Everything is OK

So, we are halfway into our 2017 racing season.  If you follow Mason Ludwig Racing at all, you will see that our team is struggling right now on the track.  That's OK though.  Do you know why?  It's OK because the struggle is forcing our little 4 person crew (dad, mom and 2 young men) to learn the setup and adjustments of our racecar.  Our 14 year old driver and his twin brother are down in the shop right now as I type this wrenching on the race car alongside their crew chief (dad).  Mason is adding to his skill as a driver and Trenton is learning mechanical skills.  They are learning what each and every adjustment does and why and in which situations they will be needed.  And eventually, (my guess is by the end of the season) Mason will have a very good grasp on the adjustments and be able to make the setup decisions on his car.  He's truly working on becoming the whole package as a driver.  Of course it’d be nice to have more bodies and brains on our crew but the reality is that we are a 1st generation race team.  Most of our friends and family simply don't have the knowledge to contribute and help eliminate our struggle.  And again, that's OK.  Why is it ok?  It’s OK because we are proud of what we have accomplished so far on our own and with guidance from our fellow competitors and experienced friends at the track.  We must be doing something right when fellow drivers that we don’t really even know are willing to give us advice.  We are making connections through this process.  If we were running at the top every night, these connections wouldn’t be made.  So for that, we are thankful and we will continue to hold our heads high. 

2017 - The Future Awaits

Here we are sitting on the outskirts of the 2017 racing season.  This will be Mason’s 8^th season startup with 2010-2013 in karts, 2014 in a Bandolero and 2015-2016 in a Legends race car.  This sport definitely keeps us on our toes.  We are doing everything we can to keep Mason moving forward in his racing career.  Just like in 2014, he is currently in limbo.  Toward the end of last season, Mason was in an accident that wrecked his Legends race car.  Putting money into fixing the car was a decision we chose not to make.  We will instead, be looking at moving Mason into a late model series.  Where and how is still yet to be determined.  Currently we are researching all the possible avenues and working on building valuable relationships with businesses that would profit from a partnership with our team.

None of this is easy.  The countless hours of time and energy nor astonishing amounts of money we sink into Mason’s racing compare to the emotional devotion we have invested into making our son’s dreams come true.  We hear it all the time.  “You’re crazy!”.  To us, it’s not crazy.  Crazy to us are parents not willing to put time or effort into their children’s futures.  It just so happens that the path Mason chose isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap.  So does that mean we should tell him he can’t do it?  I know for a fact that many parents would, but that’s not us.   We see the talent in our son and we are devoted to his racing career.  We use it to strengthen our family dynamics.  We work together as a team and rely on each other for support. 

Throughout the past 7 years, we’ve done some amazing things and some extreme things.  We’ve cheered and cried tears of joy.  We’ve been crushed and cried tears of sorrow.  I’m not going to lie, there have been times, even quite recently, that I’ve thought about throwing in the towel.  Our lives would be so much easier if we didn’t have this one (huge) thing on our plate.  But, Mason is 14 now and this is a very critical point in his career.  If he is going to succeed, we have to keep working and keep pushing forward.  Drivers his age are being sought out for the future of the sport.  If a driver isn’t making a name for him/herself even before they are of legal driving age, they are already behind the eight ball, as they say.

What most people don’t understand is that being a good race car driver isn’t all about winning races.  There are loads of great racecar drivers out there that will never get a shot at their dreams.  The reality is that money controls that sport of auto racing.  However, this doesn’t mean that if a driver has a lot of money, he/she is guaranteed a racing seat either.  Eventually, the money will run out.  More importantly, is to get people to recognize the driver and know the driver’s name and what he/she is all about.   Because, that is what potential racing partners (sponsors) want in a spokesperson.  They want someone that others recognize and can relate with to sell their product and be the face of their brand.

Mason is entered into the 2017 Search for a Champion contest and sure, we’d love to win the sponsorship.  However, if that doesn’t happen, this is also a great means to spread the word and promote him and his ongoing racing career.

Please plan to vote for him every single day from Jan. 5^th – Feb. 2nd in the first round.  Hopefully he’ll make it to the second round and we will once again, need your vote every single day from Feb. 23^rd – March 23^rd.

2014 Season

It’s been quite some time since I last posted to this blog.  Things have changed quite a bit for Mason’s racing program.  We are very proud at the accomplishments he has made so far during his short racing career.  Back in 2011 when Mason started racing at the age of 7, he set a goal of one day racing a Legend car.   After our 2013 karting season, we decided it was time for a change due to many changes that were taking place in the karting industry.  We checked into a couple different paths.  At that point I started doing research on the Legends so we could pursue the necessary paths to make that happen.  Inex (sanctioning body of US Legends) rules has an age limit of 14, therefore, we would have a couple more years yet before he could compete.  Ultimately we chose the path of a Bandolero which is also sanctioned by Inex.  Spartan Speedway in Mason, MI is the only race track in Michigan that has a Bandolero program.  2014 is the first year for this program.  He was the first ever Bandolero driver on the track and the first ever winner of a Bandolero race at the track.  Mason has shown great racing skills this season and is currently sitting 1^st in points for the 2014 season championship. 

