the service you should have gotten while taking the wave around. 60 laps later the next caution flag flew and the Moose looked like a worm on a hook with now 110 lap tires against fresh General Tire rubber.

“We finally got to pit road on the second caution but our competitive day was really over other than trying to complete all the laps. Our pick up crew from the Stock race the night before did a great job and kept us on our lap changing all 4 General tires and Sunoco fuel.”

Back under green Praytor was turning laps times faster than his qualifying effort but there was no one left to race, they had all left him on the long green flag run.

While Praytor wasn’t racing for position it didn’t mean he wasn’t racing, he went from the slowest car on the track to passing people back. Fresh tires will do that for you and they will also get you in trouble.

With 50 laps to go the Moose was racing with a wad of cars when the pack in front had trouble and Praytor ended up clipping the right front of his DK-LOK Ford against the left rear of Mike Basham.

“Everyone started to check up coming off of turn 2 and I was looking for a place to go. The bottle neck off of turn 2 can eat up cars in a hurry and I was glad we got away with just a glancing blow.”

At Winchester even a glancing blow will take its toll and Praytor brought his DK-LOK Ford to pit road for some band aids.

As the roughest, toughest track on tour continued to eat race cars it allowed Praytor to salvage a 14^th place finish.

“Not much went our way today but it could have really been so much worse. Happy to escape with a top 15 and I’m looking forward to the Springfield dirt in two weeks.”

Winchester 200 at WINCHESTER SPEEDWAY: At more than 100 years old Winchester Speedway is not only the oldest but one of the toughest racetracks on tour. Tough and rough fit for veterans like Thomas “Moose” Praytor to have an opportunity to shine. “You’re almost always at speed at Winchester, it’s tough to pass and the field stacks up while you try to get by. The young guys making their first trip should be fun to race with.” After a disappointing Pocono team DK-LOK is looking to make a rebound this weekend at Winchester. “We had one of our first top 10 here, we’ve destroyed race cars here and we’ve missed some really big wrecks here, the fans are in for a show.”

MEET THE MOOSE: Meet the Moose at Winchester Speedway Sunday August 6th on the front stretch from 11:00-Noon CST.

Winchester 200 is a two day event with practice Saturday June 25^th followed by General Tire Pole Qualifying. Race day will be Sunday August 6th with the Green Flag at 1:00 p.m. CST. The Winchester 200 will be broadcast tape delayed on MAVTV with live timing and scoring with radio broadcast on arcaracing.com.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Tires go away quick! Tire management and the team that can make their car turn without hitting the wall will have a good day.

WINCHESTER SPEEDWAY TRACK SPECS:
Half mile high banked oval, Banking in turns: 37 degrees

After taking a whipping in the Spring race at the Tricky Triangle, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK team went back to Mobile starting with a clean piece of paper for the second installment. A lot of hard work in the shop and at the track yielded the same results another whipping by the track that only has three turns.

Off the trailer the DK-LOK Ford was decent but as rubber was laid down on the track by a big field of cars during practice, the handling of the Ford kept getting worse.

“We made a good first lap, then we were chasing it. After practice we changed almost everything trying to get our DK-LOK Ford to turn.”

As can be seen by the picture above there weren’t many parts of the car that didn’t get attention before qualifying. New shocks, gear, springs, wedge and a change in rear steer all in the hour between practice and in line time for qualifying.

“The guys worked their butts off changing the car and when you make those kind of changes all at once it’s either going to be really good or really bad. We solved the car not turning but we went way too far!”

The team made as many changes as they could post qualifying but there was still a ways to go. They needed a little help with some early cautions to make changes to get where they needed to be.

As usual if you need cautions they don’t come and the ModSpace 150 went all the way past the halfway point before the first caution. Praytor brought the DK-LOK Ford to pit road for Sunoco Fuel and changes.

With a much improved Ford Praytor was picking off competitors on the track working his way back up to 22^nd at the checkered flag.

“Just really a demoralizing day. We had a lot of time to work on this car to get it right and we just struggled. Then our guys worked over time making changes for the race and we went too far. A lot of effort went in to our DK-LOK Ford to have the results we had. The Tricky Triangle won again but we’ll be back.”

ModSpace 150 at POCONO RACEWAY: After a rough outing in the Spring Race at Pocono Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team are looking for better this Friday. “It was our first outing with an Ilmore at a down force track and we learned a lot but it was a long day. After Pocono we reworked all of our race cars and it’s been paying dividends at every track since. Looking forward to putting it all together Friday.” Praytor will be making his 10^th start at Pocono this weekend. Praytor normally ranks first for starts at each track among active drivers but Pennsylvania native and ARCA veteran Bobby Gerhardt will be making his 57^th ARCA Pocono start this weekend. “One of my first big racing moments came with Mr. Bobby at Pocono. He got by me early in the race and we reeled him back in, I got to him and then I had to try and figure out how to pass him. I think 5 laps later I got him off of turn 3 going down the front stretch. I was like hell yea, I just passed Bobby Gerhardt at Pocono!”

Back Home for Bair and Calabrese: Homecoming this weekend at Pocono Raceway for crew members Tevin Bair and Angelo Calabrese. Bair hails from Butler Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh. Calabrese’s home is Hazelton, Pennsylvania less than an hour form the track. This will be Calabrese last race for a while, wife Cheyenne, is expecting!

ModSpace 150 is a two day event with technical inspection on Thursday with practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying on Friday with ModSpace 150 kicking off at 3:00PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be broadcast on FS1 beginning at 4:00 CST. SET YOUR DVR

Channel Listing for FOX Sports 1 : DIRECTV CH- 219, Mediacom CH- 53, COMCAST CH- 49/241 HD, AT&TU-Verse CH- 652, Dish TV 150.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, REALTOR, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Greer’s Food Market, AQUASALT, Wade Distributing, Campbell, Duke & Campbell, Omni Fitness, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Praytor Realty

CAR: Roush Chassis # RK306. 306 was created as a downforce car but became the teams workhorse in 2015 starting in 9 of 20 races. Last year it was raced at Pocono, Michigan and Iowa by the Moose, this year it has already been to Pocono & Michigan.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Pocono is one of the fastest and hardest tracks to get around on the tour. The second race is shorter than the first and teams will use the same strategy as a road course. Expect for teams to pit for fuel as soon as they get in their fuel window between lap 20 and 30.

Pocono Raceway: The Tricky Triangle
Length 2.5 Miles
Banking: Turn 1: 14 degrees/ Turn 2: 8 degrees/ Turn 3: 6 degrees

The weekend was slated to be a big one for Thomas “Moose” Praytor but between the heat in Indianapolis and the heat from former major leaguer Jon Lieber in Mobile it was smoking hot everywhere.

The Sioux Chief PowerPex 200 in Indianapolis is the beginning of stock cars weekend in Indianapolis that culminates with the running of the Brickyard 400. As a result teams bring their best and the best teams show up. Such was the case for Friday night’s 30 car field .

The best drivers with their best stuff at a place where the driver has a lot of input, that’s the way it should be.

For Praytor and his DK-LOK team they brought their best short track car, Black Betty and the Moose was right at home within laps of coming off the trailer.

During practice the team went through multiple changes ending up right where they started off, qualifying 20^th.

With a good long run car Praytor’s goal was to keep pace in the opening laps and try to hang on to the lead lap.

With Austin Cendric burning up the track from the drop of the green flag, hanging on to the leaders proved tougher than expected.

Praytor slowly progressed through the field up to the 15^th spot. The teams tire strategy put them on opposite ends of the leaders having the Moose come down pit road after the halfway point.

A simple tire change went wrong when a pit gun failed during the stop costing the team a valuable lap. The lost lap would doom the DK-LOK Ford to finish on a lap by itself rather than battling for position.

As the laps wound down Praytor’s machine worked back up to 17^th and that’s all the team would have for Friday night.

“It was a really hot day in Indy and the sun took its toll on all of us. We had a really good DK-LOK Ford all day, we had a little problem on pit road with a gun that hurt us. I tried to get by Mike Basham in the last laps but he was moving pretty good and those guys had us covered at the end of the race. Time to get back in the truck and head to Mobile for Buddy Ball.”

The team checked in to Indy at 6:30AM EST, the DK-LOK Hauler cleared the gate at Lucas Oil raceway just past midnight, the Hauler pulled in to the Mobile shop at 3:30 CST, just in time for a shower and make the opening pitch for Buddy Ball at 4:30.

After a long night in the DK-LOK Ford followed by a long night in the hauler the Moose was dragging and still looking for fluids at Hank Aaron Stadium.

While the fluids helped, the competition including five former Alabama football players - Chris Edwards, Willie Gaston, Vic Lockett, AJ McCarron and Corey McCarron, former Major League Baseball pitcher and Mobile Sports Hall of Fame member Jon Lieber, former Daphne High School and Vanderbilt football standout Torren McGaster had Praytor on his toes.

“I was getting ragged pretty good from the dugout are, I’m not sure if it my teammates or my Dad but I was getting a lot of grief, so the pressure was on. Somehow I hit the ball every time I got up and I didn’t pass out running the bases so it was a good day.”

The game was followed by a huge autograph session and a silent auction featuring a 4 pack of tri-oval tower tickets for the weekend to Talladega Super Speedway in the fall, with all the proceeds going to West Side Buddy Ball.

“It was really a fun day. Can’t thank Mr. Grant (Lynch) and the folks at Talladega enough for being part of today. It means a lot to us to have Alabama folks supporting you in what you do. Big weekend we’ll take Sunday morning off and be back in the shop Sunday night to get ready for Pocono.”

Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 at LUCAS OIL RACEWAY(Indianapolis): Friday starts a busy weekend for Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team with racing in Indianapolis on Friday night and Charity Softball back in Mobile on Saturday afternoon. “We have a big weekend starting with Indy. Really cool racing under the light at LOR. I can remember coming here with Rick Crawford, it was always a good track for him and it has been for us too. I love a place where the driver has a lot of input on his race car.” After the race on Friday night Praytor will bring the hauler back to Mobile to take part in a fundraiser at the Hank. “I haven’t touched a bat in 15 years but I’m still looking to take my old teammate (AJ McCarron) deep Saturday afternoon.” Praytor, McCarron and Jon Lieber join an all-star cast lineup to raise money for Buddy Ball.

Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 is a one day event with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying followed by the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 green flag at 8:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.

Channel Listing for FOX Sports 1 : DIRECTV CH- 219, Mediacom CH- 53, COMCAST CH- 49/241 HD, AT&TU-Verse CH- 652, Dish TV 150.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: There is a lot of driver input at LOR much like Iowa. Lots of different ways to get around and the cars really launch off of turn 4 using the high groove. Handling will be at a premium this weekend.

Thomas “Moose” Praytor will team up with A.J. McCarron again along with former Cubs Major League pitcher Jon Lieber and host of others for a celebrity Softball game at Hank Aaron Stadium on July 22^nd to Benefit Buddy Ball.

Buddy Ball is a League for special needs players from ages 5-21. Everyone gets to play and has a buddy on the field with them cheering them on. The League is designed for the players but the “Buddies” tend to be rewarded as much as the players.

Next weekend will be a busy one for the Mobile, Alabama driver. Friday night Praytor will be in Indianapolis competing in the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 before racing back to Mobile for the Buddy Ball Benefit at the Hank.

“We are going to have to hustle to get back from Indy for the Game but I’m really looking forward to it. Some of the kids will be there and it’s all about the kids they really get you going,” said Praytor. “I don’t know if I’m playing with AJ (McCarron) or against him but I hope he pitches so I can take him deep. Now Lieber is another story, I hope we are on the same team!”

AJ MCCarron is a 3 time BCS National Championship Quarterback currently with the Cincinnati Bengals and Jon Leiber is a former University of South Alabama player who spent 14 years in the big leagues with Cubs and Yankees.

The fundraising softball game, autograph session and silent auction begins at 4:30 and will be followed by a BayBears regular home game. The BayBears will take on the Chattanooga Lookouts at 7:05. It’s Cap Night at the BayBears and the first 1,000 fans will get a free BayBears cap. Tickets are $10 with $5 going to Buddy Ball and includes both games! To get tickets in advance call 251-605-5939 or rochellejdn@aol.com.

Over the last few races the team has been making some aggressive changes to their DK-LOK Ford paying big dividends on the race track. So if it’s working keep going!

After the 1,200 mile commute from Mobile to Newton, Iowa, the Moose developed a stomach bug that drained him Friday night and in to Saturday morning.

“I’ve been sick before but nothing like what hit me Friday. It was pretty bad, the guys got me some medicine and some Gatorade to slow it down. I stayed late at the hotel while the guys got us unloaded and through tech.”

With a few minutes to spare a little whiter and lighter Praytor showed up for practice.

First laps on the track proved, a little of a good thing is a good idea but a lot maybe not so much.

“We were really loose on the track and had to go to work making some major changes. The guys did a great job and we picked up speed with each run.”

With a much improved DK-LOK Ford Praytor timed into the 18th starting spot for the Friends With Benefits 150.

“The green flag flew and our DK-LOK Ford just sputtered. It took me a few seconds to realize we had a bad ignition box. I swapped the box and Betty came back to life.”

The bad ignition box cost Praytor a straight away to the field, rolling again he was making up ground.

As fast as the DK-LOK Ford could catch them Praytor was on the move and in the first 40 laps had worked his way up to 11th when the caution flag flew.

“Everything was fine until it wasn’t. We had a fast car and were under caution and it just quit, dead.”

The DK-LOK Ford rolled to a stop on the back straight away requiring a push back to pit road.

Back on pit road the crew quickly changed out the batteries. Even with the quick change it cost the team 5 laps on the race track.

“Saturday night is a classic example of how our race team has improved with Adam (Lowe) in the shop. Adam was responsible for getting the extra batteries charged and set up with quick disconnect cables. Something we wouldn’t have had time to do in the past.”

The change only cost the team 5 laps and the Moose went back on track with a lot of steam.

A fast car got faster and Praytor started unlapping himself. The DK-LOK Ford turned its fastest lap of the night on lap 110.

When the checkered flag flew Praytor had worked his way back from the tail end of the 30 car field to finish 18^th.

“We ended up with a really nice car after a lot of hard work. Our guys worked hard all day and kept overcoming obstacles during the race. As crappy as the day started we really ended up with a solid night. Would have loved to have had a few more laps to catch some more cars.”

Team has a week off before the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Fans With Benefits 150 at IOWA SPEEDWAY: Coming off a solid effort in the Montgomery Ward 200 at Madison Speedway, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK team have a little extra pep in their step heading to Iowa. “A good run and a week off was just what the Doctor ordered for our race team. 10,000 miles in 5 weeks had taken its toll on everybody,” said Praytor. “We had our Iowa car ready to go Wednesday of last week and started working forward on our Pocono car. It’s the first time we’ve been anywhere close to ahead all season.” Over the years Iowa Speedway has been a tough nut to crack for the Mobile, Alabama driver. “I’ve been a bottom feeder forever and it’s taken me some time to get up the race track. We found a lot of speed and grip up top so we’ll be moving up pretty quick on Saturday night.”

Picture: The ultimate fans with benefits from last year’s race in Iowa. “These kids were white knuckle hanging on the fence outside of the garage. We snuck them in the garage to sit in the car, take some pics and some Gatorade. They were a lot of fun and what its all about!”

The Fans with Benefits 150 is a one day event with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying followed by the Fans With Benefits 150 green flag at 8:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be televised delayed on MAVTV.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Iowa is multiple groove race track designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. Lots of ways to get around Iowa and expect cars to be rim riding within 30 laps of taking the green flag.

0.875 Mile Asphalt, progressive banking in turns 12 – 14 degrees and Front stretch with 10 degree banking

The long 5 race road tour including Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin came to an end Friday night in the Montgomery Ward 200 at Madison International Speedway. Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile, Alabama team logged over 10,000 miles over the last 5 races saving the best finish for last.

The last couple of weeks the team failed to take full advantage of good race cars leaving spots and points on the table for competitors to take advantage of. With Madison so similar to Mobile, the Moose and the team were loaded for Badger in Wisconsin.

Over the last few races our DK-LOK Fords have been undergoing big changes under the chassis. While our results haven’t shown the gains, the stop watch has.

“We really have taken everything we thought we knew about set ups at each track and drastically changed them to get the right feel in the race car. If you had told me 5 weeks ago we would be where we are today I would have said no way. But starting with Toledo it’s really made a big difference.”

Off the trailer the Moose was quicker at Madison than in 2016. The team improved the driveability, put in some adjustability for when the sun went down and Praytor qualified 14^th, the best of this 5 race road trip.

With a field full of Ilmors in front of the Mobile driver, Praytor new patience and conservation would be the key to a good night. The second issue was the crew.

With wedding, family obligations and Spring Break our all UNOH pit crew was light 4 guys headed in to the weekend. This seems to hit at Madison every year.

Like last year the team reached out for help and soon found it with Dick Doheny. Dick or as we call him “Bubba” drove for us some last year and is a great mechanic at the race track. Plus by the time we got to the weekend the 10 car had lost it’s driver and Doheny was then called in as a substitute.

Super Sub Bubba would start the race for the 10, make a few laps and then come gas the 9 for Praytor. Much in the same way Josh Reeves did for us last year. We then stole, excuse me borrowed the rest of the 10 car guys and we had a full team.

With the drop of the green flag the Moose did his job in the DK-LOK Ford and kept pace while conserving tires and brakes. The field would come for tires at lap 74 but Praytor was kept out trying to stretch tire wear and it bit the Moose.

Off sequence the leaders and everyone else was hauling the mail putting Praytor down a lap that was soon recovered with the lucky dog. Under caution many laps later Praytor was able to take tires and get moving again.

In the midst of all the old tire issues, Mike Basham who had an engine problem in practice came to life with new tires and quickly put Praytor in his rear view mirror.

Praytor took tires, Basham to the back. Basham took tires, Praytor to the back. This went on until 20 to go when Praytor had a final set to change while Basham’s were gone, advantage and spot to Praytor.

“Mike and I had a lot of fun racing each other tonight. I don’t know how many times we passed each other but it is always fun racing with someone you can trust.”

The DK-LOK Ford rolled home unharmed and 13^th, the best of the 5 race road trip.

“You wouldn’t think 13^th would be all that satisfying but we got all the spots we could get tonight, that’s something we haven’t done the last few races. Want to thank Dick and all of our part time crew for helping out, they did and awesome job. I think with what we’ve learned we’ve decided to take Betty to Iowa in 2 weeks. Really looking forward to being back home for more than a couple of days.”

The team has a weekend off before the Fans With Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway on July 8^th.

