Phil Jacques Racing

Monday Racing Rant…

If you’re a race director, promoter, or track owner, there’s a certain level of responsibility that comes with being in control of a race track. One of those responsibilities is making sure the lineup is correct and the field is properly organized before going green.

If drivers reach out privately with legitimate concerns about situations that have caused problems or could have been avoided, those concerns should be taken seriously and addressed professionally. Standing in a drivers meeting and dismissing or mocking those concerns, or saying there isn’t time to wait for cars to get lined up properly, isn’t the answer.

Getting the lineup correct before going green is one of the simplest administrative tasks in racing today. You have a computer, scoring system, and/or app that tells you exactly where everyone is supposed to be. Communicate it over the radio, tell anyone who is out of position where they need to be, and give the field a lap or two to get organized. It really shouldn’t be that difficult.

As racers, we spend a tremendous amount of time and money to support your track and put on a show for your fans. No, fans don’t want to sit through 15 laps of yellow because the field can’t get lined up. But if the officials do their job and establish clear expectations, communicate them, and enforce them consistently, many of those issues can be prevented in the first place.

If someone refuses to follow instructions from the race director or officials, there are procedures for dealing with that. Black flag them, send them to the rear, and if they still refuse to comply, escalate the penalty and if needed, send them home with no points or money to set an example. Consistent enforcement goes a long way toward establishing order and making sure everyone understands that the rules apply to everyone.

The same goes for cars that repeatedly cause incidents under green. If a driver has multiple incidents in the same night, there should be a point where the officials have to say, enough is enough. Park the car for the night if necessary. If the same issues continue at subsequent events, stronger penalties may be warranted.

The goal shouldn’t be to punish people. The goal should be to establish accountability and make it clear that everyone is expected to race responsibly and follow the direction of the officials.

Promoters and track owners also have to understand that protecting the quality of the racing experience is ultimately more important than protecting one individual car or competitor. Losing one car because of a disciplinary decision may feel like a negative in the short term, but there are often other racers who are hesitant to support a track because they’ve seen repeated issues, poor officiating, or unnecessary chaos.

As a racer, I don’t want to spend my hard-earned time and money only to have my equipment torn up unnecessarily or have positions changed because the field wasn’t properly managed under yellow.

I completely understand the desire to keep a show moving. Personally, I enjoy quick, efficient shows. That’s what I grew up with at Stafford, Thompson, and Waterford in Connecticut, and I appreciate a race program that keeps things moving, but there’s a difference between moving a show along efficiently and sacrificing the integrity of the competition to do it.

Getting the field lined up correctly, making sure everyone is in the proper position, and enforcing the rules consistently may take an extra minute or two. In my opinion, that’s a small price to pay for making sure the racing is fair and everyone knows what is expected of them.

And when racers choose to reach out privately and respectfully to discuss concerns, that should be viewed as an opportunity to improve—not something to mock or dismiss. How those conversations are handled reflects not only on the individual official, but on the entire race organization.

I’m not going to name names, but most of you are pretty good at math, I bet. 😂

Have a great week, everyone!

Here at Bubba Raceway Park supporting as a fan and helping out Patrick Thomas tonight. Great to see a full pit area and plenty of fans in the stands after all the rainouts this year.

Hate to not have my car here, but I had to make a choice and I feel like I have a better chance at chasing a championship at North Florida Speedway the remainder of the year.

Back at it Next Week!

Got a busy stretch of racing coming up if the weather cooperates with 4 races in the next 6 weeks at North Florida Speedway starting 10/3 then 10/10, 10/24 and 11/7 to finish my season.

Really can’t wait to get back behind the wheel and see how the changes we made back in July, work. The weather this year has been absolute s**t 😑

Hoping we can make it through this last stretch unscathed and put some pressure on the points leaders. The budget for the end of the season is pretty tight with the way diesel prices and the cost of everything else has gotten recently so need to have some solid clean runs.

Labor Day means working right? Nothing like starting a new project at 8pm trying to find the problem with this generator. Trying to make sure everything in my racing operation is at 100% coming into the final 4 points races of the season at North Florida Speedway!

Never found myself in a position to battle legitimately for a championship but being only 21 points out in 3rd, I’ve got a shot and I know I’m faster than the cars ahead of me, just gotta start the night better with a better draw. Feel like I’ve had a pretty strong first season on dirt overall. Just looking for that win and/or the title to cap it off.