Our original intentions for this season were to race the Bandolero and race a few kart races locally.  Mason has competed in every Bandolero race to date and competed in a kart race at Owosso Speedway on May 24, 2014.  We were excited to get back to doing some kart racing but that thrill quickly faded after Mason was punted off the track by another racer during practice.  Mason struggled through the races and was beat around pretty good but kept on going.  Due to his persistence, he ultimately ended up with a 4^th place finish.  Mason has decided that his karting days are going to be few and far between from here on out.

While speaking with the track owner of Spartan Speedway, Jim Leasure, about our plans for the 2015 season, he suggested we should check into getting Mason into a Legend.  We questioned him on the age requirement and he offered to contact Inex on Mason’s behalf and start the necessary paperwork to get him approved.  We took Mason to the track to make a few hot laps in a Legend to see if it was something he even wanted to pursue.  Within a couple of days after his test drive, and after sending Inex Mason’s resume along with a recommendation from Jim, Inex approved him to race a Legend car next season at the age of 12.  

We have been very pleased and proud of the accomplishments Mason has made.  In his short racing career, he has been asked by his competitors to drive for him and is constantly being commended on his smooth, consistent driving style and ultimately reached his goal of driving a Legend car.  Well, almost!  We have a lot of funds to raise and some karting equipment and personal items to sell in order to make a Legend car purchase. 

Others are constantly questioning the amount of money and effort we put into Mason’s racing program.  It’s something we enjoy to do as a family.  Not only that but we see talent in our child and what kind of parents would we be if we didn’t showcase that talent and do everything in our power for him to help make his dreams come true?  Some families have kids that enjoy bat and ball sports and they are good at it.  Well, ours just so happens to drive a race car.  If it means we have to drive our old vehicles for a few extra years and wear the same clothes and shoes a little while longer, so be it.  There’s truly nothing we would rather be doing. 

We love it when friends, family members and acquaintances have the opportunity to see Mason in action on the track.  Rick and I understand that a lot of times when we are speaking about Mason, people assume we are talking him up because he is our son.  Well, of course that is true to a certain extent but in all honesty, we get such positive comments from people after they themselves witness his racing and driving abilities.  Mason has done his part as a driver and as his parents, Rick and I have committed to continue this journey and do whatever it takes to keep him on the path to achieve his goals. 

RACE SEASON 2013... The Downward Spiral

 Racin’ Mason’s 2013 season has come to an end and I’ve been reflecting on the events that transpired during this time.  I haven’t created a blog in awhile due to short posts that are easier to update on facebook.  It might be nice in the future to be able to view the blog posts to remember what we went through during our journey to pursue Mason’s racing career, so here we are.  In 2012 we realized that we attempted to do too much.  We raced locally in two classes and one class on the Burris Thunder Tour.  Even though Mason ended up with a 2^nd place points championship at Arthur Raceway, it was too much and we weren’t able to give our full attention to any one direction.  We made the decision for 2013 to primarily focus on the Burris Thunder Tour, running two classes and pop in here and there at the local shows when we could.   

We started this year with all the stars aligned, so we thought.  We had a new kart, new engine, a tire specialist with new tires, a chassis specialist and a full fresh season ahead of us.  Before our first Tour race, our chassis specialist quit the Tour so we were left on our own to figure out how to make the “Freight Train” fast at each particular race.  Our tire specialist helped out a lot with this, but he didn't have much experience with our brand/make of chassis, 2012 Epic Evolution.   He promised he’d get us to the front and it happened on several occasions and for that we are thankful.    Things weren't looking too bad.  Mason raced Ambush Weekend in Owosso, MI and took a first place finish cashing in on $500.  We were ecstatic and really thought things were going great.  The second big event was the Summer Shootout.  We struggled and struggled trying to get his chassis to make some speed.  Finally we hit the numbers just right and Mason was bad fast.  He even pulled off a 2^nd place finish.  Unfortunately, this was a non-points event so it didn’t really help us on the tour.  A few local shows later, we ended up having to purchase a new body, even before the 2^nd round of the tour.  The local shows are tough on the equipment.  We have a theory on that but I won’t get into that now.  We ran a couple more rounds of the Burris Thunder Tour and seen some things go down that we speculated would eventually hurt the Tour.  We went into round 4 of the tour completely on our own.  Our tire specialist ended up changing “real” jobs and was unable to make it to this race.  He did his best to make sure we had the tires we needed but he wasn’t there to see the track.  Mason drove his heart out and he had 1^st place during every race, even if it was just for a few seconds.  The turnout was very low for this event and rumors were swirling that the Tour was going to be cancelled.  We were furious.  If the Tour was cancelled, we just fork out $900 for an engine refresh and a set of new tires for absolutely no reason.  Well, it turns out the promoter clarified those rumors and said the final race will take place due to it being a points series.  Ok good, right?  Wrong!  The Monday prior to the Friday of the last event, the promoter did, in fact, cancel the show due to low entries.  Not only did he cancel the show, he cancelled the Tour altogether.  As of right now, there will no longer be a Burris Thunder Tour.  .  As of right now, Mason is 6^th in points.  The points are supposed to be recalculated to throw out the worst race but we aren't holding our breath for that to actually happen.  Karting is not in a good place right now in general.  One of the local tracks, Owosso Kart Speedway is having a hard time with it right now too, and it appears they won't even be running a full season next year.  Where does this leave us? 

