Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (May 2014)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
May 30, 2014
Hi Everybody,
Well, it doesn't look like we're going to make it for this weekend either. The car is on it's way to being completed but without the manpower it's just humanly impossible. Bruce has been working nights until near midnight to get it done so it's not for a lack of trying.
Bruce has decided to take a mulligan for May and we'll start the racing season in June this year :)
Have a great weekend and hope to see you in June.
Cheers,
Lynda
Hi Everybody,
Well, it doesn't look like we're going to make it for this weekend either. The car is on it's way to being completed but without the manpower it's just humanly impossible. Bruce has been working nights until near midnight to get it done so it's not for a lack of trying.
Bruce has decided to take a mulligan for May and we'll start the racing season in June this year :)
Have a great weekend and hope to see you in June.
Cheers,
Lynda
May 28, 2014
Hi Everybody,
Just to keep you up to date on our racing status. It doesn't look like we will be racing tonight at BOS. The car is almost there but not quite. Unfortunately, we don't have the manpower to rebuild a race car from the bottom up in less than a week, it seems the guys have to work for a living too!?! Bruce and Bobby have both been working very hard at trying to get the car ready but there's just not enough time in the day to get it done.
If everything goes well this week we hope to be out racing again this coming Saturday.
Stay tuned to this page and I'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Lynda
Hi Everybody,
Just to keep you up to date on our racing status. It doesn't look like we will be racing tonight at BOS. The car is almost there but not quite. Unfortunately, we don't have the manpower to rebuild a race car from the bottom up in less than a week, it seems the guys have to work for a living too!?! Bruce and Bobby have both been working very hard at trying to get the car ready but there's just not enough time in the day to get it done.
If everything goes well this week we hope to be out racing again this coming Saturday.
Stay tuned to this page and I'll keep you posted.
Cheers,
Lynda
May 23, 2014
Hi Everybody,
I have good news and bad news.
Bad news is the chassis was badly hurt from last weekend 'tuck n roll'. And since I'm safety officer for Bruce Makinson Racing, there was no way in heck that Bruce was going to drive a car that was compromised (and he agreed). So the week started off on a low note. No car to race, what should we do?!?!?
Good news, Bruce started making phone calls and eventually was called back by someone with a chassis and some parts that he could use. So, Bobby and Bruce drove off to forage for a roll cage and parts. Thursday night they came back with the find of a century, they were given a used chassis and many valuable parts!! Angels come in all forms, including fellow race car drivers (you know who you are :) ).
Bad news, we won't be racing this coming Saturday. Bruce and Bobby have been working to strip one car and rebuild it but it's not humanly possible for two guys to get it ready for this weekend. With some luck they are hoping to have it ready for the special race at BOS this coming Wednesday night.
I'll keep you posted as to when we will be out there again.
This is a good news, bad news story but at least Bruce isn't going to have to quite this year. He will be back and I hope with a vengeance!!
Have a great weekend and stay tuned,
Lynda
Hi Everybody,
I have good news and bad news.
Bad news is the chassis was badly hurt from last weekend 'tuck n roll'. And since I'm safety officer for Bruce Makinson Racing, there was no way in heck that Bruce was going to drive a car that was compromised (and he agreed). So the week started off on a low note. No car to race, what should we do?!?!?
Good news, Bruce started making phone calls and eventually was called back by someone with a chassis and some parts that he could use. So, Bobby and Bruce drove off to forage for a roll cage and parts. Thursday night they came back with the find of a century, they were given a used chassis and many valuable parts!! Angels come in all forms, including fellow race car drivers (you know who you are :) ).
Bad news, we won't be racing this coming Saturday. Bruce and Bobby have been working to strip one car and rebuild it but it's not humanly possible for two guys to get it ready for this weekend. With some luck they are hoping to have it ready for the special race at BOS this coming Wednesday night.
I'll keep you posted as to when we will be out there again.
