Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (October 2014)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
October 20, 2014
All I have to say is THANK GOD THIS SEASON IS DONE!
Bruce started the season with a roll over that took him out of the races for 4 weeks. Then the rest of the season he was playing catch up and getting the car back in good form. Well, Bruce and Bobby were happy with what they were doing with the car and it was looking real good, including this past weekend….until…well, here’s the whole story as I see it.
Saturday’s racing started 2 hrs behind schedule due to a continuous drizzle. Once that finally finished we only had to contend with the continuous cold wind, it was a lovely night for watching racing…not! I had so many layers on I felt like the Michelin Man!
Forty something cars showed up for 30 spots. So qualifying was very important and it was run by DIRT so there were no mistakes about it, everything was run by the rules, the top 4 from the Heat’s were in, the rest went to consi or home. In Bruce’s Heat he started 6th of 9 cars. Right off the start he was knocked and bounced backwards. At one point he was hit right off the track, but luckily he kept going and all was good. The funny part was the car that did all the bouncing (that’s off other cars) ended up bouncing himself and half the field out of the race (remember this is an 8 lap race, he caused all this mayhem within 5 laps!!). This put Bruce up in 4th place on the restart. Now that Bruce was there racing with people who understood the way racing should be done it was a race. Bruce easily took 3rd therefore qualified for the Feature.
The Feature….how can I say things nicely about the Feature…I’ll give it a shot.
Bruce started in 12th and within a few laps made it up to 7th. The car was awesome and Bruce was there with it. Then a caution came out after a few laps. Bruce had to start in 7th which is on the inside, well, the inside row just didn’t move much when the green flag flew so he ended up back in 10th. He was in 10th for a while and there were several cautions flying. The Sportsman seemed to have issues with keeping green for long stretches, and then it happened. Lap 18, on a restart, Bruce had a run on the two problem children ahead of him and well…do you remember the maroon I’ve spoken about before?!?! Well, he did it again but this time took out Bruce and a bunch of cars. He came up on Bruce (or should I say drove into Bruce’s left front) and ripped off Bruce’s front tire and spun Bruce around in front of the whole field. So there were cars everywhere on turn 1. Once everyone stopped, Bruce was facing the wrong way with his rear end on top of another car and with only three tires on the car. And yes, the maroon made it thru without a scratch….for now….
If you were running anywhere below 20th you were safe and now running in the teens. It really helped a lot of good drivers that were stuck in the back get to the front…just wish we were one of them.
Well, yes it was the end of our night. Bruce had an amazing car and was on his way up but due to some “special” drivers (who, by the way, are “special” almost every single race) his night was over. Out of 30 cars believe it or not Bruce finished 24th.
The beauty is how karma takes its place in life. After the maroon wiped out all those cars, he continued on and caused another accident that ended more nights early but then here’s where karma kicks in, he rolled his car around lap 28. I don’t like to see guys have accidents or roll because I know it costs money and ruins evenings but this guy has been pushing the envelope. So, karma is a bitch, you push her and she eventually pushes back!
Well, we spent the rest of the evening drowning our sorrows until the wee hours of the morning. The good news is that Bruce and Bobby are doing a great job with the car. It’s really coming around, we just need lady luck to take notice and keep the maroons away from him for a season or two.
So, this is the last write up for the 2014 season. Hope you all have a great and safe winter and hope to see you at the races next year….yeah, I’m sure it’s not over yet.
Cheers,
Lynda
P.S.
Was this write up nice enough?? I had to try really hard to keep it civil….just sayin’
All I have to say is THANK GOD THIS SEASON IS DONE!
Bruce started the season with a roll over that took him out of the races for 4 weeks. Then the rest of the season he was playing catch up and getting the car back in good form. Well, Bruce and Bobby were happy with what they were doing with the car and it was looking real good, including this past weekend….until…well, here’s the whole story as I see it.
Saturday’s racing started 2 hrs behind schedule due to a continuous drizzle. Once that finally finished we only had to contend with the continuous cold wind, it was a lovely night for watching racing…not! I had so many layers on I felt like the Michelin Man!
Forty something cars showed up for 30 spots. So qualifying was very important and it was run by DIRT so there were no mistakes about it, everything was run by the rules, the top 4 from the Heat’s were in, the rest went to consi or home. In Bruce’s Heat he started 6th of 9 cars. Right off the start he was knocked and bounced backwards. At one point he was hit right off the track, but luckily he kept going and all was good. The funny part was the car that did all the bouncing (that’s off other cars) ended up bouncing himself and half the field out of the race (remember this is an 8 lap race, he caused all this mayhem within 5 laps!!). This put Bruce up in 4th place on the restart. Now that Bruce was there racing with people who understood the way racing should be done it was a race. Bruce easily took 3rd therefore qualified for the Feature.