I don't have an answer for that question.  I have never seen such a group of quitters in my life.  When we say we are going to do something, we do it.  We gave 110% to our karting program.  I can tell you that we are one of the hardest working teams out there.  I can tell you that we put our blood, sweat and tears into this racing program.  And what do we have to show for it at the end of 2013?  Nothing.  Why?  Because karting quit on us.

We could stay and race back at Arthur Raceway and everyone keeps asking why we don’t.  Remember a little while back when I told you we had a theory on local racing?  Yeah that’s the reason but I’m still not going to get into that.  Just remember, we are trying to advance Mason’s racing career.  He is only ever going to be as good as him competition.  He will become a better driver the more he is challenged.  Our goal is to keep him advancing and find him a racing platform that will allow him to grow and advance.  Unfortunately, karting at this point in time, doesn’t appear to be the answer.

BURRIS SUMMER SHOOTOUT - 2ND PLACE!!!

We arrived home from Macon, IL at 4am Monday, June 24^th.  The Burris Summer Shootout was on schedule for Friday and Saturday, the 21^st and 22^nd.  We left Friday morning and arrived at Macon Speedway, geared up to do some racing.  After a rain delay, racing was underway.  Mason started with a few laps of practice, going into qualifying and finally the feature race.  He was the 10^th kart on the track in his class, Jr 1, for qualifying order.  His time sat him in 5^th position for the feature.  The race started single file and got off to a bad start with a caution not even one lap in.  The race director decided they would restart the race from the beginning, which would put Mason in 5^th place, his qualifying position determined by his lap times.  Well, at least that’s how it was supposed to go.  We and I’m pretty sure almost everyone else that was witnessing the event, we dumfounded at the order in which they re-lined up the kids.  I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what happened when they put Mason into the 10^th position.  At these large events, however, there is nothing that can really be done about an error like this and what’s done is done.  They restarted the race and Mason got up to 5^th place.  Another caution came out and again, he was lined up in the wrong position.   When all was said and done, the official results put him finishing  5^th.  Needless to say, we were quite a bit discouraged to have driven all that way to have the race be so messed up.  We did our best to shrug it off and prepared for Saturday’s events.  We arrived at the track nice and early and got everything ready to go.  Practice started and we made it through qualifying for one of his classes before more rain hit.  This time it didn’t let up and we didn’t get to race.  Officials postponed the events for Sunday.  The short amount of time he did have on the track, we struggled.  We just couldn’t find any speed to get where we needed Mason to be.  He’s times were consistent, just consistently slower than the other kids.  After much deliberation and chatting with our peers, we began to doubt the decision we made of purchasing the new chassis…  maybe we should have went with a different brand…  where are we going to get the money to purchase the chassis we need to be competitive?  A million different scenarios went though our heads but we knew we were stuck.  As a team, we made the decision to make a couple big changes to the setup for Sunday’s races.  After all, what did we have to lose?  After Friday’s events, we pretty much knew we weren’t contenders for the big money that was on the line this weekend.  We decided to just treat the weekend as a practice for the Burris Thunder Tour as there weren’t any points on the line.  Sunday rolled around and the officials decided to race the big money races first, in case of more rain.  So Mason began the day with the Jr 1 Pro class.  He qualified in 6^th position with barely any difference in times between the 3^rd-6^th place karts.  They were all very, very close.  We were pretty darn happy and since Mason generally races better than he qualifies, we felt our chances of a top 3 were quite good.  He went out for his race and as his was running in 5^th place, was involved in a crash.  He made it another full lap around the track when his kart died.  Rick took the starter out to restart him, but it was no use.  The carburetor bolt pulled out from the motor.  This race was over for him.  Luckily, there were plenty of people around to loan us the tools and help us with the repair to get it fixed for his last race, Jr 1, where he qualified in 2^nd!  We couldn’t believe it!  He was going to start the race in 2^nd place, in front of the best drivers in his class!  Let me tell you, poor Mason was so nervous starting that race.  (Probably almost as nervous as his mother that was about to throw up during the pace lap.)  Mason was dancing around the pit and so happy.  It was nice to see him that way as we were beginning to see him lose confidence in himself and us as his “crew” due to the struggles we had at this event and previous races.  Before he started the race, I felt as though we had already won due to the great advances we had made from the Friday before.  Had we went home right then, we would have been content with our results.  During the race, there were many cautions and the laps were cut down to once again try to avoid rain.   Mason was able to stay in 2^nd place during the race, with Sam Johnson ahead of him and Cole Falloway hot on his trail.   We know we still have a lot of work to do and Mason has a lot to learn but just knowing that we have the capabilities, tools and resources for Mason to be competitive means the world to us. 

7-7-7 Burris Thunder Tour Race #1, 2013

7-7-7

Luck is on our side.  The first Burris Thunder Tour race is now behind us.  We are completely exhausted but had a good time.  We left home at 8:30 AM Friday morning and arrived at Ben Hur Speedway in Crawfordsville, IN at 2:30 PM.  Mason ran the Jr 1 Flathead class Friday evening.  He qualified in 12^th position out of 22 karts in the class.  He was a bit timid the first couple times on the track.  Ben Hur is a tough track to drive and they refer to it as “The Fastest Kart Track in the State Of Indiana”.  Mason quickly got it figured out and was able to get the Freight Train up to 7^th place when he took the checkered flag.  Due to a kart not passing tech after the race, Mason was bumped up to 6^th place for the official results.