This is a good news, bad news story but at least Bruce isn't going to have to quite this year. He will be back and I hope with a vengeance!!
Have a great weekend and stay tuned,
Lynda
May 17, 2014
Hi Everybody,
Well, I can’t say that racing isn’t exciting, especially after this past weekend. But let’s start from the beginning. This was the night of the “tuck and roll”.
It was another series race, which means 40-laps and a lot of visiting racers. (I’m not happy that they started the season with two series races in a row. Give the drivers time to get the cobwebs out before you start putting the pressure on!). Everyone needed to qualify for one of 30 spots, did I mention 40 cars showed up to compete for those spots. For the first time Bruce didn’t make it in in the first cut, he had to race in the consey race. Luckily he had no problem getting thru that one so he made the show, he was starting 25th of 30 cars.
Well, almost half the field were non-regulars but all racing like the prize was a million dollars (ego can be a dangerous thing). It seemed like every second or third lap there was a caution. Bruce was moving up in his usual great fashion, 25-16-15-13-15’ish then at lap 12…it happened. There was a wreck ahead of him on the back stretch. Bruce is famous for missing such things, so in his usual fashion he figured that he just needed to go over the edge of the back stretch and go around the wreck and back onto the track. Well, something went horribly wrong; none of us are really sure what happened but remember this is my article so I get to speculate. He drove over the back straight away edge and someone may have hit him on the side and with all the mud and muck back there the car started to barrel roll then somehow it caught the front bumper and stood him on his nose only to slam down on his roof. Bruce’s account of the incident was “I think I got hit as I was trying to go around and before I knew it I was rolling, I let go of the wheel, tucked in my legs and wrapped my arms around my body. Then I saw the ground out the front window realizing I was on my nose and thought this is going to hurt. Then it slammed down on my roof and I was just hanging there by my belts. The red light was on on the dash (oil pressure) so I calmly flicked the switch to turn the ignition off. Brad came running up to the car to see if I was ok and I just said to him, Please turn me back on my wheels so I can get out of this lovely vehicle (ok, so I edited it a bit, please feel free to make this last line a little more colourful if you wish). They flipped the car over; I got out and walked to the ambulance (track precaution).”
Bruce is fine, no major injuries, he’s a bit sore and one bruise but overall in great shape. Thanks to a quality made car (thanks Bicknell!), good seatbelts, a good helmet and properly installed safety equipment.
This was a racing deal that was unfortunately due to track conditions and off track conditions because of recent rains. I’m not sure what’s going on with the track, is it the weather giving them a hard time at getting it right? Last week it didn’t have potholes but it had a bumpy one and two, this week it seemed to reduce the bumpy parts but it was full of potholes and it was a fast track. Being a fast track cars were taking advantage of the speed they could reach but didn’t adjust for the holes they hit, this made for dicey conditions which really reflected in the amount of cautions.
I’m sure some of you that know me are asking how I felt about the whole deal, well of course I want him to quit racing! I just wanted to see him that night to make sure he was ok and of course I wasn’t amused….what do ya think?!?!? No one wants to see their driver flip and especially his wife. But I felt confident in the car and equipment to not worry too much. After all, Bruce isn’t a young kid so I worry that he doesn’t bounce as well as he used to. But he did fine.
As for car repairs, they still have to strip it to make sure everything is good but so far the car needs a new roof big time.
Bobby and Bruce hope to be ready to race again this Saturday, I hope that they can’t get it ready or it rains so we have a break from all this “excitement” (again, fill in with colourful annotations if you wish).
I know I can’t stop him from wanting to race but boy, is he going to have to do something to make me happy right now, maybe it’s time for an addition to my garden?!?!?
Hope everyone has a good week and drive safe!
Lynda
Hi Everybody,
Well, I can’t say that racing isn’t exciting, especially after this past weekend. But let’s start from the beginning. This was the night of the “tuck and roll”.
