VMS Motorsports

While VMS Motorsports did not make the pull to East Lincoln Speedway in North Carolina for the 13th Annual Dirt Nationals, a hand full of the Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series drivers did.

Congratulations to WLRDS driver Brandon Schmitt on his victory in the Young Lions main event!

Upon teardown, found the damage to the new engine in Chris Johnsons VMS Motorsports Modified to be terminal. The season is officially over for Chris.

A rough weekend for VMS Motorsports.

Friday night saw Chris Johnson at Oshkosh, and Jim Bucher at Chilton for the final races of the year at both venues.

Johnsons bad luck continued, blowing a head gasket in the Heat race, his night was over.

Bucher faired a little better with the VMS Motorsports, The Agency Real Estate car, having a bad heat race, but coming back in the A main to finish 7th again, after being hit and spun out of 5th position  in turn 4 of the final lap.

Saturday put the Homes.com, Precise Home Inspections Legend car at Charter Raceway in Beaver Dam for the final Points night. The car was loose and Bucher spun while running in second in his heat race. After some adjustments, the #17 started 17th in the A Main, and the car was handling good, until the right rear control arm broke, tearing the rear axle loose, with teh driveshaft along with it. Bucher spun in front of traffic, and has hit hard. Credited with a 22nd place finish

One last race of the season for oth Bucher and Johnson to end it on a positive note.

After replacing the starter and doing some wiring repairs, the #17 Precise Home Inspections, Homes.com Legends car was running good and ready to finish out the season strong...that sentiment didn't last long.

After pulling out onto the track for the heat race, Jim Buchers ride started missing and sputtering again, not even making the drop of the green flag.

After working on the VMS Motorsports, The Agency Real Estate race car feverishly with the help of many other crews, the problem again seemed to be solved, and Bucher made it out in time to start at the back of the A Main. As soon as the Green flag dropped, so did the ignition system again, with the car unable to get out of its own way. Bucher pulled off...the car started running again, made a lap, and fell apart once more. Bucher pulled into the pits to check the wiring and was able to get the VMS Motorsports car running again thanks to a lengthy caution flag. Bucher managed to run the last 5 laps of the race, completing enough laps to place 16th out of the 22 cars that started.

After returning from picking up another team car for 2010 early this week, the crew will be rewiring the entire engine compartment to make the last 3 races of this season shows to remember.

After the damage from last nights race, the VMS Motorsports team spent all day rebuilding the front and rear suspension, along with replacing and repairing many steering components. They then attempted to tackle the driveability issue that had popped up twice last night, but another gremlin had attacked the car, an electrical problem causing the starter to not engage.  Without the ability to start the car, not to mention address any driveability  problems, and the deadline to leave for Sun Prairie long past, the team had to make the decision to miss their first race of the season, and in the process, combined with the previous evenings debacle, all but mathematically eliminate the potential for a top 10 National points position.

Riding the momentum of a streak of top 10 finishes, and clinging to the top 10 in National Semi-Pro points, the VMS Motorsports team was pumped up for a night of racing at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

The night started off poorly, as the #17 The Agency Real Estate, Precise Home Inspections car would not run after being unloaded from the trailer. After switching ignition and vacuum components, and testing all connections, the car fired up and was ready to go, with no problem found. Thanks to Eric Barth, Mike Mueller, Jimbo Sommers, and the Luke Polzin Crew for all the hard work and help.

Things didn't get better in the Heat Race. Bucher started in 3rd, and once again, broke the shifter off the transmission on the start. Bucher fell back to 6th, but was able to adjust his driving style and re-pass 2 cars for a 4th place finish.

After working feverishly to repair the transmission, Bucher jumped into the Homes.com, VMS Motorsports Legends car for the A Main, and the driveability  issue that we started the night off with, reared its ugly head. The Polzin Crew was able to help get the car running again just prior to the start of the A Main. Relegated to the back of the pack for being late to staging, Bucher quickly passed 6 cars in the first 3 turns, and it seemed like things would be OK.

A Caution flew however, with the 9 of Aaron Muhle and the 11 of Luke Polzin involved in a wreck in turn 4, negating the great start. The race restarted from the top, with Bucher back in 21st position. Try as he might, Jim Bucher could not pass a visiting driver from Iowa, trying the high side and low side, the slower car would not let the VMS Motorsports driver by, causing contact multiple times, culminating with a lap 5 incident with Bucher finally able to get by on the high side, but the Iowa driver attempted to block again, sending Buchers car careening into another can, then back into the Iowa driver, causing major front and rear suspension damage and ending the night.

After being rained out on Friday, the VMS Motorsports Legends team took to the 1/3 mile of Charter Raceway in Beaver Dam for the first night of a double-header.