Saturday’s races consisted of another Jr 1 Flathead and the Jr 1 Pro classes.  Practice started for the day at 2:30 PM and Mason ran his very last race at 2:00 AM.  He qualified in 7^th position for the Jr 1 Flathead feature.  He felt good going into the race and was excited to have the inside line to start.  All 21 karts began the race double file.  After several times of the leader jumping the start, they decided to make them start single file.  We don’t understand this concept.  The leader controls and sets the speed for the pace lap.  Since he failed to do this and kept jumping the start, does it make sense to make the rest of the field start single file, essentially awarding him for his actions?  No, it doesn’t and it wasn’t fair to the rest of the kids.  After a lap or two, the leader changed and a caution came out and they had the same problem again with the leader jumping the start but they allowed him to keep do it.  In our opinion, those kids should have been put to the rear of the field.  They may have actually got in a whole 3-4 laps worth of racing due to the trouble they had with the start and restarts.  After 20 minutes, they called the race and scored it where everyone sat with Mason in 7th.  It was very frustrating to watch.  Many parents were quite angry and very vocal about it.  We feel so bad for Mason and the other kids that didn’t do anything wrong.  We are confident he could have gained a couple more positions if they would have had a chance to actually race.  The reason we ran on Friday was to prepare and get a feel for the track for Saturday’s races and the race was a complete mess.  Unfortunately, what we are expecting to possibly happen for the future races is limit the number of drivers going into the features.  That means not all kids will be guaranteed to race at these events and they will have to race their way into the feature.  This is just speculation on our part but all we do know is that we spend too much time, money and effort for a race to end like the Jr 1 Flathead did. 

Mason didn’t qualify quite as well for the Jr 1 Pro class, with a 16^th place start.  We tried a little something different with the tires and gearing and it wasn’t to our advantage.  The feature race for the Jr 1 Pro class ran at 2:00 AM.  It didn’t take long to decide to start them single file once again.  There were a total of 25 kids in the feature race.  Mason drove from 16^th all the way to 5^th.  At one point, he drove into turns 3 and 4 too hard, got into some soft dirt and lost a few positions.  Before the race ended, he made up one more position and ended with another 7^th.  He was exhausted and went back to the trailer and fell asleep in no time.  

It was a good time and we are very fortunate to be able to spend time as a family racing.  It’s also really nice to meet new people and make new friends in the process.  This was really our first real chance to work with our new tire specialist, Eric Askren, Xcel Cuts and we think it’s going to be a great relationship.  He sure knows what he’s doing and is a super nice guy.  We are very lucky to have the opportunity to be part of the Xcel Cuts team.  We are taking Mason’s 7-7-7 finishes as a sign that there are good things to come!

Special thanks to our 2013 sponsors...  Dietrich's Collision, Imlay City; Dietech Tool & Mfg., Imlay City; Don's Auto Repair, Imlay City.

FINAL RESULTS

The final race at Arthur Raceway was this past Saturday, Oct. 6th.  The scenario we needed to happen was for Mason to finish two places ahead of the competitor sitting in the first place championship position.  He started the feature on the pole and several of the other drivers were able to get around him right off the starting line.  We had Mason's kart geared for top speed so lap after lap he was able to pick off the other drivers and eventually gained his way up to the other kid we needed to beat.  He got to his back bumper but didn't stay there for very long.  He drove around him and then drove away from him.  He looked good and would have won if a caution wouldn't have come out.  They lined back up and the same scene played out again.  In the end he raced a good, clean race and ended up in fourth position for that race with the other kid ahead of him.  The results are posted and Mason officially took the 2nd place championship position for the purple plate alcohol class. He may not have won but we are ok with that.  Mason didn't race 6 races out of the entire season.  We missed 4 when we were out of state racing and 2 we just tried focusing solely on the gold plate class for those particular nights.  We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and feel good about what we were able to accomplish this season.  We feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to the races together as a family and even more fortunate to have met some really great people and new friends along the way.

Our program for the 2013 season is going to be fine tuned over this off season.  Newer and better equipment is needed in order to be more competitive in the national level racing events that we plan on focusing the majority of our attention on next season.  We may run locally here and there but not on a regular basis.  As we have stated before, being successful in the local level racing isn't going to get Mason where he needs to be.  If he is going to continue to race and improve his racing skills, we need to get him (and ourselves) out of our comfort zone.  We know we have a lot to learn yet and realize we can't do it all on our own.  We need to build good, honest contacts and relationships to keep going and advancing Mason's racing career.  Hopefully we are on the right track and will be able to make some changes for the better for the 2013 season.

We would like to thank our sponsors once again for your support!

Dietrich's Collision, Imlay City, MI  810-724-8540

T.G. Priehs Paving Co., Dryden, MI 810-796-2600

DieTech Tool & Mfg., Imlay City, MI  810-724-0505

Don's Auto Repair, Imlay City, MI  810-724-3147

United Automotive, Imlay City, MI  810-724-6174

P.S.  Once the Burris thunder tour results are finalized, I will post his position finish.  We are thinking he finished around 7th but aren't positive at this point.  

IT IS WHAT IT IS...