It was another series race, which means 40-laps and a lot of visiting racers. (I’m not happy that they started the season with two series races in a row. Give the drivers time to get the cobwebs out before you start putting the pressure on!). Everyone needed to qualify for one of 30 spots, did I mention 40 cars showed up to compete for those spots. For the first time Bruce didn’t make it in in the first cut, he had to race in the consey race. Luckily he had no problem getting thru that one so he made the show, he was starting 25th of 30 cars.
Well, almost half the field were non-regulars but all racing like the prize was a million dollars (ego can be a dangerous thing). It seemed like every second or third lap there was a caution. Bruce was moving up in his usual great fashion, 25-16-15-13-15’ish then at lap 12…it happened. There was a wreck ahead of him on the back stretch. Bruce is famous for missing such things, so in his usual fashion he figured that he just needed to go over the edge of the back stretch and go around the wreck and back onto the track. Well, something went horribly wrong; none of us are really sure what happened but remember this is my article so I get to speculate. He drove over the back straight away edge and someone may have hit him on the side and with all the mud and muck back there the car started to barrel roll then somehow it caught the front bumper and stood him on his nose only to slam down on his roof. Bruce’s account of the incident was “I think I got hit as I was trying to go around and before I knew it I was rolling, I let go of the wheel, tucked in my legs and wrapped my arms around my body. Then I saw the ground out the front window realizing I was on my nose and thought this is going to hurt. Then it slammed down on my roof and I was just hanging there by my belts. The red light was on on the dash (oil pressure) so I calmly flicked the switch to turn the ignition off. Brad came running up to the car to see if I was ok and I just said to him, Please turn me back on my wheels so I can get out of this lovely vehicle (ok, so I edited it a bit, please feel free to make this last line a little more colourful if you wish). They flipped the car over; I got out and walked to the ambulance (track precaution).”
Bruce is fine, no major injuries, he’s a bit sore and one bruise but overall in great shape. Thanks to a quality made car (thanks Bicknell!), good seatbelts, a good helmet and properly installed safety equipment.
This was a racing deal that was unfortunately due to track conditions and off track conditions because of recent rains. I’m not sure what’s going on with the track, is it the weather giving them a hard time at getting it right? Last week it didn’t have potholes but it had a bumpy one and two, this week it seemed to reduce the bumpy parts but it was full of potholes and it was a fast track. Being a fast track cars were taking advantage of the speed they could reach but didn’t adjust for the holes they hit, this made for dicey conditions which really reflected in the amount of cautions.
I’m sure some of you that know me are asking how I felt about the whole deal, well of course I want him to quit racing! I just wanted to see him that night to make sure he was ok and of course I wasn’t amused….what do ya think?!?!? No one wants to see their driver flip and especially his wife. But I felt confident in the car and equipment to not worry too much. After all, Bruce isn’t a young kid so I worry that he doesn’t bounce as well as he used to. But he did fine.
As for car repairs, they still have to strip it to make sure everything is good but so far the car needs a new roof big time.
Bobby and Bruce hope to be ready to race again this Saturday, I hope that they can’t get it ready or it rains so we have a break from all this “excitement” (again, fill in with colourful annotations if you wish).
I know I can’t stop him from wanting to race but boy, is he going to have to do something to make me happy right now, maybe it’s time for an addition to my garden?!?!?
Hope everyone has a good week and drive safe!
Lynda
May 12, 2014
Hi Everybody,
Saturday night turned out to be a beautiful night considering the rain we had on Friday night. But to all of our amazement the pits were soaked but the track was dry. In fact, it was so dry the first set of hot laps had cars kicking up dust, the car actually came in cleaner then they left. BOS put new clay down in the fall so the old pot holes were gone (good) but on corners one and two the track was like a mini rollercoaster (not good). You could see the cars going thru the corners and hopping thru it. That definitely made for a little more excitement then many of us wanted. Now that I’ve peaked your interest, here’s my version of the night.
