Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (July 2013)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
July 27, 2013
July 27, 2013
Hi Everybody,
This past Saturday was an interesting one. Weather started out fine, and then we had a few sprinkles here and there. It never really seemed enough to make a difference but, as some of you know, DIRT racing is a different story.
Our night started out ok, not great but ok. Bruce started on the front line of his Heat race only to run into tire troubles. It seems the right rear was not into racing this particular Saturday. Last week was the left rear getting cut during the race, this week was the right getting tired out (no pun intended). So, he finished mid-pack. Tires seem to be an issue these past few weeks. So, the boys changed the right rear to something better (we hoped).
Rain kept threatening and the track told the drivers to not fool around and let’s get the racing done. Well, I have to say everyone looked ready to go but it seemed the track wasn’t moving so quickly on getting the Features started. Finally they did; the Street Stock started and finished; the Modifieds started…and well…boy did they finish. It started to drizzle during their race. On the final lap the leader got passed and lost it taking out numerous cars from the front to mid pack. What a mess! Cars everywhere (thankfully no one hurt…at least not yet). They had to red-flag it to get things cleaned up. So, here it is, lap 29 (of 30) on the board, lightly raining, Bruce sitting in his line-up for maybe 20 minutes now…then they call it, races done for the night. Next week the remaining classes will have double Features.
That means next week they plan a 25-lap Rookie race (that took forever last time they did that), the Mod-Lites will be there, and the Sportsman, Rookies and Rookie Sportsman all have double Features. Boy is it going to be a long night. Good news is Bruce is going to be starting on the second row. Bad news is if they run the Sportsman race first the track will not be packed in and in good racing condition.
I have to comment on the Modifieds race. Great race until the last lap, then what a sh.t show. Cars everywhere, some major damage, and then the pit follies began! That was ridiculous! Some drivers need to remember to use their words not their fists, and definitely do not use your car as a weapon. I hope that BOS takes a stand on this kind of behaviour and suspends him for the rest of the season.
I heard that BOS had their hands full with what happened as some of the drivers were protesting after the race that they should have stopped the race due to the rain. I’d think that with only a couple of laps left it would be a hard call and of course hindsight is 20/20. If they would have cut it short, they would have gotten yelled at, I presume it all depends on where you finished.
Anyways, five more weeks to go, next week will be a full night of racing so if you’ve been planning to come out it might be a good one to be at.
Have a safe and great week everybody!
Lynda
P.S.
At least my night ended well, I got freshly baked cookies….thanks Cheryl…no, I’m not sharing them!!
Hi Everybody,
This past Saturday was an interesting one. Weather started out fine, and then we had a few sprinkles here and there. It never really seemed enough to make a difference but, as some of you know, DIRT racing is a different story.
Our night started out ok, not great but ok. Bruce started on the front line of his Heat race only to run into tire troubles. It seems the right rear was not into racing this particular Saturday. Last week was the left rear getting cut during the race, this week was the right getting tired out (no pun intended). So, he finished mid-pack. Tires seem to be an issue these past few weeks. So, the boys changed the right rear to something better (we hoped).
Rain kept threatening and the track told the drivers to not fool around and let’s get the racing done. Well, I have to say everyone looked ready to go but it seemed the track wasn’t moving so quickly on getting the Features started. Finally they did; the Street Stock started and finished; the Modifieds started…and well…boy did they finish. It started to drizzle during their race. On the final lap the leader got passed and lost it taking out numerous cars from the front to mid pack. What a mess! Cars everywhere (thankfully no one hurt…at least not yet). They had to red-flag it to get things cleaned up. So, here it is, lap 29 (of 30) on the board, lightly raining, Bruce sitting in his line-up for maybe 20 minutes now…then they call it, races done for the night. Next week the remaining classes will have double Features.
That means next week they plan a 25-lap Rookie race (that took forever last time they did that), the Mod-Lites will be there, and the Sportsman, Rookies and Rookie Sportsman all have double Features. Boy is it going to be a long night. Good news is Bruce is going to be starting on the second row. Bad news is if they run the Sportsman race first the track will not be packed in and in good racing condition.
I have to comment on the Modifieds race. Great race until the last lap, then what a sh.t show. Cars everywhere, some major damage, and then the pit follies began! That was ridiculous! Some drivers need to remember to use their words not their fists, and definitely do not use your car as a weapon. I hope that BOS takes a stand on this kind of behaviour and suspends him for the rest of the season.
I heard that BOS had their hands full with what happened as some of the drivers were protesting after the race that they should have stopped the race due to the rain. I’d think that with only a couple of laps left it would be a hard call and of course hindsight is 20/20. If they would have cut it short, they would have gotten yelled at, I presume it all depends on where you finished.
