Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (October 2017)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
October 25-28, 2017
Hi Everybody,
We’re home! After a long and wet drive home we made it.
I’m going to make it an easy read for you race fans. First, I’ll talk about the racing then I’ll talk about our adventures. This way if you’re not interested in anything other than the racing you can skip the second part. The photos are set up racing first then just pics from our drive.
PART 1 - RACING
We arrived Wednesday and got our “hauler” lined up. Thursday was registration and practise. The car looked good but we really couldn’t see how good it was at times because there were too many cars on the track at the same time and some of them didn’t understand how it works it seems. They would drop the green to go and it would take them time to figure out which was the gas pedal I guess. So, it would hold up the rest that understood how it worked. I understand the one-way radio announcer would often yell at people…lol, I wish I had an extra radio, Bruce and Bobby can tell you all the things that was said on the radio, supposed to be good. Anyways, the car looked good.
Friday was the first round of Time Trials and Heat Races. They divided the cars up in sets. Bruce was in the first set. I thought Bruce’s car looked good in the time trials because he was catching up to the car in front. It’s hard to tell when you only get 3 laps for time trials but it looked good from what I could see.
Friday nights Heat race was a different story. There were 12 cars in his Heat and Bruce started 10th. Then WTF!…why the face you ask?!?! There was one car in our Heat that must have been blind, drunk or stoned…or a combination. It didn’t look like a lot of cars were passing much but Bruce was holding his own and even had a chance to make passes. Then the Maroon started his antics, on the first lap he spun out by himself. The Maroon was #22 (see pics of the 22 and 81 action). The #22 car then hit Bruce on turn 3 and spun Bruce. Then on another restart the car in front of Bruce spun and I think Bruce got a bit of that action. Then on the next restart the Maroon # 22 lost it in one and hit Bruce in the side which bent his side bar and put a hole in a brand-new tire. Bruce did not qualify for the race on the first night. He finished 9th.
So, Saturday morning it was a get up early and check out the damage to the car and what needed to be fixed. By the time I got to the pit area the guys had already fixed everything. We needed a new tire (again) and two parts (see the pics for the bent parts, I have no idea what they are, ask the guys if you need to know). Because our cars don’t race there on a regular basis there wasn’t a parts truck available so Bruce had to beg, borrow and steal to get the parts he needed. In the end, the car was fixed, so we hoped.
Saturday’s Last Chance Qualifier was ok but Bruce was starting in 7th and only the top 3 would advance to the final race. And somehow that Maroon was starting 3rd!! WTF…why the face you again ask?? Do you really need to ask?? At the beginning of the race Bruce got shuffled back a bit but he soon started to move forward, it looked good. Then on one lap Bruce went high coming out of 4 (into the muck) and was passed but fortunately, the guy that passed him did the same the next lap and Bruce passed him back. I’m not sure where Bruce finished in that race but I’m thinking it was around 8th. Anything under 3rd didn’t really matter anyways. There were 45 cars that showed up and only 26 were going to be running in the big show so 19 went home. And from what I saw, there were some fast cars that went home and some cars that with shit luck got in the race. I guess racing is sometimes the luck of the draw. But the nice part is we still got something for our efforts. No, it didn’t pay for much but it’s a nice gesture.
You can watch some the races by clicking on this link
http://www.dirtcarump.com/2017/10/27/first-10-rows-set-for-tomorrows-wstc-sportsman-modified-feature/
In the video can you see the 22 car hitting people?!?! Watch closely. Seriously, I really wanted to know what this guys problem was.
Well, that’s it for the races. Now for our trip.
PART 2 – THE TRIP
We left Tuesday morning in the rain but sometime into New York the rain started to stop and then we had clear skies the rest of the way. We had our pickup truck pulling the race car trailer and Bobby driving the RV. Someone had told me Pennsylvania was hilly but they didn’t mention that the rest of the states we went thru were as well. We drove thru New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, then finally North Carolina. All were pretty hilly, I think at one point we were up to almost 4000 ft. elevation, then at Charlotte we were at about 600 ft. My ears were popping most of the way. I had borrowed a GPS but was warned that it may not always be accurate…boy you tellin' me. I was trying to find a gas stop. It told us to get off then go back in the opposite direction. I searched for another one, it said just a mile or so up the road. So, why not, we were there anyways right?? Well, we went down a road that got very narrow quickly with sharp turns (not easy to do with the race car trailer). I looked at Bruce and said, “I swear I can hear banjo music playing”. We finally found a town and a small gas station with old, wooden kitchen chairs on the front porch and old fogged up gas pumps. Yeah, I was feeling uneasy walking up the steps but luckily the owner was an very nice east Indian fella. We got gas and he directed us to the easy route back to the highway and we were on our way again.
