Still Racing -- a bit smaller!

If you have been visiting my blog for awhile you may recall that John raced off-road (click on off-road race category on the side to read more) and each summer was spent with him working on his race car and us traveling to the various races. John had decided that he would take off a year as he needed a break but ended up selling his car instead as he thought it better to get out when he could. The night his car and trailer were picked up was an emotional one for all of us as it was so final.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="432" caption="John's race car leaving for the final time. :("][/caption]

He would love to race again but the way things are going now you really need a major sponsor and those are hard to come by.  John's ideal would be to do as the pros do and have a crew to work on the vehicle and he basically just drive it. But that is most likely not going to happen. And so, he has gone back to the form of racing he started with when he was a boy -- Remote Control Racing! :)

Last year the off-road races were sponsored by a company who makes remote control vehicles and so when John would win a race he would also win an RC truck. Now, each of the boys have one and John has a truck to race. He built an off-road track for them in our fields to race on and that has been a lot of fun. Now though, he found that 20 minutes from here there is an off-road RC track to race on and that has become John's new way to get in his racing.  He is quite good and the guys at the track said if he continues to come they won't have a chance. This is a lot closer of a venue and much more economical!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="469" caption="John has the black & red truck. "][/caption]

This weekend would be an off-road racing weekend up north at my favorite track. (Partly because we really like the church we worship with there). Each time we come to these weekends it is with a bit of nostalgia and thinking of what we would be doing if... those were good times together. But we are enjoying our summer and John is relieved that he does not have to be spending so much time on his car.  We are finding many things to fill up our weekends -- not sure how we ever did race.

Racing -- End of Season

John completed this trying season of racing labor day weekend and he finished well! The Crandon race in September is always one of my favorites as it is festive with a parade on Friday and lots of celebration and fireworks at night. The only downside is that there are tons of people and it is a little crazy that way. It is a small town but for this race they estimated 45,000 people there!  John wanted to end the season on a good note being that it has been such a struggle. He looked good at practice and we were happy about that.

The first race he started in the back row and was not able to get the holeshot making it harder to get to the front. He ended up finishing fourth and we were thankful that he finished!

Sunday's race we were excited for but it was also a little emotional as John had just sold his car (I'll tell you more in another post). All I wanted at that point was for him to get on the podium. This time he was able to start in the front row as he finally had enough points to earn him the spot but was on the inside making it harder to push ahead. There was a lot of carnage this race and thankfully John was able to avoid that even when there was a spinout right in front of him. It was an exciting race and John came in 3rd! The kids and I raced to try and see him on the podium one last time but could only really see him on the big screen as there were way too many people.

And so, we are done for the year and we'll see what the future holds.

Always a winner to me! Getting out of his Pro Super Buggy one final time...

Racing -- disappointed again.

For those of you who are interested in John's racing here is a quick update. He raced in Bark River, MI this past weekend which is his favorite track. Of course in keeping with how the season has gone he was working hard the past two weeks in-between races to fix various problems. (I probably forgot to blog about the Oshkosh race but he had amazing races that weekend with a podium win for one of them!) After his practice run on Friday night two bolts from the power steering were sheered off. That was an easy fix though as he replaced the bolts.

Saturday's race John had a great start getting himself up into fourth in the first lap coming on strong but that didn't last long. Another car spun out in front of John causing him to run into the car and come to a stop. He was stuck there for a short time trying to restart the engine. After he got it going he was going much slower. As it turns out John had lost power steering and had to "muscle" his way the rest of the race. Meaning that the wheel is shaking all over the place and he has to hold tight to keep it straight in addition to shifting, etc. He was able to finish in 5th but was disappointed and had very sore arms. He again replaced the bolts that had sheered off hoping it would hold.

Sunday's race started off good again. He was going strong and was in fourth place about halfway through when they called a "competition yellow" which bunches all of the cars up to make it more interesting for those watching. It can be a good thing if you are in the back but if you are up front, not always. This time for John after the slow-down those bolts sheered off again and he lost his power steering. He pulled off the track not finishing the race as it was too much to try and muscle through again.

John and I have talked about how good and seemingly easy the past years have been and are stressing to the children how life will not always be easy and that we need to accept the bad right along with the good.

In looking the car over John would need to replace a part with the power steering that he does not want to spend the money on and so that is the end of our race season. :( He is still contemplating what to do in the future but at this time he is planning a year off.

I can't image a summer without racing as it has become a way of life that began even before we were married -- racing 17 years. It is a good family time, (at least when Daddy doesn't have to spend as much time on his car) and the boys will miss it. His dream situation would be to drive for a team where a crew works on his vehicle, most likely a truck, and he gets paid to drive. We'll see what the future holds.

