THE WEEKEND WARRIORS
One Week at a Time in the Dirt
A Racers View
By: Kevin Lentz aka The Ohio Outlaw
Week 1 March 24, 2005
My name is Kevin Lentz and I drive the family owned L & W Motorsports #00 dirt late model in
central Ohio and surrounding areas. This will be our third season racing and look forward to a good
season. I also look forward to telling our story, not only as it happens, but how we get from one
weekend to the next. We are truly weekend warriors. We are just like many of the other teams in
that much of our efforts are out of our own pockets. This first article will focus on our off season and
how we put things together for the 2005 season. As the season goes on, you will get a free inside
look at the weekly happenings, the wheeling and dealing, the frustrations, the excitement and the
wear and tear on the team and their families, and hopefully get a realistic idea of just what we go
through to try and put on a good show for the fans.
First, let me give you just a little background on myself and my team. As mentioned above, I have
only been racing for two years. However, I have been a fan for over thirty years and am still like a
kid in a candy store while in the pits. I have always dreamed of racing late models and spent years
and years going to the track with my dad and listening to stories and creating memories. The itch to
race was getting worse and worse and finally in February of 2003 I talked my wife into letting me
live out one of my dreams. My dad was automatically involved and we brought my brother-in-law
David Williams aboard. That is where the name L & W Motorsports came from (Lentz & Williams).
I am a manager in the Cleveland, Ohio area and race out of our shop in Bremen, Ohio, about three
hours from my home in Cleveland. I have a great wife and a little outlaw that have given me support
and have sacrificed time and money to help me advance my career.
Our off season began earlier than expected this past year as we hoped to race a little later in the
year, but due to heavy damage to the front end and back breaks at the Harvest 50, we parked the
car and called it a season. I spent a lot of the winter trying to secure sponsorship for the 2005
season, while trying to piece our 97 Rayburn back together. At one point it appeared that we had
all but signed a sponsor that would allow us to follow the MACS and included a new Rayburn and a
whole lot more. However after months of contact with this potential sponsor nothing materialized and
we were again left to search and reevaluate what we were going to do. Our pre season work included
a lot more than I expected or hoped. We resigned our motor sponsor Lone Wolf Motorsports, who
was looking to increase our power by adding a new cam as well as other goodies that we desperately
needed to be competitive. We also needed a new front bumper as well as new back brakes and a few
odds and ends. The only problem was there was very little money in our racing fund as it was solely
out of pocket. We had a few sponsors that we carried over to this year, however they were not
money sponsors and could not really help. About a month ago we landed our team first money
sponsor, not a lot, but that sponsor helped us get what we needed to get us ready for the 2005
season. This will be the first year we actually have a little extra in our race fund to get us started.
And I mean a little.
Through the season we will give you a first hand view of what happens on Monday - Thursday in a
tight budget late model team in order to be ready to race on Friday. There is a lot of travel for me
as I try to get to the shop at least once a week in addition to race nights. Being a family team I
entrust my team to get the car ready when I am unable to get free. I work five and a half days a
week and race two nights. Sometimes there just isn’t enough days in the week. If there is anything
you would like to know about or hear in our articles, please let me, Jody, or Todd know and we will
try to get it in there for you.
I would like to thank Jody and Todd for giving me an opportunity to write these articles for DirtFans.
com and look forward to telling our story. I would also like to thank my crew: Jerry, David, Mike,
Josh, and Derek for all of there hard work and extra efforts. I would also like to thank my sponsors:
Lone Wolf Motorsports, Midwest Right of Way, Valvoline Express Care, FireFreeze Worldwide,
and Bunker Hill Welding and Fabrication. There have also been several people in racing that has
helped me out and I would like to thank them as well: Larry and Andy Bond, Toma and Tom
Johnson, Dave Wolfe, Dick and Larry Holbrook, Ed Conley Jr, and all my family and friends for
their support. The last group I would like to thank are the hard working people that come to the
tracks all over the country spending their time and money supporting all of us drivers. The dirt
racing fans are some of the best people I have ever met and I personally thank you for your
continued support. If mother nature gives us a break, we will be racing this Friday at Skyline. Until
next week…………
Kevin A. Lentz aka “The Ohio Outlaw”
L & W Motorsports
www.lwmotorsports.com
central Ohio and surrounding areas. This will be our third season racing and look forward to a good
season. I also look forward to telling our story, not only as it happens, but how we get from one
weekend to the next. We are truly weekend warriors. We are just like many of the other teams in
that much of our efforts are out of our own pockets. This first article will focus on our off season and
how we put things together for the 2005 season. As the season goes on, you will get a free inside
look at the weekly happenings, the wheeling and dealing, the frustrations, the excitement and the
wear and tear on the team and their families, and hopefully get a realistic idea of just what we go
through to try and put on a good show for the fans.
