Today, I got a more solid timeframe of when my book, "A Life Worth Dreaming About" will be released. Expect it to be available for sale the last week of February. If you'd like, you can pre-order it at a discounted price through my website, www.nickdettmann.com.
Once the book is available, it'll be shipped to the address you provide.
I thank you all in advance for your support. Spread the word to your friends so we can make this a big hit!
"A Life Worth Dreaming About"
My debut novel available now, click on image to be redirected to my website
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Book prices
The cost of "A Life Worth Dreaming About" will be: $16.95 for paperback, $27.99 for hardcover and $3.99 for ebook.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Appearance schedule
Here is a list of events I will be at to talk about the book "A Life Worth Dreaming About" and to autograph, if desired. Copies will be available to purchase.
Saturday, April 14: Washington County Fair Park , Jackson , WI
Saturday, Aug. 25: Riverwalk Artfair, West Bend , WI
Book launch
Would like to you know that once my book is published, I'd like to hold a little party to celebrate the launch of my book. It is a moment I'm extremely excited about as I've had this dream of being an author once I became a journalist. I hope to have copies of the book available to buy at the party. I'll let you know once I get something set up.
And, if you haven't already done so, check out my website: www.nickdettmann.com
And, if you haven't already done so, check out my website: www.nickdettmann.com
Thursday, November 10, 2011
An Associated Press byline
BC-CAR--NASCAR-Roush-Fenway,728
GM says Roush-Fenway poised for success
Eds: AP Member Exchange
By NICK DETTMANN
West Bend Daily News
HARTFORD, Wis. (AP) — Like many teams in NASCAR, Roush-Fenway Racing has spent the past five-plus years playing catch up to Hendrick Motorsports.
Robbie Reiser, an Allenton native and Roush-Fenway’s general manager, said he believes teams have closed the gap, especially at the Roush- Fenway shop. Thus, history could be in the making at Roush-Fenway, not at Hendrick Motorsports.
‘‘This season here, we have put a lot of effort into it,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘I would like to say we put more effort into it than any other year, but that’d be wrong. We put the effort in every season. But this year, to get our company turned around and to have the season we’ve had, not only from the (Sprint) Cup side, but the Nationwide side has been spectacular.’’
Reiser spoke at a recent induction ceremony for the Southeastern Wisconsin Short-Track Hall of Fame where his late father and Reiser Enterprises founder, John Reiser, was honored.
In 1994, Reiser formed Reiser Enterprises in Denver, N.C., as a venture into NASCAR with the hope his son, Robbie, would drive the car. In 1997, the team hired Matt Kenseth. It was Kenseth’s break into NASCAR and six years later he won the then-Winston Cup championship with Robbie Reiser as his crew chief. John Reiser died of cancer in 2005.
‘‘It really would’ve meant a lot to him,’’ said Robbie Reiser about his father’s honor. ‘‘It really means a lot to the family. I miss him every day.’’
Roush-Fenway Racing is on the verge of winning two series championships in NASCAR this season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the Nationwide standings, while Carl Edwards leads the Sprint Cup standings with two races remaining in the season. Stenhouse leads Elliott Sadler by 17 points, while Edwards leads red hot Tony Stewart, who has won four of the eight Chase races so far, by three points. One car owner has never won a Nationwide and Sprint Cup championship in the same season. Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, won the Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck Series title in 2001.
‘‘For all the employees, the people that work at Roush-Fenway Racing, they’ve done one hell of a job for us to be standing where we’re at,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘Last year, we weren’t competitive in any of the series’. This year, we’ve got the chance to bring all the championships home. Great effort from everybody.’’
Roush-Fenway hasn’t won a Sprint Cup championship since Kurt Busch won the 2004 title. In 2007, Edwards won the Nationwide championship for Roush-Fenway. Hendrick Motorsports has owned the championship-winning car in each of the past five seasons, specifically Jimmie Johnson.
In 2003, Reiser was the crew chief for Kenseth when he won the Winston Cup championship for Roush.
‘‘The ‘03 season is special because it was done the Earnhardt, the Petty, the Yarbourgh way,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘You had to race all year long. Being that was the last Winston Cup, it’s got its own meaning. But when the world changed and we went to the Chase, this has been a different type of championship. Getting ourselves prepared and ready to run these last 10 races, I believe our company has learned how to do that now. I think we’ve really put together a quality effort this year and should have an opportunity to bring this thing home.’’