A lot has transpired since my last post.  On September 15, Mason won the feature race of the purple plate alcohol class, putting him just one point behind the leader for the championship.  We were scheduled and registered to race in Illinois for the last round of the Burris Thunder Tour on September 22.  When we first began this season, we had our schedule all planned out.  We knew we would miss a few races at Arthur to be able to participate in the Burris Thunder Tour.  We figured out the dates and determined that we would be able to make it to all the Chase races at Arthur for a chance at the championship.  We knew the chances of being in that position would be slim, but there was a chance, nonetheless.  A few weeks ago we were threw a curve ball and Arthur decided that their schedule was not correct and they were in fact racing on September 22.  At the time we found that out, we were disappointed but still planned on going to the tour race.  After Mason won and closed the points up, we were now faced with another choice.  We could go out of state, which costs a ton of money, or we could stay home and see what we could do at Arthur.  Mason was sitting in 5^th place on Tour and 2^nd at Arthur for the purple plate alcohol class.  We were not able to better our program for the tour, therefore, if we did go, we would most likely still be sitting in 5^th position.  A chance at the championship seemed like the better decision.  Staying home would allow us to save money, making being able to get into a newer chassis that much more likely.  We went to the race feeling pretty good as Mason did so well the weekend prior.  Mason struggled a bit and Rick made some adjustments throughout the night.  Mason was to start the race in the rear of the pack.   He left our trailer saying his competitor was faster than him, which he was.  But the only reason he was faster was because he had brand new tires and we didn’t.  A fellow racer was so generous and loaned us a set of right side tires so we were hoping for a bit more speed.  I assured Mason that he had the capabilities to get to the front; he just had to want it.  I told him that we couldn’t predict what might happen out there and that anything was possible.  He just needed to do his best and be ready for the challenge and believe in himself.    I guess I should have believed my own speech a little more, because I for one didn’t have much confidence at that point that Mason would finish in a very good position.  Mason must have taken it to heart though and went out on that track and made his way to the front, from the very last position.  He led 19 of the 20 laps.  With two laps to go, the competitor, that was on his tail the entire race, drove himself off the track.  They called a caution and that kid was sent to the rear of the field.  On the first attempt at a restart, Mason jumped it and they waived the start off.  They made another lap around and that competitor that was running in 2^nd the entire race went from the rear of the pack to right behind Mason.  What I haven’t mentioned up until this point is how rough of a driver this competitor had been all night.  I’m not saying anything bad about him, in fact, I like the kid, however, his driving style leaves a bit to be desired to say the least.  He tends to turn into the other drivers as he is attempting to pass.  Mason has been a victim of this several times throughout the years and last night was no different.  On the last lap, he managed to drive up next to Mason and beat off the side of him to get Mason loose.  This allowed him to get around him and take the checkered flag.  It’s really hard to swallow, even today that Mason lost that race.  When Mason was done racing for the night, he got out of his kart and told us he should have spun that kid out.  We agreed at the time, however, Mason’s choice on the track to not retaliate makes him who he is.  He’s an honest and fair competitor and that’s one thing that no one can ever take away from him.  I am very proud of Rick and Mason for their accomplishments last night.  They alone figured out how to get to the front and made it happen.

We are in the position now to decide if we even want to return to the track for the final race in two weeks.  I’m sure we will leave it up to Mason, as we don’t want to take that away from him.  However, some other things went down last night that have opened our eyes to what and who we are actually dealing with at that track.  For the most part, I have always enjoyed the track and the people there.  It really has been a joy to see these kids grow over the past few years, both physically and with their driving, but there are just some things that are hard to get past.  Looking back, we have really taken a beating on certain things from points being calculated incorrectly, to bad calls, to not being invited to the State banquet that Mason worked so hard to achieve because of a track oversight, to schedules being wrong and rules being changed.

One thing is for certain, however, and that is that next season we will be making changes to our program and focusing most of our energy and attention on the national level.  YWe will be moving on to bigger and better and continuing to get Mason as much experience and recognition as possible.

One more thing, this is MY blog and MY feelings created by ME for MY family and friends.  Thank you! 

STILL GOING...

Mason raced this past Saturday at Arthur Raceway.  He ran both the purple plate alcohol and gold plate classes.  This was the first race day for the chase toward the championships.  Due to Arthur changing the race schedule, we will be missing the race that is scheduled for Sept. 22 since we will be at the Burris Thunder Tour, therefore, Mason is pretty much out of contention for a championship this year.  We are still waiting for the points to get straightened around for the Burris Thunder Tour as well.  As it stands right now, he is sitting in 5th place on the tour.  This year is really testing us as we have be faced with many challenges from vehicle troubles while on tour, chassis and setup troubles, engine and exhaust issues to points and scheduling errors.  As frustrating as it all is, we are still going...

Mason finished 4th in the purple plate alcohol class.  He had a handful with his kart and the track conditions. Track officials have tried and tried to get the track to come back to what is normally a very nice track with lots of grip.  It's been a very difficult track to race on for the past couple of races.  During the feature, Mason  was in a pretty rough wreck.  A couple of karts spun out in front on him and he ended up t-boning one of the karts.  Mason slumped is his seat, leaving people to think he was knocked out.  He wasn't and thankfully he just hurt his knee on the steering shaft.  He was in tears after the wreck but insisted on continuing the race.  He even kept going and raced the feature in the gold plate class.  He and another racer competed for 2nd position through the entire race and ultimately, Mason finished 2nd.  He showed great dedication and perseverance once again.

