Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (May 2018)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
May 25, 2018 Update
Hi Everybody,
Well, this weekend was a washout for us. Pun intended.
Friday afternoon Bruce decided he didn’t want to drive to MIR because the radar didn’t look good for the evening. Well, he was right, they cancelled around 6:00 pm. We would have just arrived around that time. Good call Bruce!
Then, Saturday at Airborne, well, they cancelled as well. Impending rain.
I understand Cornwall got their races in and congrats to Thomas for winning the Sportsman race. Glad to hear it was him. Like I’ve said before, if it can’t be Bruce I like when it’s a driver we respect.
The series race that was supposed to happen at Airborne this past weekend is moved to this coming weekend. Bruce is hoping to go to it. So far, the weather forecast for Saturday in Plattsburg is 58% rain. But we have to wait and see, as you know the weather changes like...the weather.
Well, have a good week everybody and hope to see you at the races sometime this summer.
Cheers,
Lynda
Well, this weekend was a washout for us. Pun intended.
Friday afternoon Bruce decided he didn’t want to drive to MIR because the radar didn’t look good for the evening. Well, he was right, they cancelled around 6:00 pm. We would have just arrived around that time. Good call Bruce!
Then, Saturday at Airborne, well, they cancelled as well. Impending rain.
I understand Cornwall got their races in and congrats to Thomas for winning the Sportsman race. Glad to hear it was him. Like I’ve said before, if it can’t be Bruce I like when it’s a driver we respect.
The series race that was supposed to happen at Airborne this past weekend is moved to this coming weekend. Bruce is hoping to go to it. So far, the weather forecast for Saturday in Plattsburg is 58% rain. But we have to wait and see, as you know the weather changes like...the weather.
Well, have a good week everybody and hope to see you at the races sometime this summer.
Cheers,
Lynda
May 18, 2018 Race Update
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday night was better than last week but not the best.
31 Cars showed up for the 35-Lap Pete Mitchell Memorial race. Bruce was in the 4th Heat starting on the front row. The track has been very slick and not up to it’s normal par as far as we’re concerned. There seems to be more ruts then usual. And because it’s slick most of the Heat races have been more like parades. Well, Bruce’s wasn’t, I’m glad to say.
He started side-by-side with Thomas Cook and they made it a great race. I know it’s only 10-laps but it was a hard 10 laps. Bruce and Thomas were side-by-side, then one ahead of the other, back and forth they went. In the end, Bruce excelled and finished in 1st place. But boy was it a good race. It’s nice when you can trust the driver beside you and race with them like that. I would have been happy even if Bruce came in second, Thomas is good clean racer, thanks for the show Thomas!
For the Feature, they started the 31 cars and had a redraw for the top 12 drivers. Bruce redrew and got a starting position of 7th. Not a bad spot to start but it got crazy with all the drivers vying for the inside line. The outside just wasn’t there at all. Bruce was bounced back to about 15th then started to move up slowly. There were a few cautions that did give him an opportunity to get a better jump forward but only to about 13th. Then on the last caution, on corner 4, he got pushed (or bumped) to the outside…then the train happened. Everyone just passed him by, he lost 10 positions with only a few laps left in the race.
He had a choice, fight to get back into the inside and possibly wreck the car or just keep it steady and finish 23rd. Of course, part of us want him to fight for the inside but the smarter part of us agree with his decision. It isn’t worth it, after a certain finish they all get paid the same amount so it isn’t worth the risk (this is common sense you only have after a certain age...lol). I’m just glad he and the car came home in one piece. He said it was very rough out there both the track and other drivers.
Well, that’s it for this past week.
This weekend is Friday night Mohawk and Saturday a series race at Airborne. I’m not sure if we’re doing both. So far, the weather isn’t looking promising for Saturday night for Airborne.
Hope everyone had a safe and good long weekend and hope y’all have a great week.
Cheers,
Lynda
This past Friday night was better than last week but not the best.
31 Cars showed up for the 35-Lap Pete Mitchell Memorial race. Bruce was in the 4th Heat starting on the front row. The track has been very slick and not up to it’s normal par as far as we’re concerned. There seems to be more ruts then usual. And because it’s slick most of the Heat races have been more like parades. Well, Bruce’s wasn’t, I’m glad to say.
He started side-by-side with Thomas Cook and they made it a great race. I know it’s only 10-laps but it was a hard 10 laps. Bruce and Thomas were side-by-side, then one ahead of the other, back and forth they went. In the end, Bruce excelled and finished in 1st place. But boy was it a good race. It’s nice when you can trust the driver beside you and race with them like that. I would have been happy even if Bruce came in second, Thomas is good clean racer, thanks for the show Thomas!
