Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (May 2016)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
May 27, 2016
Hi Everybody,
Well, this past Friday night was a scorcher. Luckily someone we know parked their enclosed trailer beside us…on the sunny side so it gave us shade. When the sun went down it was actually nice…well, maybe for us in the stands but not so much for the drivers.
We had several visitors in our pit area which was nice; Jamie and Karen from Frenchie’s Chevrolet and an old time racer from Kingston Speedway that remembered racing with Roy. He came by to reminisce with the guys.
Now to racing, after removing the “experiment” from last week the car required some tweaking so the Heat race wasn’t as good as we would have liked. Actually the track was dry and there really wasn’t much movement from anyone in the Heat. Bruce started in the 4th Heat race in 5th position and finished in 5th. Because we’re still drawing numbers at the gate (and I get stuck with that job) I drew a bad starting position. But at least he didn’t go backwards, everyone basically stayed in the position they started in.
After the Heat race, they did some changes to the car and in my opinion…it paid off.
Bruce started in the 20th spot of 27 cars. It’s not the greatest of spots to be in. You’re near the back and surrounded by a lot of cars. Bruce did a great job off the start and was passing cars. There were two spinouts in front of him and with his amazing ability to avoid cars he was able to make it around them. In one of the cautions he did do a rear side hip check to one of the cars that had spun out but other than that there were no major incidents. Bruce worked his way up to 13th, then back to 16th on a restart then finally settled for 14th.
Remember, this isn’t your local highway where people will let you pass. There’s no signals, no mirrors and no way anyone wants you passing them. And I have to say, Mohawk Raceway has a lot of good racers there, so it’s a tough crowd.
I was very happy with Friday nights’ results. Bruce started 20th and finished 14th. The car looks good now and it gives me hope for this coming Friday. With any luck we’ll stop the drawing at the gate and go by points…this way it’s not my fault where he starts in the Heats….just sayin’.
And yes, it was another one of those dusty, sticky nights. I have to say the after race beverage sure went down well.
This coming Friday night sounds like a normal night of racing (no special races and no large entry fees). The weather will be more manageable and there’s only a slight chance of a thundershower… at least so far. But bring a coat; it looks like it’ll get cool after the sun goes down.
That’s it for this week. Hope to see you at the races,
Lynda
Well, this past Friday night was a scorcher. Luckily someone we know parked their enclosed trailer beside us…on the sunny side so it gave us shade. When the sun went down it was actually nice…well, maybe for us in the stands but not so much for the drivers.
We had several visitors in our pit area which was nice; Jamie and Karen from Frenchie’s Chevrolet and an old time racer from Kingston Speedway that remembered racing with Roy. He came by to reminisce with the guys.
Now to racing, after removing the “experiment” from last week the car required some tweaking so the Heat race wasn’t as good as we would have liked. Actually the track was dry and there really wasn’t much movement from anyone in the Heat. Bruce started in the 4th Heat race in 5th position and finished in 5th. Because we’re still drawing numbers at the gate (and I get stuck with that job) I drew a bad starting position. But at least he didn’t go backwards, everyone basically stayed in the position they started in.
After the Heat race, they did some changes to the car and in my opinion…it paid off.
Bruce started in the 20th spot of 27 cars. It’s not the greatest of spots to be in. You’re near the back and surrounded by a lot of cars. Bruce did a great job off the start and was passing cars. There were two spinouts in front of him and with his amazing ability to avoid cars he was able to make it around them. In one of the cautions he did do a rear side hip check to one of the cars that had spun out but other than that there were no major incidents. Bruce worked his way up to 13th, then back to 16th on a restart then finally settled for 14th.
Remember, this isn’t your local highway where people will let you pass. There’s no signals, no mirrors and no way anyone wants you passing them. And I have to say, Mohawk Raceway has a lot of good racers there, so it’s a tough crowd.
I was very happy with Friday nights’ results. Bruce started 20th and finished 14th. The car looks good now and it gives me hope for this coming Friday. With any luck we’ll stop the drawing at the gate and go by points…this way it’s not my fault where he starts in the Heats….just sayin’.
And yes, it was another one of those dusty, sticky nights. I have to say the after race beverage sure went down well.
This coming Friday night sounds like a normal night of racing (no special races and no large entry fees). The weather will be more manageable and there’s only a slight chance of a thundershower… at least so far. But bring a coat; it looks like it’ll get cool after the sun goes down.
That’s it for this week. Hope to see you at the races,
Lynda
May 20, 2016
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday night was a beautiful night for racing….just not for us.