ROUND 4 BURRIS THUNDER TOUR

I am actually laying in bed typing this post.  I am pooped.  This traveling is really taking a toll on us.  The trip went fairly uneventful, only one minor hiccup on the way down to Covington, IN.  Good 'ol State cops sitting in the pouring rain on the freeway making drivers uneasy and brake checking.  Things came to a stop really quickly in front of us and our rig isn't the smallest to get slowed down in a hurry.  Thank goodness for the median.  The good news is no one was hurt and our hearts all seem to work really well.  Once we got through Michigan, the weather changed and was beautiful.  It was the weather we had been hoping for.  Every race so far has been high 90 degrees and scorching but this time it was low 80s and sunny.  We went in to the race with good weather, a new set of tires and a good attitude.  None of it really helped with our race results, however.  Mason timed in his usual position for the series and no matter what adjustments we made, nothing seemed to help him gain.  He looked great on the track and the kart handled wonderfully, he just flat our didn't have any speed.  Mase tried and tried and after all said and done, ended up with an 8th place finish, his worst yet of the series.  He was a bit upset but we assured him that he drove great and did what he could.  All in all, once again, he made us proud and we know that our son has one of the best sportsman-like attitudes on the track, many of which can't say the same.

I need to go check our lottery tickets...

CAN YOU SAY "DEDICATION"?

I am a few races behind on my blogs.  I apologize for not getting them together sooner.  Finding spare time to blog isn’t an easy task.   This particular post is probably going to be pretty bland since the details aren’t fresh in my head.

Saturday, July 7, 2012:  Mason actually won the gold plate class at Arthur Raceway.  It was such a relief after working so hard on the setup to finally get him back to the front of the pack.   He ended up placing second in the purple plate class.

Friday, July 13, 2012:  Earlier in the week, Rick asked Mason how he felt about going back to Owosso to race.  Mason responded with “as long as I don’t lose another tire this time”.  So we headed out to the track for only our second time ever.  Mason made a lap and ½ of practice, when one of his wheels flew off.  I was stunned.  What are the chances of us only racing that particular track two times and both times, losing a wheel?  I was ready to pack up and head home.  Truth is though that it wasn’t any fault of ours this time that he lost a wheel.  I had purchased a used set of wheels and tires off of a karting forum and we were scammed big time.  They were complete junk and I totally got taken on them.  The rims were just trashed and didn’t even match.  We fixed the studs in the hub and got him back out on the track.  Mason came in third place. 

Friday, July 20, 2012:  We woke up early and took off headed for Cerro Gordo, IL.  It was supposed to be about an 8 hour trip.  Trenton decided to stay home with grandma and visit a buddy rather than go with us this trip.  So, Rick, my dad, Mason and I were chatting along in the truck when we got about 2 hours away, just on the other side of Lansing, when the truck just completely died.  Rick got us off onto the shoulder of I-69.  We waited for it to cool down and tried and tried to get it to fire but it wouldn’t.  I made call after call to repair shops in the area to see if they could even get us in if we were able to get it started.  Finally, one shop agreed to tow us and the trailer to another diesel shop to have the truck checked out.  So after waiting another hour or so, two tow trucks showed up; one to tow our truck and one to tow the trailer. The diesel mechanic checked out our truck for about an hour and a half only for it to fire up and not find any solid problems.  At that point we at least needed to get home.  We elected to leave the trailer over there while we took our chances on limping the truck back home.   I guess Rick decided to put the truck to more of a workout and we ended up driving an extra 120 miles out of our way.  Actually Rick just missed his exit and didn’t realize it for like an hour.  So we backtracked.  Between Rick, my dad and I we had the cellular towers burning up trying to find a vehicle to use to get us back on track to go racing.  We weren’t ready to give up on the trip just yet.  At this time Mason was only 4 points out of 4^th place for the series.  If we missed this race, we knew we would never be able to catch up and might as well call it quits at that point.  So we called and called and after no luck we finally decided to attempt to take my dad’s truck on the adventure.  About 30 minutes from my dad’s house, we realized that his truck didn’t have the correct trailer plug on it to even be able to hook the trailer up to it.  As we sat at my dad’s house trying to decided what to do (we at least had to get back to get the trailer), my mother showed up with her Trailblazer.  Mason took a look at the trailer plug and said “grandma’s truck has the right plug”.  We all pretty much looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders and piled in.  It was a really sketchy ride and we could only do about 60 mph but we eventually showed up to the track at 3:00AM Saturday morning.  Just a little bit longer that our original destination time of 4:00PM Friday afternoon.  (Note:  during this time we also had a 30 minute detour trying to find a gas station at one point in the middle of nowhere.  I swear we were probably running on fumes.  Rick was pretty relieved when we found one and I have to say, I truly thought I was going to throw up.)  Talk about an emotional roller coaster we went on during this trip.  We kept asking ourselves, “At what point do we just give up?  Is there some higher power that it trying to keep us from this race?”  When we arrived, we all climbed into the trailer where Rick and my dad slept on their gravity chairs and Mason and I slept on the bench in the trailer.  A few hours later, we were up and being greeted by our fellow racers.  As usual, the racing was hard.  Mason was running pretty much in 10 place for the practices and time qualifications.  We tried this and tried that, only to come up with the conclusion that we just couldn’t find any speed.   These races are so hard to tune in because there is so much time in between that the track conditions change every time Mason is out on a run.  Finally come feature time, Mason went out and looked good.  I was so nervous and uneasy.  I just kept pacing the dirt thinking about all we went through to get to that race.  I just had a bad feeling that I couldn’t shake.  During the race there we a couple cautions and they had to restart the race a couple of times.  The officials left the lapped two karts in the middle of the pack which just so happened to be right in front of Mason by one kart.  This just meant Mason had to work that much harder to get around these karts that weren’t even technically on the lead lap.  Well, he eventually made it around the kids in front of him and the lapped traffic.  He ended up taking the checkered flag in 5th place out of 14.  We were ecstatic!   Even though at this point, I would have been happy with a last place finish, as long as my baby wasn’t hurt, it felt great to get that 5th place finish.  We are so proud of Mason and the way he pulled himself together after such a bad start to the trip and such a long day of struggle.    We ended up sleeping another night in the trailer and woke up early Sunday for the long agonizing trip home.  The trip home went very smoothly.  We walked in the door and… no power!  Really?!?  Lol.  Ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that the lesson we were supposed to learn on this trip was that we can do anything we put our minds to.  When you have to work hard for what you want, it means so much more that if it were to just come easy.  Dream Big…Work Hard.