2nd Race Weekend -- A couple hang-ups

John worked long and hard on getting his engine ready for the race a last weekend ago. (Yes, I know I am actually posting 3 weeks later but better late than never. I actually wrote this shortly after but never posted as I didn't have a picture. I am back-dating to keep in line). He was able to get a new head for the engine and in the past few weeks checked and double checked all he could think of to hopefully have his engine running as it should. As the season has not been what we have hoped for we pretty much were counting on the worst happening.

I was to drive our van and meet John at my parents house. He had taken the motor home to work with him and my parents were going to drive our van up the next day. I spent the day with last minute baking, etc. and didn't realize what little Missy Blue was up to. I had the children all finally in the van and ready to go. As I turned the key I hear a clicking noise and I assumed the battery was dead. I remembered then that the van alarm had gone off earlier as Missy was playing inside with the locks but I didn't think to check what she had been up to. It seems she probably had turned all of the lights on and they stayed on for most of the day.

I called John at work and he couldn't believe it but thankfully his car was home to use in jumping the battery so the boys and I went in search of the jumper cables. They helped me to get the hoods lifted and find the battery. (I did know these things but the boys insisted that I had no clue what I was doing). I was amazed to see how they flocked around the hood of the vehicles as if drawn to the engine. Must be a boy thing. John talked me through getting the cables hooked up as I had not done that for some time. Of course it didn't work at first and I kept rearranging until I did get a spark. John realized that the posts on his battery were corroded and so I needed to make sure the cables were really gripping it. That did it and the van started up. Thank you Lord! We can finally be on our way.

The rest of the weekend was a good one. John's parents were there as always and mine always come for the Bark River race. John raced on Saturday and it was an exciting one but he still had some problems with his carburetor causing him to be slower than he would like. It looked as if he would come in fifth place but at the finish line another car made a move to try and get ahead which caused his car to stall and John slid into fourth! We relaxed a little that evening with the kids swimming at the pool at my parents hotel but we went back and John took apart the carburetor and cleaned that all out finding a broken spring. He was tired out that night and his eyes hurt from trying to see those small parts. Racing is not coming quite as easy for him this year.

Sunday he got his car all ready to go and we headed to Bark River Bible church which we always enjoy so much. It was a beautiful day and John was ready to race. He started in last position and throughout the race worked his way to the top finishing in second! We were all so excited to see him back on the podium! It was a good weekend and this time John can relax a little more between races.

1st Race Part 2 -- Engine Problems

My memory being what it is (horrible!) the details of the last race are no longer fresh in my mind and so here is a brief “rest of the story”.

After leaving early that Friday morning we arrived at the race track in Crandon and set up camp. John planned on testing out his car during practice early evening. Last year he had the opportunity to test out the car weeks before the race season began which he thought was an advantage but this year it didn’t work out that way and so he was anxious to see how the car would run.

During practice he had a few laps and looked good and I got my practice taking pictures with my new camera.

Unfortunately, that was short-lived and a rod put a hole in the engine and that was the end of that.

The hole was in his back-up engine but yet that meant he spent the rest of the night putting in his new engine. The next morning though he was unable to keep the new engine running and ended up scratching the race. He was initially disappointed but honestly, I think he was prepared from all the difficulty leading up to this point. We enjoyed the rest of the weekend watching races and the boys and John had fun racing their rc trucks on the special off-road track. In the midst of that John was planning and getting things in motion to get his engine fixed and ready for the next race.

John taking a turn using Re-Pete's remote. He had to race something and that is actually how he got his start in racing -- racing RC cars. :)

Pete's truck is the blue and Re-Pete's is the white racing on the off-road rc track.

 

1st Race Part 1 -- The Lord's Protection

Last weekend was John's first race of the season and we were very unsure of how things would go. In getting the car ready this spring he has encountered problem after problem and began to wonder if he was even going to be racing. In the end everything came together with a lot of hard work but the car was ready to go.

We left last Thursday and needed to fill up with propane about 1/2 hour from our house. As soon as we arrived John said he braked and felt it get loose. He checked and found that the brake line had broke. He slowly and carefully drove about 5 minutes away to a car dealer to see if it could be fixed. They could but it wouldn't be finished until around noon the next day seeing as it was now 4 p.m. and they closed at 5 p.m.