It all started Thursday evening when Bruce said to me “don’t be mad but I made some changes to the car as an experiment”. I really didn’t like that sound of that but I just said, “Well it’s your car”.
Friday started with Bruce starting in the Heat in 4th but finished in 5th….not a great sign. The car usually moves forward. And this didn’t put him in a great starting position for the Feature.
So for the Feature Bruce started in 18th of 27 cars…again, not a great sign. Starting in the middle to end of the pack isn’t an easy place to be. It was a very dry and dusty night. The race wasn’t eventful and Bruce didn’t move forward and ended up finishing in 21st. When I returned to our pit area I just asked Bobby how he thought that change did…he responded “it’s coming out next week!” (Please note my sarcasm in my question to Bobby).
Yup, I guess it’s good to try new stuff but I’ve been enjoying seeing the car move forward and look good out there. I know Bruce needs to keep trying to make it even better and there will be times that it really just doesn’t work out (and this was one of those times) but we need to keep faith that it will all get better and better.
It was also fan appreciation night. That was a great success, as many of the kids really enjoyed getting autographs from the drivers. It’s always fun to watch our bashful Bruce sign things for the kids J.
Also our long time buddy, Rick at the Races took some nice pictures of the car….thank you Rick!
Then for the race Bruce asked me to stand at corner one stands to record the race. Did I mention it was dry out there! You get much more of the sense of the speed they’re coming at on corner one. I noticed it because of the wind coming at me and the sand with it. I enjoy a nice sandblasting facial and eye blasting. You know the nights where you blow your nose and its mud coming out (and I have a cold to boot). The next morning I was still picking dirt out of my eyes.
Saturday we spent the day at Royal’s Restaurant in Richmond with the car. They had a small car show with their backdoor neighbour CC’s Corner Coffee & Curios. Part of the day we had the car at CC’s and part in front of Royal’s. It was a good day had by all, many people dropped by to check out the race car and many enjoyed when Bruce started it and gave it a few revs. I have to say CC’s is a really cute place and it seems to be busy with coffee goers in Richmond. And of course Royal’s was busy all day. Finally when it started to quiet down we had all the staff at Royal’s come out for a group picture with the race car. We even convinced Nick (the owner and it didn’t take much convincing) to get into the race car. I think all in all, everyone that participated or visited the small car show had a good time….I know we did.
This coming Friday is a regular show for all except Modifieds who will have a 50-lap race.
Well, I’m still a bit under the weather so this is it for my weekly write up.
Hope you all enjoyed your beautiful long weekend and have a great week.
Lynda
This past Friday night was a beautiful night for racing….just not for us.
It all started Thursday evening when Bruce said to me “don’t be mad but I made some changes to the car as an experiment”. I really didn’t like that sound of that but I just said, “Well it’s your car”.
Friday started with Bruce starting in the Heat in 4th but finished in 5th….not a great sign. The car usually moves forward. And this didn’t put him in a great starting position for the Feature.
So for the Feature Bruce started in 18th of 27 cars…again, not a great sign. Starting in the middle to end of the pack isn’t an easy place to be. It was a very dry and dusty night. The race wasn’t eventful and Bruce didn’t move forward and ended up finishing in 21st. When I returned to our pit area I just asked Bobby how he thought that change did…he responded “it’s coming out next week!” (Please note my sarcasm in my question to Bobby).
Yup, I guess it’s good to try new stuff but I’ve been enjoying seeing the car move forward and look good out there. I know Bruce needs to keep trying to make it even better and there will be times that it really just doesn’t work out (and this was one of those times) but we need to keep faith that it will all get better and better.
It was also fan appreciation night. That was a great success, as many of the kids really enjoyed getting autographs from the drivers. It’s always fun to watch our bashful Bruce sign things for the kids J.
Also our long time buddy, Rick at the Races took some nice pictures of the car….thank you Rick!
Then for the race Bruce asked me to stand at corner one stands to record the race. Did I mention it was dry out there! You get much more of the sense of the speed they’re coming at on corner one. I noticed it because of the wind coming at me and the sand with it. I enjoy a nice sandblasting facial and eye blasting. You know the nights where you blow your nose and its mud coming out (and I have a cold to boot). The next morning I was still picking dirt out of my eyes.
Saturday we spent the day at Royal’s Restaurant in Richmond with the car. They had a small car show with their backdoor neighbour CC’s Corner Coffee & Curios. Part of the day we had the car at CC’s and part in front of Royal’s. It was a good day had by all, many people dropped by to check out the race car and many enjoyed when Bruce started it and gave it a few revs. I have to say CC’s is a really cute place and it seems to be busy with coffee goers in Richmond. And of course Royal’s was busy all day. Finally when it started to quiet down we had all the staff at Royal’s come out for a group picture with the race car. We even convinced Nick (the owner and it didn’t take much convincing) to get into the race car. I think all in all, everyone that participated or visited the small car show had a good time….I know we did.
