Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (August 2022)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
August 26, 2022
Hi Everybody,
We didn’t race last Friday at Can-Am. The weather was too unpredictable, and we figured they would push it thru and personally, I just didn’t feel like going to a wet, muddy pit area and track. And luckily Bruce agreed.
This coming Friday we will be at MIR. They are having a 358 Series race. There will be a bunch of out of towners visiting. I hope it’s not like last time where a few of them made my maroon list.
I was hoping it would be just a normal race night where we could just enjoy our last couple of races before retirement. But you can’t always get what you want (are you singing that line in your head…come on, you are, aren’t you?!?).
Anyways, if the schedules are correct, we will be racing at MIR this coming Friday, then Can-Am the week after then back to MIR Sept 16th. There may be some other outings in Sept and October but only time and mother nature will tell.
Since we don't have any racing pictures to add to the gallery, I added one of Dale E. Enjoy!
That’s it for this week, hope to see you at the races!
Cheers,
Lynda
P.S.
MIR is showing admission into the stands and pits are Canadian funds at Par! Just sayin’.
We didn’t race last Friday at Can-Am. The weather was too unpredictable, and we figured they would push it thru and personally, I just didn’t feel like going to a wet, muddy pit area and track. And luckily Bruce agreed.
This coming Friday we will be at MIR. They are having a 358 Series race. There will be a bunch of out of towners visiting. I hope it’s not like last time where a few of them made my maroon list.
I was hoping it would be just a normal race night where we could just enjoy our last couple of races before retirement. But you can’t always get what you want (are you singing that line in your head…come on, you are, aren’t you?!?).
Anyways, if the schedules are correct, we will be racing at MIR this coming Friday, then Can-Am the week after then back to MIR Sept 16th. There may be some other outings in Sept and October but only time and mother nature will tell.
Since we don't have any racing pictures to add to the gallery, I added one of Dale E. Enjoy!
That’s it for this week, hope to see you at the races!
Cheers,
Lynda
P.S.
MIR is showing admission into the stands and pits are Canadian funds at Par! Just sayin’.
August 19, 2022
Hi Everybody,
What a busy night of racing, visiting with people and a few maroons for your reading pleasure.
It was a 40-lap race for the 358’s so there were many non-regulars and some of them joined my maroon crew.
From the beginning, it was a nice night to race. Good weather, track conditions were good. All is good. A viewing of the satellite launch, I didn’t see it but Bobby and a few others in the pits did. Sounds like a good night...keep reading.
There were 28 Modifieds, 3 Heat races. Bruce was in the first Heat starting 9th out of 10 cars. He moved up to 7th in a commanding fashion. And again, Bruce said the car felt good and fast. The front tire was off the ground as he came off turn 4, it looked great.
Now for the Feature, Bruce started 19th of the 28 cars. The car was ready and so was Bruce, he felt confident he had a competitive car. The first lap was a disaster for us. Bruce’s line of cars slowed on start because of a car that slowed down and eventually stopped (maroon #1). The part we weren’t too happy about was they did not bring the cars back to restart the race so Bruce was pushed to the back instead of restarting the race where he should have -19th. From 19th to 27th within a lap. The tower didn’t throw the yellow until they cars came back to the front stretch. The car that caused the caution had started it on the back stretch…they should have thrown it then and it should have been a full restart. Again, just my opinion.
As a result, Bruce had even more real estate cover. He kept trying to move ahead, he had a good car but it seemed every time he had a run on the cars ahead they would go 3 wide and Bruce would have to brake to keep from hitting them (maroon #2, 3, 4). Now these guys kept doing it. Or one of the cars Bruce would be trying to pass would move up on him on the back stretch. Bruce has already visited that wall once and he wasn’t going there again. It was frustrating as heck for me so you can imagine how Bruce felt! Then it happened, on lap 23 a couple of the maroons got into it on turns 3-4 and Bruce just happened to be coming around at full speed and almost missed them...but didn’t. At first, I thought it was a mild butt check, when the car came by the front stretch (Bruce was able to keep going) the car had side rear damage. He drove into the pits and the car was on a bit of a tilt. Broken shock, brake line cut, tire with a lovely rut in it and body damage. We were done for the night.