Montgomery Ward 200 at MADISON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: The 9 car scored a 9^th place finish in Madison last year and Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team are looking forward to getting back to the half mile in Wisconsin. “Madison is the closest thing to my home track, Mobile International Speedway, that we go to all year. I had one of my very first ARCA starts here for Venturini Motorsports and I always like coming back.” While last year produced a top 10 it wasn’t easy. “My line didn’t go on the opening start and I crushed the nose in. We fought overheating all day but our guys kept opening up the nose to get the motor some air.”

SPECIAL STICKER: The DK-LOK Ford will carry a special sticker this weekend in honor of Amy Bluel. Amy’s Project SemiColon for suicide prevention was our primary sponsor last year in Madison. Amy left us way too soon in March of this year.

MEET THE MOOSE: Praytor will be meeting the fans and signing autographs on the front stretch at 6:30 CST.

The Montgomery Ward 200 is a one day event with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying followed by the Montgomery Ward 200 green flag at 8:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be televised live on MAVTV.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Madison is a classic short track and expect classic short track action with plenty of pushing and shoving. The last few years this race has been run in the day and there has been heavy attrition. We’ll see if the night isn’t any better for the cars and the drivers.

Length: 0.5 Mile Paved Oval with 12 and 13 degree banking with 4 degree straight

It’s not often you can wreck three times at the fastest track on the tour and still finish, but I get ahead of myself.

Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team left Pocono Raceway disappointed and with more questions than answer after their first outing with an Ilmor.

With a whole lot of notes, the team collectively put their heads together and started making changes to the DK-LOK Ford at the shop for the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

“The extra hard work and late nights paid off for Michigan. I’ve never had a car that turned as well as ours did off the trailer.”

On top of handling well the DK-LOK Ford found a lot of speed picking up 3 seconds from last year’s outing at Michigan to qualify 19^th.

“Our car was really good but we still needed it to roll the center better to get a really good time. That being said, we were looking forward to the race.”

With the drop of the green flag Praytor and his Ford were moving rapidly towards the front and things were looking good early, then the day slowly started to come unraveled.

The 33 car put oil down in the groove of turns 3 and 4, the Moose was the first on the scene.

“I felt a little something going in and checked up some but by the time I got to the center of the corner my car was gone.”

The DK-LOK Ford was now spinning at 190 MPH and somehow Praytor kept from stuffing the DK-LOK Ford into the wall. The leader was soon in the oil himself and Brandon Jones went through the spin cycle. Both drivers kept their cars in tact.

While the car was saved the tires were done and the Moose came to pit road for 4 fresh General Tires.

Back under green Praytor was making up for lost time passing cars in wholesale fashion working his way back towards the front.

“We had a really good car I was passing guys as fast as I could catch them. I tried to make an outside move off turn 4 and my car got aero tight and I hit the wall.”

Without significant damage Praytor kept digging under green and a few laps later the right front tire went flat. Back to pit road for a new right front, this time under green and it was costly.

Back on the track the bad news kept coming as the right front went flat again, back to pit road under green and the boys replaced the tire pulled on the fender and sent Praytor back out.

Multiple laps down Praytor and the team did the best they could to keep the DK-LOK Ford rolling to the finish but the day was not over yet.

Late in the race an incident with the 55 sent it piling into the wall head first, with spotting help from Tab Boyd the Moose slowed down and easily missed the wreck.

Another competitor most not have gotten the telegram from his spotter there was a wreck and 4 seconds later he crushed the entire left side of Praytor’s Ford and killed 2 more tires.

“We were really just trying to finish and I don’t think this guy or his spotter ever saw the wreck, really disheartening.”

Now the team had a new problem, they were out of tires. The over the wall guys started combing pit road and Bret Holmes team came to the rescue with 4 tires.

Now what was a good race car was mostly junk and the team had to settle for a 19^th place finish.

“Really disappointing day, we had a good DK-LOK Ford and things didn’t go our way. Off to Madison next week for some short track action.”

Another short week in the Mobile, Alabama shop before heading to Madison Wisconsin for the Montgomery Ward 200 on Friday night.

Corrigan Oil 200 at MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: After a disappointing run in Pocono the team burned the midnight oil back at the shop in Mobile to get ready for Michigan. “Michigan is another big, fast track that gets your full attention when your turn down in to turn 1 at 200 miles per hour. We’ve had good runs there and we have worked really hard on improving our DK-LOK Ford after our learning weekend in Pocono.” Michigan has large area for the kids and Praytor beat Chase Briscoe in the tricycle race last year. “It was the only time I beat him all year but I still beat him!”

Fresh Grad Lowe Returns to Home State: In the short week between Pocono and Michigan Crew Chief Adam Lowe returned to UNOH to pick up his diploma. Lowe has made every race since joining the team in 2013, that’s 88 consecutive starts. Lowe moved to Mobile to join the Max Force team full time in April. Adam is pictured with his Grandmother (who should have cookies for the team this weekend). MIS is a big stop for the Lowes, with Adam hailing from around the corner in Chesterfield, Michigan.

The Corrigan Oil 200 is a two day event with technical inspection and practice on Thursday with General Tire Pole Qualifying on Friday with The Corrigan Oil 200 green flag at 5:00 CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be televised live on Fox Sports 1, Channels in Mobile Comcast/Xfinity 49/241HD, Mediacom 52, Direct TV 219, Dish 150, AT&T Uverse 652

CAR: Roush Chassis # RK306. 306 was created as a downforce car but became the teams workhorse in 2015 starting in 9 of 20 races. Last year it was at Pocono, Michigan and Iowa by the Moose. Praytor piloted #306 at Pocono Last weekend.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Michigan is about horsepower and air. You need horses under the hood and a body to slip through the air and around other cars. Could become a fuel mileage race, watch fuel strategy starting early.

Pocono Raceway has been good to the DK-LOK team over the years and with a new motor, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his team had high expectations for the General Tire, #anywhereispossible200.

After the quick turn around from Elko, followed by the 22 hour drive to Pocono, the team spent Thursday going through a day long technical inspection. While our car made it through tech, the Engine guys at Ilmor had issues with our installation job in Mobile.

“We don’t get to run an Ilmor very often but when we have the Ilmor Tuners at the track have really gone out of their way to help make sure we are taken care of.”

After a day long tech the Ilmor guys descended on the DK-LOK Ford to redo the wiring and insure our motor was ready to go for Friday. The Ilmor team worked for 2 hours after the garage closed on Thursday and returned on Friday morning to finish.

“The Ilmor at track team did a heck of job going through our new set up. Ultimately I think they replaced a coil and an injector, along with fixing our wiring. Once we made some laps the Ilmor Tuners were back at our car downloading data and making recommendations. All of their hard work paid off, the motor didn’t miss a beat in practice or the race.”

Off the trailer the DK-LOK Ford was faster than last year picking up 2 seconds with the new motor but a long way to go to being competitive.

“We were just tight, tight, tight in practice. We made 3 pages of changes to free it up, we made it better but we still weren’t very good.”

The team made another big round of changes before qualifying and Praytor timed in 16^th. A big wreck during qualifying meant the field could not complete qualifying and the field was set by practice time pushing Praytor back to 25^th.

With the drop of the green flag Praytor was conserving fuel in the DK-LOK Ford knowing he would have to get to the halfway point to make it on 1 stop.

The rest of the field cooperated with the first 39 laps going green and most of the field making short stops putting Praytor in 14^th.

“The first half of the race went our way and we were set for the second half. Our DK-LOK Ford was still tight but we had more to give it on pit road.”

With a full tank of fuel the team was set for the second half of the race. Back under green the DK-LOK Ford was still tight but better. Just a few laps under green the teams good day would come to an end.

“We had a tire go down and I tried to limp around looking for a caution but that was nowhere to be found. We had to come to pit road under green and that just took us out of contention for a good finish.”

After changing the flat tire the DK-LOK Ford was back on track but it turned wicked loose.

“When the tire disintegrated on the left front we must have torn a lot of stuff up and we were just limping around trying to finish.”

The DK-LOK Ford rolled home a respectable 24^th but not what the team was looking for.

“Real disappointing end to a solid effort with our first Ilmor in a non-restrictor plate race. Thanks to the guys at Ilmor again for a lot of hard work to make sure we were right going on the racetrack. Our car didn’t hang in but the motor cooked all 200 miles.”

Another short week in Mobile as the team landed the DK-LOK hauler at midnight on Saturday and will be back on the road to Michigan Tuesday afternoon for Corrigan Oil 200.

General Tire #anywhereispossible 200 at POCONO RACEWAY: With close to 40 cars on the entry list for the General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible 200 the powers to be have green lighted an Ilmor for Thomas “Moose” Praytor for this weekend’s race at Pocono Speedway. “Pocono is one of my favorite tracks and even with the motor disadvantage we’ve been able to put together some solid runs and hunt around the top 10. We’ve also been working really hard on our chassis setup combinations and with an Ilmor we can find out how we stack up against a stacked field.”

Home State Stop for Bair and Calabrese: Homecoming this weekend at Pocono Raceway for crew members Tevin Bair and Angelo Calabrese. Bair hails from Butler Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh. Calabrese’s home is Hazelton, Pennsylvania less than an hour form the track. Just like the Redneck relatives we host in Alabama this pair will have us loaded up with Hillbillies and it’s always a good time!

MOOSE HEEL 100%: Praytor burned his right heal with a 2^nd degree burn in Salem. The 4” x 2” blister is gone and the Moose has put up the Crocks for now and back to normal shoes.