Tuesday night we stayed at a Walmart off I81. I thought it was only RV’s that stayed there, no…trucks do too. We had to listen to trucks coming in and out all night. I think the guys drove around 11 hrs (including gas stops) on the first night. They wanted a shorter day’s driving the next day.
Wednesday, we got to the Speedway around 2:30pm. And then it began…the walking. I have to say it would have been nice to have a 4-wheeler, golf cart, dirt bikes or even a bicycle to get around on. But we walked and checked everything out. We found where we had to line the truck up and parked it there. At this time, there was 1 full line of haulers and we were near the beginning of the second line. We met and made friends with some of the security personnel and had a BBQ and made an early night of it. When I checked our email before packing it in I found an email from the DIRT officials saying there were upper pit spots available. Bruce and I discussed it and decided to go for it. Thank God we did.
Thursday was practise. We lined up for registration and that’s were I made my new American friend…lol. I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying but they were friendly enough (see pic, the one where I look like a kid beside him). Haulers kept coming in, the last count I had was 7 rows about a kilometer long each…yeah, at least 7 kms of haulers, some small and a lot very large. It was something to see (again see pics). I’m glad we went with the upper pits because the pit area is very large. We were parked up at the top where it was easy to walk to track side to watch the races. Once on the track, the car looked good and Bruce was ready. I still wasn’t happy with some of the drivers that didn’t seem to know what green meant but Bruce looked good.
The week before we left I had contacted Kenny Schrader’s organization and was told they would pass on the info that I requested to meet him. Of course, we really didn’t think it would happen. When Bruce told me that Kenny was there at the drivers meeting, I had someone from DIRT drive me to his trailer. He wasn’t there yet so I talked to his crew member who told me Kenny Wallace just a few haulers down from them. When Schrader came walking up, I yelled out “Kenny!” and he yelled back “Canadian!” and we hugged. LOL…I guess he did read my email and check out our website.
I then walked over to Wallace’s trailer and yelled “Kenny!” and he turned and hugged me too. LOL, what a great bunch of guys. I told them where to find us later for a beer. They said they would but really, we were all racing and it was crazy so I’m not sure if they even tried but Wallace said he went looking for me and asking where the Canadian was…lol. (Yeah right, Kenny! Most wouldn’t believe you but I do.)
I got a selfie with Wallace, thankfully he knows how to do that, then he took a picture of Bruce and I with Schrader (see pics). They were really great guys. I wish we had more time to sit and chat with them, it would have been great to hear some of their stories.
Friday morning, we went to the Hendrick’s shop. A little disappointing. You really didn’t get to see much. But we did get to see Kenny Schrader’s July 23, 1995 car (that was our 7th Anniversary Married!). Kenny later told us that car really didn’t like him.
Friday was time trials and Heats. As you already read, we didn’t have good luck there with that maroon making it impossible for Bruce to get anywhere. So, Friday night we went back to the RV to get a strategy going for Saturday. The track had a bonfire with free food and beer but we weren’t really in the mood to go. From my security friend, Tommy, I found out that it did get a bit rowdy. I don’t know if Kenny S went to it because we talked about meeting there for a beer. Sorry Kenny, after our bad luck we just weren’t in the mood. Hope you understand.
Saturday was a busy day for the guys getting the car back together and functional. But I think they did a really good job. The car looked good, I’m sure when they scale it they will find out it was a mess but Bruce worked it well. As you know we didn’t make the big show. So, we headed back to the RV for a beverage, then headed into the main grandstands to watch some of the races.
You must have heard the saying “Karma is a bitch” right?!?! Well, we watched the Sportsman race and on the 3rd lap the maroon hit a car that spun and lost his rear tire. I don’t wish malice on many people but when you go around wrecking other cars and other peoples’ chances of getting into the show…well, you know what they say about Karma!! (I hope the 7B car crew was watching, I had talked to the female part of the crew and she felt the same way about 22 as we did as he had wrecked them, they had to replace a front clip, axle and tire. They didn’t make the show either).
While in the stands, I went for a walk and returned with a nice surprise. As Bruce had put it “The lioness returns with sustenance for the lazy males of the pride”. I had found a turkey leg! Bruce had mentioned he had read that they sell turkey legs at the tracks. Well, I found it and brought back a leg and a couple of beers. Bruce made comment how funny it was to see me walking up the stands with beer and a turkey leg. We all shared it by me passing it around and ripping meat off it…lol, it must have been a sight to see.
