AJ Dancer started racing when he was 15 years old at Battleground Speedway. AJ won his first race at Battleground Speedway when he was 17 years old. In 1993 AJ placed 2nd in points in the Street Stock class at Battleground. He either broke or finished in the top 3 that year. AJ was 18 years old at the time. It was toward the end of '93 that I started going to the races & helping AJ with his car. The next year AJ placed 10th in points in the Street Stock class. He did this while losing 2 motors within a couple of weeks & missing some races at Battleground. He also won 2 feature races that year & finished in the top 3 most of the time. AJ spent most of the '95 racing season building a modified. He only raced the last 4 races of that year. AJ graduated with an associates degree in electronics in November of '95. He accepted a job at Advanced Micro Devices in Austin, TX. We moved to Austin. AJ had used his dad's shop to work on his race cars before. Now we were just a little too far away. We discovered how much stuff we needed in order to race. We couldn't afford to keep up a modified & purchase all the equipment, so we went back to racing Street Stocks. In '97 we raced in the Street Stock class at Texas Thunder Speedway in Kileen, TX & in the Stock Car class at 105 Speedway in Cleveland, TX (now Dundee Motor Speedway) with the same car. In '98 we bought the camaro & raced it for a few years. We have raced it at 105 Speedway, Battleground Speedway, Heart O' Texas Speedway in Waco, TX & now at Houston Raceway Park. We've won a few heat races & usually placed in the top 6 in the features. Last year we kept having problems with the cam going flat in the car so we built a Hobby Stock to race in a big race called the Texas Grand. We finished 7th in that race. Not bad considering we had never raced the car before. We started out the year 2000 racing the Hobby Stock until I blew the motor in a powder puff race. Oh well, I'm glad it wasn't the stock car.
The year 2000 was not too good for us. We had some rear end problems and handling problems. We also had several rain outs. Hopefully 2001 will be better. Check out the super stock page for pictures of our car for 2001.
To see what we do in our spare time, click here for our vacation photos from 2001.
We started out having a pretty good year in 2001. We had decided to race in the Super Stock class at Shady Oaks Speedway. We finished 2nd in the first race of the year & that made us look forward to what we thought was going to be an exciting year. We almost won the 2nd race of the year (the first points race), but lost the lead the last turn of the last lap. With two very prominent showings, people started compaining about the wide five's on our car. We had called Steve Turner, the track owner, during the off season to see if we could run them. He had said okay. Well, he made us take the ones off the front off after the 2nd race. We did not finish the next race because we had a flat tire. It was now the fourth points race at Shady Oaks. We won our heat and finished 4th in the feature on a flat tire. We still felt like we had a chance at the championship. It was about 6 weeks before we raced again because of several rain outs. AJ goes out for his heat race & is black flagged on the parade lap. Steve Turner proceeds to look under his car & starts yelling "Illegal tire!!" I was in the grandstands getting ready to film when this happened. AJ pulled off the track. I made my way back to the pit area & started looking for AJ. I found him trying (let me stress the trying part!) to talk to Steve Turner & find out why he was black flagged. Steve Turner kept saying that he had told AJ to take all the wide five's on the car. AJ told Steve Turner that he had only told us to take off the front & that the rear were legal since his rules stated "aftermarket rear suspension optional." Steve Turner yelled at us not to come back for 2 weeks. Calmly, AJ again tried to ask him exactly how his wide five's on the rear were illegal. Steve Turner yelled "Make it 3 weeks!!" Once again, calmly, AJ tried to ask his question. Steve Turner then screamed at us not to come back ever. Well, that was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened to us in our entire racing career. We left the track stunned that night & for many weeks to come. The only thing we could think of that happened was that we were competition for Leslie Pohl, the #3 Super Stock owned by Turner Motorsports (Steve Turner). We raced the super stock one more time & then decided to put the camaro back together to go run a $10,000 to win street stock race in Lubbock, TX. We took the camaro out a couple of times before that race & were pretty satisfied with it. We didn't make the big show in Lubbock, but we had a lot of fun trying & can not wait to go back. We then put the super stock back together to race the Texas Grand at Houston Raceway Park in Houston, TX. We won our heat by a long ways & finished 2nd in the qualifier. We started outside pole in the main. We got pushed up by the #70 car on the first lap & lost about 5 spots (it was either that or go into the wall!). Anyway, we finished 8th. The people who put on the Texas Grand, BHR Motorsports, had made a deal with Turner Motorsports to run 2 of these races, one at Shady Oaks Speedway & one at Houston Raceway Park. Even though BHR Motorsports told us we could run the race at Shady Oaks Speedway, we opted not to. There were several of the Shady Oaks cars at the Texas Grand at HRP. We talked to several of the drivers & found out from a reliable source that the only reason we were banned from the track was that the #3 of Leslie Pohl would not win the championship with us there. Our suspicions had been confirmed. Steve Turner had almost done the same thing to a driver in the Pure Stock class there because he wanted his cars to win. Anyway, we discovered about a week ago that BHR Motorsports will be running Shady Oaks Speedway in 2002 & we are looking forward to going back.
