Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (August 2021)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
August 28, 2021
Hi Everybody,
The countdown is on, one more regular season race to go! Just sayin’
August 21st we couldn’t race due to technical difficulties, but we didn’t end up missing anything because they were rained out. It worked out great for us.
As for this past weekend, well, I don’t have much to report other than the car sucked! Yes, I said it, it sucked. The guys worked hard during the week on a new set up which they had great hopes that it would work. It didn’t. Not sure what went wrong but it went wrong horribly.
The Heat race, well he was supposed to start on the front row, but he didn’t feel the car was working right after the hot laps, so he chose to start in the back. That was a good move on his part because I could see that it wasn’t turning properly on corner one. I couldn't tell from my vantage point about the other corners but for sure corner one looked bad. So, after a few laps he pulled in.
For the Feature, he was starting 14th of 17 cars. The guys had worked hard on changing the set up with hopes of a better run. Well, again, after a few laps he brought it in. He said it was dangerously bad. It’s better that he just park it. But it seemed a few good cars had problems of some sort last Saturday so in the end he finished 15th of 17 cars. Pretty good considering.
Like I said above, this week is the last regular season race at BOS. The guys will be working hard on finding out what happened last weekend and hopefully Bruce can have a good race this coming Friday.
We haven’t completely decided on what other race we may participate in in the coming weeks. There’s Brighton’s Applefest and BOS Fall Nationals. I guess it all depends on what they find in the car this week. But I will keep you posted.
That’s it for this week. Not many on track pictures because he wasn’t on track very long…. sorry.
Either way, hope to see you at the races.
Have a great week,
Lynda
The countdown is on, one more regular season race to go! Just sayin’
August 21st we couldn’t race due to technical difficulties, but we didn’t end up missing anything because they were rained out. It worked out great for us.
As for this past weekend, well, I don’t have much to report other than the car sucked! Yes, I said it, it sucked. The guys worked hard during the week on a new set up which they had great hopes that it would work. It didn’t. Not sure what went wrong but it went wrong horribly.
The Heat race, well he was supposed to start on the front row, but he didn’t feel the car was working right after the hot laps, so he chose to start in the back. That was a good move on his part because I could see that it wasn’t turning properly on corner one. I couldn't tell from my vantage point about the other corners but for sure corner one looked bad. So, after a few laps he pulled in.
For the Feature, he was starting 14th of 17 cars. The guys had worked hard on changing the set up with hopes of a better run. Well, again, after a few laps he brought it in. He said it was dangerously bad. It’s better that he just park it. But it seemed a few good cars had problems of some sort last Saturday so in the end he finished 15th of 17 cars. Pretty good considering.
Like I said above, this week is the last regular season race at BOS. The guys will be working hard on finding out what happened last weekend and hopefully Bruce can have a good race this coming Friday.
We haven’t completely decided on what other race we may participate in in the coming weeks. There’s Brighton’s Applefest and BOS Fall Nationals. I guess it all depends on what they find in the car this week. But I will keep you posted.
That’s it for this week. Not many on track pictures because he wasn’t on track very long…. sorry.
Either way, hope to see you at the races.
Have a great week,
Lynda
August 20, 2021
Hi Everybody,
Due to technical difficulties we most likely won’t be racing Saturday night.
Bruce didn’t think it was that hard of a hit last weekend, so the axle and other thingy was ordered early but upon further inspection there was more damaged then expected.
The parts were ordered but did not come in when they were expected. So, due to timing of everything Bruce does not think he can have the car ready for this weekend.
I’m not shedding too many tears over this. It’s going to be stupid hot so staying in AC will be fine with me.
Have a safe and great weekend, and stay cool,
Lynda
Due to technical difficulties we most likely won’t be racing Saturday night.
Bruce didn’t think it was that hard of a hit last weekend, so the axle and other thingy was ordered early but upon further inspection there was more damaged then expected.
The parts were ordered but did not come in when they were expected. So, due to timing of everything Bruce does not think he can have the car ready for this weekend.
I’m not shedding too many tears over this. It’s going to be stupid hot so staying in AC will be fine with me.
