SEASON IS OVER

The racing season is finally over. Mason ended up with a 5th place finish at Arthur Raceway. We don't know where he will be racing next year as Arthur has had some issues and is considering not opening up next year. We went and checked out Owosso Kart Speedway a couple of Fridays ago. It is a very nice track, big and fast. It is a much longer and harder drive than it is to get to Arthur. While we were there, we witnesses a horrifying crash. It happened literally right in front of us. It was a little guy, possibly a couple of years older than Mase. He got loose in turn 2 and hit the chain link fence full speed, head on. Owosso has a full fledged ambulance and EMTs at their races. They told me it was mandatory for their track.

Mason was hoping to race indoors this winter but we've made the decision that he won't be running a full season. Maybe we will take him to run a couple of races but it's a really small and hard track and pretty much just destroys the karts.

Yesterday we went out to Backwoods Speedway in Marlette. It's a small track that not a lot of people know about. It was really nice as it was only 15 mins from home. It is a nice track and Mason said it was alot of fun. It was just run and have fun, no racing. Mason keeps asking when he can go back.

I've been trying to talk Rick into the possibility of getting a kart instead of a race car. I know we would all enjoy a race car better but it sure would take a lot of hassle off of us as a family if he raced karts the same night as Mason. Not to mention that it would help with teaching Mason different aspects of racing. Right now, Rick isn't a whole lot of help because he doesn't know what Mason is seeing or feeling on the track.

Arthur is having a banquet to celebrate the season on Nov 6. We will be attending so Mason can be awarded his trophy. I'll keep you posted.

LAST RACE WENT GREAT

Last Saturday was a rainy and gloomy day. We headed to the track, in rain the entire way, expecting the evening to be cancelled. We arrived and it was still raining but they insisted they were going to race that night. The rain eventually did stop and they worked the track until about 5:00. Racing usually starts at 4:00. With no practice and no qualifying under his belt, Mason headed out on the track in pole position. The race began and he took off like a rocket out in front of all the other drivers and that's where he stayed for the entire race. He manuevered around the track like a pro. He started his feature race in 2nd place and did a great job once again. He was looking at first place when a caution came out. There were 3 or 4 cautions the entire race which allowed the other drivers to group back together and eventually get around Mase. He finished in 3rd which is really good, considering we are still running our flathead motor against the animal motors. He got a bigger trophy than usual and when he got out of his kart told his dad "don't touch anything...the kart is good the way it is." :) We are very proud of him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyvLognxVsI - 1st Heat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1G2BLOAnyU - Feature Race

Rick decided he would run another bump-n-run and thought Yale's was on Friday (yesterday) but it turned out it is tonight. Rick has decided we are taking Mason racing instead. There's always next year...maybe.

We will be heading to the track here in a bit. Rick just told me to put my long underwear on as it's cold outside. I just may break out the Carhart overalls for tonight. I don't like the cold but Mason's kart sure does so we are hoping to come home with another great finish.

ANOTHER TRY

We were rained out last weekend for Mason's race. We will try tomorrow and see how it goes. Hopefully we can hang in there.

There is a bump-n-run coming up in Yale next Friday. Rick is thinking about going. He figures he might as well smash the car good before he takes it in for scrap. We'll see.

SATURDAY RESULTS

Mason didn't do so well Saturday. It's upsetting to watch because he drove perfect and did everything we could have asked for. He just doesn't have the power the other kids have due to the difference in engines. We will keep plugging along and hopefully one day be able to buy him an animal motor that he desperately needs.

HANGING IN THERE

Mason has raced twice since I last posted. He did well in both races as he ended up in 4th and 5th places. Last night was a little rough going but we made it through. There was one mud puddle and Mason hit it during practice. We cleaned him and the kart up as they both were completely covered in 1in think greasy mud. He went back out for more practice and hit the puddle again. This time his dad was hot! He was hitting it because he likes to run on the bottom of the track. He made it through his first race but during the second race he got loose and hit the damn puddle for a third time. This time he hurt himself though and it truly wasn't his fault. He hit the steering wheel and knocked the wind out of him and bit his lip. Grandma Deloris made him stop racing so she could check him out, which dad wasn't too thrilled about. I was glad she did though because he was pretty sore. He went back out for his feature race and took 5th. They gave him his trophy and then...oops...he ran it over. It slipped out of his hand and his rear tire got it. He is driving pretty nice and making some really good moves when his is near the other racers. It's just a shame that he keeps getting out motored and we don't have the funds to get him an animal motor like the other racers are running. We will keep plugging away at it...