Back on track 9/26 to continue the battle and see what we can do!

Appreciate Tom and the staff at North Florida Speedway for trying to get the event in tonight, but unfortunately mother nature once again had other plans. Florida doing Florida things unfortunately.

We will try again next week back here again at North Florida Speedway!

Made it to North Florida Speedway and drew a 2 at sign in. Finally a little luck in the draw. Hopefully that translates to a good night!

Headed up to North Florida Speedway in a little bit.

Not sure what to expect with the motor after finding a bunch of metal on the drain plug but it’s got solid oil pressure and isn’t smoking or making any noise so I’m just gonna send it 🤷🏻‍♂️. Currently sitting 3rd in points 21 back and gonna try to close up that gap a little bit tonight.

Really hoping the weather holds off and it’s a fun, clean night!

If you’re looking for something to do since all the other tracks have cancelled for the night, come on out and support and watch some great racing!

This is not the answer I wanted out of you 😑

7 and 8 seem to have a decent amount of blow by when airing the cylinders to do valve springs. Not sure why. Still have solid oil pressure and no blue smoke at idle or free revving.

It’s all very fine material but it seems like a lot 🫣

Yay Racecars!

Hate this for everyone that was planning to run this week but at least for now, we won’t be missing a race. Silver lining I suppose. Great call by the track calling this early. It’s been insanely wet here this week and the track would’ve been real tough to get right with this much moisture in the ground, and that’s if we even got to race with more rain expected thru the weekend.

Ready for 8/29 to get here and head back to North Florida to see how the car is with the new changes.

🚨Race Update:
Saturday's Event is Canceled

Due to the relentless rain we've experienced since Monday—over 3 inches on some days—and with more expected through Sunday, we regret to inform you that we must cancel Saturday's race.

We understand how disappointing this is for our drivers and fans, but safety is our top priority. We are working hard to update the schedule and will announce changes due to rain as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding, and stay tuned for updates!

🏁💧
We will post and be in touch with drivers headed to Daytona Coke 400!

I’ve had a few days to relax and reset a bit after this past weekend. Parts have been ordered along with some upgrade and maintenance items. I should realistically be able to have this thing back together in a couple weeks. Just need time, money and for my back and shoulder to cooperate. Getting old sucks 🤣👴🏼

Gonna have to strip the nose off and straighten the bumper mounts, try to repair the mangled radiator and hood support because I don’t want to build a whole new one right now and hope that the hole in the radiator is repairable or that it’s just a hose that’s been knocked loose that I can’t see. All I know is the radiator was pi***ng water from somewhere when I loaded it in the trailer and is currently empty. Thankfully it never ran hot but it sucks having to fix all of this for no good reason. All of this damage by the way came from someone brake checking because they were mad at someone else under yellow 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’d be less aggravated if it was incidental racing damage. Thankfully a good conversation was had with the person who did this and all is good because I really enjoy racing with that person at other tracks. Just a mistake and misunderstanding. We’ll move on and keep having the fun we’ve had racing together as always. I really like racing with these guys in this class because so far, even though stuff happens out on track, we are able to have civil adult conversations about disagreements on track.

I also had a conversation with the track about some concerns and frustrations I had last Saturday. I appreciate Bubba Raceway Park for allowing me to be heard and looking into these things instead of brushing me off. THAT is the kind of treatment that will bring me back in the future. That to me is a sign that the track cares about its racers and ultimately that’s what’s most important for me as a racer. Huge props to them and their staff for this.

Unfortunately I am going to miss the next event there on 8/8 due to lack of budget but I’ll be back at it 8/29 at North Florida! Now that I’ve got a better handle on the setup with this thing I’m excited to see how it does back there. We’ve been kind of stuck around p5 lacking drive but I think now we might be able to challenge the top 3.

As always I appreciate everyone who helps me out and follows along with my silly little hobby driving fat turds in circles.

Allan & Rogers A/C & Refrigeration
Bennys Racing Equipment
JSB Motorsports
JF Drives LLC
Charlton Performance & Speed
Finish Line Screens
Right Foot Down Motorsports
Webster Race Cars
Secure Our City

If you want to help get me to the next race you can Venmo or CashApp

You can also buy merch at the link in my bio which helps support this journey as well!

See everyone soon!