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Steve Schmidt and Jim Yates split? (1 Viewer)

PiPPi

PiPPi

Nitro Member
I read on a Swedish blog today that Steve Schmidt and Jim Yates have parted ways, the issue being a difference in opinion about where the horsepower is located. Any news on this in the US?

Regards
PiPPi
http://HarleyDrags.com
 
It's not surprising that Sonny Leonard's motors aren't "there" yet. It takes a long time to develop an engine program that is competitive in the class. The field is so tight and the margin for error almost doesn't exist.

It's hard to believe that the Schmidt motors aren't making enough power. Unlike Leonard, Schmidt has been building qualifying motors for a long time. He has a baseline of development that keeps him in the hunt. My guess is that Yates has a car/chassis problem.

This does go right to the point of renting engines versus having your own engine development program. Year after year the top competitors build their own engines...Anderson, Cagnozzi, Allen Johnson, Warren Johnson are the current examples. Past examples would include Maskin (championships with Yates & Jeggie) and Glidden. It's difficult to imagine any engine rental customer having a competitive edge on the field. I would think if you're renting engines you're just hopefull to qualify. The teams I mentioned above will take seven (7) of the qualifying positions at every race. That doens't take in to account Larry Morgan and his customers, which typically qualify at each event. If you add the Morgan powered entries now we're at 10 filled positions.

Jim is a nice guy and I wish him well but the only solution to his problem is to develop his own engines.
 
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V won Sunday with a "rental" engine.

But surprisingly Morgan hasn't qualified at either event this season. I wonder what's up with that?
 
Maybe Yates and Maskin can work togther again? And use Justin/Jim as a teammate? Not sure what happened with Maskin and Yates a while back tho.
 
Jim has been on here in the past maybe he will stop by and give us a update if he can. I hope he gets it worked out. We need more cars not less and jim and team does it right. Jim i don't think anybody is using Iaconio power this year (Edwards Left) maybe that will work for you.
 
I would think Victor would have a few extra motors available with DC out of commision for now... That is a big operation to only have Jeggie running.
 
Registered member said:
Jim has been on here in the past maybe he will stop by and give us a update if he can. I hope he gets it worked out. We need more cars not less and Jim and team does it right. Jim i don't think anybody is using Iaconio power this year (Edwards Left) maybe that will work for you.
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Hey guys, just thought that I would stop by and give you the latest on Pro Stock.

I just talked to Steve Schmidt and we are still buddies . He was working on the engine we ran in Phoenix as we spoke. Steve and all the crew at the shop(especially David Amburgey who Steve sends to the track to help us) have been working their butts off to help us run good. However somehow between the engine, car, tune up, or driver we are missing the perfect set up. Steve has told me several times since Pomona that he would understand if I wanted to run someone else's engine. Steve would honestly rather see us run well than collect money for an engine rental that we thought might be sub par. Maybe he wants us to use a different engine builder so we don't make him look bad. LOL :):):).

Believe it or not, we all get along fairly well in pro stock. I talked to "The Grump" today. I talk to Maskin at every race. If I have a question about carbs or something I can go to Maskin and he will help all he can.

The bottom line is that we have looked at a lot of opportunities for a solution to our engine needs, and we will continue to do so. We are very fortunate to have Wiley-X on board this year and we intend to give them a competitive car to brag about.

Thank for your interest in Pro Stock, and for supporting our sponsors. It means a lot to all of us.


Jim
 
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Awesome. Thx for stopping by Jim! Looking forward to seeing the car in person at Bristol!!
 
Registered member said:
Awesome. Thx for stopping by Jim! Looking forward to seeing the car in person at Bristol!!
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I may be a little prejudice, but I think it is the coolest looking car in the pits. Wait till you see it in person. Our GXP shines as only a "real" paint job can. The people at Wiley-X did all of the design work with the guys at Banshee and it turned out awesome. Now we need to make it go as fast as it looks.
 
Jim,

Thanks for stopping in and bringing us up to date. All of us in this thread wish you well and want to see you competitive again.

On a related note I enjoy your blog very much. It's always a good balance between your racing efforts and your family. You and your family treated us very well at Topeka several years ago. Thanks for the hospitality. We were there as guests of Jerry.

Hope to see you making laps on Sunday...soon!
 
Registered member said:
Jim,

Thanks for stopping in and bringing us up to date. All of us in this thread wish you well and want to see you competitive again.

On a related note I enjoy your blog very much. It's always a good balance between your racing efforts and your family. You and your family treated us very well at Topeka several years ago. Thanks for the hospitality. We were there as guests of Jerry.

Hope to see you making laps on Sunday...soon!
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John;

I feel that it is important for the fan to see what we go thru as not only a PRO racers, but also as dads, husbands, brothers, friends, etc. There is more to life than racing, however racing is an important part of what we do. I enjoy writing the blogs and would highly recommend for anybody to take a few minutes to stop by and check them out. In fifteen minutes you can go thru the last 4 months and see how we worked over the winter to get everything ready for the season. Did I mention, Toni takes some kool pictures.
 
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Registered member said:
John;

I feel that it is important for the fan to see what we go thru as not only a PRO racers, but also as dads, husbands, brothers, friends, etc. Their is more to life than racing, however racing is an important part of what we do. I enjoy writing the blogs and would highly recommend for anybody to take a few minutes to stop by and check them out. In fifteen minutes you can go thru the last 4 months and see how we worked over the winter to get everything ready for the season. Did I mention, Toni takes some kool pictures.
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Jim,

The greatest compliment any of us can recieve is that we put our families first. Thanks for setting a high standard for all of us.
 
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