Roush-Fenway had struggled the past couple years. Between 2006 and 2010, Roush-Fenway won 31 Sprint Cup races out of a possible 726 starts. Hendrick has won 53 races, while Joe Gibbs Racing has 41 victories. This season, Roush-Fenway has won 16 races between the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series.
‘‘We’re racing against our own cars,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘That’s pretty exciting. We’ve got a lot of great things going on. We’ve got a lot of great opportunities to run like this for years.’’
But it hasn’t been all good for Roush-Fenway. Most notably for Kenseth who is currently without a sponsor for the 2012 Sprint Cup season. His current sponsor Crown Royal announced earlier this year it wouldn’t return. Reiser said he and the team aren’t overly worried about getting Kenseth a sponsor for next season.
‘‘The business side of stock car racing is always tough,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘We will deal with that every year. But we’ve got a lot to sell with what we’re doing right now. There’s a lot of upside to what we’ve got going on.’’
GM says Roush-Fenway poised for success
Eds: AP Member Exchange
By NICK DETTMANN
West Bend Daily News
HARTFORD, Wis. (AP) — Like many teams in NASCAR, Roush-Fenway Racing has spent the past five-plus years playing catch up to Hendrick Motorsports.
Robbie Reiser, an Allenton native and Roush-Fenway’s general manager, said he believes teams have closed the gap, especially at the Roush- Fenway shop. Thus, history could be in the making at Roush-Fenway, not at Hendrick Motorsports.
‘‘This season here, we have put a lot of effort into it,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘I would like to say we put more effort into it than any other year, but that’d be wrong. We put the effort in every season. But this year, to get our company turned around and to have the season we’ve had, not only from the (Sprint) Cup side, but the Nationwide side has been spectacular.’’
Reiser spoke at a recent induction ceremony for the Southeastern Wisconsin Short-Track Hall of Fame where his late father and Reiser Enterprises founder, John Reiser, was honored.
In 1994, Reiser formed Reiser Enterprises in Denver, N.C., as a venture into NASCAR with the hope his son, Robbie, would drive the car. In 1997, the team hired Matt Kenseth. It was Kenseth’s break into NASCAR and six years later he won the then-Winston Cup championship with Robbie Reiser as his crew chief. John Reiser died of cancer in 2005.
‘‘It really would’ve meant a lot to him,’’ said Robbie Reiser about his father’s honor. ‘‘It really means a lot to the family. I miss him every day.’’
Roush-Fenway Racing is on the verge of winning two series championships in NASCAR this season. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads the Nationwide standings, while Carl Edwards leads the Sprint Cup standings with two races remaining in the season. Stenhouse leads Elliott Sadler by 17 points, while Edwards leads red hot Tony Stewart, who has won four of the eight Chase races so far, by three points. One car owner has never won a Nationwide and Sprint Cup championship in the same season. Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, won the Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck Series title in 2001.
‘‘For all the employees, the people that work at Roush-Fenway Racing, they’ve done one hell of a job for us to be standing where we’re at,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘Last year, we weren’t competitive in any of the series’. This year, we’ve got the chance to bring all the championships home. Great effort from everybody.’’
Roush-Fenway hasn’t won a Sprint Cup championship since Kurt Busch won the 2004 title. In 2007, Edwards won the Nationwide championship for Roush-Fenway. Hendrick Motorsports has owned the championship-winning car in each of the past five seasons, specifically Jimmie Johnson.
In 2003, Reiser was the crew chief for Kenseth when he won the Winston Cup championship for Roush.
‘‘The ‘03 season is special because it was done the Earnhardt, the Petty, the Yarbourgh way,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘You had to race all year long. Being that was the last Winston Cup, it’s got its own meaning. But when the world changed and we went to the Chase, this has been a different type of championship. Getting ourselves prepared and ready to run these last 10 races, I believe our company has learned how to do that now. I think we’ve really put together a quality effort this year and should have an opportunity to bring this thing home.’’