"It's good to be back" ???

As we pulled up to Arthur Raceway this past Saturday the first words out of Mason's mouth were "It's good to be back".  Little did he know what the night was going to bring.  During practice he looked really sketchy.  He wasn't running very good lines and having so much experience at this track, Rick and I were a bit confused as to his thinking.  Well Rick had some words with him that ultimately led to a not so great outcome.  Mason has a tendency to pick and choose which words he hears during a conversation and this was certainly one of those times.  He was told by his dad not to pass on the inside, needless to say, there was more to the conversation but none of that translated.  I guess, he is only 9; small attention span.  Anyway, come feature time, he ran in second place during the purple plate alcohol class and ultimately that is where he finished.  (He should have attempted to pass but didn't want to get in trouble.)  The kart looked fairly good.  It could always be better but we put more focus and attention on the gold plate kart because that's the one we are struggling with so badly at Arthur.  The race started pretty poorly for him as he seemed to keep going backwards in the lineup.  Mason finished in 2nd, however, was awarded with 3rd place.  I'm not going to try to sugar coat it, Mason truly was a 3rd place kart, but the way the race played out, he should have took 2nd place.  On the final lap, Mason was running in 3rd place.  He and the 2nd place kart approached a lapped kart and each took a different route to go around.  Mason took the inside and Hunter #22, took the outside.  Mason made it by the lapped kart but Hunter didn't and they spun off to cause a caution.  In the meantime, Raven #33 took the checkered flag and Mason followed, also taking the checkered flag.  After deliberation by the officials, they somehow came up with the call of freezing the field to the last completed lap, where Mason was running in 3rd position and Hunter in 2nd.  In my opinion, this was a really bad call.  I'm not saying that Hunter didn't deserve 2nd place, because that boy raced his heart out Saturday night.  Hunter is a great driver and a super nice kid.  Just as we were a 3rd place kart all night, he was a 2nd place kart but the way the race played out, Mason clearly should have been awarded the 2nd place.  I was pretty upset and once again had to calm myself down.  What's done is done and there's no going back.  I will admit though that I do agree with Mason, it was nice to be back at our local track and see familiar faces.  The kids at Arthur are all great kids and really good drivers.  They are really polite and courteous  to one another off and on the track.  I get a kick out of seeing all of them improve their skills as drivers.  We have a couple more Saturdays (not this coming Saturday though) of racing at Arthur before we go back out to the Burris Tour, hopefully we can pull ourselves together.  Ultimately, we wouldn't have to worry about shady calls if we were running in the front.  :) 

Here is the video, you can make your own conclusions...

Arthur Raceway Gold Plate Feature 6/23/2012

Here's his first feature race of the night...
Arthur Raceway Purple Plate Alcohol Feature 6/23/2012

Don't forget...Rick is racing in the North Branch Bump-N-Run this coming Saturday, June 30th.  The car's ready to go, as long as Rick doesn't blow it up racing it around the field first.

BACK FROM ILLINOIS - Round 2 Burris Thunder Tour

First of all I just want to comment on how we must be getting pretty popular.  My blog has received the most page views ever today and I haven't even created a blog about this past weekend yet!  Either that or we have a stalker.  Lol.  And before I begin, I just want to take a minute to recognize all of our sponsors, especially Dietrich's Collision in Imlay City (810-724-8540) and our silent contributor (you know who you are) for making funds available for us to make this particular trip possible and continue to race this season.  We truly appreciate your support.