2002 - We concentrated on running in the Super Stock class at Shady Oaks Speedway. AJ was a consistent front runner. He finished 2nd in points with 1 feature win. AJ accomplished this even though he missed 2 of the races. Shady Oaks Speedway also shut down in early August 2002 due to the promotors financial & marital problems. We did turn the Pure Stock into the lead car for a train race that was suppose to be held at Shady Oaks Speedway. Unfortunately, the track closed before the race was ever run. Now, we are turning the Pure Stock into a bomber to run in the Texas Outlaw Bomber Association for 2003. The TOBA is a traveling bomber series that is new in 2003. Wish us luck!
2003 - Our year turned out pretty good. With only 3 TOBA races completed, we already had 1 feature win. Things seem to go downhill from there for us. We had several flat tires which caused us to have poor finishes. Then, we started having oil pressure problems. AJ had won the qualifier race for the Firecracker Classic but the oil pressure had dropped down to 20lbs. Luck was on our side when the feature was rained out that night. We pulled the motor & replaced the oil pump & thrust bearing. When we put the motor back in the car, the problem seemed to be fixed. We then ran our back up car (nova) in a $1k to win race at Hot Rod Hill Motorpark in Bryan, TX. While running 4th, AJ get's spun by another car. AJ get's it going again, but then gets together with another car which causes AJ to run over a tire. When he did this, it bent the oil pan pretty bad. Unfortunately, it was keeping oil pressure down the straightaways & so AJ thought everything was ok. Then, it lost oil pressue & he had to pull in. We had lost our back up motor in the back up car. Next, we had another points race for the TOBA which we finished fourth in. We thought our motor problems were fixed in our primary car. The next weekend was the make up feature for the Firecracker Classic. AJ was off to a good start when he got together with another car giving him a flat tire. We had enough laps under caution to change the tire & get him back out there on the lead lap. AJ was passing 2 or 3 cars a lap when the motor lost oil pressure again. He pulled in. This time, we sent the motor back to the engine builder to go through. We also bought a new back up motor from City Motor Supply in San Antonio. We put the back up motor in our primary car (the buick) to finish the TOBA points season. We finished 3rd in the next TOBA race & we won the Allstar (final TOBA points race) with the back up motor. We were happy with the way our year was ending. AJ had finished 3rd in the TOBA points. We had one more race, a $1k to win @ I37 Speedway in Pleasonton, TX. We had got the good motor back from the engine builder & put it in the back up car (nova). We just wanted to see if it would stay together so we decided to run this race. Well, AJ won his heat & the feature. Three features in 1 year, not too bad. In fact, it's a record for us! AJ was also voted most popular driver for 2003 in the TOBA series. Pretty cool!