Jim Bucher picked up where he left off last week, taking the Homes.com, The Agency Real Estate race car to a solid 3rd place finish in his heat race.

Bucher had the best run of his young career tonight, starting 3rd and quickly passing for the lead. After leading 6 laps, the Precise Home Inspections, VMS Motorsports #17 was reeled in by 4 time National Points Champion Eric Barth and current Wisconsin Pro Series leader Jeff Steenbergen, with the 3 cars pulling away from the field.

A yellow flag bunched the cars back up for the restart, with Bucher being placed behind a lapped car. With nowhere to go at the drop of the green, The VMS Motorsports Legends driver lost 3 positions before being able to clear the lapper.

Jim Bucher crossed the line 6th, his career best A Main finish, and 3rd top 10 in a row.

Chris Johnson and the VMS Motorpsorts modified made the trip to OshKosh for a Tuesday night special to shake down the new engine installed this week.

Things weren't looking too good in the heat race, with the engine not responding and missing. Chris finished 6th.

After some tuning and adjusting before the B Main, the powerplant ran much better, with Johnson running through the field, being hit and spun, and running to the front again, finishing 2nd in his B Main and earning a transfer to the "A"

The gremlins re-appeared in the engine at the start of the A main, so instead of risking mechanical failure, Chris elected to pull off after a few laps.

Some tuning and adjustments will be made this week, with hopes of racing at Beaver Dam on Sunday, August 9th

Jim Bucher and the VMS Motorsports Legends car made the 1st stop of the 2 race weekend at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam.

After working all week on the car and trying out a radically different new set-up, the team had no idea what to expect.

Bucher started 2nd and took the lead at the beginning of his heat race. The front spot was swapped back and forth between the Homes.com, The Agency Real Estate car and 2 other competitors, with Bucher finally ending up 3rd at the checkered flag, 2 car lengths behind the leader.

Starting 12th in the A Main, and confident with the new set-up, Jim Bucher promptly raced the Precise Home Inspections, VMS Motorsports #17 through traffic to 5th position before a caution came out for a 3 car wreck. Restarting 5th, Bucher had a great re-start and took over 4th place at the 1st turn, only to have the shifter break off the transmission when upshifting, leaving the car stuck in 3rd gear. Bucher kept his cool, and managed to hang on for an 8th place finish, his best ever at Charter Raceway Park, and his first top 10 there this year.

The  Legend car driven by Jim Bucher was the only VMS Motorsports team in competition this weekend.

The team continues to struggle with set up issues on the very dry-slick Charter Raceway surface, posting a 7th place finish in the Heat race, and starting 13th and finishing 14th on the one groove surface in the A Main.

The VMS Motorsports team traveled to Chilton this evening, to try to keep the string of top 10 finishes alive. Bucher drove the #17 The Agency Real Estate, Precise Home Inspections car to a 4th place finish in his heat race.

The A main was an exciting one, with close racing throughout the field, and Buchers set-up changes during the week helped to give the VMS Motorsports, Homes.com  Legends driver his career best finish of 6th place in the A main.

Both Chris Johnson and Jim Bucher spent a cloudy and cool summer evening in Beaver Dam on Saturday. Johnsons first race back after the wreck at Oshkosh 2 weeks ago, and Buchers first night with a newly configured steering/suspension set-up.

First up was the VMS Motorsports Legends car of Jim Bucher. The set-up was just a tick off, and the car wouldn't handle. Bucher finished 7th in his 10 car Heat race.

Next was the VMS Motorsports Modified of Chris Johnson. Johnson was penalized for being "late" to the staging area, and had to start at the rear of the field. he was able to drive through traffic for a finish of 5th, putting him in one of the 3 "B" mains.

In the "B", Chris was in 3rd the entire race, one spot out of the transfer position, then the engine blew on the last lap. Johnson still finished 3rd, but the engine is a complete loss.

In the "A" main for the Legends, Buchers pre-race adjustments paid off. Starting last after being relegated to the rear of the 20 car field at the start for a loose hood pin, Bucher maneuvered the Homes.com, The Agency Real Estate #17 up to the 8th position before hitting a rut in turn 4 and spinning down the front stretch. No caution flag was thrown, as Bucher kept the Precise Home Inspections car under power. He was able to race his way back through the field to an 11th place finish

Jim Bucher and the #17 VMS Motorsports, Homes.com Legends car made the trip back to Charter Raceway to try to get the monkey off their back at the home track of the Wisconsin Legends Racing Dirt Series.

The VMS Motorpsorts team made some set-up changes anticipating a well groomed track for the nights special event featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars.

No hot laps were given to the Legend cars, so Bucher had to test out the new set-up in a race situation, finishing 6th in his heat race. With the time constraints of the curfew, the track put all 23 cars into the A main, foregoing the "B".