Dietrich's Collision, Imlay City, MI  810-724-8540

T.G. Priehs Paving Co., Dryden, MI 810-796-2600

DieTech Tool & Mfg., Imlay City, MI  810-724-0505

Don's Auto Repair, Imlay City, MI  810-724-3147

United Automotive, Imlay City, MI  810-724-6174

Our trip to Illinois for the second round of the Burris Thunder Tour was pretty productive.  The travel went great with us leaving Friday morning, arriving at Cole's County Speedway around 6:00 pm, EST.  It took us a couple of hours to realize we changed time zones and were actually an hour behind now in CST.  We made camp pretty quickly, checked out the track and pit area and settled in to watch the Friday night racing.  Luck must have been on our side though as the very nice, intelligent and talented guys we pitted next to at the previous race in Indiana at Ben Hur ended up pitting right next to us again.  I can't say enough good things about these two guys.  The driver is Jeremy Howe #48 and races in the Sr. Champ class and is an incredible driver.  His buddy and mechanic, for lack of a better word, is Don and he is literally a walking dictionary when it comes to everything karting.  They were incredible and helped us so much throughout Saturday's racing.  The day was extremely hot and the track was pretty tough.  There really isn't too much to say about how the practices and qualifying went.  Mason was consistently running mid pack throughout the day.  It just appeared as though he was glued to the track.  The engine seemed to run really good and we were getting the correct RPM's out of it.  Rick and I (more Rick) have been pounding the Internet and karting books trying to pick up any amount of knowledge and tips we could possibly use to help Mason gain speed.  After Don checked out the kart and informed us of some changes we needed to make, we went out for the feature.  Mason had some tough moments during the race and he wasn't looking all that great.  About half way through the race though he seemed to gain speed by running a few really good laps with clean lines and he positioned himself in 4th place.  After running a couple of laps in 4th a caution flag was thrown.  They attempted to line the kids up correctly several times and they never did get the line up right.  Mason was restarted in 6th place.  As you can imagine, I was livid.  Ultimately, Mason finished in 5th place out of 10 karts.  He was quite upset when he came off the track, knowing full well that he was not put back in the correct position.  We assured him that it was no fault of his and that he did everything right.  I made the decision to allow myself to cool down and not make a big deal out of the mistake.  I had to keep telling myself what's done is done and there isn't anything we can do to change it.  I will admit though that when I saw the tears on Mason's cheeks as he pulled off his helmet, mama was ready to pounce.  We won't let it get us down and we aren't going to quit.  Those that know our family and how we operate, know that we take these setbacks and use them as fuel to drive our determination to be successful.  Quitting isn't an option and we will keep going, dreaming big and working hard, knowing that our persistence and determination will ultimately pay off in the end.


As an additional note, related to my first comments of becoming popular (I mentioned this on Facebook but forgot to mention it in my blog)...
When we went out to Owosso to race a couple of weeks ago, an older gentleman came up to us and asked "Is this Racin' Mason?"  We had no idea who this man was.  We replied with "Yes it is!"  He proceeded to tell us he was a fan and it turns out he had been voting for Mason everyday to win the "Search for a Champion" contest that I had him entered into.  He was randomly reviewing the entries and found that Mason was local and liked his video so he continued to vote for him.  Pretty cool, huh?

TRY, TRY AGAIN

Well, this Friday we will be heading out to IL to run our second race of the Burris Thunder Series.  We feel good about our program at this point and are looking forward to the challenge.  There are so many different directions we could go with the racing but it's difficult to decide which one to take.  We are giving up points at our local track every time we miss a race there but in our minds, it makes more sense to try different things while time and money allow.   We learn something new from every race we go to. 

"You can never cross the ocean

unless you have the courage to

lose sight of the shore."

                                                                                             Mahatma Gandhi, India Spiritual Leader

BACK ON TRACK?!?

Saturday, May 26th we went for the first time to Owosso Kart Speedway to race.  Mason ran in the Purple Plate Clone class.  There were 4 other kids registered.  Everyone was so nice and the track was nice with large pit areas.  When the kids weren't racing, they were all playing ball in the center of the pit area.  We were really impressed.  We really wanted to check the track out because it's slightly larger than our regular track, Arthur Raceway in Reese.  I know, I know, you want to know how he did, right?  He went out for a couple practice sessions and he looked pretty good.  During the second practice, however, he had to exit the track early because his body was falling apart in the front right.  Of course it's nothing a little (or a lot) of duck tape can't fix.  So we made some adjustments and he was ready for the first heat.  He started on the pole since he drew the lowest number for his position.  He went out and ran his little heart out, winning the race.  We made a couple more adjustments and changed tires hoping to be even faster and he went out for the second heat.  Unfortunately, he ended up with a 3rd place finish as our adjustments didn't seem to do any good.  I changed his tires back to the first ones we were running and Rick made even more adjustments to get him ready for the Feature.  He started the race in 2nd place.  He looked good and was running strong when another driver tried to pass him where there wasn't really room to pass.  They both spun and Mason took a big hit.  They lined the drivers back up again and they took off.  Mason was running in second place with just a couple of laps to go when a tire went shooting across the track.  From my stand point, it was hard to see whose kart it came off of as they all kept racing.  I quickly realized it was Mason's kart that lost the wheel.  So, needless to say, he didn't finish the race.  He very likely would have took second place but that's not going to happen on 3 wheels.  It appears that the damage may have been caused from the wreck he was involved in or by some fluke thing, the lug nuts started to back off of two of the wheel studs.  Either way, we have to replace a wheel stud and possibly get a new rim.  Mason took losing the tire pretty hard and was crying when he came off the track.  We assured him there was nothing we could do and that he did a great job driving at this track, especially being his very first time.  He actually had some pretty big fears of this track too.  The very first time we visited the track, just as spectators, there was a kid that crashed badly right in front of the grandstands we were sitting in.  Come Saturday morning, Mason flat out told me he didn't want to go to Owosso and didn't want to race there.  We talked it out and I explained to him that there are dangers in every track and that he has raced on much more dangerous places than Owosso.  I reassured him that he is a good driver and he knows what he's doing and how to control the kart.  We are very proud of him and all in all, accomplished what we set out to do.