For the Feature, they started the 31 cars and had a redraw for the top 12 drivers. Bruce redrew and got a starting position of 7th. Not a bad spot to start but it got crazy with all the drivers vying for the inside line. The outside just wasn’t there at all. Bruce was bounced back to about 15th then started to move up slowly. There were a few cautions that did give him an opportunity to get a better jump forward but only to about 13th. Then on the last caution, on corner 4, he got pushed (or bumped) to the outside…then the train happened. Everyone just passed him by, he lost 10 positions with only a few laps left in the race.
He had a choice, fight to get back into the inside and possibly wreck the car or just keep it steady and finish 23rd. Of course, part of us want him to fight for the inside but the smarter part of us agree with his decision. It isn’t worth it, after a certain finish they all get paid the same amount so it isn’t worth the risk (this is common sense you only have after a certain age...lol). I’m just glad he and the car came home in one piece. He said it was very rough out there both the track and other drivers.
Well, that’s it for this past week.
This weekend is Friday night Mohawk and Saturday a series race at Airborne. I’m not sure if we’re doing both. So far, the weather isn’t looking promising for Saturday night for Airborne.
Hope everyone had a safe and good long weekend and hope y’all have a great week.
Cheers,
Lynda
May 11, 2018 Race Update
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday was the first race of the season and all I can say is “aww, geez”.
As usual, the first race at Mohawk, 34 cars showed up for 28 spots and just so you know a little in advance, Bruce made the Feature so the aww geez is not for that.
The car was a little off in the hot laps, the track was dry and got slick fast. In his Heat race he started 4th but couldn’t hold it as the car didn’t quite seem right, he finished 6th and they were taking the top 5 out of the Heats. He had to do the consi where he started on the front row and finished 2nd. On a slick track like that there’s not a lot of movement but we were happy with this. At least he was in the Feature, but he was going to start 24th out of 28 cars.
Now for the Feature, he was doing well and holding his own. The car started to work on the high side. It was looking very good out there. Most cars were running the middle or low but Bruce was swinging it outside and it was working. Near the middle of the race one of my maroons from last year got up there and made Bruce lose a couple of spots but shortly after there was a caution. So, we all felt good that he would be able to pass the maroon on the restart, which he did but then on the second lap into the restart…aww geez!!
A bunch of maroons joined in…someone got loose, went high, others checked up and one car took Bruce into the turn 3-4 wall. Our night was over. See gallery for damage pictures. The back right is pushed in, the front wheels were facing directions they shouldn’t be so, it was a night. It took a while to get the car loaded but a team from Watertown next to us was very helpful in getting us loaded. But the funny thing is when Bruce and I watched the video I took when we got home (2 a.m.), it seems his driver may have started it all…lol. Maybe that’s why they were so helpful?!?!?
Heck, either way, we got to see the car working good and Bruce is safe. And a little funny note, he started 24th and ended up finishing 26th even after being knocked out just past half way thru the race. Funny....huh...
By the way, for those wondering, yes, I wore my winter coat, gloves, long-johns and extra socks.
Hopefully, this coming Friday night will be a bit warmer and a little less adventurous for us. It’s the Pete Mitchell Memorial Sportsman 35-lap race. So, it’s going to be another night that we have to qualify because I know there will be a lot of cars showing up again. It happens every year, for the first 2 weeks or so a bunch of cars show up then it dwindles down to your 25 or so regulars.
And yes, I did say my usual motto – Racing’s Stupid!
Have a good week and hope to see you at the races,
Lynda
This past Friday was the first race of the season and all I can say is “aww, geez”.
As usual, the first race at Mohawk, 34 cars showed up for 28 spots and just so you know a little in advance, Bruce made the Feature so the aww geez is not for that.
The car was a little off in the hot laps, the track was dry and got slick fast. In his Heat race he started 4th but couldn’t hold it as the car didn’t quite seem right, he finished 6th and they were taking the top 5 out of the Heats. He had to do the consi where he started on the front row and finished 2nd. On a slick track like that there’s not a lot of movement but we were happy with this. At least he was in the Feature, but he was going to start 24th out of 28 cars.