We also got to meet some fellow Canadians in the stands. They were from out East and it was their first DIRT race. They were on their way to Martinsville.
We didn’t finish well but we had fun. We met all kinds of good people, and the officials and staff were all very friendly and helpful. You couldn’t have asked for a better week…ok…maybe Bruce could have been in the race but still was a really good time.
Sunday, we drove back in the driving rain and wind. The guys drove about 10 hrs in it. When we were finally trying to find a spot to park for the night we couldn’t. At one point, we got off the highway to find a place and we ended up with a flat tire on the trailer. The guys had to go out in the rain to change it. But they did it pretty quick!
We had pulled off on another off-ramp and all the truck stops were filled up. We decided to stop for gas and while in the gas station I started a conversation with the attendant. Nice friendly guy. He told us it will be hard to find a truck stop because of the weather all the truckers are stopping but suggested a camp sight about 15 miles up the highway. Then he told me to wait. He asked the manager if it was ok if we just parked at their gas station for the night. He even went out in the rain to guide Bruce into where we could park.
That night we woke up to something hitting the RV. It was like coconuts hitting the side of the RV and the wind had picked up even more. We were all awake part of the night listening to pinecones being launched at the RV and waiting for Dorothy. Yeah, we felt it was going to go over.
Monday, we got up and left by 7 am. This time there wasn’t rain but the wind was crazy. We got home at around 2:30pm. And boy it was nice to be there. But later we were only to find out that our basement had flooded. Not exactly how we wanted to finish off our trip.
Like I said we had fun, it was a great ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience (just stressing it for Bruce and Bobby, just so they don’t miss it).
I’d like to thank Bobby for coming with us, Cheryl for the cookies and muffins and especially for the sponsors that provided tires; King’s Your Independent Grocer and Royal’s Restaurant both in Richmond. And of course, Sandy Vanier for offering to send money when we had broken parts. We have a great team. Thank you everyone for helping make this experience happen.
Just for Bobby and Bruce; remember, I fly down in my private jet and you have a golf cart for me to drive around in…that’s the only way this is happening again...just sayin’.
Well, that’s it for this report and our season. It was a long but short season. I’m sure if you talk to Bobby or Bruce they’ll remember more stories about Charlotte but this is all I have for now. It’s enough, don’t you think?!?!
Have a great winter,
Lynda
We’re home! After a long and wet drive home we made it.
I’m going to make it an easy read for you race fans. First, I’ll talk about the racing then I’ll talk about our adventures. This way if you’re not interested in anything other than the racing you can skip the second part. The photos are set up racing first then just pics from our drive.
PART 1 - RACING
We arrived Wednesday and got our “hauler” lined up. Thursday was registration and practise. The car looked good but we really couldn’t see how good it was at times because there were too many cars on the track at the same time and some of them didn’t understand how it works it seems. They would drop the green to go and it would take them time to figure out which was the gas pedal I guess. So, it would hold up the rest that understood how it worked. I understand the one-way radio announcer would often yell at people…lol, I wish I had an extra radio, Bruce and Bobby can tell you all the things that was said on the radio, supposed to be good. Anyways, the car looked good.
Friday was the first round of Time Trials and Heat Races. They divided the cars up in sets. Bruce was in the first set. I thought Bruce’s car looked good in the time trials because he was catching up to the car in front. It’s hard to tell when you only get 3 laps for time trials but it looked good from what I could see.
Friday nights Heat race was a different story. There were 12 cars in his Heat and Bruce started 10th. Then WTF!…why the face you ask?!?! There was one car in our Heat that must have been blind, drunk or stoned…or a combination. It didn’t look like a lot of cars were passing much but Bruce was holding his own and even had a chance to make passes. Then the Maroon started his antics, on the first lap he spun out by himself. The Maroon was #22 (see pics of the 22 and 81 action). The #22 car then hit Bruce on turn 3 and spun Bruce. Then on another restart the car in front of Bruce spun and I think Bruce got a bit of that action. Then on the next restart the Maroon # 22 lost it in one and hit Bruce in the side which bent his side bar and put a hole in a brand-new tire. Bruce did not qualify for the race on the first night. He finished 9th.
So, Saturday morning it was a get up early and check out the damage to the car and what needed to be fixed. By the time I got to the pit area the guys had already fixed everything. We needed a new tire (again) and two parts (see the pics for the bent parts, I have no idea what they are, ask the guys if you need to know). Because our cars don’t race there on a regular basis there wasn’t a parts truck available so Bruce had to beg, borrow and steal to get the parts he needed. In the end, the car was fixed, so we hoped.
