{"id":23760,"date":"2018-07-28T11:19:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T15:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=23760"},"modified":"2018-07-28T11:19:15","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T15:19:15","slug":"krzeminski-moving-up-mini-stock-ladder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/07\/krzeminski-moving-up-mini-stock-ladder\/","title":{"rendered":"Krzeminski moving up Mini Stock ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Krzeminski moving up Mini Stock ladder<\/strong><\/p>\n

WATERFORD \u2014 Andrew Krzeminski of Haddam has one word to describe his first Mini Stock race three years ago \u2014 disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spun out so many times that the Scott Tapley, the race director told us to get off the track,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what we were doing out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turn the clock ahead to Saturday. July 21, a night when Krzeminski showed what three years of hard work, dedication and improvement can do.
\n\u201cHe stomped across the finish line in third place, behind front-runners Charles Canfield and Doug Curry, to pull down his first podium of his career.
\n\u201cI just watched the video again,\u201d Krzeminski said. :\u201dI came across the stripe and I was pounding my fist on the roof like we had won. In my mind, this was like a win. We\u2019ve put so much work into this car \u2014 we scale it four or five times a week. That hard work finally is paying off.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s been a long road, however, to get from Point A to Point B. Krzeminski\u2019s first exposure to racing was when he worked with Sean Caron, who has been a long-time competitor in the Mini Stocks.
\n\u201cI was on his crew, and I kept bugging me about letting me drive the car,\u201d Krzeminski. \u201cEventually he succumbed and let me drive it. And I was terrible. But I loved it.
\n\u201cWithin two weeks I bought an old No. 39 car from Charles Andrade and I put a junkyard motor in it. We did terribly at the start. But I wanted to be on the track.\u201d
\nDuring the off-season he totally tore the car apart, put on a new body, new suspension parts and a new motor and was ready to take on a new season.
\n\u201cAnd we were still a disaster,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cIt sure is a lot more difficult than it is from the stands. \u201cIt was a big learning curve.\u201d:
\nAnd it was a learning curve against the wind. Eventually, Krzeminski started to get the wind to blow in his direction and show some improvement.
\n\u201c\u201dWe got into the Top 10 a couple of times, but we didn\u2019t have a ton of guidance,,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cAt the end of my second full season, I got in touch with Joe Brockett and he started doing my carburetors. He started working with me and I showed some big improvement. Since he\u2019s started to coach me, we\u2019ve gotten better and better. He\u2019s never given me bad advice.\u201d
\nIt all culminated with Saturday\u2019s podium finish.
\n\u201cWe have a new body on the car, new paint, a new wrap, a freshened motor, and we came out swinging,\u201d Krzeminski said.
\nKrzeminski has yet to finish out of the Top 10, grabbing a third place, 5 fifth-place finishes, a sixth and a ninth. He currently is fourth in the point standings.
\n\u201cAdvancement,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cThat\u2019s the key word. We\u2019re finally catching on to what it takes to be competitive. We are far from being a front-runner, but we are definitely gaining on it.\u201d
\nKrzeminski, however, now is looking to climb to the next level.
\n\u201cWe have made some changes,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cI can hold the bottom now a lot better than I did. to make people go around me. Last week Doug Curry was outside me and I held him off for a long time. If I can hold off a guy like Doug Curry for a few laps, then I definitely know I\u2019m going well.
\n\u201cI\u2019m harder to pass. Now I\u2019ve got to work on gaining positions during a race. That\u2019s my next step.\u201d
\nKrzeminski is looking for monetary support so he can take that step. His team includes his brothers, John, Ken and Keith and his girlfriend, Chelsea Pike.
\n\u201cShe is super involved; she\u2019s my No. 1 supporter,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cShe goes to school full-time and she supports me full-time.
\nGreg\u2019s Outboard Service, Krzeminski\u2019s sister Kim, Jeff\u2019s Custom Graphics and Brockett round out his support group..
\n\u201cThey are the biggest reasons we are as fast as we are this year,\u201d Krzeminski said.
\nAnd Krzeminski is trying to get faster.
\n\u201cWe work every night on the car,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cWe\u2019re never going to stop trying to improve.\u201d
\nAfter all, once you\u2019ve had a taste of the podium, you can\u2019t wait to get another one.
\nSpeedbowl notes
\nClassic car night
\nNot only is it Nostalgia Night Saturday, it also is the second Classic Car Night of the year. Fans are invited to bring their classic cars or trucks from 1896 to 1978. Car owners will receive will receive a voucher entitling that person to one free grandstand ticket.
\nBrouwer Memorial
\nThe Speedbowl has announced that a race honoring the late Bubby Brouwer will be taking place on Sept. 8. Brouwer served for years as the track maintenance man and was also a championship driver, notching 31 career wins.
\nThe Bubby Brouwer SK Lite 49 presented by RaceChoice.com will be the biggest race for SK Lite drivers in the history of the Speedbowl. Lap sponsorships are available for $25. For more information, contact Mike Serluca at mikes@speedbowlct.com, or text him at 860-942-6794.
\nWho\u2019s hot?
\nKyle James is the hottest driver in the SK Modified division with four wins in six races. Jonathan Puleo has the hot and in the SK Lite Modifieds with four wins in five races. Charles Canfield is on fire with four wins and one second in his last five races while Shawn Gaedeke has not been out of the Top 4 in the Sportsman, winning three times.
\nSpecial guests
\nGuests divisions Saturday will be the New England Antique Racers and the Senior Tour Auto Racers. Also at the Bowl will be the NEMA Lites, who ill be involved in the Jim O\u2019Brien 50-lap Memorial. The Ct Pro 4 Modifieds will be making their third trip to the Speedbowl this season. Brett Meservey had won both features, and P.J. Peter has won both features in the Pro 4 Lite division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Krzeminski moving up Mini Stock ladder WATERFORD \u2014 Andrew Krzeminski of Haddam has one word to describe his first Mini Stock race three years ago \u2014 disaster. \u201cWe spun out so many times that the Scott Tapley, the race director told us to get off the track,\u201d Krzeminski said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what we were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-waterford-speedbowl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23760"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23762,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23760\/revisions\/23762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}