My parents live a few minutes away and so my Mom came to pick me and a few of the children up and then I shuttled back and forth to pick up more and then get John. We then took their car home to pick up our van, go back to pick up the children and return home yet again. The children were not happy about this turn of events. They had been so excited to go racing and sleep in the motor home that night. We had a good night of rest though and got up bright and early, had a treat of a McD's breakfast to save time (a rare occurrence) and thankfully found that the motor home was already done. Yippee!

I cannot tell you how thankful John and I were for the Lord's protection over us! John told me many scenarios that could have transpired with the brake line but rather than happening on a busy highway or in the middle of traffic or even driving down the big hill near our home, it broke as we stopped in a parking lot. With this happening though we talked about the weekend ahead and the prospect of something else going wrong as with all that had occurred thus far it seemed as if maybe John was not supposed to race.

Stay tuned for Part 2 -- when I have a chance to type more...

Race Banquet

I am slowly trying to catch up on blog-worthy events from the past month, so, a few weekends ago John and I were able to attend the end of the year race banquet. As he was points champion in his class we looked forward to the evening and the time away alone.  We arrived at the banquet and as I was looking through the program for the evening saw that he was also named Pro Driver of the Year!!! He had no idea and was thrilled about that. He had nine podium finishes and four wins this season and what an honor to receive that title with all of the competition! I enjoyed watching him give two speeches with a huge picture of him on the screen behind. Words seem to come easily to him in this venue. He came away with a monetary award, two trophies, and a remote control truck (the boys were thrilled!). Unfortunately he said with the economy the way it is right now this was the worst possible year to win a title as potential sponsors for the coming year will be buckling down. Congratulations on a wonderful year John! We enjoyed watching you all the way!

There he is, my 2008 Super-Buggy Champion!

Here he is with his Dad and trophies.

Don't we coordinate nicely! :) I never realize how much taller he is until I look at pictures of us. I was even wearing heels. (This is the same day as my last post which is why I am wearing the same thing).

The Last Race!

Labor day weekend was my husband's final race of the season! What a relief to be at the end, although it also means an end to our summer. This was a big weekend celebration and so we went to Crandon on Thursday night. Friday was spent in town as the race cars and trucks are on display parked along the streets, which is followed by a small parade. The weather was warm, so it finally felt like summer to me. On that note, according to my Dad, this has been our coolest summer in the past 34 years! I know some of my blog friends live in warmer climates where you are sweltering but we have come no where near this year. We never even hit 90° this summer! This has been too cool for me but where is that kind of summer when I am big an pregnant?!?

The kids watching the parade next to Daddy's car

Back to the story. My husband went into this weekend being the points leader in his Pro-Super Buggy Class by 37 points and needed to finish in at least 8th place on Saturday to clinch the title. He had two plans depending on his start. If he could get the hole-shot he would run with it but if not, he was going to play it safe and hold back to make sure he finished without breaking. He ended up going with the second plan, which made for a boring race on our part, but sealed him with the victory  as points champion for the year! Yippee!

Daddy and his pit crew celebrating his victory! Number 1!!! The kids shirts say "Go Daddy Go" which they wore to every race.

Sunday we spent part of the day at the beach as the race was late afternoon. It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed the time together just relaxing. We looked forward to the race as my husband was ready to give it his all and go for a podium finish but it was not to be. About three or so laps into the race he pulled off the track and had to be towed back to the trailer. According to my source, George, an aluminum pulley came off causing him to loose power and oil pressure. A podium finish would have been a nice ending to the season but I am so proud of John for the excellent and very exciting race season! He is a talented driver and is more fun to watch with each year. Congratulations honey on being the points champ for the year!!!!

My and my Man in a rare picture together. Tank took this for us and did really well! You can see Missy Blue walking in the background.

Quick Race Update

My husband raced two weeks ago a little over an hour away from here which was nice as friends and family were able to come and cheer him on. He had two great races again and had another amazing finish in the second race as he came in second after having a flat tire for at least four laps. He is having a great season and is in first for points in his class! He has been on the podium 8 times which is more than anyone (even the trucks) in the series this year! Looking forward to seeing what the end of the season will bring. For those of you who are interested in my husband's racing you can always check for updates on his website which is linked on my sidebar - Mason Motorsports.

Another Weekend Away

We have kept busy this summer as usual and it seems I am always either doing more laundry to prepare for a trip or to catch up after a trip. Being pregnant, my energy is not what I wish it to be, so right now I am thrilled to be home, relaxing (and trying to get my homeschool order together).

