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.
Mason Ludwig
Mason Ludwig, Driver #31
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, June 21, 2010
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? :)
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? :)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
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. :)
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. :)
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