In the Sportsman division 24 cars showed up for the 40-lap race. Because it was a 40-lapper we had to draw numbers to start (I wish Bruce wouldn’t make me do it). Well, I drew a high number so Bruce was in the last bunch to do his time trials and Heat race. And because of the changes to the track and the rollercoaster ride in one and two, Bruce’s time trial wasn’t that good so he started last in his Heat race. With the track being so dry it seemed that not many cars were able to pass in the Heat and they didn’t... including Bruce. So he finished last in his Heat which put him last for the Feature race.
Well, starting 24th of 24 cars you only have one place to go and that’s up! Bruce was doing ok moving up but he wasn’t happy with the turns one and two so he was trying to find a better line to go thru them….yeah… well that didn’t quite work out the way he hoped, on two he slid off the track but was able to get back on only to have the leader on his tail (this is not good). As he was holding off the leader he once again went too high and slide off one spinning around towards the fence. Now this is the funny part, Bobby was standing at the fence and was sandblasted by Bruce’s off roading. I was standing on the pit tower watching, it was funny to watch Bobby turn away because his little brother just sent a wall of dirt his way….sorry Bobby…it was funny.
So, with this Bruce drew a caution which luckily put him at the back of the pack, this was good because he was not a lap down. And again Bruce fought his way back up; he was up to 12th then back down to what looked like 15th and what we thought he finished in but to our surprise he actually received 13th. It was kinda hard to see where everyone finished because of the dust.
Now you may be thinking what’s the big deal with 13th?? Well, let me tell you Bruce worked for it. Between learning a new track surface, working with a new set up, doing a little off roading…twice, and starting from last three times, he earned his 13th!
It looks like this year is going to be an exciting one. The car is feeling better, Bruce is being a little more adventurous and hell, it’s just going to be a good year!! Really, it’s good clean fun (lol…sorry Bobby…had to add that in…lmao)!
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
Hi Everybody,
Saturday night turned out to be a beautiful night considering the rain we had on Friday night. But to all of our amazement the pits were soaked but the track was dry. In fact, it was so dry the first set of hot laps had cars kicking up dust, the car actually came in cleaner then they left. BOS put new clay down in the fall so the old pot holes were gone (good) but on corners one and two the track was like a mini rollercoaster (not good). You could see the cars going thru the corners and hopping thru it. That definitely made for a little more excitement then many of us wanted. Now that I’ve peaked your interest, here’s my version of the night.
In the Sportsman division 24 cars showed up for the 40-lap race. Because it was a 40-lapper we had to draw numbers to start (I wish Bruce wouldn’t make me do it). Well, I drew a high number so Bruce was in the last bunch to do his time trials and Heat race. And because of the changes to the track and the rollercoaster ride in one and two, Bruce’s time trial wasn’t that good so he started last in his Heat race. With the track being so dry it seemed that not many cars were able to pass in the Heat and they didn’t... including Bruce. So he finished last in his Heat which put him last for the Feature race.
Well, starting 24th of 24 cars you only have one place to go and that’s up! Bruce was doing ok moving up but he wasn’t happy with the turns one and two so he was trying to find a better line to go thru them….yeah… well that didn’t quite work out the way he hoped, on two he slid off the track but was able to get back on only to have the leader on his tail (this is not good). As he was holding off the leader he once again went too high and slide off one spinning around towards the fence. Now this is the funny part, Bobby was standing at the fence and was sandblasted by Bruce’s off roading. I was standing on the pit tower watching, it was funny to watch Bobby turn away because his little brother just sent a wall of dirt his way….sorry Bobby…it was funny.
So, with this Bruce drew a caution which luckily put him at the back of the pack, this was good because he was not a lap down. And again Bruce fought his way back up; he was up to 12th then back down to what looked like 15th and what we thought he finished in but to our surprise he actually received 13th. It was kinda hard to see where everyone finished because of the dust.
Now you may be thinking what’s the big deal with 13th?? Well, let me tell you Bruce worked for it. Between learning a new track surface, working with a new set up, doing a little off roading…twice, and starting from last three times, he earned his 13th!