Have a safe and great weekend, and stay cool,
Lynda
August 14, 2021
Hi Everybody,
Sorry, I’m late but here it is.
Last Saturday at the BOS was supposed to be a 2-race night for us. The rain delayed race from July and the regularly scheduled race.
For the rain delayed race, Bruce was starting near the back. The track was very dry, no bite anywhere on it. A few cars were going over the edge trying to see if the top line had anything, and it didn’t. Bruce did go over the edge on corner 3 (in fact, he said the car spun around a couple of times and he laughed to himself because it happened so quickly). But he was able to get back on the track. Unfortunately, he was at the back of the pack. The race director did suggest to another driver to let Bruce go in front of him considering he was a lap down (the other car not Bruce), but this person decided otherwise. (I promised Bruce I wouldn’t call him the maroon of the night 😉). So, as Bruce was trying to get past him (which is often a dangerous ordeal) he ran Bruce down into the corner 2 tire which spun Bruce into the in field. From my vantage point, when Bruce drove back onto the track, I could see the front end looked funny (that’s my technical evaluation). I thought to myself, he’s going to drive into the pits, and he did. When I got to the car Bruce was wrenching on the steering wheel, I asked what was going on and he frantically pointed to the front end. I yelled over to Bobby to take a look and after Bobby’s quick inspection he threw his hands up in the air. The front axle and thingamajig were bend and broken. That was the end of our night of racing.
I was proud of how Bruce was racing that night. I could see that he was determined, and I think even having fun. He was starting from the back, but he was trying to make something of it which was great to see. He even laughed when he got out of the car about his spin off turn 3. He felt that the car was slowly getting better during the race (a tire thing). Too bad, I’m sure he would have had a great night in the second scheduled race.
In the end, he finished 11th out of 13 cars. Really a 11th place finish isn’t that bad considering he was out of the race. There were two good/top drivers that finished behind Bruce due to technical difficulties as well. That just shows you how bad the track was.
And here’s a shout out to a great racing family, the Herbison’s. Jarrett came over to Bruce and offered his Sportsman car for the second race so he can put in a couple of laps to get points/payout. Bruce declined because he wouldn’t want to be responsible if something happened to Jarrett’s car but that’s the kind of people they are. Thanks Herbie’s, you’re the best!
And congratulations to Jarrett on his Sportsman win that night!
Well, that’s it for this week.
This coming weekend there will be a double Feature for the Sportsman (rain delay race from July) and the Sprint cars will be there. It will be another busy night.
Remember, if you’re planning on coming out to see Bruce race, you only have 3 more regularly scheduled races at the BOS then next season…. then that’s it for Makinson Racing.
Have a good and safe week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
Sorry, I’m late but here it is.
Last Saturday at the BOS was supposed to be a 2-race night for us. The rain delayed race from July and the regularly scheduled race.
For the rain delayed race, Bruce was starting near the back. The track was very dry, no bite anywhere on it. A few cars were going over the edge trying to see if the top line had anything, and it didn’t. Bruce did go over the edge on corner 3 (in fact, he said the car spun around a couple of times and he laughed to himself because it happened so quickly). But he was able to get back on the track. Unfortunately, he was at the back of the pack. The race director did suggest to another driver to let Bruce go in front of him considering he was a lap down (the other car not Bruce), but this person decided otherwise. (I promised Bruce I wouldn’t call him the maroon of the night 😉). So, as Bruce was trying to get past him (which is often a dangerous ordeal) he ran Bruce down into the corner 2 tire which spun Bruce into the in field. From my vantage point, when Bruce drove back onto the track, I could see the front end looked funny (that’s my technical evaluation). I thought to myself, he’s going to drive into the pits, and he did. When I got to the car Bruce was wrenching on the steering wheel, I asked what was going on and he frantically pointed to the front end. I yelled over to Bobby to take a look and after Bobby’s quick inspection he threw his hands up in the air. The front axle and thingamajig were bend and broken. That was the end of our night of racing.