Rick hasn't raced since the Eastern Michigan Fair. He was all set to scrap his cars until he heard Grandma Ludwig really enjoys going and watching him race. Apparently she has gone to several of his races. He decided to keep one car and will run in North Branch if they have one in September. Rick realizes that Grandma won't be here forever and as long as it makes her happy he will race.

IT'S BECOME A JOKE...

The Eastern Michigan Fair's Bump-N-Run was last night. Rick didn't finish his heat due to a broken half shaft. He got hit by a car that he lapped. Oh well, same old story. What was interesting, however, was the fact that the counters called nearly every race wrong. Heat one was done and over and they named one driver the winner. A few minutes went by and they changed their minds, the winner was another driver. Heat three was clearly won by Joe Kirchoff #544, however, they say he didn't even come in 4th. I have the video to prove it! And you better believe I am going to bring this to their attention! Heat four was Rick's heat. Car #XXX was also in this heat and he got hung up on a jump and didn't appear to finish the race. Well, his wife argued for 40 minutes that the went too many laps and that he did finish the race and they once again changed their minds. It's this interesting? Did I mention he went on to win the Main? This is #XXX's third win in a row at this event. I'm so completely disgusted and Rick is even more so. He's seriously thinking about just leaving the car on the trailer and hauling it to the junk yard and calling it quits. If it's not the drivers messing the races up, it the officials and counters. All night long, the officials couldn't agree on which flag to throw. Half of them would be standing there holding green flags while the other half had red flags. Then when the race was done, the drivers didn't even know it was over because the officials just stood there. HELLO!!! You have red flags for a reason! Use them!!

Mason will be racing today at Arthur. Rick's working on his kart right now. I guess it's raining there as I write this but it's supposed to clear up. Keep your fingers crossed that he does well.

Happy Birthday to my Mother-in-Law today!

RECENT EVENTS

We had a great vacation this past weekend. Rick enjoyed it because I was smart this time and incorporated motorized events. We left Friday afternoon and headed to Jackson, MI where we went and watched go kart races. They had just a few of Mason's type of kart and several of what they referred to as "Future Stars". They also had some super modifieds that were really cool. Saturday morning we headed down to Brooklyn, MI where Michigan International Speedway is so Rick and Don (brother-in-law) could do a 3-lap ride along in an actual race truck. They loved it and of course, now they want to go back and do the driving experience. Maybe in a couple years. :) Once that was done, we headed to Montague where we camped at White River Campground. This was an awesome campground. We started Sunday out with a trip to Silver Lake and rented dune buggys and rode the dunes. Mason kept yelling at Rick to slow down. Some racer he is! :P After that we found Duck Lake State Park and swam. It fed into Lake Michigan where we all went for a dip. It was a fun time but as always, it goes way too fast.

This weekend we will be heading to Reese so Mason can race. He hasn't been in a couple of weeks. Hopefully he will finish good.

I received a letter today from the North Branch Lions Club in response to the letter I wrote voicing my opinions & concerns regarding the Auto Cross race. They took the letter before the whole club & talked to the flaggers that were at the July race. They agreed with my comments & assured me that that type of aggressiveness will not be tolerated in the future. Someone had to do something; just hope they stick to it. I hope the other Lions Clubs stick to it as well. We will be racing in Imlay City on Friday the 13th. 13 is Rick's lucky number so we are thinking positive!

DECENT RACE RESULTS

Everything went fairly smooth this weekend. Rick raced at the Berville Bump-N-Run. He was looking strong and racing hard when he managed to skin his drivers side door. He tore the entire outer part of the door off and therefore, was blackflagged. It's probably for the best, that track was tiny but tough and the cars were being destroyed. At least he still has a car for Imlay City. We were releaved at the beginning of the race when one of the other drivers and his family backed us up on the "dirty racer" incident. They completely agree with us that what those couple of drivers are doing is wrong and unsafe. It was nice to hear they were on our side. We certainly aren't looking to make enemies. After the race we stopped and had dinner. There, Rick ran into Ian Kemfp. Ian runs the Imlay City Fair. He mentioned to Rick that a letter came through addressing the safety issues and that he is scheduled to give it to the man that is going to be in charge of the Imlay City race this year. Rick said, "Yeah, that was from my wife." I'm glad I wrote the letter. It seems everyone feels the same as we do and therefore, the Lions members (aka officials) need to be made aware of our concerns.

Now onto Mason's results. He did good. He looked stong on the track and his driving skills are definately taking shape. The only problem now is getting him the equipment to be competitive. His motor isn't up to speed with the other kids. They are all running what is called an Animal motor and Mason has an old Flathead motor. The Animal motors are naturally faster and Flatheads are getting phased out. He has told me that he will be asking Santa for an Animal motor ($1500 approx.) for Christmas. I hope Santa reads this post and starts saving!