The General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible200 is a two day event with technical inspection on Thursday with practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying on Friday with The General Tire #AnywhereIsPossible200 kicking off at 4:45PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be broadcast live on FS1.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Pocono is one of the fastest and hardest tracks to get around on the tour. There is a big field of cars with lots of Rookies hopefully they’ll get that out of their system testing on Wednesday. Probably not!

Pocono Raceway: The Tricky Triangle
Length 2.5 Miles
Banking: Turn 1: 14 degrees/ Turn 2: 8 degrees/ Turn 3: 6 degrees

SAD NEWS: It’s with a heavy heart that we report a member of our racing family, Chris Bailey and his wife Jessica lost their son Colton last week. “Our race team is named after my brother Max who left us way too soon. Our family is all too familiar with the pain and the heartache the Bailey’s are going through. The Baileys will always be a part of our family and our heart aches with them,” Thomas Praytor. Colton fought a brave uphill battle for months our thoughts and prayers are with the Baileys. #justkeepswimming

Elko maybe the smallest track on the tour but it comes with some of the biggest expectation for the DK-LOK team and veteran driver Thomas “Moose” Praytor and a raucous packed house got they were looking for Saturday night.

Praytor had more laps than any active driver at the Minnesota track and garnered his first ARCA top 10 in 2013. Off the trailer the DK-LOK Ford was solid and the team tweaked the chassis during practice.

“We didn’t bring enough gear even though we brought more gear than we’ve ever have before to a race track, so we’ll mark that down for next time. We worked in some areas on the chassis that we think paid dividends at Elko and might help us in Madison in a few weeks.”

The line score from Elko will say started 16^th, finished 15^th but will not reflect the pushing, shoving, banging, dodging and craziness of the 250 laps of the Shore Lunch 250 in Minnesota.

“We had a crazy night, I know I got knocked completely sideways several times and I need to apologize to A.J. Fike. I misjudged corner exit and just about sent him to the hot dog stand, fortunately he kept it going straight. That’s just the way these short track races are now, the fans got their money’s worth tonight.”

“We felt like after practice we had 15^th place car and several opportunities to capitalize on a better finish but we just couldn’t get the breaks to go our way. Elko is so short we planned on 2 tire stops all night and tried some folks in new positions and everyone did their job.”

“Somewhere around lap 150 we should have taken tires but we were trying to stretch it to have good tires to race the lap 50 laps and the race went on along green flag run catching us off guard. It cost us some laps but not any positions, race management is always tricky.”

“We continue to have great people at the race track with us every week. This week we had the McManus family and we had a blast along with our intern Elizabeth Hooper.”

The team has only a day and a half in Mobile to finish their Pocono car for the General Tire anywhere is Possible 200 on Friday.

The title sounds like the beginning of a bad joke but in fact it is the story of how Pawan Vittal made it 8,565 miles from Mysore, Karnataka, India to UNOH to working for an ARCA team based out of Mobile, Alabama.

Vittal is part of the UNOH High Performance Team that sends interns to race teams from Dirt to NASCAR. In 2017 he was assigned to Max Force Racing with 6 other UNOH students to work for Thomas and Tommy Praytor.

In India, the Vittal family is very successful in many fields of endeavor but Pawan has the racing bug that includes being a navigator for a road rally team back home.

“I am definitely the black sheep of the family,” said Vittal. “The rest of my family is so successful and all I want to do is race.”

From India to the biggest racing stage in the world Vittal was dropped off in the deep end with the Praytor’s at Daytona.

“I asked Pawan what his name was 3 times before I asked the rest of the group what did they call him,” laughs Tommy Praytor. “Finally somebody said we call him Pete.”

Prior to Daytona “Pete” had never been anywhere in the United States other than Lima, Ohio. Since Daytona Vittal has made stops in Talladega, Nashville, Salem and Toledo and will soon be in Elko Minnesota. By the end of the season he will have seen more of America than most Americans.

“It has been fun seeing the US, there are so many unique places,” offered Vittal.

Needless to say pairing a devout Hindu with a team from Alabama, created some cultural differences.

“First thing we found out was Pawan was a vegetarian. The only vegetarians in Alabama are rabbits. For a team that survives on Hamburgers and Monroe Sausage my Mom had to adjust her cooking plan quickly,” said Thomas Praytor.

After a couple of races the team understood Pete enough to know his name was Pawan and even Tommy has gotten into the closing the cultural divide. “Each morning I greet Pawan with the traditional Hindu greeting, Namaste while bowing and clasping my hands together. Pawan will shake my hand with an American, Good Morning.”

While not exactly détente having Vittal on the team has been a learning experience for everyone.

Julie Praytor, “Pawan is so kind and considerate, he’s really been a big help and a lot of fun to have on our team.”

In the midst of the cultural divide and a language barrier that is rapidly disappearing (neither side is certain whether Pawan’s English is better or they can just understand him) Pawan and his UNOH teammates have gelled into a cohesive unit that’s pushed Thomas Praytor back into the top 10 of the ARCA Series standings.

“At the end of the day we don’t care if you’re from India, Michigan, Maine or Alabama we have a race team to run and everyone has to do their job,” offered Tommy. “In just 5 races Pawan is doing a great job of fitting in and working hard with the rest of our guys.”

Elko Speedway is the smallest track on the tour and the team will have its most challenging pit stop during the Shore Lunch 250 on June 3^rd.

Reflecting on his first 5 races Vittal offered these thoughts, “This has been a great experience for me, the Praytor’s welcomed me as part of their family. That means I get yelled at like everyone else by the Boss but I’m also learning a lot about racing and rednecks.”

SHORE LUNCH 250 at Elko Speedway: The smallest track on the tour comes at the end of one the longest commutes for the Max Force team, 24 hours from Mobile. Elko returns to the schedule in 2017 after a two year layoff. Thomas “Moose” Praytor has the most laps and most starts at Elko of any active driver. ”Elko is a fun track, we got our first ARCA top 10 there in 2013. Lots of close racing and the fans are in to it.”

MEET THE MOOSE: The Moose will be meeting fans and signing autographs Saturday, June 3rd on the front stretch from 6:15-7:15 at Elko.

MOOSE GETTING BETTER: Praytor burned his right heal with a 2^nd degree burn in Salem. The 4” x 2” blister is almost gone and Praytor is trying to transition out of the Crocks he’s been wearing the last few weeks to normal shoes.

The Shore Lunch 250 is a one day event with technical inspection, practice, General Tire Pole Qualifying on Saturday with the Shore Lunch 250 kicking off at 8:00PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be broadcast live on MAVTV.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, REALTOR, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Greer’s Food Market, AQUASALT, Wade Distributing, Campbell, Duke & Campbell, Omni Fitness, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Praytor Realty

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the Moose to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and Betty has been utilized twice in 2017, Salem & Toledo. Betty got beat up pretty good in Toledo and the team has given her a quick make over for Elko.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Only Thomas and one other drive in the field have turned laps in an ARCA car at Elko. Lots of inexperience, wild action! The track is really small and slippery, expect a lot of pushing and shoving.

Mullins & Praytor: Low Budget Fast Competition
Speed Sport News, By: Adam Fenwick

FREDRICSBURG, Va. — When Thomas Praytor and Willie Mullins teamed up as drafting partners during the General Tire 200 at Talladega (Ala) Superspeedway on May 6, it was actually just the latest collaboration between the pair of low-budget racers.

Praytor and Mullins have been helping each other since 2015 when Mullins Racing fielded a car for J.J. Pack in the season opening event at Daytona Int’l Speedway. Praytor let Mullins enter the car with Praytor’s 2014 ARCA Racing Series owner points, which allowed Pack to make the race via provisional.

“Coming up to Daytona we didn’t have a number with any kind of points,” Mullins recalled. “Our crew chief Andy Belmont put us together with Thomas Praytor and we got their points from the previous year. Inevitably that is what got J.J. Pack into the show that first year. By using their points we were able to get that 40th-place starting position at Daytona in 2015.”

Praytor, a veteran racer who has 89 ARCA starts under his belt, said the friendship with Mullins grew quickly following that weekend at Daytona in 2015.

“Ever since then we both realized we were small teams and we needed to help each other because that is how racing is these days,” Praytor said. “Now we’re three or four years down the road and we’re still good friends.”

Since then Praytor and Mullins have helped each other out many times. In fact, Praytor once let Mullins borrow a sway bar from him for more than nine months. Mullins eventually returned it, but not without a bit of harmless ribbing from Praytor.

“He came walking in the trailer at the end of last year with that sway bar and I said, ‘Oh…the infamous sway bar,’” Praytor recalled between laughs. “There it was coming back in to my possession.”

As a show of support, and admittedly a bit of a joke, Praytor even wore one of Mullins’ T-shirts under his driving suit during the General Tire 200. Mullins admitted when he saw Praytor before the race wearing his shirt, he couldn’t help but smile.

“The story behind that is it started off with my girlfriend giving his girlfriend a T-shirt just because of some friendly kidding back and forth,” Mullins explained. “Well when we were getting ready to get in the cars he came up to me and said, ‘Oh, by the way…’ and it was just too funny.

“It actually made my day that someone would go out of their way to make me laugh and it made us feel good and appreciated a little bit. After the race I wanted to make sure I got a picture with him.”

Praytor said that picture, taken by Mullins’ fiancee Dinah Thompson, is much more than just two racers having a good laugh. It’s a pair of friends and competitors who have each other’s back.