What should have been a good night ended early with a 24th place finish and only getting to race 23 laps. Did I mention that there were a few maroons?!?! I think #’s 1-4 were the main ones. There may have been others, but I didn’t really keep track of the cars (they all look a like to me).
So, needless to say, Bruce and the guys will be working feverishly on the car this week to get it back together. This coming Friday, there’s no 358’s at MIR so we should be going to Can-Am again. Too bad, because Bruce is getting the car working well at MIR and with the handicap system he should have better starting positions.
The next race at MIR will be September 2nd and it will be the final points right. Yes, final regular night at MIR in two weeks.
The regular season is coming to a close very soon. If you want to see him on the track, it’s getting down to now or never!
We did have some friends come out this past Friday night. Shirl and Troy (hope I got his name right, my memory for names has never been that good) came out to see him race. Sorry it wasn’t what we hoped for, but it was great to see you both there.
We also had pit visits. The Herbison’s parked next to us. It was great seeing them again.
That’s it for now. Remember, if you plan on coming out this Friday, we’ll be at Can-Am.
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races.
Lynda
What a busy night of racing, visiting with people and a few maroons for your reading pleasure.
It was a 40-lap race for the 358’s so there were many non-regulars and some of them joined my maroon crew.
From the beginning, it was a nice night to race. Good weather, track conditions were good. All is good. A viewing of the satellite launch, I didn’t see it but Bobby and a few others in the pits did. Sounds like a good night...keep reading.
There were 28 Modifieds, 3 Heat races. Bruce was in the first Heat starting 9th out of 10 cars. He moved up to 7th in a commanding fashion. And again, Bruce said the car felt good and fast. The front tire was off the ground as he came off turn 4, it looked great.
Now for the Feature, Bruce started 19th of the 28 cars. The car was ready and so was Bruce, he felt confident he had a competitive car. The first lap was a disaster for us. Bruce’s line of cars slowed on start because of a car that slowed down and eventually stopped (maroon #1). The part we weren’t too happy about was they did not bring the cars back to restart the race so Bruce was pushed to the back instead of restarting the race where he should have -19th. From 19th to 27th within a lap. The tower didn’t throw the yellow until they cars came back to the front stretch. The car that caused the caution had started it on the back stretch…they should have thrown it then and it should have been a full restart. Again, just my opinion.
As a result, Bruce had even more real estate cover. He kept trying to move ahead, he had a good car but it seemed every time he had a run on the cars ahead they would go 3 wide and Bruce would have to brake to keep from hitting them (maroon #2, 3, 4). Now these guys kept doing it. Or one of the cars Bruce would be trying to pass would move up on him on the back stretch. Bruce has already visited that wall once and he wasn’t going there again. It was frustrating as heck for me so you can imagine how Bruce felt! Then it happened, on lap 23 a couple of the maroons got into it on turns 3-4 and Bruce just happened to be coming around at full speed and almost missed them...but didn’t. At first, I thought it was a mild butt check, when the car came by the front stretch (Bruce was able to keep going) the car had side rear damage. He drove into the pits and the car was on a bit of a tilt. Broken shock, brake line cut, tire with a lovely rut in it and body damage. We were done for the night.
What should have been a good night ended early with a 24th place finish and only getting to race 23 laps. Did I mention that there were a few maroons?!?! I think #’s 1-4 were the main ones. There may have been others, but I didn’t really keep track of the cars (they all look a like to me).
So, needless to say, Bruce and the guys will be working feverishly on the car this week to get it back together. This coming Friday, there’s no 358’s at MIR so we should be going to Can-Am again. Too bad, because Bruce is getting the car working well at MIR and with the handicap system he should have better starting positions.
The next race at MIR will be September 2nd and it will be the final points right. Yes, final regular night at MIR in two weeks.
The regular season is coming to a close very soon. If you want to see him on the track, it’s getting down to now or never!
We did have some friends come out this past Friday night. Shirl and Troy (hope I got his name right, my memory for names has never been that good) came out to see him race. Sorry it wasn’t what we hoped for, but it was great to see you both there.
We also had pit visits. The Herbison’s parked next to us. It was great seeing them again.
That’s it for now. Remember, if you plan on coming out this Friday, we’ll be at Can-Am.
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races.
Lynda
August 12, 2022
Hi Everybody,
This past week we went to Can-Am on Friday night as MIR didn’t have 358’s on the schedule. We had talked about going to BOS but didn’t make it.