My husband had another race this past weekend, this time in Upper Michigan. My parents were able to come to this race along with my in-laws who help out at every race. The highlight of the weekend was that after a trying season with countless problems my husband was able to grab the holeshot and lead the entire race pulling out a win on Saturday. We were all so proud of him! As he was being interviewed our boys ran down to the fence admiring their daddy.  Unfortunately the next day’s race wasn’t as successful as he had some contact in the beginning with another car which caused a flat tire. He kept racing as long as he could but pulled off to the side as the wheel was smoking. Thankfully he was able to cross the finish line and so will get some points for the race.

Camping at the racetrack this time around was not my idea of a good time. Usually I sleep without a problem but Saturday night was so humid and still with no breeze coming in and I could not sleep. In my wake time I realized what I thankfully usually sleep through… a lot of noise and partying. Unfortunately, there are spectators that camp right along with racers and they stay awake drinking and such until who knows when. I was having a hard time with my attitude as I thought of my children sleeping while drunk people were passing by our motorhome making loud noises and my husband was able to sleep. I wanted to go out and say something but at 1 a.m. was not dressed for the occasion and what would I say to people who were not in their right mind anyway? Instead as they passed by I quickly opened the blinds which scared them enough to not come past again. As I finally prayed about the situation God answered quickly and sent a loud clash of thunder and a downpour followed which put a damper on the parties going on.

But alas, sleep was not meant to be. George fell off of his bunk bed screaming and we went running. Thankfully he landed on the bed across from him and only hurt his stomach in the position he landed. It could have been much worse if he had fallen on his brother laying on the ground below. Not long after that Tank woke crying and ended up throwing up and I was ever so thankful for a motorhome with a toilet rather than having to rush to the porta-potty! My husband and I both fell asleep exhausted.

I am thankful for an area Bible Church that we worship with each time we are in the area. It is so good to meet with fellow believers even while away and get to know them so that now when we walk through the door they recognize us. Some even attend the races and cheer my husband on.

We arrived home Sunday evening to relax from a long weekend away. “There’s no place like home” is so fitting for how we were feeling. Two more race weekends to go but unfortunately that also brings with it an end to summer.

I love this smiley picture after his win! The clean car means he lead the whole race! Click on the picture and scroll down to Super Buggy for full story and another picture.

Sitting at a campfire with Grandma and Grandpa

Being interviewed for the Speed Channel.

Race weekend #2

I am finally getting back to our race weekend but will keep it short and sweet. We always enjoy the race at Crandon as it is very close to my husband's parents house and so we spend the weekend with them rather than camping out in our motorhome. This is my favorite racetrack as it has the most beautiful setting with the trees in the northwoods as a backdrop in total contrast to the dirt and grime from all of the cars and trucks racing out there. Saturday's race was looking good. My husband got a good start and soon passed into 2nd and then 3rd place. One lap later he moved into 1st place and we were so excited! Unfortunately, on the last lap his left-rear wheel broke off and he landed after a jump unable to go anywhere. It was a big disappointment for him coming so close to a win in addition to that he would not be able to repair the car in time for the next day's race. He was able to enjoy the next day however as we worshipped with an area church and then spent time as a family relaxing at the beach.

Being towed (you can see the hook on the left side) and pulled into the trailer (left-rear wheel missing).

 

Enjoying the beautiful day at the beach with RePete

 

 

 

Race Season has begun

 

My husband races a Super Buggy car off-road (on dirt but over jumps not just around a circle) and this past weekend we traveled to Minnesota for the first race of the season. We travel in a motor home which is great as there is no luggage to pack and unpack and there isn’t much of a need to stop since the bathroom is right on board. The scenery was beautiful as we crossed the Mississippi river with all of the hills surrounding it. The weather was good for racing although we did have storms keeping us awake much of Saturday night which made for a very muddy track.

Missy Blue at the races

The boys create mud pots from the mud off of Daddy's car each race

My husband had a great weekend coming in 7th in the first race even though he got bumped and ended up with a flat tire. At the beginning of that race he passed 6 cars to get to 6th position winning him a “hard charger” award. The next day he pulled out front almost from the beginning and held onto 1st by quite a distance. I made the mistake of saying “it was a boring race” as there wasn’t any action. Yes, I learned now that I need to be thankful for a great competition with little action as I recall the day before there were two cars in his race that rolled and were quite damaged. It is fun to watch how much the boys enjoy racing and see how proud they are of their daddy. Each year they get more involved trying to help scrape the mud off of the car and other odd jobs. George especially knows more about what goes on at the races than I do. Our summer will be filled with racing and while that may not be my cup of tea I enjoy the time we have together and am proud of all my husband has accomplished.

George helping Daddy put the new wheel on.

The boys proud of Daddy's first place finish!

Podium win holding his winning check.