It looks like this year is going to be an exciting one. The car is feeling better, Bruce is being a little more adventurous and hell, it’s just going to be a good year!! Really, it’s good clean fun (lol…sorry Bobby…had to add that in…lmao)!
Have a great week and hope to see you at the races!
Lynda
May 7, 2014
Hi
Everybody,
It’s that time of year again. Racing at BOS starts this coming Saturday (May 10th). Last weekend was supposed to be a practise Saturday but due to wet conditions it was cancelled. In my opinion, this is not a good thing, it seems some drivers are squirrelly after the winter months and without at least a practise under their belt they may be even more squirrelly the first race of the season.
This Saturday is a 40-lap Sportsman race along with 50-lap Modified race. The weather forecast is very unconfirmed, one day they say rain the next they say cloudy with minimal chance of rain, I guess it’s going to be one of those days where you just wake up and look outside. But as most of you know, in the past Brockville has had its own weather bubble, it could be raining all around it but nothing over the track. Last year their bubble seemed to be broken, let’s hope this year it’s all fixed up.
As for the car, nothing too new there, the body is still the same from last year (it doesn’t have to look pretty to go fast!!.... We’d prefer to spend the money on speed when possible). And Bruce and Bobby have been working hard on trying to make the car faster. Without the practise we don’t know if the changes are going to work but isn’t it more fun that way…the excitement of discovery. J
As for the Driver, Bruce seems in good shape, still very much raring to go racing and always searching for new information to make the car handle better and go faster.
Dale Earnhardt and Johnny Cash are doing well, growing fast and full of energy. Dale does a great job of banking off the back of the couch and I caught Johnny getting a snout full of wine last weekend. Boy do they both live up to their namesakes!! (For those not on my facebook, they are our two new recruits in the house; cats, brothers and black as night. As far as I’m concerned black cats have always been good luck so I’ll make sure Bruce pets them before he leaves every weekend for racing).
Well, that’s it for this week; I’ll now be posting updates weekly to keep you up to date on Bruce Makinson Racing. So stay tuned and we hope to see you at the races sometime this year!
Cheers,
Lynda
It’s that time of year again. Racing at BOS starts this coming Saturday (May 10th). Last weekend was supposed to be a practise Saturday but due to wet conditions it was cancelled. In my opinion, this is not a good thing, it seems some drivers are squirrelly after the winter months and without at least a practise under their belt they may be even more squirrelly the first race of the season.
This Saturday is a 40-lap Sportsman race along with 50-lap Modified race. The weather forecast is very unconfirmed, one day they say rain the next they say cloudy with minimal chance of rain, I guess it’s going to be one of those days where you just wake up and look outside. But as most of you know, in the past Brockville has had its own weather bubble, it could be raining all around it but nothing over the track. Last year their bubble seemed to be broken, let’s hope this year it’s all fixed up.
As for the car, nothing too new there, the body is still the same from last year (it doesn’t have to look pretty to go fast!!.... We’d prefer to spend the money on speed when possible). And Bruce and Bobby have been working hard on trying to make the car faster. Without the practise we don’t know if the changes are going to work but isn’t it more fun that way…the excitement of discovery. J
As for the Driver, Bruce seems in good shape, still very much raring to go racing and always searching for new information to make the car handle better and go faster.
Dale Earnhardt and Johnny Cash are doing well, growing fast and full of energy. Dale does a great job of banking off the back of the couch and I caught Johnny getting a snout full of wine last weekend. Boy do they both live up to their namesakes!! (For those not on my facebook, they are our two new recruits in the house; cats, brothers and black as night. As far as I’m concerned black cats have always been good luck so I’ll make sure Bruce pets them before he leaves every weekend for racing).
Well, that’s it for this week; I’ll now be posting updates weekly to keep you up to date on Bruce Makinson Racing. So stay tuned and we hope to see you at the races sometime this year!
Cheers,
Lynda