Now for the update from Can-Am. It was a beautiful day, cool night and a full moon. Luckily, the 358’s didn’t have an issue with the moon. The Sportsman class did. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
There was a great display of aerial maneuvers by our Canadian Armed Forces at the beginning of heat races. Ok, well, maybe it wasn't really them, but it was a heck of a load of Canadian Geese taking off from the infield and it was quite a display of our mighty deadly cobra chickens! I felt very patriotic watching them do a fly by.
The Heat race: Bruce was in the 3rd heat, started 7th and finished 7th. This was the first time Bruce has raced a 358 at Can-Am and the first time he has raced there since they changed/shortened the track. He was trying all over the track to find the right lines. The car looked good, and Bruce felt good.
As for the Feature race, here were 21 cars in attendance. The Modifieds were the 3rd race on the schedule, so the track was drying out quickly. It was one of those good ole dusty nights in the stands (made the after-race refreshments so much more appreciated). Bruce started 21st out of the 21 cars (he hasn’t raced there all year so he had no handicap to put him further up in the pack). All we could hope for was some forward progress. Well, he did, he finished 19th. I’d have to say that most of the cars did not have that much forward progress because of the track slicking over throughout the race. There were a few that did have a good push forward but that must have been more towards the beginning of the race. Once again, it was a caution free 358 race. Like I’ve said before, I wish there would be a caution to tighten up the field (nothing serious, just something to tighten things up). It would give Bruce more of a chance for passing and seeing what the car can really do. On a slick track with cars stretching out it was just too hard to see what it could do.
But heck, it was a nice night out. And we got to meet up with some old friends, chat and enjoy a beverage or two after the races 😉…you know who you are!!
This coming Friday should be a nice night at MIR, then August 26th we will be back at Can-Am as MIR doesn’t have 358’s on the schedule. September 2nd we will be back at MIR.
Once again, just a reminder, if you want to see the Makinson 81 on the track, time is ticking away, the season is slowly coming to a close…just sayin’.
If you do decide to come out to the races, remember to contact one of us to ensure we will be where you’re hoping we’ll be.
Also, check out the photo Gallery to see some nice on track photos from Rick at the Races.
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
This past week we went to Can-Am on Friday night as MIR didn’t have 358’s on the schedule. We had talked about going to BOS but didn’t make it.
Now for the update from Can-Am. It was a beautiful day, cool night and a full moon. Luckily, the 358’s didn’t have an issue with the moon. The Sportsman class did. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
There was a great display of aerial maneuvers by our Canadian Armed Forces at the beginning of heat races. Ok, well, maybe it wasn't really them, but it was a heck of a load of Canadian Geese taking off from the infield and it was quite a display of our mighty deadly cobra chickens! I felt very patriotic watching them do a fly by.
The Heat race: Bruce was in the 3rd heat, started 7th and finished 7th. This was the first time Bruce has raced a 358 at Can-Am and the first time he has raced there since they changed/shortened the track. He was trying all over the track to find the right lines. The car looked good, and Bruce felt good.
As for the Feature race, here were 21 cars in attendance. The Modifieds were the 3rd race on the schedule, so the track was drying out quickly. It was one of those good ole dusty nights in the stands (made the after-race refreshments so much more appreciated). Bruce started 21st out of the 21 cars (he hasn’t raced there all year so he had no handicap to put him further up in the pack). All we could hope for was some forward progress. Well, he did, he finished 19th. I’d have to say that most of the cars did not have that much forward progress because of the track slicking over throughout the race. There were a few that did have a good push forward but that must have been more towards the beginning of the race. Once again, it was a caution free 358 race. Like I’ve said before, I wish there would be a caution to tighten up the field (nothing serious, just something to tighten things up). It would give Bruce more of a chance for passing and seeing what the car can really do. On a slick track with cars stretching out it was just too hard to see what it could do.
But heck, it was a nice night out. And we got to meet up with some old friends, chat and enjoy a beverage or two after the races 😉…you know who you are!!
This coming Friday should be a nice night at MIR, then August 26th we will be back at Can-Am as MIR doesn’t have 358’s on the schedule. September 2nd we will be back at MIR.
Once again, just a reminder, if you want to see the Makinson 81 on the track, time is ticking away, the season is slowly coming to a close…just sayin’.