Roush-Fenway had struggled the past couple years. Between 2006 and 2010, Roush-Fenway won 31 Sprint Cup races out of a possible 726 starts. Hendrick has won 53 races, while Joe Gibbs Racing has 41 victories. This season, Roush-Fenway has won 16 races between the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series.
‘‘We’re racing against our own cars,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘That’s pretty exciting. We’ve got a lot of great things going on. We’ve got a lot of great opportunities to run like this for years.’’
But it hasn’t been all good for Roush-Fenway. Most notably for Kenseth who is currently without a sponsor for the 2012 Sprint Cup season. His current sponsor Crown Royal announced earlier this year it wouldn’t return. Reiser said he and the team aren’t overly worried about getting Kenseth a sponsor for next season.
‘‘The business side of stock car racing is always tough,’’ Reiser said. ‘‘We will deal with that every year. But we’ve got a lot to sell with what we’re doing right now. There’s a lot of upside to what we’ve got going on.’’
Monday, October 17, 2011
Dan Wheldon - Day after Indy 500 win
Here is the story I wrote from Indianapolis, the day after Wheldon won his second Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29, 2011.
By NICK DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – Dan Wheldon's contract with Bryan Herta Autosport expired in hours, at midnight.
Cinderella got home just in the nick of time.
Wheldon stunned a packed Indianapolis Motorspeedway on Sunday when he crossed the finish line a few feet ahead of rookie J.R. Hildebrand's broken race car in the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.
“A lot of excitement,” said Wheldon moments after the winner's photo shoot on the front straightaway Monday. “It's a huge accomplishment.
“It's a very, very nice feeling and a lot of satisfaction from that.”
The moment Wheldon crossed the yard of bricks at the start-finish line, the debate erupted: Should Hildebrand have slowed down?
“It's very easy to look and say, 'Would you have done that?' Because we weren't in his shoes,” Wheldon said. “For me personally when you do anything around the outside, it's always a huge risk as the race gets older.”
In a wild finish which saw three lead changes in the final four laps, Wheldon emerged as the 18th two-time champion of the race. He won in 2005 with Andretti-Green Racing.
Hildebrand, one of five rookies in the race, was leading going into the final turn of the final lap. He approached a slower car – Charlie Kimball – just as they entered Turn 4. Hildebrand decided to pass Kimball on the outside in the corner instead of slowing down.
Hildebrand got too high, slammed the wall and skidded down the track against the wall. He hoped he was far enough ahead of Wheldon to beat him to the line and said he kept his foot on the gas, but to no avail.
Wheldon only led for a few feet Sunday.
“I caught up to him at the wrong part of the track,” Hildebrand said. “I was going to have to slow down a lot to stay behind him then pull out down the straightaway. So I thought, 'Well, I've been able to make this move around the outside before, so I went to the high side. I think, it was just the end of the stint there, lot of cars running around out there without being swept. I got up there in the marbles and that was it.”
Hildebrand had a 3.8-second lead entering the final lap and said he only knew Wheldon was closing, but wasn't sure how quickly. Hildebrand had a chance to win because Bertrand Baguette had to pull off the track with four laps to go because he was running out of fuel.
“I was hoping for better, but that's racing,” Baguette said. “We tried. We failed.”
At just 23, Hildebrand handled himself with impressive class when bombarded with questions about what happened and his whirlwind of emotions.
“I'm pretending well, I guess,” he said.
Wheldon won the only race he'll likely compete in this season. He is without a full-time job despite winning the 2005 race and the 2005 IndyCar points championship. His contract with Herta's race team expired at midnight Monday.
The Indianapolis 500 has almost become a playground for the driver who will turn 33 next month. In nine career starts at Indy, he has six top-five finishes, including two victories and back-to-back second-place finishes the past two starts.
To add some irony, the car Hildebrand drove was Wheldon's car at Panther Racing in 2009 and 2010. Now the team has finished second at Indy four years in a row.
“We came here with a rookie driver,” said John Barnes, co-owner at Panther Racing. “But I can tell you that he did a great job. He drove to a fuel number I didn't think was attainable. We're so proud of him and the people at Panther and the crew.”
The car Wheldon drove to victory is co-owned by Herta, a former IndyCar driver and teammate of Wheldon when they raced for Andretti-Green (2003 to 2005).