Anyways, five more weeks to go, next week will be a full night of racing so if you’ve been planning to come out it might be a good one to be at.
Have a safe and great week everybody!
Lynda
P.S.
At least my night ended well, I got freshly baked cookies….thanks Cheryl…no, I’m not sharing them!!
July 20, 2013
Hi Everybody,
Saturday night was finally a nice night for racing. It was sunny and not too warm, but it was dusty.
The Heat race started out promising, Bruce was starting on the front line but unfortunately it was beside a driver that doesn’t seem to have peripheral vision. On the first corners he hit Bruce once, then on the corners 3 / 4 he hit Bruce again and this time Bruce was pushed up into the muck which sucked him to the back. The car then didn’t seem to have the bite to move forward. It was apparent why when Bruce came in, the left rear tire was cut and was flat by the time Bruce got back to the pit area. I’m hoping that this driver soon learns to race, he’s been known since he’s started this year in the Sportsman class to wreck a few cars. I just hope he learns before someone decides to teach him. Well, this “incident” cost us a tire and put Bruce in a bad starting position for the feature.
This night had Sprint car racing and fan autograph night. So, it was a full night for sure. As for the Feature, Bruce started 20th of 21 cars (can only move up…right!?!). With the Mods and Sprints racing before the Sportsman the track became fast, surprisingly not slick…Bruce said it was fast. But good ole Irene was feeling good and with Bruce’s guidance moved Bruce thru the pack to 12th. A few more laps and he would have had at least 11th. The car was working good and Bruce was driving his usual great (at least other drivers can feel safe that he won’t run into them). Whenever Bruce gets a raw deal with the Heat race and starts at the back of the Feature, I’m always sure he’ll work his way thru the pack as he did Saturday night. No, it wasn’t a win but he did a great job moving up 8 positions. It wasn’t easy as it was a fast track and that made a lot of people fast too.
Bruce is still 11th in points but the season isn’t over and there are still 6 more races to go. Yes, SIX, so if you’ve been planning on coming out you don’t have much more time. Go-Karts are there next week and the Mod-Lites the week after.
For those who have been wondering if we’re going to Capital City Speedway this coming Wednesday. No decision has been made as of the writing of this update. I’ll keep you posted so check back later.
Well, that’s it for this week. Hope everyone has a great week and we look forward to seeing you at the races.
Cheers,
Lynda
Saturday night was finally a nice night for racing. It was sunny and not too warm, but it was dusty.
The Heat race started out promising, Bruce was starting on the front line but unfortunately it was beside a driver that doesn’t seem to have peripheral vision. On the first corners he hit Bruce once, then on the corners 3 / 4 he hit Bruce again and this time Bruce was pushed up into the muck which sucked him to the back. The car then didn’t seem to have the bite to move forward. It was apparent why when Bruce came in, the left rear tire was cut and was flat by the time Bruce got back to the pit area. I’m hoping that this driver soon learns to race, he’s been known since he’s started this year in the Sportsman class to wreck a few cars. I just hope he learns before someone decides to teach him. Well, this “incident” cost us a tire and put Bruce in a bad starting position for the feature.
This night had Sprint car racing and fan autograph night. So, it was a full night for sure. As for the Feature, Bruce started 20th of 21 cars (can only move up…right!?!). With the Mods and Sprints racing before the Sportsman the track became fast, surprisingly not slick…Bruce said it was fast. But good ole Irene was feeling good and with Bruce’s guidance moved Bruce thru the pack to 12th. A few more laps and he would have had at least 11th. The car was working good and Bruce was driving his usual great (at least other drivers can feel safe that he won’t run into them). Whenever Bruce gets a raw deal with the Heat race and starts at the back of the Feature, I’m always sure he’ll work his way thru the pack as he did Saturday night. No, it wasn’t a win but he did a great job moving up 8 positions. It wasn’t easy as it was a fast track and that made a lot of people fast too.
Bruce is still 11th in points but the season isn’t over and there are still 6 more races to go. Yes, SIX, so if you’ve been planning on coming out you don’t have much more time. Go-Karts are there next week and the Mod-Lites the week after.
For those who have been wondering if we’re going to Capital City Speedway this coming Wednesday. No decision has been made as of the writing of this update. I’ll keep you posted so check back later.
Well, that’s it for this week. Hope everyone has a great week and we look forward to seeing you at the races.
Cheers,
Lynda
July 6, 2013
Hi Everybody,
This past Saturday was a beautiful warm summer night, we had a nice breeze to keep us from melting so it wasn’t bad at all. Thank goodness for that considering it was a 40 lap race.
The night started out good, only 23 cars showed for the event so qualifying wasn’t necessary, they started everyone. Bruce’s time trials were good but it only got him starting in the 12th position for the Feature.