“When I showed him that I was wearing it and saw the look on his face, I said I guess this does mean a little something,” Praytor said. “All I’m sure anybody see’s is me wearing a shirt that says ‘Big Willie Style’ on it and another racer standing next to me. Really nobody knows the meaning of that picture or what is going on, but it is kind of cool to have our own little meaning to the picture.

“Of course it turned out it was the best we’d done at Talladega in quite awhile, so I’ll be sure to wear that thing next time out. I’ll have to dig it out of the dirty clothes and wear it at Toledo in a couple of weeks,” Praytor said with a laugh.

Both Mullins and Praytor say that its important for the small teams, like Mullins Racing and Praytor’s Max Force Racing, to work together to combat the bigger teams like Venturini Motorsports and Cunningham Motorsports.

“We don’t do this every weekend, so if we’re missing something on pit road and we don’t have time to go back, those guys are the ones that are there to help us,” Mullins said. “At Daytona we needed help on pit road and we went down to the Praytor’s and those guys were more than happy to help. They sent a person down to help us because we were having trouble getting the window net up. They saved our qualifying position at Daytona when that happened.

“It’s important that all us little guys band together to try and make a little bit bigger of a team to put on a better show for ARCA.”

Praytor echoed Mullins’ thoughts, saying that people like Mullins are exactly what the phrase “racing family” represents.

“These big, fully funded teams have got every kind of resource you could possibly think of to get whatever they need,” Praytor said. “I could think of several occasions where Willie has come down to me or I have gone down to Willie looking for a certain piece that I didn’t have but he had or vice versa.

“It just shows how big the racing family is. Willie can walk down to me and take two or three drawers in my toolbox just because he needed it and I wouldn’t think twice about it. That’s just what we’ve got to do to make it.

“At the end of the day, it’s crazy that a couple of small town guys that don’t have a lot of money are getting to compete with the big guys in the ARCA Racing Series at Daytona and Talladega.”

Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile, Alabama based team have seen good and bad runs at the ARCA Series home track in Toledo, Ohio, with a stacked field of cars Praytor and his DK-LOK team knew they would have their hands full.

Weather once again dominated the weekend with teams dodging rain in route to the Speedway and once on the ground in Toledo.

The first lap of practice was an indicator of what kind of weekend the DK-LOK Ford had ahead when a fellow competitor hit the Moose in the driver’s side door ripping the front fender off the Ford.

“There is always a big field of bad ass cars at Toledo and you know it’s going to get physical but dang, we hadn’t even made lap.”

Later in practice Praytor was behind the 80 of Brian Finney when he suddenly slowed on the race track. Initially Praytor checked up then went around the wounded Finney machine to see it was on fire.

“Hated to see that happen to the Finney’s. They are a great racing family and have been great friends and competitors. Glad Brian is OK and I hope they get back to the track really soon.”

With the most eventful practice of the year in the rear view mirror Praytor and his team got ready for qualifying. Mother nature took over washing out the rest of the afternoon, the field would roll off by practice times, the DK-LOK Ford 21^st.

Race day in Toledo is big even when the weather is not cooperating and a big crowd showed up for autographs before the race.

“As one of the guys that’s been around the longest now it’s fun seeing the some of the same people at certain tracks that are following you all year long.”

Rain pushed the start of the Menards 200 back an hour a so but the wait was worth it as the ARCA drivers put on a a 2 wide, 3 wide and even 4 wide thrill show for the next 2 hours.

With the drop of the green everyone was grabbing for all they could get with no one expecting the race to make 200 laps. The Moose picked up 4 spots on the track and stayed in a spirited battle for more until the first caution on lap 45.

Smart money had rain moving back in before 200 laps and the front runners took tires thinking they were racing to lap 100. Praytor stayed out.

“We felt like our best shot was to hang on until around 50 to go and catch the leaders with old tires.”

Under green Praytor was working hard to stay on or near the lead lap holding each position, looking for cautions to save his tires.

“I knew I was supposed to be saving tires but these guys were racing hard and we got in there and mixed it up having a blast.”

Mixing it up was an understatement with Praytor spending the bulk of the race side by side and at points 3 wide or even 4 wide.

In order for the teams tire strategy to work timing was the key. You wanted tires soon enough to keep from going a lap down and late enough to be effective against the top 10.

“We missed out tire window by 1 caution and we stayed green too long costing us a lap and keeping us from getting to mix it up with the top 10.”

After a wild 200 laps Praytor brought the DK-LOK Ford home 14^th, a little battered and bruised but it will be ready for Elko in 2 weeks.

“We had a shot at a little better finish today it just didn’t work out. Solid day for our race team, especially considering my track record at Toledo. Crazy racing on the track it’s been that way all year and it will get even wilder at Elko.”

Team has a week off before heading to Elko Speedway in Minnesota for the Shore Lunch 250.

Picture Top: Moose racing hard with 8 time Daytona Champion Bobby Gerhardt, the duo are clearing a 3 wide move going in to turn one.

MENARDS 200 presented by Federated Car Care at TOLEDO SPEEDWAY: The ARCA Series returns to its home base this weekend at Toledo Speedway. Over the years Praytor has had a love hate relationship with the big half mile in Ohio. “I love racing there but there are times I don’t think the track like me very much.” Several year ago the Alabama native tried to knock the turn 3 wall down destroying a lot of foam in what the team calls Foamageddon.

This year the team is coming off a fantastic outing at Talladega that shot the Moose in to the top 10 in the ARCA standings for the first time this season. “We had a lot of fun at Talladega a lot of friends, family and sponsors always good to run up front in Alabama.”

MEET THE MOOSE: The Moose will be meeting fans and signing autographs Sunday May 21st on the front stretch from Noon – 1:00PM CST at Toledo Speedway.

MOOSE STILL HEALING: Praytor burned his right heal with a 2^nd degree burn in Salem. The 4” x 2” blister is down to a 1”x2” but is still causing a limp still.

The Menards 200 is a 3 day event at Toledo Speedway with Rig Parking Friday night followed by technical inspection, practice and General Tire Pole Qualifying on Saturday with the Menards 200 kicking off at 1:00PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCARacing.com. The race will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 at 4PM CST.

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the Moose to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200 and was utilized in Salem earlier this year.* Praytor’s DK-LOK Ford is powered by Roush Yates Ford Motors

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Toledo is a lot like Mobile International Speedway, a big half mile, wide and very fast. Tires are important but not like at Salem Speedway a few weeks ago. The turn 1 bleachers are actually part of the upper deck from Michigan International Speedway and are usually packed.

TOLEDO SPEEDWAY:
.5 Mile Paved Oval, with 12 and 13 degree banking with 4 degree straight

Talladega Week in Alabama was the perfect backdrop for WKRG TV 5 Sports Director Randy Patrick to recognize Mobile, Alabama’s Thomas “Moose” Praytor.

Praytor was named WKRG TV 5 Good Sport for his work off the race track with numerous charitable organizations including the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind at Talladega.

“Giving back has been ingrained us from my Grandmother (Jamie Praytor), not only is the right thing to do it is a lot of fun. To be recognized by Mr. Randy and the folks at Channel 5 is very humbling.”

For Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile, Alabama based Max Force Race Team Talladega is more than just a race, it’s a Homecoming filled with family, friends, fans, sponsors, special guest and an opportunity for the Moose to put on a show in front of the home state fans.

A short week after the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 in Salem had Praytor and his team hopping back at the shop in Mobile. The Super Speedway car was delivered from the paint booth at Rettigs Auto on Monday and the team put the finishing touches on the Alabama Institute for Deaf & Blind (AIDB) Ford for Talladega.

What was already a long weekend got longer when the team pulled out of Mobile Thursday night to only make it 13 miles up the interstate before coming to a dead stop for 5 hours for an accident. A little late for Tech Day on Thursday but the team got to Talladega just in time for the rain.

A long tech day and a lot of rain on Thursday led to a lot of rain on Friday morning causing the schedule to be turned upside down. At just after lunch the ARCA teams got a 30 minute practice session to shake down their cars.

Praytor made a quick 4 laps on the race track, the team took care of a wheel rub and the car cover was put back over the AIDB Ford Fusion for the General Tire 200 slated for later in the day.

All of the work to the AIDB Ford had been done in Mobile after the car was wrecked in Daytona. “We felt really good about our car, we’ve learned a lot over the years about air and the guys at Rettigs worked really hard slicking our car back up for Talladega. We didn’t see any need to put laps on our car or take a chance drafting.”

Mother Nature refused to cooperate on Friday for racing but it gave Praytor a lot of time to talk with the crowd gathering at the Max Force Hauler including the team’s special guest from AIDB. “We have always participated in the AIDB Race Fever Auction and spending time with the kids is what it’s all about. They are reworking the Auction this year so we had a couple of the kids come out to the track so we could spend some time with them and what a blast!” (DeKendrick Graves & Jeffrey Oliver)

While the rain dragged on, Associate Sponsor, AQUASALT had a suite loaded with guests and the Moose gathered up his new buddies from AIDB and went visiting. “Suite visits are so much fun. The people in the suite are having a good time, they are pulling for you and they just get you pumped up. Of course I had my two straight men with me Dee and Jeff and they can put a smile on anybody’s face.”

Unfortunately the Suite visit ran longer than expected because the rain never let up, racing was cancelled for Friday afternoon and moved to Saturday afternoon. A special shout out to Talladega Superspeedway for making room for our AQUASALT folks to stay for Saturday.