Now for the Feature, he was doing well and holding his own. The car started to work on the high side. It was looking very good out there. Most cars were running the middle or low but Bruce was swinging it outside and it was working. Near the middle of the race one of my maroons from last year got up there and made Bruce lose a couple of spots but shortly after there was a caution. So, we all felt good that he would be able to pass the maroon on the restart, which he did but then on the second lap into the restart…aww geez!!
A bunch of maroons joined in…someone got loose, went high, others checked up and one car took Bruce into the turn 3-4 wall. Our night was over. See gallery for damage pictures. The back right is pushed in, the front wheels were facing directions they shouldn’t be so, it was a night. It took a while to get the car loaded but a team from Watertown next to us was very helpful in getting us loaded. But the funny thing is when Bruce and I watched the video I took when we got home (2 a.m.), it seems his driver may have started it all…lol. Maybe that’s why they were so helpful?!?!?
Heck, either way, we got to see the car working good and Bruce is safe. And a little funny note, he started 24th and ended up finishing 26th even after being knocked out just past half way thru the race. Funny....huh...
By the way, for those wondering, yes, I wore my winter coat, gloves, long-johns and extra socks.
Hopefully, this coming Friday night will be a bit warmer and a little less adventurous for us. It’s the Pete Mitchell Memorial Sportsman 35-lap race. So, it’s going to be another night that we have to qualify because I know there will be a lot of cars showing up again. It happens every year, for the first 2 weeks or so a bunch of cars show up then it dwindles down to your 25 or so regulars.
And yes, I did say my usual motto – Racing’s Stupid!
Have a good week and hope to see you at the races,
Lynda
May 11, 2018
Hi Everybody,
It’s race day!! The weather is sunny but it’s going to be cold tonight. Guess I’ll bring my winter woollies with me. Thank God we now have a covered trailer, now I can keep out of the cold.
Wednesday night was practice and it went very well. The car looked great and Bruce didn’t seem to have any cob webs. Hilary from the track took a bunch of on track pictures for us, I’ve posted them in the gallery. Thank you Hilary, they’re amazing. I also have one from Rick at the Races, thank you Rick. Yes, the body is from last year but see how great Bobby got the Charlotte wrinkles out?!!?! Wrinkles...yeah right...they were a lot more than wrinkles.
Anyways, I’ll post the race update early next week. I’ll try for Monday but I’m getting lazy…lol.
Have a great weekend,
Lynda
It’s race day!! The weather is sunny but it’s going to be cold tonight. Guess I’ll bring my winter woollies with me. Thank God we now have a covered trailer, now I can keep out of the cold.
Wednesday night was practice and it went very well. The car looked great and Bruce didn’t seem to have any cob webs. Hilary from the track took a bunch of on track pictures for us, I’ve posted them in the gallery. Thank you Hilary, they’re amazing. I also have one from Rick at the Races, thank you Rick. Yes, the body is from last year but see how great Bobby got the Charlotte wrinkles out?!!?! Wrinkles...yeah right...they were a lot more than wrinkles.
Anyways, I’ll post the race update early next week. I’ll try for Monday but I’m getting lazy…lol.
Have a great weekend,
Lynda
May 7, 2018
Hi Everybody,
This past Saturday was a scheduled practice day but due to the prior weeks weather the track was in no condition to play on. So, practice was rescheduled to this coming Wednesday evening. We are planning on attending just to make sure the car is race ready and get the cobwebs out of Bruce.
The first scheduled race is this coming Friday night (May 11th) at Mohawk International Raceway (MIR).
We’d like to thank all of our sponsors for returning for the 2018 season:
They are an amazing group of people, so please support them when you can.
I will try to keep up with my regular race updates and take photos along the way. So, stay tuned.
If you want to get on my race update email reminders, just send me a message through this website and I’ll add you on.
Have a great week,
Lynda
This past Saturday was a scheduled practice day but due to the prior weeks weather the track was in no condition to play on. So, practice was rescheduled to this coming Wednesday evening. We are planning on attending just to make sure the car is race ready and get the cobwebs out of Bruce.
The first scheduled race is this coming Friday night (May 11th) at Mohawk International Raceway (MIR).
We’d like to thank all of our sponsors for returning for the 2018 season:
- Sandy Vanier, CPA, CGA - Ottawa, ON
- Napa Manotick, ON
- Royal’s Restaurant - Richmond, ON
- King’s Your Independent Grocer - Richmond, ON
They are an amazing group of people, so please support them when you can.
I will try to keep up with my regular race updates and take photos along the way. So, stay tuned.
If you want to get on my race update email reminders, just send me a message through this website and I’ll add you on.
Have a great week,
Lynda