First, let me give you just a little background on myself and my team. As mentioned above, I have
only been racing for two years. However, I have been a fan for over thirty years and am still like a
kid in a candy store while in the pits. I have always dreamed of racing late models and spent years
and years going to the track with my dad and listening to stories and creating memories. The itch to
race was getting worse and worse and finally in February of 2003 I talked my wife into letting me
live out one of my dreams. My dad was automatically involved and we brought my brother-in-law
David Williams aboard. That is where the name L & W Motorsports came from (Lentz & Williams).
I am a manager in the Cleveland, Ohio area and race out of our shop in Bremen, Ohio, about three
hours from my home in Cleveland. I have a great wife and a little outlaw that have given me support
and have sacrificed time and money to help me advance my career.
Our off season began earlier than expected this past year as we hoped to race a little later in the
year, but due to heavy damage to the front end and back breaks at the Harvest 50, we parked the
car and called it a season. I spent a lot of the winter trying to secure sponsorship for the 2005
season, while trying to piece our 97 Rayburn back together. At one point it appeared that we had
all but signed a sponsor that would allow us to follow the MACS and included a new Rayburn and a
whole lot more. However after months of contact with this potential sponsor nothing materialized and
we were again left to search and reevaluate what we were going to do. Our pre season work included
a lot more than I expected or hoped. We resigned our motor sponsor Lone Wolf Motorsports, who
was looking to increase our power by adding a new cam as well as other goodies that we desperately
needed to be competitive. We also needed a new front bumper as well as new back brakes and a few
odds and ends. The only problem was there was very little money in our racing fund as it was solely
out of pocket. We had a few sponsors that we carried over to this year, however they were not
money sponsors and could not really help. About a month ago we landed our team first money
sponsor, not a lot, but that sponsor helped us get what we needed to get us ready for the 2005
season. This will be the first year we actually have a little extra in our race fund to get us started.
And I mean a little.
Through the season we will give you a first hand view of what happens on Monday - Thursday in a
tight budget late model team in order to be ready to race on Friday. There is a lot of travel for me
as I try to get to the shop at least once a week in addition to race nights. Being a family team I
entrust my team to get the car ready when I am unable to get free. I work five and a half days a
week and race two nights. Sometimes there just isn’t enough days in the week. If there is anything
you would like to know about or hear in our articles, please let me, Jody, or Todd know and we will
try to get it in there for you.
I would like to thank Jody and Todd for giving me an opportunity to write these articles for DirtFans.
com and look forward to telling our story. I would also like to thank my crew: Jerry, David, Mike,
Josh, and Derek for all of there hard work and extra efforts. I would also like to thank my sponsors:
Lone Wolf Motorsports, Midwest Right of Way, Valvoline Express Care, FireFreeze Worldwide,
and Bunker Hill Welding and Fabrication. There have also been several people in racing that has
helped me out and I would like to thank them as well: Larry and Andy Bond, Toma and Tom
Johnson, Dave Wolfe, Dick and Larry Holbrook, Ed Conley Jr, and all my family and friends for
their support. The last group I would like to thank are the hard working people that come to the
tracks all over the country spending their time and money supporting all of us drivers. The dirt
racing fans are some of the best people I have ever met and I personally thank you for your
continued support. If mother nature gives us a break, we will be racing this Friday at Skyline. Until
next week…………
Kevin A. Lentz aka “The Ohio Outlaw”
L & W Motorsports
www.lwmotorsports.com
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