The Feature….how can I say things nicely about the Feature…I’ll give it a shot.
Bruce started in 12th and within a few laps made it up to 7th. The car was awesome and Bruce was there with it. Then a caution came out after a few laps. Bruce had to start in 7th which is on the inside, well, the inside row just didn’t move much when the green flag flew so he ended up back in 10th. He was in 10th for a while and there were several cautions flying. The Sportsman seemed to have issues with keeping green for long stretches, and then it happened. Lap 18, on a restart, Bruce had a run on the two problem children ahead of him and well…do you remember the maroon I’ve spoken about before?!?! Well, he did it again but this time took out Bruce and a bunch of cars. He came up on Bruce (or should I say drove into Bruce’s left front) and ripped off Bruce’s front tire and spun Bruce around in front of the whole field. So there were cars everywhere on turn 1. Once everyone stopped, Bruce was facing the wrong way with his rear end on top of another car and with only three tires on the car. And yes, the maroon made it thru without a scratch….for now….
If you were running anywhere below 20th you were safe and now running in the teens. It really helped a lot of good drivers that were stuck in the back get to the front…just wish we were one of them.
Well, yes it was the end of our night. Bruce had an amazing car and was on his way up but due to some “special” drivers (who, by the way, are “special” almost every single race) his night was over. Out of 30 cars believe it or not Bruce finished 24th.
The beauty is how karma takes its place in life. After the maroon wiped out all those cars, he continued on and caused another accident that ended more nights early but then here’s where karma kicks in, he rolled his car around lap 28. I don’t like to see guys have accidents or roll because I know it costs money and ruins evenings but this guy has been pushing the envelope. So, karma is a bitch, you push her and she eventually pushes back!
Well, we spent the rest of the evening drowning our sorrows until the wee hours of the morning. The good news is that Bruce and Bobby are doing a great job with the car. It’s really coming around, we just need lady luck to take notice and keep the maroons away from him for a season or two.
So, this is the last write up for the 2014 season. Hope you all have a great and safe winter and hope to see you at the races next year….yeah, I’m sure it’s not over yet.
Cheers,
Lynda
P.S.
Was this write up nice enough?? I had to try really hard to keep it civil….just sayin’
October 7, 2014
Not everyone makes a mark in the world but Saturday we lost a member of the racing community that made his mark in the racing world.
Craig Revelle at age 37 died suddenly at home on Saturday Oct 4th. For those who don’t know who Craig was, he was DIRT racing’s biggest supporter. He was at ever race; he provided websites for many racers and wrote racing articles. I was always amazed but not surprised to see him at dirt tracks everywhere. Racing was his life, he may not have been behind the wheel but he was a major part of the sport. What he gave to racing was his talent and creativity. When Bruce won a few years back Craig stood in the background of our pit area, then later wrote a nice article about his win and how it was a “popular win”, thanks again Craig, it meant a lot to us.
We weren’t very close to him or BFF’s but the news of his passing really hit us last night…Craig…gone… you’re kidding… that’s all we could say and think.
Brockville Speedway (and many other tracks) will not look the same without Craig’s presents. God Bless you Craig, I’m sure you’re up there interviewing Earnhardt now. Say hi for us.
The Makinson’s
Not everyone makes a mark in the world but Saturday we lost a member of the racing community that made his mark in the racing world.
Craig Revelle at age 37 died suddenly at home on Saturday Oct 4th. For those who don’t know who Craig was, he was DIRT racing’s biggest supporter. He was at ever race; he provided websites for many racers and wrote racing articles. I was always amazed but not surprised to see him at dirt tracks everywhere. Racing was his life, he may not have been behind the wheel but he was a major part of the sport. What he gave to racing was his talent and creativity. When Bruce won a few years back Craig stood in the background of our pit area, then later wrote a nice article about his win and how it was a “popular win”, thanks again Craig, it meant a lot to us.
We weren’t very close to him or BFF’s but the news of his passing really hit us last night…Craig…gone… you’re kidding… that’s all we could say and think.
Brockville Speedway (and many other tracks) will not look the same without Craig’s presents. God Bless you Craig, I’m sure you’re up there interviewing Earnhardt now. Say hi for us.
The Makinson’s