2004 -. About mid season, AJ had 2 TOBA feature wins and was in the points lead. While running in 2nd place, with about 5 TOBA races left, AJ looses the motor & the points lead. It was a disappointing night. It took about 2 months to get another motor together. In the mean time, AJ had to race the Nova. In the next TOBA race, he finished 5th. Then, the next TOBA race was rained out. We had another motor for the Buick in & ready to go by the next TOBA race, at Gator Motorplex. AJ ended up finishing second in that race without any brakes. There was some controversy when #111 of Gary Seals got sideways in front of AJ & AJ hit him, sending him spinning around. #111 was sent to the rear & AJ kept his spot. #111 did not like that decision & after what appeared to be some debating, came back on the track to try to take AJ out. But, all he did was push AJ up towards the wall. AJ hit the wall, but barely. The controversy also followed us to the next race at Houston Raceway Park. AJ was running good in the feature (oh, by the way, he also had the points lead back!), then he had a flat. With about 3 laps to go, AJ was up to about 8th (I think) but had a left front flat. He slowed down & kept on racing. There wasn't any problems until the #7, driven by James Huff, decided he was going to use AJ to bank off of going into 3 & 4 on the last lap. When James hit AJ, he did not back off the gas. James kept the wheels turned into AJ's car. AJ did not back off either. He just held his line. They came across the finishing line trading a lot of paint. AJ ended up finishing 10th. The points race was close. It was coming down to the final TOBA race. About halfway through the final race, I thought Jay would win the championship. We did not have a good night & AJ was too far behind Jay to win the chamipnship. AJ did catch Jay towards the end. Coming out of turn 4 on the last lap, they were side by side. The final ruling was AJ had Jay by a bumper at the flagstand. It was an awesome finish. AJ won the TOBA points championship! The next week was the Texas Grand. We were just happy to have qualified on the first night. All we wanted to do was to finish the race in the top 5. Well, within 11 laps, AJ was in the lad & took home a 6 ft tall trophy & a huge check!
2005 - We had decided not to run the full TOBA season in 2005. AJ was also going to be driving an IMCA Southern Sport Mod for car owner Danny Bennett at Heart O' Texas Speedway in Waco, TX. The sport mod was not finished until mid May. It was the first TOBA even we had ever missed and AJ's first full race in a night in the limited. AJ won his heat & the feature. However because the track's tach gauge was different then AJ's tach, he failed tech. It was the first time he'd also even been disqualified. All in all, we had a good year. AJ won one TOBA feature and had several top finishes. He finished 3rd in TOBA points again (with missing a race). There were a lot of up's and down's with the limited. AJ had another top 3 finish during the year, but seemed to get caught up in a lot of wrecks. The last race of the year for us was the Texas Stampede at Grand Prairie Speedway in Grand Prairie, TX. AJ drove both the bomber and the limited. AJ should have won the bomber race, but was given a flat by the second place guy with about 8 laps to go. However, even with changing a flat tire, AJ still finished 2nd. With the limited, it was an accomplishment to even qualify for the race. There was about 50 limited there. AJ did qualify and finished the race.
2006 - He raced mainly at Texana Raceway Park in Edna, TX. He won one street stock feature race and 3 super stock feature races!! He also finished 5th in the Late Model Stock class at the Texas Grand!!
2007 - It was a record season for AJ. He raced again at Texana Raceway Park in the Super Stock Class. Starting in April, with a race against the Southern Late Model Stock series at 105 Speedway, he would start a seven feature win streek. The next 6 would come at Texana Raceway in the Super Stock class. Even with missing one night of racing, AJ would win the Super Stock Championship!!
2008 - We started off the year running in super stocks. AJ would win the first 3 super races at Texana, then he sold the car. We still had the late model. We first raced it in Beaumont and finished 9th. Second race in it was at HRP and he finished 6th!!! It was a really good race. Then he got a modified and raced it off and on during the season. Later in the season, we sold the late model. Then, got a good deal, and bought the camaro we have now. Had some really good runs with it (and should of won some race) and look forward to how next year will be. We also got another car to put back in super stocks for next year. It's going to be an interesting year!
2009 - AJ won the super stock championship at Shady Oaks Speedway. A gentleman from California bought the track and re-opened it. We really enjoyed racing out there that year and had some good races. We also went to the Street Stock Nationals in Enid, Oklahoma and made the show!!!! Now, we didn't finish the race, but made it over half way. The car was tired after three days of racing!!!!