Bucher had the Precise Home Inspections, The Agency Real Estate car figured out, and moved from his 16th place starting position up to the 8th position with 2 laps to go. Another competitor chopped him off going into turn 1 of the final lap and Bucher had to check up, losing 3 positions and finishing just outside of the top 10, in 11th place.

A much better night at Beaver Dam, and the team hopes to continue the advancements made with the upcoming 2 race weekend, Saturday at beaver Dam and Sunday at Chilton.

Jim Bucher and the VMS Motorsports,  The Agency Real Estate Legends car made the pull to Chilton to try to make it 4 top 10 A Main finishes in a row.

Bucher started the night with the shifter linkage breaking off of the transmission in the Heat race, but he still managed to give the Homes.com, Precise Home Inspections #17 a 3rd place finish.

The A main saw a very tight field of cars, with Bucher as high as 6th before spinning in turn 3 about halfway through the race. Restarting at the rear of the field, Bucher was able to race through traffic, narrowly taking 9th place at the finish line to keep the top 10 streak alive.

Jim Bucher and the VMS Motorsports Legends car traveled at Charter Raceway in Beaver Dam to try to right the ship  and get a decent finish at the WLRDS home track on the first  night of a 2 race holiday weekend.

Bucher started 4th, and finished 5th in the Heat race.

The track changed throughout the course of the night, and Bucher was never able to get a feel for it, starting 13th and  posting a frustrating finishing position if 17th in the A Main.

Jim Bucher returned to Chilton Sunday for the first night of Racing after the month long hiatus to change from Friday to Sunday racing to attempt to keep his string of top 10's alive in the Precise Home Inspections, Homes.com Legends car.

Bucher started 7th in his heat race, and was able to maneuver past 2 cars on the sloppy wet track to finish 5th.

Since points were re-set at 0 for Sunday night racing, the drivers had to re-draw for A Main starting position, with Bucher drawing 11th, to put the VMS Motorsports, The Agency Real Estate car on the inside of row 6. Jim had moved up to 6th position before being hit in the rear and spun.  Re-starting 16th after the caution, Bucher was on a mission to get back into the top 10, and finished with a respectable 8th place on the night.

Jim Bucher and the VMS Motorsports, homes.com Legends car traveled to Charter Raceway in Beaver Dam saturday to try and break the string of bad luck and sub par finishes.

With thunderstorms forecast, the track sped things along to try to get the show in before the weather hit. Bucher spun the tires on the start, dropping him into last place by turn one, but was able to recover and move back up to a 5th place finish in the Heat race.

The A main was rained out, as the storms hit at 8:45 pm.

Chris Johnson and the VMS Motorsports #5J Modified made the first visit to the 1/3 mile OshKosh Speedzone Friday night.

Johnson was wrecked hard in his heat race, damaging the rear suspension and tearing the steering box and driveshaft out of the car. The crew was able to patch the car together in time to make a run in B Main.

Chris had a good run with the cobbled together car, and finished 3rd, just missing a transfer to the A.

Both VMS Motorsports dirt drivers, Chris Johnson and Jim Bucher, brought their rides to the high banked 1/3 mile of Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam on a hot and sunny Saturday night for some summertime racing action.

First up was Jim Bucher, who finished 4th in his heat race, earning a transfer position to the A Main.

Next, Chris Johnson finished 5th in his heat race, missing the final transfer spot to the A main by a couple of car lengths. Chris would have to run in one of the 2 B-mains to earn a spot in the A Main.

Johnson and the VMS Motorsports Modified started outside of row 1 for the B-main, and only needed to hold on to 2nd position to transfer to the big show. Johnson had other ideas though, taking the lead on the first lap and never looking back, making the win look easy as he took the checkers by at least 8 car lengths and making his first appearance in victory lane of the season.

The Legends A main had Bucher starting outside of row 1, but the race would go down in the record books as so many have at Charter. Running in 3rd position, Bucher's car ran over debris on the track (later found out to be a muffler) bending the right front suspension, causing the vehicle to push badly in the corners and scrub off speed on the straights with over 2 inches of toe-out. Bucher just held on to the car and finished the race 15th.

The Modified A main started Johnson in 17th after the B main victory. Mired in traffic as the front of the pack raced on, Johnson was finally able to clear a few cars and move up to 13th position, gaining on the lead pack, but unable to make up the lost ground in the caution free event. Chris posted a 13th place finish on the evening.

The VMS Motorsports Modified of Chris Johnson was scheduled to race in OshKosh WI, but heavy rains and thunderstorms cancelled the races for Friday. VMS will have both the Legend and the Modified in attendance at Charter Raceway in Beaver Dam on Saturday