I have to say (and I’m happy to say) the Feature was uneventful for the most part. They raced 40 laps with minimal incidents. Bruce started 12th and after being stuck behind two cars who were battling it out for 7th position (it was fun, you could almost feel Bruce’s frustration), Bruce was able to get by them and take 7th. But once the track dried out most of the cars were not able to do more than stay where they were. Somehow, and I can’t figure out how this happened, the 8th place car was able to make it by Bruce. At the beginning of the race Bruce’s car was fast but as the race worn on you could see it settling in where it was (like I said most of them were in that position) but this one car was able to sneak by Bruce and then it was a parade. Bruce ended up with an 8th place finish…am I happy?!?…damn right I am, it’s another top 10 finish, the car was better than it’s been in the last few weeks and it didn’t rain.
I did an analysis of the starting and finishing positions of everyone and the top 10 finishers barely moved from where they started. Finishing positions 1,2,3,5,6,7 basically finished where they started or were up or down 1 or 2 positions; positions 4,8,9,10 all had moved up 4 or 5 positions. This was that kind of race, the top runners started near the front so not much change there, and the guys/gal that usually do well and finish in the top 10 started a little further back and had to work for they’re finishes. It was good on our part, Bruce started 12th and worked hard to finish 8th, and it was a good race. Could he have gone further if he wasn’t held up at the beginning? I think so, because his car was faster at the beginning than a few of them and circumstance can always put you in the right place at the right time (or not).
Well, I’m happy with last Saturday’s results, that’s what I got to say about that!
Now for this week, WE ARE NOT RACING!
No, it’s not by my decision (so get off my back), BOS doesn’t have us on the schedule because of the St. Lawrence Seaway GM Sportsman series, they’re off to deep woods Quebec for a weekend of racing and they assumed we would all be going….not!
Am I sad? No, a weekend off is nice and it’s supposed to be a sunny, warm and dry weekend. Who knows I might get a mini-vacation out of it.
July 20th will have the Patriot Sprint cars, the regular full show and autograph night. So, if you’ve been wanting Bruce to autograph a part of your body….just remember, I’m his wife and I’m usually out there with him J.
That’s it for this week. Hope to see you out at the races in…two weeks.
Have a great weekend,
Lynda
This past Saturday was a beautiful warm summer night, we had a nice breeze to keep us from melting so it wasn’t bad at all. Thank goodness for that considering it was a 40 lap race.
The night started out good, only 23 cars showed for the event so qualifying wasn’t necessary, they started everyone. Bruce’s time trials were good but it only got him starting in the 12th position for the Feature.
I have to say (and I’m happy to say) the Feature was uneventful for the most part. They raced 40 laps with minimal incidents. Bruce started 12th and after being stuck behind two cars who were battling it out for 7th position (it was fun, you could almost feel Bruce’s frustration), Bruce was able to get by them and take 7th. But once the track dried out most of the cars were not able to do more than stay where they were. Somehow, and I can’t figure out how this happened, the 8th place car was able to make it by Bruce. At the beginning of the race Bruce’s car was fast but as the race worn on you could see it settling in where it was (like I said most of them were in that position) but this one car was able to sneak by Bruce and then it was a parade. Bruce ended up with an 8th place finish…am I happy?!?…damn right I am, it’s another top 10 finish, the car was better than it’s been in the last few weeks and it didn’t rain.
I did an analysis of the starting and finishing positions of everyone and the top 10 finishers barely moved from where they started. Finishing positions 1,2,3,5,6,7 basically finished where they started or were up or down 1 or 2 positions; positions 4,8,9,10 all had moved up 4 or 5 positions. This was that kind of race, the top runners started near the front so not much change there, and the guys/gal that usually do well and finish in the top 10 started a little further back and had to work for they’re finishes. It was good on our part, Bruce started 12th and worked hard to finish 8th, and it was a good race. Could he have gone further if he wasn’t held up at the beginning? I think so, because his car was faster at the beginning than a few of them and circumstance can always put you in the right place at the right time (or not).
Well, I’m happy with last Saturday’s results, that’s what I got to say about that!
Now for this week, WE ARE NOT RACING!
No, it’s not by my decision (so get off my back), BOS doesn’t have us on the schedule because of the St. Lawrence Seaway GM Sportsman series, they’re off to deep woods Quebec for a weekend of racing and they assumed we would all be going….not!
Am I sad? No, a weekend off is nice and it’s supposed to be a sunny, warm and dry weekend. Who knows I might get a mini-vacation out of it.
July 20th will have the Patriot Sprint cars, the regular full show and autograph night. So, if you’ve been wanting Bruce to autograph a part of your body….just remember, I’m his wife and I’m usually out there with him J.
That’s it for this week. Hope to see you out at the races in…two weeks.
Have a great weekend,
Lynda