Wheldon was certainly emotional in victory lane as most winners usually are. But for Wheldon, it was no exception. A few weeks ago, his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
“I want to say hi to my family back home and my mother,” Wheldon said with his voice quivering in victory lane. “It's just an incredible day.”
Once he gets all his media appearances done, including a visit on the David Letterman show in New York City, Wheldon will return to his life of leisure and unfortunate unemployment.
“I'm sure I'll be back to changing diapers by (Monday),” Wheldon said with a smile. “My wife let me off (Monday) morning.”
By NICK DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – Dan Wheldon's contract with Bryan Herta Autosport expired in hours, at midnight.
Cinderella got home just in the nick of time.
Wheldon stunned a packed Indianapolis Motorspeedway on Sunday when he crossed the finish line a few feet ahead of rookie J.R. Hildebrand's broken race car in the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.
“A lot of excitement,” said Wheldon moments after the winner's photo shoot on the front straightaway Monday. “It's a huge accomplishment.
“It's a very, very nice feeling and a lot of satisfaction from that.”
The moment Wheldon crossed the yard of bricks at the start-finish line, the debate erupted: Should Hildebrand have slowed down?
“It's very easy to look and say, 'Would you have done that?' Because we weren't in his shoes,” Wheldon said. “For me personally when you do anything around the outside, it's always a huge risk as the race gets older.”
In a wild finish which saw three lead changes in the final four laps, Wheldon emerged as the 18th two-time champion of the race. He won in 2005 with Andretti-Green Racing.
Hildebrand, one of five rookies in the race, was leading going into the final turn of the final lap. He approached a slower car – Charlie Kimball – just as they entered Turn 4. Hildebrand decided to pass Kimball on the outside in the corner instead of slowing down.
Hildebrand got too high, slammed the wall and skidded down the track against the wall. He hoped he was far enough ahead of Wheldon to beat him to the line and said he kept his foot on the gas, but to no avail.
Wheldon only led for a few feet Sunday.
“I caught up to him at the wrong part of the track,” Hildebrand said. “I was going to have to slow down a lot to stay behind him then pull out down the straightaway. So I thought, 'Well, I've been able to make this move around the outside before, so I went to the high side. I think, it was just the end of the stint there, lot of cars running around out there without being swept. I got up there in the marbles and that was it.”
Hildebrand had a 3.8-second lead entering the final lap and said he only knew Wheldon was closing, but wasn't sure how quickly. Hildebrand had a chance to win because Bertrand Baguette had to pull off the track with four laps to go because he was running out of fuel.
“I was hoping for better, but that's racing,” Baguette said. “We tried. We failed.”
At just 23, Hildebrand handled himself with impressive class when bombarded with questions about what happened and his whirlwind of emotions.
“I'm pretending well, I guess,” he said.
Wheldon won the only race he'll likely compete in this season. He is without a full-time job despite winning the 2005 race and the 2005 IndyCar points championship. His contract with Herta's race team expired at midnight Monday.
The Indianapolis 500 has almost become a playground for the driver who will turn 33 next month. In nine career starts at Indy, he has six top-five finishes, including two victories and back-to-back second-place finishes the past two starts.
To add some irony, the car Hildebrand drove was Wheldon's car at Panther Racing in 2009 and 2010. Now the team has finished second at Indy four years in a row.
“We came here with a rookie driver,” said John Barnes, co-owner at Panther Racing. “But I can tell you that he did a great job. He drove to a fuel number I didn't think was attainable. We're so proud of him and the people at Panther and the crew.”
The car Wheldon drove to victory is co-owned by Herta, a former IndyCar driver and teammate of Wheldon when they raced for Andretti-Green (2003 to 2005).
Wheldon was certainly emotional in victory lane as most winners usually are. But for Wheldon, it was no exception. A few weeks ago, his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
“I want to say hi to my family back home and my mother,” Wheldon said with his voice quivering in victory lane. “It's just an incredible day.”
Once he gets all his media appearances done, including a visit on the David Letterman show in New York City, Wheldon will return to his life of leisure and unfortunate unemployment.
“I'm sure I'll be back to changing diapers by (Monday),” Wheldon said with a smile. “My wife let me off (Monday) morning.”
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