Saturday’s Last Chance Qualifier was ok but Bruce was starting in 7th and only the top 3 would advance to the final race. And somehow that Maroon was starting 3rd!! WTF…why the face you again ask?? Do you really need to ask?? At the beginning of the race Bruce got shuffled back a bit but he soon started to move forward, it looked good. Then on one lap Bruce went high coming out of 4 (into the muck) and was passed but fortunately, the guy that passed him did the same the next lap and Bruce passed him back. I’m not sure where Bruce finished in that race but I’m thinking it was around 8th. Anything under 3rd didn’t really matter anyways. There were 45 cars that showed up and only 26 were going to be running in the big show so 19 went home. And from what I saw, there were some fast cars that went home and some cars that with shit luck got in the race. I guess racing is sometimes the luck of the draw. But the nice part is we still got something for our efforts. No, it didn’t pay for much but it’s a nice gesture.
You can watch some the races by clicking on this link
http://www.dirtcarump.com/2017/10/27/first-10-rows-set-for-tomorrows-wstc-sportsman-modified-feature/
In the video can you see the 22 car hitting people?!?! Watch closely. Seriously, I really wanted to know what this guys problem was.
Well, that’s it for the races. Now for our trip.
PART 2 – THE TRIP
We left Tuesday morning in the rain but sometime into New York the rain started to stop and then we had clear skies the rest of the way. We had our pickup truck pulling the race car trailer and Bobby driving the RV. Someone had told me Pennsylvania was hilly but they didn’t mention that the rest of the states we went thru were as well. We drove thru New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, then finally North Carolina. All were pretty hilly, I think at one point we were up to almost 4000 ft. elevation, then at Charlotte we were at about 600 ft. My ears were popping most of the way. I had borrowed a GPS but was warned that it may not always be accurate…boy you tellin' me. I was trying to find a gas stop. It told us to get off then go back in the opposite direction. I searched for another one, it said just a mile or so up the road. So, why not, we were there anyways right?? Well, we went down a road that got very narrow quickly with sharp turns (not easy to do with the race car trailer). I looked at Bruce and said, “I swear I can hear banjo music playing”. We finally found a town and a small gas station with old, wooden kitchen chairs on the front porch and old fogged up gas pumps. Yeah, I was feeling uneasy walking up the steps but luckily the owner was an very nice east Indian fella. We got gas and he directed us to the easy route back to the highway and we were on our way again.
Tuesday night we stayed at a Walmart off I81. I thought it was only RV’s that stayed there, no…trucks do too. We had to listen to trucks coming in and out all night. I think the guys drove around 11 hrs (including gas stops) on the first night. They wanted a shorter day’s driving the next day.
Wednesday, we got to the Speedway around 2:30pm. And then it began…the walking. I have to say it would have been nice to have a 4-wheeler, golf cart, dirt bikes or even a bicycle to get around on. But we walked and checked everything out. We found where we had to line the truck up and parked it there. At this time, there was 1 full line of haulers and we were near the beginning of the second line. We met and made friends with some of the security personnel and had a BBQ and made an early night of it. When I checked our email before packing it in I found an email from the DIRT officials saying there were upper pit spots available. Bruce and I discussed it and decided to go for it. Thank God we did.
Thursday was practise. We lined up for registration and that’s were I made my new American friend…lol. I couldn’t understand much of what he was saying but they were friendly enough (see pic, the one where I look like a kid beside him). Haulers kept coming in, the last count I had was 7 rows about a kilometer long each…yeah, at least 7 kms of haulers, some small and a lot very large. It was something to see (again see pics). I’m glad we went with the upper pits because the pit area is very large. We were parked up at the top where it was easy to walk to track side to watch the races. Once on the track, the car looked good and Bruce was ready. I still wasn’t happy with some of the drivers that didn’t seem to know what green meant but Bruce looked good.
The week before we left I had contacted Kenny Schrader’s organization and was told they would pass on the info that I requested to meet him. Of course, we really didn’t think it would happen. When Bruce told me that Kenny was there at the drivers meeting, I had someone from DIRT drive me to his trailer. He wasn’t there yet so I talked to his crew member who told me Kenny Wallace just a few haulers down from them. When Schrader came walking up, I yelled out “Kenny!” and he yelled back “Canadian!” and we hugged. LOL…I guess he did read my email and check out our website.
I then walked over to Wallace’s trailer and yelled “Kenny!” and he turned and hugged me too. LOL, what a great bunch of guys. I told them where to find us later for a beer. They said they would but really, we were all racing and it was crazy so I’m not sure if they even tried but Wallace said he went looking for me and asking where the Canadian was…lol. (Yeah right, Kenny! Most wouldn’t believe you but I do.)