I was proud of how Bruce was racing that night. I could see that he was determined, and I think even having fun. He was starting from the back, but he was trying to make something of it which was great to see. He even laughed when he got out of the car about his spin off turn 3. He felt that the car was slowly getting better during the race (a tire thing). Too bad, I’m sure he would have had a great night in the second scheduled race.
In the end, he finished 11th out of 13 cars. Really a 11th place finish isn’t that bad considering he was out of the race. There were two good/top drivers that finished behind Bruce due to technical difficulties as well. That just shows you how bad the track was.
And here’s a shout out to a great racing family, the Herbison’s. Jarrett came over to Bruce and offered his Sportsman car for the second race so he can put in a couple of laps to get points/payout. Bruce declined because he wouldn’t want to be responsible if something happened to Jarrett’s car but that’s the kind of people they are. Thanks Herbie’s, you’re the best!
And congratulations to Jarrett on his Sportsman win that night!
Well, that’s it for this week.
This coming weekend there will be a double Feature for the Sportsman (rain delay race from July) and the Sprint cars will be there. It will be another busy night.
Remember, if you’re planning on coming out to see Bruce race, you only have 3 more regularly scheduled races at the BOS then next season…. then that’s it for Makinson Racing.
Have a good and safe week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
August 7, 2021
Hi Everybody,
This past weekend was the type of race days I don’t like very much. It had rained before we arrived, was sprinkling when we were in the pits. No one would unload their car until it was definite that it wasn’t going to be another downpour. Then the track needed to be worked on so racing started late. It was damp, puddles, pits were muddy, track was tacky, fog rolled in and visors fogged up. Not your typical night of racing.
So here’s how our night went----
Heat Race – started 3rd finished 5th. Didn’t have the right set up for a tacky track. The guys were just starting to figure out the dry track so, like the saying goes, this “threw a wrench in the works!”
Feature race – Twelve of thirteen cars started (they kept listing a car that I never did see race either the Heat or the Feature, not sure what that was about). Bruce started 10 of 12 cars. But the fun part was the fog that kept rolling in (please take note of my sarcasm). After each race the fog would come in, when the cars would start circling the track the fog would lift. The night was cool, damp and muggy all in one. Because of this I had put 7 tear off’s on Bruce’s helmet. Well, the race started, Bruce was doing ok but you could see the set up didn’t stick again. But he was trying, then suddenly he pulled into the in-field. Shortly after a caution flag flew and he came into the pits. Of course I asked what the heck was going on and he told me that suddenly his visor fogged up, he tried pulling the tear-off’s off and it didn’t help so he used his glove to wipe the visor and all of his tear off’s came off except the last one. So, he pulled in. I had told him before the race that if there was any problems with the fog or visor to just pull off, I don’t care that much about racing that I’d like to see him hurt…who would open my beers?!?! Just sayin’!
So, in the end he finished 11th of 12 cars. Not a great night. We don’t race for millions or as a career so I wish we wouldn’t have bothered going this past Saturday night. It was a waste of time and money on our part. He didn’t even get to have much seat time. BOS did the best they could with what they had but the races still finished late and it just wasn’t a great night for us.
One thing we will be investing in very shortly is a Helmet Air Blower System. And why don’t have have one already you ask!?!? Bruce….can you answer this question??!! We’ve talked about it for a few years but he’s never acted on it. I know he will now because I’ll be on his case about it…lol.
You should have seen the fog driving home. For more than half the ride it got so bad at times we had to just follow the centre line directly in front of us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this bad.
Here’s hoping this coming Saturday will have better weather and we won’t have to worry about fog on the track.
The nice part of the race was our long time friends and sponsor; Sandy Vanier and Gordie Brown came to the races. They also brought a friend along, Peter. It was nice to have visitors but it would have been better to have given them a better race to watch. They did enjoy watching a lot of the races and Sandy enjoyed listening to the tower (I let her have my RACEceiver for the night).
Autograph night was postponed yet again due to weather (and the lateness of the races). I’m not sure when they will try again but I’m sure it will happen in the next few weeks.
This coming Saturday will be double Features for the 358’s (make up race from July rainout).
There’s a few nice pics from Rick at the Races and Henry Hannewyk Photography, so check out the gallery as well.
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races.
Cheers,
Lynda