We did have a scare, however. Mason was hit really, really hard from behind. All the kids were stopped for a caution and the officials were in the process of re-lining them up when another kid came around full speed and slammed into the back of Mason's kart. Mason said he seen the other kid coming and said to himself "this is gonna hurt". The other boy hit him so hard that the other kids eye goggles flew off of his helmet and went past Mason's kart. Mason's visor flew open. Deloris (grandma), who is also the track EMT, and I ran out there to check on him. He was teared up but elected to finish the race. He is a tough kid. After the race, everyone was so great and so concerned. It is really nice to have a family sport to participate in where everyone is supportive. Mason complained of a little soreness this afternoon but has been fine the rest of the day. As a matter of fact, right how he is referring to himself as "Pirate Spanky". (We went to a pirate bday party today) :)

HERE WE GO AGAIN

I guess I missed a bit of posting. As most of you know, the North Branch Bump-n-Run didn't go as well as we'd liked. Once again, the same driver we are having issues with took Rick out before even completing one full lap in the Main. That race could have gone really bad as this idiot was so aggressive he almost flipped Rick over, hood first.

This was just the beginning of our bad luck for our 4th of July weekend. Mason attempted to race on Saturday but only made a few practice laps before damaging the motor. Rick work really hard last Friday to try to get it going but with lack of parts suppliers, it was a no go. Therefore, he has missed a couple of races in a row now. I ordered parts online and we received them yesterday, only to determine that the place shipped the wrong gaskets. Parts are such a pain to get. Hopefully we will have him back and running for this Saturday's racing.

Tomorrow, Friday, July 16, Rick will attempt to run another Bump-N-Run in Berville. We fixed the car after putting $100 in to parts. I took the time to write a letter explaining my concerns to the North Branch Lions Club and sent copies to Berville and Imlay City Lion's Clubs as well. If something bad happens because of these aggressive drivers, it's all on them, I gave them fair warning. Time will tell...wish us luck!

NORTH BRANCH JULY 2, 2010

One more day until the big North Branch Bump-N-Run. We are really excited. Rick has a fresh car and we are looking forward to seeing what it can do. It's a 1997 Cavalier Z24, named "Black Widow". We put all of our sponsor stickers on it and it's ready to go.

As always, with my excitement comes anxiety. I'm really not impressed with the field of drivers this year. All I can hope is that they have damaged their cars enough that they won't last long and in turn will have less time to beat on our drivers. It still amazes me how many people I associate with think this is a derby and the point of the race is to physically take drivers out by wrecking their cars. This is a lap race! You don't see motocross riders smashing into each other. Don't get me wrong, it's ok to "bump" a car out of the way but it's not ok to deliberatly smash into them full speed and run them off the track. It's obvious when you watch the races what each drivers intention is, whether it be to smash and bash or to actually try to win the event. There are a couple of brothers from North Branch that I'm really tired of. In watching my video from last week, it is plain as day that the one brother was deliberatly smashing into Bill Stoutenburg so his brother could take the win. We have a team of a few drivers and other acquaintances on the track but don't think for a minute that one would smash his car in order to create a win for another of our drivers. We are all there to win! We also respect the rules of the game. I really wish the officials would start following through with their rules and start black flagging the ones that break the rules. They need to show these guys that they are serious about safety and serious about enforcing the rules.

By the way, I have updated our Twisted Metal Racing website.

OFFICIAL DECISION KIDS RUNNING MORE THAN ONE KARTING CLASS

Here is a quote from Dave Hausbeck, owner of Arthur Raceway and his decision on allowing kids to run in more than one class.

"We will allow and encourage kids to run more than one class as it helps to develop their driving skills. Someone can run the class that their age allows them and one class above, if someone runs two classes up from their age group, then they can only run one class down from the most advanced class they run. This will also help all the kids by creating more competiton and that will challenge them to become better drivers. At a young age, it is not how many wins, although everybody always wants a win, it is about challenging and teaching kids how to become better drivers. The more we challenge the kids the better drivers they will become in the future."

As I stated before, Rick and I can see it from both sides, therefore, the decision is fine with us.

SANDUSKY RESULTS

Rick took 2nd place in the B Main last night. It was pretty impressive considering the car has a blown head gasket and the officials didn't seems to know what they were doing. These little events are getting hard to race at due to the chaos with the people running them. I don't think they realize how much time and effort goes into getting these cars ready and they don't put the necessary effort in on their end to make the rules safe and consistent. I personally am getting really frustrated with the drivers who's only intentions are to smash everyone else. They are told over and over that it's not a derby, however, the officials have yet to disqualify these drivers for their actions.

