Team News after 06/09 will be posted on the Staging Light Blog

 

Duck Tape Racing Records Semi-Final at Richmond
 June 2, 2009

Richmond, VA - IHRA Sportsman racers converged on Richmond Dragway, May 30-31, 2009 for an important IHRA Div. 1 Summit Pro-Am Tour double-header.  Saturday's event was a standard Pro-Am, while Sunday was a special Champion System Sportsman National event, which also counted toward Pro-Am points.

Duck Tape Racing's Michael Beard qualified his H/CM '80 Volare 9th in Stock Eliminator on Saturday, and pushed through the first round of eliminations with a stout .014 reaction time and drove the stripe into .010 against Stacie Ridings (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16FYmT4U104), but fell to a red light start in the second frame against Chris Hall (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-Zol_RHAI).  Sunday provided a new opportunity, where Beard stepped up to 8th on the qualifying sheet.  Beard advanced to the semifinal round, where eventual winner Adam Keir used a formidable .011 light and dead-on run to end his day.  Following the event, Beard sits 3rd in IHRA Div. 1 Stock points.

Videos courtesy of Lisa King, www.BracketRaceCentral.com

Beard Wraps Up 3rd Place Points Finish at Rockingham Dragway
May 25, 2009

Rockingham, N.C. - Michael Beard returned to scene of his 2007 Modified E.T. Championship and his more recent triumph at the IHRA Spring Nationals, Rockingham Dragway, for the Memorial Weekend Ironman Classic, May 23-25.  Beard entered the weekend tied for third place in points.  The final three points races in Rockingham's short series was reduced to just two opportunities to make up ground as inclement weather disrupted Sunday's events.

Beard drove the Duck Tape/CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil Volare to the 5th round of competition in both Saturday's and Monday's racing, allowing him to retain his place in the points, and give him an opportunity to represent Team Rockingham Dragway at the IHRA Division 9 Summit Team Finals in October.

 

Fans Partake of Duck Tape Giveaway and Good Racing at the NHRA Lucas Oil Cavalcade of Stars
May 17, 2009

Norwalk, Ohio -  Many of the Henkel Consumer Adhesive partners stopped by the Duck Tape Racing trailer during the NHRA Lucas Oil Cavalcade of Stars at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. It was a great showing. The team's pit parking location was excellent and over 15,000 spectators were at the track. 

Henkel provided rolls of Duck Tape brand duct tape for giveaways.  "The tape went over great," said Matt Zapp.  "We went through all 800 rolls by 11:30 am on Saturday. It was amazing. The track provided us with continual PA announcements that drove traffic right to our booth.  Racing went well, too. I made it through through rounds of competition, and did not lose until late on Sunday afternoon. Many of the fans witnessed the Duck Tape Chevelle both on and off the track!"

(John Ulman photo)

Duck Tape Racing Joins IHRA Tournament of Champions with Spring Nationals Victory
April 27, 2009

Rockingham, N.C. - 2003 IHRA Stock World Champion Michael Beard has entered his bid for a repeat performance by capturing the Stock Eliminator title at the IHRA Springs Nationals, hosted by Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C.  IHRA's new Tournament of Champions program automatically seeds all National event winners along with the top three drivers in each division into a single race sudden-death battle royal for the World Championship, to be contested at the IHRA World Finals, also at Rockingham Dragway.  Beard will hold a small home-track advantage, as the 2007 Footbrake track champion at the Rock.

Beard overcame former Quick Rod World Champion Danny Waters, Jr. in the opening round, another former Stock World Champion Brenda Grubbs in the 3rd round, and gathered red-lights from Hillarey Sloan, hot off a win at Mooresville, as well as rookie sensation Mike McCandless in the semifinals.  In the final round, Lee Truell also drew a foul start while trying to chase the Duck Tape Volare.

"I looked at that win light three times going down the track to make sure it was really on.  I couldn't believe it," said Beard.  "I was screaming the whole way down the track, and all the way up the return road.  The adrenaline is unbelievable.  We race against mostly the same people in the class everywhere we go, but there's something even more special about winning a National event.  You have so few opportunities to even try to win one, that the odds are really stacked against you.  I won three in a row in Canada, and have had a lot of success at Summit Pro-Am races, but I just hadn't gotten it done at a National here in the states... until now!  This weekend was particularly special as we debuted the addition of another supporting sponsor, CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, and two of their reps were on-hand Sunday.  Winning right out of the box was a great way to welcome them to the team!"