I got a selfie with Wallace, thankfully he knows how to do that, then he took a picture of Bruce and I with Schrader (see pics). They were really great guys. I wish we had more time to sit and chat with them, it would have been great to hear some of their stories.
Friday morning, we went to the Hendrick’s shop. A little disappointing. You really didn’t get to see much. But we did get to see Kenny Schrader’s July 23, 1995 car (that was our 7th Anniversary Married!). Kenny later told us that car really didn’t like him.
Friday was time trials and Heats. As you already read, we didn’t have good luck there with that maroon making it impossible for Bruce to get anywhere. So, Friday night we went back to the RV to get a strategy going for Saturday. The track had a bonfire with free food and beer but we weren’t really in the mood to go. From my security friend, Tommy, I found out that it did get a bit rowdy. I don’t know if Kenny S went to it because we talked about meeting there for a beer. Sorry Kenny, after our bad luck we just weren’t in the mood. Hope you understand.
Saturday was a busy day for the guys getting the car back together and functional. But I think they did a really good job. The car looked good, I’m sure when they scale it they will find out it was a mess but Bruce worked it well. As you know we didn’t make the big show. So, we headed back to the RV for a beverage, then headed into the main grandstands to watch some of the races.
You must have heard the saying “Karma is a bitch” right?!?! Well, we watched the Sportsman race and on the 3rd lap the maroon hit a car that spun and lost his rear tire. I don’t wish malice on many people but when you go around wrecking other cars and other peoples’ chances of getting into the show…well, you know what they say about Karma!! (I hope the 7B car crew was watching, I had talked to the female part of the crew and she felt the same way about 22 as we did as he had wrecked them, they had to replace a front clip, axle and tire. They didn’t make the show either).
While in the stands, I went for a walk and returned with a nice surprise. As Bruce had put it “The lioness returns with sustenance for the lazy males of the pride”. I had found a turkey leg! Bruce had mentioned he had read that they sell turkey legs at the tracks. Well, I found it and brought back a leg and a couple of beers. Bruce made comment how funny it was to see me walking up the stands with beer and a turkey leg. We all shared it by me passing it around and ripping meat off it…lol, it must have been a sight to see.
We also got to meet some fellow Canadians in the stands. They were from out East and it was their first DIRT race. They were on their way to Martinsville.
We didn’t finish well but we had fun. We met all kinds of good people, and the officials and staff were all very friendly and helpful. You couldn’t have asked for a better week…ok…maybe Bruce could have been in the race but still was a really good time.
Sunday, we drove back in the driving rain and wind. The guys drove about 10 hrs in it. When we were finally trying to find a spot to park for the night we couldn’t. At one point, we got off the highway to find a place and we ended up with a flat tire on the trailer. The guys had to go out in the rain to change it. But they did it pretty quick!
We had pulled off on another off-ramp and all the truck stops were filled up. We decided to stop for gas and while in the gas station I started a conversation with the attendant. Nice friendly guy. He told us it will be hard to find a truck stop because of the weather all the truckers are stopping but suggested a camp sight about 15 miles up the highway. Then he told me to wait. He asked the manager if it was ok if we just parked at their gas station for the night. He even went out in the rain to guide Bruce into where we could park.
That night we woke up to something hitting the RV. It was like coconuts hitting the side of the RV and the wind had picked up even more. We were all awake part of the night listening to pinecones being launched at the RV and waiting for Dorothy. Yeah, we felt it was going to go over.
Monday, we got up and left by 7 am. This time there wasn’t rain but the wind was crazy. We got home at around 2:30pm. And boy it was nice to be there. But later we were only to find out that our basement had flooded. Not exactly how we wanted to finish off our trip.
Like I said we had fun, it was a great ONCE IN A LIFETIME experience (just stressing it for Bruce and Bobby, just so they don’t miss it).
I’d like to thank Bobby for coming with us, Cheryl for the cookies and muffins and especially for the sponsors that provided tires; King’s Your Independent Grocer and Royal’s Restaurant both in Richmond. And of course, Sandy Vanier for offering to send money when we had broken parts. We have a great team. Thank you everyone for helping make this experience happen.
Just for Bobby and Bruce; remember, I fly down in my private jet and you have a golf cart for me to drive around in…that’s the only way this is happening again...just sayin’.
Well, that’s it for this report and our season. It was a long but short season. I’m sure if you talk to Bobby or Bruce they’ll remember more stories about Charlotte but this is all I have for now. It’s enough, don’t you think?!?!
Have a great winter,
Lynda