After another long day of doing nothing other than waiting for 5:00PM Praytor and his team were beyond ready to race. “You get your mind set to go on Friday, you do all these things that you do on a normal race day, then you don’t race, then it’s another 24 hours and you go through the whole process again.”

The AIDB Ford would finally roll off 10^th, Praytor and his Spotter Tab Boyd (Playing hooky from Joey Logano) were ready to go. With the drop of the green flag, the Moose guided by Boyd rumbled to the front and made his way up to the 6^th spot before the General Tire 200 would finally settle down.

“Tab was doing an awesome job from the roof and we had a really fast car, a little darty but fast.”

At lap 25 the caution flag was out for debris on the track. Team calculations before the race said they needed to get to lap 30 before they were good to the end. This was the same predicament the team found itself in Daytona.

In Daytona the team stayed out while the rest of the field gambled and came in for fuel. In Talladega the AIDB Ford was called to pit road for a fuel only stop. “We let it all hang out in Talladega.”

With the ARCA Series racing in companion with the NASCARs Xfinity Series and the Monster Cup Series a lot of teams opted for pit road help from the NASCAR garage, we stuck with our all UNOH crew and they held serve with the best in the business only giving up 2 spots on pit road.

Back under green Boyd and Praytor were moving in unison as the Moose rumbled up to 4^th. “Tab does such a good job, he sees stuff before it happens and helps us get the runs we need it in the draft.”

The AIDB Ford settled in to the 5^th spot and started logging laps, setting up how to take on the finish.

Praytor dodge the big one (pic at top of story) but a new problem was developing for the Alabama native, 3^rd gear was gone. The problem with losing 3^rd gear is each restart bogged Praytor down until he could get up to speed allowing cars to drop down in front of him pushing him back in the running order.

“It was really frustrating, we had such a great car and the motor was still going but our car just wouldn’t go.” With each late caution the transmission started to rattle in every gear as the missing pieces off 3^rd gear started bouncing around inside.

As the final laps wore down Praytor slipped all the way back to 16^th and under one of the cautions the AIDB Ford came to pit road and topped off with fuel to eliminate the fuel gamble. The move gave Praytor breathing room when the race went to over time.

A caution on the final lap set the field, for a one lap dash for cash. Boyd and Praytor put together a restart plan that catapulted the AIDB Ford forward on the final restart picking up 4 spots on the final lap coming home 12^th, a career best at Talladega.

“We had a great weekend at Talladega. Twelfth was a little disappointing after running in the top 5 all day but we continue to show speed everywhere we go. It was really a great weekend, so many friends, a lot of support from Mobile. Thanks to AIDB for letting us be a part of their tremendous program.”

After a big weekend there was only one thing left to do on Saturday night, well it is Talladega!

A week off and the Series heads to Toledo for the Menards 200 on Sunday May 21^st, live on Fox Sports 1.

GENERAL TIRE 200 AT TALLADEGA SPEEDWAY: Thomas “Moose” Praytor is teaming up with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) for Friday’s General Tire 200 at Talladega Superspeedway. Praytor has been a long-time supporter of AIDB having donated auction items to Race Fever while spending time with the kids. “We say we do it for the kids but the kids make you feel really special when your with them, I know I get more out of it then they do.” This year’s annual Race Fever Event and Auction has been postponed and the Moose is taking his support to the track with a special AIDB hood and having some of the students join the crew on race day.

While Praytor’s Alabama based team spends most of the season traveling to far off tracks, Talladega is a rare racing opportunity in front of the “hometown” crowd. “The insanity of the draft is awesome, but my favorite part about coming to Talladega, is I am surrounded by my friends, family and my home state fans.”

MOOSE PLAYING HURT AT TALLADEGA: The 100 plus lap green flag run at Salem last week burned Praytor’s right foot. The heat from the floorboard burned through Praytor shoe creating a 2” x 4” burn blister on his heel. Team Doctor Lynn Dyess has been treating the 2^nd degree burn all week in preparation for Talladega. Dyess has fashioned a special bandage to allow the heel to have clearance inside Praytor right G-Force Boot. When asked about driving at Talladega with a burned right foot Praytor responded, “It’s OK, its Talladega my heel never touches the car anyway.”

SALTY SUITE TIME AT TALLADEGA: Praytor will be making an appearance on Friday after qualifying with the employees and guest of Associate Sponsor AQUASALT in their suite overlooking Talladega Superspeedway. Founded in 1928, AQUASALT is the purest salt available for swimming pool and spa chlorine generators.

The General Tire 200 is a 2 day event starting with technical inspection Thursday. The gates open bright and early at 6 am Friday morning for an incredible day of events, starting with practice at 8:30. We will then roll into General Tire qualifying at 2:30 pm, and the green flag will drop at 5PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Also, please follow us on Twitter (@DKLOKRacing), Instagram (Thomas Praytor), and Facebook (Dk-Lok Racing) for live trackside updates from our PR team.

After two DNFs to start the season Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team were looking forward to the friendly confines of Salem Speedway and the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200.

“We have so many laps at Salem plus we had our best car we really felt good after being beat up the in the first two races.”

While the DK-LOK team was ready for a good weekend Mother Nature had other plans with a deluge on Saturday morning that flooded the racetrack.

ARCA officials cancelled qualifying, pushed back the schedule and with a little help from upstairs teams were able to get a solid hour of practice in on Saturday afternoon.

“We had a solid practice, old Black Betty never missed a beat. We chased the track just a little going from green (rubber washed off during rain) to really blacked in. I think we missed our gear selection a little which hurt us on the short run but would come back and help us during the race.”

With qualifying rained out the field was set by practice times and the Moose would roll of 16^th.

“We made a lot of changes to our DK-LOF Ford anticipating the track changes with more rubber being laid down during the stock race before us and the rubber build up with the ARCA cars, it really paid off.”

With the drop of the green flag Praytor was on conserve mode trying to save tires at the old abrasive track. After an early caution at lap 20 the race took on a green flag look going over 100 more laps without a caution.

The Moose who grew up turning laps at another old track, Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway was waiting for them. On que at lap 80 Praytor turned the wick up and the cars running away from the DK-LOK Ford quit moving forward and started coming back.

“I love old wore out tracks because it equals the equipment playing field and it turns into a driver versus driver event.”

With the IImor advantage gone, body advantage gone, weight advantage gone, for the first time since Daytona Praytor was on an even playing field with the rich kids. The 27 year old ARCA Ironman put on a clinic for racing on old tires.

By lap 90 the Moose was passing top 10 cars by lap 100 he was in the top 5 and was now lapping himself from other top 10 cars.

At first the kids struggled to keep Praytor behind them, then they were getting out of his way while being lapped. The Moose rumbled up into the top 10 before the caution flag flew at lap 126 then the weirdest thing happened, the DK-LOK Ford just quit.

“At first I thought we had an electrical issue, then I realized we were out of gas.” A normal gas load should have taken the team to lap 150 or so. “This is the first time this fuel cell has been run since it was inspected, we obviously have something going on inside there we need to get fixed.”

The safety truck got to the stranded DK-LOK Ford quickly but not quick enough to keep from giving up valuable laps earned under the long green flag run and a top 10 finish was gone.

For the rest of the race Praytor held his 14^th spot and brought the DK-LOK Ford home without a scratch.

“It’s amazing how clean our car is with all the racing forwards and backwards we did today. Nice to load one up without a wrecker, ready to be back home in Talladega.”

Short week for team DK-LOK as the ARCA teams report to Talladega Superspeedway Thursday morning at 6:00AM for General Tire 200 on Friday afternoon live on Fox Sports 1.

Picture: Moose rumbling past Cunningham Motorsports Shane Lee during the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway.

Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway: Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK Team have already collected more DNFs in the first 2 races of 2017 than they have the last 2 seasons combined. “It’s frustrating for team that is known for going the distance but we have had very competitive race cars in the first 2 races.” Salem is the perfect place for Praytor needing a solid finish, Praytor has more starts at Salem than any other track on the tour. “Really like Salem, old wore out place, bad fast, taking Black Betty, looking forward to it.” This weekend will be Praytor’s first weekend as ARCA’s Active Ironman,”I just really can’t thank everyone enough that has gotten me to this point from my family and friends to all of our sponsors to the other crews at the racetrack, I wouldn’t get to continue this dream without them.”

The Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 is a 2 day, double header including the Great American Stocks racing before the Kentuckiana Ford 200 on Sunday April 30th. Follow the Moose throughout the weekends hour and a half practice session and qualifying on Saturday, with the green flag flying at 1:15 PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast tape delayed on MAV TV on May 20th 8PM CST. Also, you can follow us on social media, Twitter (@DKLOKRacing), Instagram (Thomas Praytor), and Facebook (DK-LOK Racing) for live trackside updates from our PR team.

MEET THE MOOSE: Fans will get to meet The Moose Sunday, on the front stretch from 11:30 to 12:30 prior to the race.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, REALTOR, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Greer’s Food Market, Campbell, Duke & Campbell, Omni Fitness, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Praytor Realty

CAR: Roush Chassis #461,”Black Betty”-Black Betty has been the team’s short track stalwart and was one the 2nd car the team purchased. Praytor drove the Moose to his career best ARCA finish of 7th at the ARCA Mobile 200. Praytor’s DK-LOK Ford is powered by Roush Yates Ford Motors.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: The fans in the stands are in for a ride as Salem is like no other track in the circuit. The name of the game this week is going to be tire conservation. You will hear our spotter Tommy Praytor say “Conserve, Conserve, Conserve” a hundred times before the race is complete. Although, as the race dwindles down, all bets are off for Victory Lane!