In addition to the Stock win, Beard was able to showcase Johnny Fisher's '80 Mirada in the Summit All-Star Shootout in front of a packed house Saturday night, as the 6th-ranked Super Stocker in the World.  Just making it to the track was a victory in itself, as Fisher and his crew spent days of morning through night thrashing to prepare the car.  Beard used up his luck reserves in Stock, however, and fell in the first round in Super Stock.

Support comes from Duck Tape brand duct tape, Mickey Thompson Tires, K&N Filters, Bearden Oil - Sunoco, Bradley Auto Parts, CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, Sloan Racing Engines, Macy Motorsports, Billy Nees Race Cars, Staging Light Graphics, FinishedRacing.com, Biondo Racing Products, Stephen Beard, Matt Zapp, Terry Knott, Johnny Fisher, and Jill Beard.

Duck Tape Racing Scores First Win of 2009
April 8, 2009

Pageland, S.C. - When we left our story last time, the Duck Tape '80 Volare was down for repairs, but team driver Michael Beard had brought out another trusty Duck with his backup ride, his '74 Duster. On Saturday, March 21, Beard again drove deep into eliminations, making it to the fourth round of competition with the Duster at Greensboro, N.C.'s Piedmont Dragway.

It was no joke that Sloan Racing Engines finished rebuilding the Volare's 360 Magnum on April 1st, and it was non-stop from that point on. The engine was installed on Thursday, and tested Friday night at Mooresville Dragway, in Mooresville, N.C. Saturday morning featured qualifying runs for the IHRA Div. 9 Summit Pro-Am Tour, also at Mooresville. Mechanical gremlins cropped up in the first run, but Tim Sloan (Sloan Racing Engines) and Scott Macy (Macy Motorsports) quickly assessed the problem and corrected it. On the second run, the Volare jumped up to 12th on the Stock qualifying sheet.

Those two rounds of qualifying were completed by noon. Beard packed up and travelled and hour and a half south to Pageland Dragway, in Pageland, S.C., where they were contesting their first IHRA Summit Super Series points race of the season. After seven rounds of competition in the Footbrake category, Beard and the Duck Tape Volare were left standing in the winner's circle with the victory and the early points lead, just days after firing a fresh engine.

Beard returned to Mooresville Dragway on Sunday, but lost in the second round of Stock at the Pro-Am event.

Duck Tape Racing Opens 2009 with Double Semi-Finals
March 13, 2009

Immokalee, Fla. - Despite wintry weather overstaying its welcome not only in the northern states, but also in the Carolinas, Duck Tape Racing has gotten an early start once again. Team driver Michael Beard got the tires turning as early as the beginning of February, at the IHRA Summit Pro-Am Tour season opener in Immokalee, Fla., February 6-8. The three-day weekend consisted of three separate events, including two Pro-Ams and the first of the Champion Systems Sportsman Nationals. Beard started out strong and consistent, marking back-to-back semifinal appearances in the two Pro-Ams. In Sunday's Sportsman National, Beard qualified #2 in Stock in the Duck Tape Volare, a testimony to the formidable combination of all of the team's performance partners, including Mickey Thompson tires, K&N Filters, Bearden Oil Co.'s Sunoco Race Fuels, Joe Gibbs Racing Oil, Sloan Racing Engines, REM'd and Cryo'd components from FinishedRacing.com. The team is also powered by great components, skills, and knowledge base from Bradley Auto Parts/Bumper-To-Bumper, Macy Motorsports, and Billy Nees Race Cars. Power took a backseat in the opening round, however, as an opponent's near perfect run sent Beard homeward. On the bright side, many commuters along a 713 mile stretch along the east coast got to catch a glimpse of the Duck Tape Volare both to and from the race!

 Racing was rained out in the second week, but resumed on February 21 at Rockingham Dragway, in Rockingham, N.C. for the two-day Spring Blast event The Volare fell in the second round of competition, as the first hints of mechanical problems arose. Day two rained out, as did the IHRA Div. 9 Pro-Am the following week.

In testing on March 9, the problem finally became clear, as either a rod or rod bearing. The show must go on, however, so Beard's '74 Duster was pressed into service for the TCI Twins event at Rockingham, March 7-8. Although Beard had not driven the Duster in just over a year, it rewarded him with finishes in the fifth round of competition on Saturday, and the fourth round on Sunday.
 

 
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