This coming Friday is a regular show for all except Modifieds who will have a 50-lap race.
Well, I’m still a bit under the weather so this is it for my weekly write up.
Hope you all enjoyed your beautiful long weekend and have a great week.
Lynda
May 13, 2016
Hi Everybody,
I finished writing my article and then it didn’t save and I lost it…stupid computers!! So here’s a shortened version because I’m too aggrevated to write the full one again.
This past weekend was Friday the 13th. It was worse for some then others.
It did rain during the day but it cleared up nice and we were a go for racing.
Bruce and the car looked great out there. Bruce didn’t seem rusty and the car looked awesome during the Hot laps and Heat race. He came around 3 and 4 with the front left tire off the ground and I later learned that this was a good thing. I didn’t know at the time but it did look pretty cool.
Once again I didn’t read the schedule closely to only find out when we got there that it was a 35-lap race for Sportsman. I really wish they wouldn’t schedule special races at the beginning of the season. Many of the drivers are a bit rusty. Luckily the Sportsman class wasn’t that bad but the Mods and Mod Lites were another story. You can read the full stories for them on the Mohawk website but one noteable was the Mod that barrel rolled in front of the pit stands then stood up on his nose for what seemed like a while before crashing down on his wheels (luckily). All the drivers concerned in the rollovers seemed ok (I’m sure sore this weekend but overall good).
As for Bruce’s night, we had to draw for Heat race position. Of course he made me draw and it placed him in the second heat in the 6th position. But he did a great job of moving forward but with Heat races being short he was only able to bite at the heals of the 3rd place car and not get to complete the pass because of the amount of laps in a Heat.
This placed him in 11th to start the Feature… but wait!! They did a redraw for the top 12 qualifiers. In Bruce’s redraw he drew 8th. So, while still in the pits he moved up 3 positions. This is good.
The Feature was pretty tame compared to other classes. Bruce started 8th and was doing well until while going three wide did a line calculation error and was in the marbles which pushed him back to 14th. But that didn’t stop him, he was determined to more forward and he did. He worked his way back up to 10th. It was a hard fight but he was determined and the car was feeling good. He was battling off and on for 9th but I have to say I wasn’t feeling warm and fuzzy about him passing this particular car. This person has had issues with people passing him. He had just helped another car that attempted that move into the tires. I was satisfied with 10th. It’s better to be in one piece then to fight a fight that won’t be won.
So, the end of this story is he finished 10th. I was very satisfied, the car looked good, Bruce looked good, the car was in one piece on the first night and a top 10 to boot. I know at another track we wouldn’t have faired so well (name of track to be withheld).
I’d like to thank some of our returning sponsors: Napa Auto Parts Manotick, Royal’s Restaurant and Roy’s Lighting. Thanks for keeping in the family.
I’d like to also give koodoo’s to Mohawk International Raceway. Once again, friendly and helpful staff, clean facilities, clean washrooms with warm water, great lighting and clean racing. Really if you haven’t come out you really should try. If all tracks could be so professional maybe we’d have a harder time choosing where to race. I know it’s on Friday night but you must try at least once to come out…I promise you’ll love it.
Well, that’s it for this week. This coming Friday is a regular night of racing along with autograph night. Hope you can make it.
Have a great week everybody,
Lynda
I finished writing my article and then it didn’t save and I lost it…stupid computers!! So here’s a shortened version because I’m too aggrevated to write the full one again.
This past weekend was Friday the 13th. It was worse for some then others.
It did rain during the day but it cleared up nice and we were a go for racing.
Bruce and the car looked great out there. Bruce didn’t seem rusty and the car looked awesome during the Hot laps and Heat race. He came around 3 and 4 with the front left tire off the ground and I later learned that this was a good thing. I didn’t know at the time but it did look pretty cool.
Once again I didn’t read the schedule closely to only find out when we got there that it was a 35-lap race for Sportsman. I really wish they wouldn’t schedule special races at the beginning of the season. Many of the drivers are a bit rusty. Luckily the Sportsman class wasn’t that bad but the Mods and Mod Lites were another story. You can read the full stories for them on the Mohawk website but one noteable was the Mod that barrel rolled in front of the pit stands then stood up on his nose for what seemed like a while before crashing down on his wheels (luckily). All the drivers concerned in the rollovers seemed ok (I’m sure sore this weekend but overall good).