With his 83^rd consecutive start in the Music City 200 Thomas “Moose” Praytor takes over as the ARCA Series Active Ironman. Currently Praytor has more consecutive starts in ARCA than any other active driver.

The Ironman in any sport is usually reserved for throwback style players, Footballs, Jim Marshall, Baseballs Cal Ripken and drivers like Frank Kimmel, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Mobile’s Rick Crawford, the long time Ironman of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Not only do they play hard, they worked hard in the shop and that work ethic keeps them coming to the racetrack, when others would call it a day.

Rudd taped his eyelids open to race, on 2 occasions Marshall walked out of the hospital to join his team on game day, Crawford left the infield Care Center to win at Daytona and Kimmel made 386 consecutive starts on his way to 10 Championships. Praytor has already experienced his share of tough starts, kidney stones, carbon monoxide poisoning, head dingers, torn muscles and some bones & joints that will tell him the weather forecast for years to come. But the Moose keeps on going.

“The idea that I’m still in the Series, still coming to the track every week is just incredible. We were only supposed to make 3 starts five years ago and well we’re still going. I don’t really think about being the Ironman, I just think about how fortunate I am to have a ride and nothing is going to keep me out of it.”

Climbing into a racecar was not always been a given, in 2003, while racing at Sunny South Raceway, Praytor hit the wall so hard his seat assembly came loose from the car allowing his head to hit the wall on impact.

Lifeflighted from the track, Praytor was in a coma for a week, survival first, racing would have to come second. Once on the mend, the Doctors prescribed one year of no racing or football. Praytor spent the year rehabbing his body and rebuilding his wrecked race car while spotting for his Dad. At the end of the year, the Doctors cleared the Moose to return to action but Mom was a much tougher sell. Eventually she came around and Praytor was back in the saddle.

“I never have remembered the wreck but I’ll never forget that year on the sidelines. I think the year off really made me appreciate the opportunities you have. I look at each start as special, I know there are thousands of other guys who would kill for my spot and I’m not giving up my seat to anybody.”

While the laps continue to pile up (Over 10,000) Praytor and his family owned Max Force Racing are focused on not just starting but improving. Last season Praytor turned in his best season on tour finishing 5^th in the Championship Standings. And like the song says “with a little help from my friends.”

“There are so many people that have contributed to me being here. Belmont and Venturini gave me a shot, Hixson really got me going and every major owner in the series has contributed to me staying here. The support we receive in Mobile is just incredible, day and night friends come by the shop, pitch in and help us get our cars prepared for the track. We couldn’t do it without all of our friends.”

Most young drivers look at the ARCA Series as a stepping stone to bigger rides, Praytor has a unique perspective: “If it all ended tomorrow I’ve done more than I ever dreamed I would get to do as a race car driver. Daytona, Talladega, Pocono those were fantasy tracks on my computer not reality for a Super Stock driver from Mobile International Speedway. We still have so much more we want to accomplish.”

Consecutive start #84 is the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway on April 30^th.

The Music City 200 presented by Azure Foundation has become one of Thomas “Moose” Praytor’s favorite on the ARCA Tour. Classic short track action mixed with a big field of high octane competitors make for great racing. The 2017 installment was anything but to the DK-LOK team and worse to the Chassis chosen for the assignment, RK-500.

The day began in usual fashion with the team working hard on finding the right balance on the DK-LOK Ford. With a long list of changes during the hour and a half practice session the Moose qualified 18^th placing the legacy motor ahead of some of the new Ilmor engines.

With the drop of the green flag the Moose and his DK-LOK Ford resembled a salmon swimming up stream versus a man on the move. In the first few laps of tight racing Praytor picked off the cars in front of him but he was in the middle of a pack moving forward and one of the cars took off his right rear quarter panel puncturing the tire.

A small hole turned into big handling problems and the Moose started to fall back, the hole gave way to a blow out and he was in for wild sideways ride before getting under control. The spotter had him stay on track looking for a caution that finally came costing the team valuable track position early.

Three laps down Praytor started racing hard to put the DK-LOK Ford in position for the lucky dog. Three laps turned to two, two to one and the caution needed to put the team on the lead lap ended the night. Two car got together off of turn 4 blocking the track in front of Praytor and the Fusion T-Bone one of the cars destroying the radiator in Praytor’s Ford.

“We had a decent DK-LOK Ford just a bad night on the race track. The guys worked hard in practice and really improved our race car and we had a solid qualifying effort taking out some of the Ilmors. It’s amazing how much this track has changed since last year. I don’t think we have the balance where we need it yet on our cars and we’ll keep working on it. Looks like we’ll bring back Black Betty to Salem, another great short track car. We had a lot of local support up from Alabama this weekend really appreciate everyone being there.”

A few weeks off before the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway April 30^th on MAVTV.

Music City 200 presented by Azure Foundation at the NASHVILLE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY: “I really like short track racing and Nashville is a big half mile track that is a lot of fun to race on. Nashville is a good track for us and we’ve been working hard on our short track program, we should get a good indication of what we have this weekend.” In addition to racing in Nashville, Thomas “Moose” Praytor has made the Music City a regular stop including trips to the CMA Awards, American Country Countdown Awards including some favorite honky tonks in Downtown Nashville. “Nashville is one of the places you wish was like a 3 day show so you could go Downtown and enjoy some of what the City has to offer. That’s why I like coming back here so much when we’re not racing.”

The Music City 200 PRESENTED BY Azure Foundation is a 1 day event double header including an ARCA CRA/Southern Super Series race before the Music City 200 on Saturday April 8^th. The Music City 200 will begin at 8:00 PM CST. Live timing and scoring for practice, qualifying and the race will be on ARCAracing.com. The race will be broadcast live on MAV TV.

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS: G-Force, Nudraulix, REALTOR, Rettigs Auto Body, APS Automotive Painters Supply, Dueitt’s Battery Supply, Airgas, John Thompson & Associates, Judy’s Place, Greer’s Food Market, Campbell, Duke & Campbell, Omni Fitness, Golden Flake, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, Praytor Realty

CAR: Roush Chassis #500-Chassis 500 is the Moose’s favorite short track car and was run at all the short track races, road course and dirt races in 2016. Praytor’s DK-LOK Ford is powered by Roush Yates Ford Motors.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND: Nashville is the first short track on the 2017 calendar and there are a lot of young drivers too young to race at Daytona making their ARCA debut-hang on! Opened in 1904 the old track in the middle of the State Fair Grounds is steeped in racing history with winners picking up a Nashville guitar in Victory Lane.

NASHVILLE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY: .596 Mile Oval,Banking-18 Degrees in Corners, Straights 3 degrees

In most cases when you combine a race car driver and Alabama State Troopers for a week, the outcome usually isn’t too good for the driver. This time Thomas “Moose” Praytor finally earned some paperwork from the Alabama Department of Public Safety that wasn’t a ticket.

Professor Praytor added CDL Examiner to his non racing resume and now has the same power as an Alabama State Trooper to administer the CDL driver’s exam.

“The last few semesters teaching at Bishop State has been really rewarding. Every one of our students has been employed within a week of completing our course”, said Praytor. “Bishop State gave me the opportunity to go to school with the Troopers and that was a whole new learning experience!”

With a hole in the ARCA schedule after Daytona Praytor has enjoyed the time away from the shop but is ready to get back behind the wheel.

“Nashville is a good track for us and we’ve been working really hard on our short track cars in the off season and we’re looking forward to the Fairgrounds.”

The Music City 200 presented by the Azure Foundation is Saturday, April the 8^th at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville. Practice is 1:15 to 2:45 with General Tire Pole Qualifying at 4:15. The green flag is slated to wave at 8:00PM CST. Live timing and scoring of practice and qualifying will be on www.arcaracing.com. The Music City 200 will be the first live broadcast on MAVTV. With the addition of MAVTV all 20 ARCA Series races will be televised in 2017.

Max Force Racing began its 20^th Season of competition at the World Center of Speed in the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire on Saturday.

After a career season in 2016 Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Max Force Team rolled in to Daytona looking to capitalize on the momentum they created last season.

Technical inspection and practice went as planned with the Moose clocking the 8th fastest time in practice. A disorganized group in group qualifying had Praytor rolling off a disappointing 23^rd.

With the drop of the green flag the Moose and spotter Tab Boyd, on loan from Joey Logano, quickly worked their DK-LOK Ford from 23^rd up to 12th.

A caution on lap 20 gave the team its first big decision of the day, come in or stay out. The fuel calculations said the team would have to come in again if they brought the DK-LOK Ford to pit road and the team decided to keep Praytor on the track.

The decision moved the Moose up to 3^rd behind the 78 and 98 of Mason Mitchell Motorsports. Back under green the trio was joined by Matt Tift’s, Kyle Busch Motorsports machine and the four cars quickly broke away from the field. (Pic above)

The four cars spent the next 30 laps nose to tail pacing the field until a timely caution flag on lap 50 let the DK-LOK Ford come to pit road for badly needed fuel.

With just a few cars using the same fuel strategy the team decided to pack the Ford full of fuel versus just enough to get them to the end of the race. The weight of the extra fuel would help pull the rear spoiler down out of the air giving the team and extra advantage back on the track.

Back under green Praytor had to be patient for the strategy to play out, the other cars would have to pit again before the end of the race moving the Moose, 78, 98 and 18 back to the front.