If you do decide to come out to the races, remember to contact one of us to ensure we will be where you’re hoping we’ll be.
Also, check out the photo Gallery to see some nice on track photos from Rick at the Races.
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
August 5, 2022
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday night was a hot one but a good one. Thankfully, Donnie brought cooling towels.
The Heat race was good in our eyes, maybe if you don’t understand racing you might not agree. Bruce started on the pole in a stacked field. On the green, Bruce took off the best he could. The car’s front tire was off the ground, and it looked awesome. But boy, he had a stacked field come crushing down on him hard. The track was still very tacky and there was only one line to run. So, Bruce got shuffled out of the front line fast. But he was doing ok until around the 3rd lap where he went too high and got sucked up in the muck that made the car slow right down and push him further back. Out of 6 cars in his heat race he finished 5th. I don’t know if he didn’t have the motor or the gears to compete with that field, either way, the car did look great. And you could tell Bruce was giving it his all (and the cars all). I wasn’t disappointed. Afterall, we knew what we were getting into by moving up to the 358’s. We don’t have the motor to really compete, but you never know what could happen. Bruce also tells me that a tacky track makes fast cars faster.
Overall, I was happy with the way the car looked.
Now for the Feature, Bruce was starting 13th of 18 cars. Again, the car looked good, and Bruce was givin’ er! But it seemed the race winner was spanking everyone. He took off passing cars to get to the lead and didn’t really look back and kinda made everyone look bad even though most of them didn’t really look bad…. if you know what I mean?!?! Bruce did have some good racing with another car and it was fun to watch. A caution might have helped many people because it would have tightened the field but caution free races are a good thing too…if you know what I mean. In the end Bruce finished 12th. Again, the car is looking better, and Bruce is having a blast.
I really would like to thank all of our sponsors again for helping make our last year of racing a fun one. I hope we do get to bring the checkered home for you, but it will be a tall order.
This coming Friday, MIR doesn’t have Modifieds on the schedule, so we are hoping to go to Can-Am on Friday night and BOS on Saturday night for the 50-lap special race. It will be a busy weekend, but Bruce’s racing career is quickly coming to a close, so we need to get more racing’ in.
Have a great week everyone and hope to see you at the races,
Lynda
This past Friday night was a hot one but a good one. Thankfully, Donnie brought cooling towels.
The Heat race was good in our eyes, maybe if you don’t understand racing you might not agree. Bruce started on the pole in a stacked field. On the green, Bruce took off the best he could. The car’s front tire was off the ground, and it looked awesome. But boy, he had a stacked field come crushing down on him hard. The track was still very tacky and there was only one line to run. So, Bruce got shuffled out of the front line fast. But he was doing ok until around the 3rd lap where he went too high and got sucked up in the muck that made the car slow right down and push him further back. Out of 6 cars in his heat race he finished 5th. I don’t know if he didn’t have the motor or the gears to compete with that field, either way, the car did look great. And you could tell Bruce was giving it his all (and the cars all). I wasn’t disappointed. Afterall, we knew what we were getting into by moving up to the 358’s. We don’t have the motor to really compete, but you never know what could happen. Bruce also tells me that a tacky track makes fast cars faster.
Overall, I was happy with the way the car looked.
Now for the Feature, Bruce was starting 13th of 18 cars. Again, the car looked good, and Bruce was givin’ er! But it seemed the race winner was spanking everyone. He took off passing cars to get to the lead and didn’t really look back and kinda made everyone look bad even though most of them didn’t really look bad…. if you know what I mean?!?! Bruce did have some good racing with another car and it was fun to watch. A caution might have helped many people because it would have tightened the field but caution free races are a good thing too…if you know what I mean. In the end Bruce finished 12th. Again, the car is looking better, and Bruce is having a blast.
I really would like to thank all of our sponsors again for helping make our last year of racing a fun one. I hope we do get to bring the checkered home for you, but it will be a tall order.
This coming Friday, MIR doesn’t have Modifieds on the schedule, so we are hoping to go to Can-Am on Friday night and BOS on Saturday night for the 50-lap special race. It will be a busy weekend, but Bruce’s racing career is quickly coming to a close, so we need to get more racing’ in.
Have a great week everyone and hope to see you at the races,
Lynda