Hopefully the officials at North Branch this coming Friday will keep things on an even scale. We've never had any problems there in the past and hopefully this Friday won't be the start.

CONTROVERSY AT THE TRACK

Well there appears to be some controversy at Arthur Raceway regarding a driver being allowed to run 2 classes. There is a driver that runs in Mason's class as well as the next class up. According to the World Karting Association rules, once you move up a class, you are no longer qualified to race in the lower class. I have mixed feelings on this issue. On one hand, this driver is taking a top position away from the other drivers by running in Mason's class. If she wasn't there, Mason would have had 2nd place a few times. On the other hand, it gives Mason better competition which in turn forces him to try harder and do better. As far as the competition goes, however, I don't believe that she is necessarily a better driver. She has a faster motor and more experience but if all things were equal, I don't think she could out drive Mason or a couple of his other competitors.

I guess my biggest concern about this situation is that if she is going to be allowed to run in the beginner class, her father needs to realize that it is the beginner class. He has the tendency to get angry with the other kids and parents when they spin out or mess up and it adversely effects his daughter. If he doesn't like it, she should be racing in the more experienced class, period.

In my opinion, there is a bigger concern with this class other than this driver being allowed to race in 2 classes. There are a few smaller kids that race in this class too and they are really slow. I'm not complaining that they are there, I just think maybe there should be a beginner beginner class or something. It's not safe for any of them to be lapping these kids over and over again during the race. It takes really quick thinking from 5-7 year olds to get around these slower karts.

Well, I need to get moving as we have a Bump-n-Run race today in Sandusky to get ready for. Wish us luck!

Getting a Car Ready

Rick is working on his new race car. He's been having trouble with the lug nuts and wheel studs. He worked on getting a rim off for over 3 hours and ended up having to smash it and break it to get it off. Apparently I was told he needed 5 studs and 20 lug nuts and he wanted me to get them today. I heard the part about the lug nuts but missed the studs. Also ordered a new window net too. The racing speciality parts and pieces drive me nuts to have to constantly order. I so wish there was a local store to get this stuff!

He also painted the car today. Let's just say my memory didn't help that situation either. Trenton asked if the paint was dry. Rick told him "no". So what do you think I do about 10 minutes later? I decide to touch it and left my finger print in it. Oops. And as if that wasn't enough, about 5 minutes after that, I set my cell phone on it in order to free up my hands so I could get a piece of rust out of Rick's eye. Oh well, it's just gonna get smashed anyway, right? :)

THE FIRST OF MANY

Well this is going to be a blog featuring the trials and tribulations of our racing adventures. As many of you know, Rick races in the local bump-n-run races and Mason is currently in his first year of kart racing.

Since Rick was a little boy he always wanted to be a Nascar driver. Obviously, that didn't happen. He has settled for the bump-n-run racing which is small cars racing on a motocross style track, complete with jumps. We realize he isn't going to make it big doing this so we have decided to give Mason all we can to get him started in the right track to reach is dream of one day being a Nascar driver. We are putting almost everything we have into getting him off to a good start. We know the kid has talent. He's been riding dirt bikes since he was 3 and drove a car by himself for the first time at the age of 6. He just has a natural talent for driving.

Karting is proving to have it's challenges as it's just as new to Rick and I as it is to Mase. It's had for Rick to know what Mase is feeling on the track since he's never been in a kart racing before. Many of the other young driver's dads race so they have the advantage over us. Not to mention, the kart and the workings of it is new to us as well. These karts are amazing! They aren't your typical back yard kart. They have all kinds of adjustments to be made to make it handle better like air pressure, camber, etc. There really isn't a karting store locally either that we can just go to buy parts so everything we purchase is pretty much trial and error.

We are still going though and we have a few races under our belt so far...

Rick's first race was in Yale, MI, hosted by the Yale Lions Club. We were off to a great start when Rick drew 1st car, 1st heat. He made all his laps, clear as can be and they announced the winner....car #2. WHAT?!?! Yeah, that didn't go over so well. After a lot of yelling, we managed to get that straightened out and he went strong into the main. He ended up getting passed and was running in 2nd place, which isn't a big deal, he actually prefers to follow during the race. Anyway, he came around a corner and off flew his tire. We thought he broke the lug nuts...nope the track was so sticky that the drivers were actually oblonging the rim holes and the rims were pulling off with the lug nuts still intact. That was the end of that day.

Mason has been racing all along on Saturdays in Reese, MI at Arthur Raceway. He took 3rd place in the first several races and then had an off day last week. Yesterday was the mid-series championship and he took 2nd place. He drove like a real professional and did everything right. We are so proud of him. He thinks its cool because he got a big trophy. :)