On lap 65 the DK-LOK Ford was drafting in the outside lane and the inside lane had a bump draft go wrong sending the 15 of Lelani Munter into the Moose’s left side door and the DK-LOK spinning and bouncing off other cars in to the infield grass in a plume of smoke, dirt and flying grass.

Praytor’s DK-LOK Ford was battered and bruised but it wouldn’t fire up, getting the Ford a ride back to the garage on a wrecker and the Moose a trip to the infield care center.

The team quickly went to work on the machine and had it ready to return to action but didn’t have a driver. Praytor’s CO2 levels were too high in the infield care center and they had him held up until those levels returned to normal.

Ed Pompa was involved in the same wreck but his Clemson car was done and the team recruited Pompa to finish the race. Pompa strapped in and just as the car was ready to return to the race the final caution flag flew and the race was called after a long red flag period ending this year’s Daytona race early.

“Our DK-LOK Team had a solid Speedweek in Daytona. We had speed all weekend and we showed we can run up front and compete with the biggest teams in the sport,” said Praytor. “We can’t do what we do without all the people in Mobile who support our race team. We had a record number of tire sponsors for Daytona this year, just incredible. Our all-volunteer UNOH crew had a good week and did a great job on our stop and getting our Ford patched back up to go back out. I appreciate Ed Pompa climbing in for me. Congratulations to our spotter Tab Boyd, he and Joey Logano won the Clash on Sunday, he does an awesome job. We have some work to do before Talladega but we’re really looking forward to putting on a show in front of our home state fans.”

The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and MAVTV announced a new multi-year broadcast rights agreement for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards under which racing events will be televised on MAVTV during the 2017 through 2019 racing seasons.

Ten races will be telecast on MAVTV in 2017, with ten races having already been announced for broadcast on Fox Sports 1. The pairing of MAVTV and Fox will put all Twenty ARCA races on National Television in 2017.

“MAVTV is working hard to become the home for motorsports and I think they will make a great outlet for ARCA Racing,” said Thomas “Moose” Praytor. “The combination of Fox and MAVTV means our fans will get to see every heart pounding lap from places like Salem, Winchester and Elko plus the speed of Pocono, Chicago and Talladega.”

The first of the three-year agreement, coverage begins Saturday night, April 8 with the first Live broadcast from Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition to Nashville, races from Elko Speedway in Elko, Minn., Madison International Speedway in Wis. and the Illinois State Fairgrounds will also air Live on MAVTV.

“MAVTV continues its long-term commitment to motorsports,” said Bob Patison, president of MAVTV. “We see the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards as a premier property on our network, and are happy to begin our ARCA relationship with this new contract.”

In addition to the Live events, MAVTV will provide coverage from an additional 6 ARCA Racing Series events, including delayed broadcast coverage from the 4-mile Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis., plus great short track action from Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, Winchester Speedway in Ind., the dirt mile at DuQuoin Fairgrounds in Southern Ill. and both Salem Speedway events in Ind.

“ARCA has a well-established history of investing in long-term relationships, and that certainly holds true in the case of our television network partnerships,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “We’re very pleased that MAVTV will become a broadcast partner, and are proud to be a part of their programming mix. As we build our plan for the future of the series, we’re especially enthused to make this major, multi-year announcement. This mutual commitment between ARCA and MAVTV provides our series a high quality television platform available to deliver a tremendous value for viewers, race teams and sponsors.”

A new racing season begins today at Daytona International Speedway for the Moose, Thomas Praytor and his Mobile based DK-LOK Race team. Praytor rolls off 23^rd after a disjointed group qualifying effort left some of the best cars in the field in the middle of the pack.

“We have a really fast race car and qualifying yesterday went south from the time our group rolled off pit road. We were all disjointed yesterday but today we will all be pressing to the front the together,” said Praytor. “we have a huge amount of local support to start the year and its part of why we have such great equipment here.”

Wade Distributors
Greer’s
Sirius Technical Services
Judy’s Place
John Thompson and Associates
Ainsworth Racing
Lewis Precision CNC
Clear Choice Technology
MH Electrical

Automotive Paint & Supply
Airgas
Omni Fitness
Dueitts Battery Supply
The Fever Brand

The Max Force Race Team will begin its 20^th year of competition starting behind 8 time Daytona Champion Bobby Gerhardt.

“I’d like to be starting up front with Mr. Bobby but we both know we have fast cars and we can work our way up there, we’ll be pushing as hard as we can.”

Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire gets underway Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM CST with live coverage on Fox Sports 1 and live timing and scoring on ArcaRacing.com. The team will live tweet and facebook all day from dklockracing-join the conversation!

Coming off a career season in 2016 Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his DK-LOK team fired the first shot of the 2017 season posting an 8^th place spot in practice for the Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona during Thursdays practice.

“Solid day for our team, lot of energy has gone in to this effort and our DK-LOK Ford really performed well in the draft,” said Praytor. “Having Tab (Boyd) on the roof again is awesome, his experience is incredible. We’ll see what we can get today in qualifying.”

Eighth on the speed chart put the Mobile, Alabama race team in good company working towards Saturday’s season opener. Team Venturini, last year’s Championship team, Kyle Bush team and 8 time Daytona Champion Bobby Gerhardt were the only teams to record a faster time at the World Center of Speed.

The team is so confident in their DK-LOK Ford they skipped the morning practice to prepare for this afternoons qualifying session. Menards Group Pole Qualifying is at 2:30CST with live timing and scoring on ArcaRacing.com.

The 2017 season will get underway Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM CST with live coverage on Fox Sports 1 and live timing and scoring on ArcaRacing.com.

GoodBookey America’s online charitable gaming site and sponsor of the Thomas “Moose” Praytor’s ARCA car is featured in Forbes. Follow link below for full article:

Watch GoodBookey President Tony Pease and Operations Officer Sarah Deasy give a short presentation on GoodBookey using their involvement with racing as part of their presentation.

“Congratulations to the entire GoodBookey team on being recognized by Forbes. We had a lot of fun with GoodBookey and The Chive Charites on the car in Kentucky and Kansas,” said Praytor. “They are making a difference in a fun way that everyone can be involved with. I’m taking all bets against the Patriots, download the app and put your money up!”

After a mad scramble for a test motor, Thomas “Moose” Praytor and his Mobile based Max Force Race team spent some long days with sleepless nights preparing their DK-LOK Ford for testing in Daytona.

“We got back late Sunday night with the motor and went to work on installing first thing Monday morning. We felt like we had until Thursday night at 9 to finish in order to make testing at 7AM on Friday, we closed the door on the hauler at 7:30,” said Praytor. “We had lots of great help and couldn’t have done it without, Dink (Stevens), Mark (Hutchinson), Brandon (Stokes), my Mom, my Sister everybody pitched in.”

While all Ilmor Motors are all made the same way they are not wired or plumbed the same way and all the hook ups in the car had to be changed out to match the motor. “Tony (Blanchard) was a big help, we took a lot of pics and texted back and forth, he really kept us on the right path.”

A long nights drive across the panhandle of Florida to Daytona Beach and hauler arrived in time for an hours sleep before registration opened.

With the DK-LOK Ford finally in the garage, a team of Ilmor engineers started to go over the motor. “The Ilmor guys did a great job all weekend. They were constantly going over the motor after each run.”

The team battled the usual gremlins on the first few runs, tire rub, leaking oil line and after a couple of single car runs the Moose was turned lose, ready to draft.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and money on this chassis and it really shows it in the draft. Our DK-LOK Ford didn’t miss a beat from Talladega and it was really fun to drive.”

After a couple of draft packs, Praytor parked his Ford for the afternoon and the team prepared for a complete tech on Saturday morning. The DK-LOK Ford timed in at 185.770 MPH good enough to be 23^rd out of 62 competitors.

Testing in Daytona allows the teams to have the cars teched by ARCA officials to make sure their car and components are ready to go when they return in February for the Lucas Oil Complete Treatment 200 driven by General Tire.

The team spent Saturday morning taking the car apart for tech, putting it back together followed by Praytor made a leisurely stroll around the 2.5 mile World Center of Speed at 180 MPH to make sure it was all back together properly.

“We actually loaded up early which is truly unusual for our race team. Our UNOH guys had a great weekend, the car performed like we wanted and can’t say enough about the guys from Ilmor they really worked hard to get all we could get out of the motor and it paid off.”

The countdown for the start of the 2017 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season in now underway for the Lucas Oil Complete Treatment 200 driven by General Tire on February 18^th.

As the days tick down to the test in Daytona for the Lucas Oil Complete Treatment 200 driven by General Tire, Thomas “Moose” Praytor found himself without his primary motor and it looked like he could be watching the test from Mobile.

Enter Sarah Cornett-Ching with her Dickies Race 101 Team and just like Pocono a couple of years ago, Sarah came to the rescue loaning Praytor a motor for the test.

“We were cutting it pretty close with our primary engine not being ready but Sarah, Tony and the guys at Race 101 saved us again,” said Praytor. “It’s one of the cool things about our Series, having competitors helping each other.”

With the snow melting away Praytor made a quick trip to the Race 101 Shop in Denver, North Carolina picked up a motor and the team is hustling to get it installed and ready for the test this weekend.

“Our teams have always been close going back to when we were working out of the same team. Thomas and his guys have always been there to help us when we need it and it was great to be able to help him,” said Sarah Cornett-Ching.

Testing for the Lucas Oil Complete Treatment 200 driven by General Tire is slated for Friday and Saturday at the World Center of Speed, Daytona International Speedway. Live timing and scoring will be available at arcaracing.com.