As for Bruce’s night, we had to draw for Heat race position. Of course he made me draw and it placed him in the second heat in the 6th position. But he did a great job of moving forward but with Heat races being short he was only able to bite at the heals of the 3rd place car and not get to complete the pass because of the amount of laps in a Heat.
This placed him in 11th to start the Feature… but wait!! They did a redraw for the top 12 qualifiers. In Bruce’s redraw he drew 8th. So, while still in the pits he moved up 3 positions. This is good.
The Feature was pretty tame compared to other classes. Bruce started 8th and was doing well until while going three wide did a line calculation error and was in the marbles which pushed him back to 14th. But that didn’t stop him, he was determined to more forward and he did. He worked his way back up to 10th. It was a hard fight but he was determined and the car was feeling good. He was battling off and on for 9th but I have to say I wasn’t feeling warm and fuzzy about him passing this particular car. This person has had issues with people passing him. He had just helped another car that attempted that move into the tires. I was satisfied with 10th. It’s better to be in one piece then to fight a fight that won’t be won.
So, the end of this story is he finished 10th. I was very satisfied, the car looked good, Bruce looked good, the car was in one piece on the first night and a top 10 to boot. I know at another track we wouldn’t have faired so well (name of track to be withheld).
I’d like to thank some of our returning sponsors: Napa Auto Parts Manotick, Royal’s Restaurant and Roy’s Lighting. Thanks for keeping in the family.
I’d like to also give koodoo’s to Mohawk International Raceway. Once again, friendly and helpful staff, clean facilities, clean washrooms with warm water, great lighting and clean racing. Really if you haven’t come out you really should try. If all tracks could be so professional maybe we’d have a harder time choosing where to race. I know it’s on Friday night but you must try at least once to come out…I promise you’ll love it.
Well, that’s it for this week. This coming Friday is a regular night of racing along with autograph night. Hope you can make it.
Have a great week everybody,
Lynda
May 11, 2016
Hi Everybody,
Well, racin’ season is about to begin at Mohawk International Raceway (MIR).
Last Saturday was practise; it was a beautiful sunny day. The car looks good, Bruce looks good; now let’s hope Friday looks good. We arrived early on Saturday and spent 3 hrs playing at the track. It may have been longer but we had to borrow fuel because the fuel guy wasn’t there. (Note to self, next year…bring racing fuel!!) Luckily we have friends at MIR. I’ve attached a couple of pictures from our outing in the gallery.
Friday May 13th is the first race at MIR but right now Mother Nature isn’t looking good.
My race updates will be coming out again soon to a computer near you. I’ll try to have them up sometime on Mondays. If you’re on my mailing list to notify you of the race updates and don’t want to be notified anymore, please let me know. If you aren’t on my notification list and want to be, please send me an email via the contact form on this website…. those of you who are playing in the match this afternoon move your clothes down on to the lower peg immediately after lunch before you write your letter home, if you're not getting your hair cut…LOL…a Monty Python “Meaning of Life” reference…damn I make myself laugh.
Anyways, racing is starting this coming Friday. Next week I hope to have a list of our sponsors that are coming back for the 2016 season. If you’re interested in joining our sponsorship team, send me a note via the contact form and I will be happy to give you a call.
Thank you all for your support as well.
Talk Monday,
Lynda
Well, racin’ season is about to begin at Mohawk International Raceway (MIR).
Last Saturday was practise; it was a beautiful sunny day. The car looks good, Bruce looks good; now let’s hope Friday looks good. We arrived early on Saturday and spent 3 hrs playing at the track. It may have been longer but we had to borrow fuel because the fuel guy wasn’t there. (Note to self, next year…bring racing fuel!!) Luckily we have friends at MIR. I’ve attached a couple of pictures from our outing in the gallery.
Friday May 13th is the first race at MIR but right now Mother Nature isn’t looking good.
My race updates will be coming out again soon to a computer near you. I’ll try to have them up sometime on Mondays. If you’re on my mailing list to notify you of the race updates and don’t want to be notified anymore, please let me know. If you aren’t on my notification list and want to be, please send me an email via the contact form on this website…. those of you who are playing in the match this afternoon move your clothes down on to the lower peg immediately after lunch before you write your letter home, if you're not getting your hair cut…LOL…a Monty Python “Meaning of Life” reference…damn I make myself laugh.
Anyways, racing is starting this coming Friday. Next week I hope to have a list of our sponsors that are coming back for the 2016 season. If you’re interested in joining our sponsorship team, send me a note via the contact form and I will be happy to give you a call.
Thank you all for your support as well.
Talk Monday,
Lynda