Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (September 2016)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
September 23-24, 2016
Hi Everybody,
Here’s your final update for this season.
This past weekend we went to Brighton Speedway and raced Friday and Saturday nights.
It was an adventure to say the least, if you want a detailed account sit back and read on.
It was a beautiful weekend during the day but very cold at night. I was happy we had our motorhome; we had heat and some of the comforts of home.
FRIDAY:
We arrived at the speedway at around 4:00pm, when gates were to open; well they opened at 3:00 so the pits were starting to fill up. There was a long line of trucks and trailers waiting to get in but it moved quickly. Allan Dickie saved us a spot but it was at the other end of the pits (you know the song about walking 500 miles…I had that song in my mind all weekend).
Bruce went out for his hot laps and the car looked great. In his time trials the car was high up on the board, and again, it looked great. For his Heat race he was starting second. The car looked great but on a caution the car ahead of him slowed down considerably faster then everyone anticipated and Bruce clipped him…but it looked ok because Bruce was able to keep going. The green came out and he was doing well but then he started to slow down and on the last lap the third place car passed him and he finished 3rd. Once we got back to our pit area (1km walk I’m thinkin’) I asked what happened. Bruce said the car became loose. Upon inspection Bruce found that the shock tower was broken and I mean in half. Heck! (Not quite what we said but close). Bruce said if we can get it welded we may be ok. We found someone with a welder and he came over to weld it but unfortunately the weld wasn’t hot enough so it was only a band-aid not a safe fix.
The decision was made to go out for the Feature and run two laps so he could get his payout and come in. He was supposed to start in 9th position, disappointing yes but its better that Bruce is safe in my eyes. The car was definitely a contender at the beginning of the night but we just couldn’t take a chance.
So, after Bruce’s very long 2 lap run (there were many cautions, it took forever to get his two laps in) we began the quest of finding someone who lives close to the track with a shop and a welder. After a bit we found two people that were willing to help out. Another team even offered their car for the Feature but the rule is you must drive the car you qualified with. In the end Bruce finished 28th….yeah, he ran two laps and finished 28th out of 30…imagine!
I’m sure some racers weren’t in great shape the next morning as the track had a party with a bonfire and a band that played until 4:00am. We were wise enough to be in bed by 1:30am.
SATURDAY:
We got up early, had a quick breakfast and waited. The person that was supposed to help out wasn’t answering his phone. Luckily a member from another crew, Derek, had someone else in mind and we were off to City Auto Centre at 59 Division St. in Trenton. Here we were able to use their welder and shop to fix up the shock tower. It only took about an hour and it was done. Thank you to Derek for finding them and thank you to City Auto for letting us use your shop for no charge. I do have to say that the racing family is great. There are always people around willing to help out.
Back at the track we had lunch then they started to prepare the car for the evening’s events. Bruce went out for hot laps and time trials and the car just didn’t seem the same as Friday night. The times were not as good, during his Heat race he started 6th and finished 7th which meant he didn’t qualify for the Feature. He had to run the B-main (the last chance qualifier). So, Bruce and Bobby worked furiously on the car to find what was wrong. Bruce was starting 2nd in his B-main and well…they figured it out…the car just took off like a bullet. It looked wonderful. It was just like Friday night. But having to qualify in the B-main meant that he would start 25th of 30 cars.
The Feature:
He started 25th and was doing well, the car looked great and he was passing people. But then he came across a car that was all over the track. Every time Bruce got on the inside him he would just come down on Bruce and he’d have to check up. This went on for a while before Bruce finally lost patience (yeah…I know…Bruce lost patience…wait it gets better). So, Bruce said the heck with it (replace heck with whatever you might think he really said) and went for it. Yeah…he got spun out. It didn’t quite work out the way he had hoped. To the back of the pack Bruce went but on the restart Bruce lost it on corner 2 and hit the tractor tire. I thought for sure something had broken (I was thinking the hecking shock tower) but no that wasn’t it. Bobby sat in the stands rubbing his forehead (Bobby has a spare radio so he can hear the officials). Bruce (remember this is our Bruce) in a fit of rage just lost control of the car and made the radio official say “awww geez, caution, caution, caution” LOL…have you ever heard an official say awww geez on the in-car radios??!?!? The car was fine; it was Bruce that wasn’t in a good frame of mind at that point. Finally the green was dropped again. Bruce did get lapped by the leader and then a caution soon after. Now for the stupid rule. Even though he only got lapped by the leader he was considered lapped by everyone. There was no lucky dog and he had to start at the back so no chance of passing the leader back to get his lap back. Bruce was passing cars but only ended up finishing 20th. I estimate that he should have finished around 18th or higher. It didn’t make much difference for the payout but it’s more for the prestige of a higher finish. When Bruce got back to the pit area he came out of the car laughing and asked how I like it…lol. Sometimes you have to laugh or you’ll just cry (or say heck a lot).
Saturday night there were 5 classes racing for a total of 300 laps run during the Features:
50-lap Pro Stock
35-lap Sportsman
100-lap Modified
65-lap Late Model
50-lap Canadian Modified
I’m glad we were only 35 laps and near the beginning of the Features…it was damn cold out.
Racing finished after 1:00am.
Well, that’s it for this year.
I’d like to thank all of our sponsors for being a part of our racing family: Sandy Vanier – CPA, CGA; Napa Manotick; Royal’s Restaurant of Richmond; and King’s Your Independent Grocer of Richmond. I’d like to thank the other teams that helped us out this past weekend and throughout the race season at MIR. And especially thank Bobby for all of his help during this past season.
I hope everyone has a warm and safe winter and we’ll let you know when the season starts again. We do plan on making Mohawk International Raceway our home track again. It’s a great facility , they have great staff and great teams. The racing is very competitive but it just makes us hungrier for that elusive win.
I’ve also posted some pics from this past weekend....enjoy!
Thank you all and take care,
Lynda
Here’s your final update for this season.
This past weekend we went to Brighton Speedway and raced Friday and Saturday nights.
It was an adventure to say the least, if you want a detailed account sit back and read on.
It was a beautiful weekend during the day but very cold at night. I was happy we had our motorhome; we had heat and some of the comforts of home.
FRIDAY:
We arrived at the speedway at around 4:00pm, when gates were to open; well they opened at 3:00 so the pits were starting to fill up. There was a long line of trucks and trailers waiting to get in but it moved quickly. Allan Dickie saved us a spot but it was at the other end of the pits (you know the song about walking 500 miles…I had that song in my mind all weekend).
Bruce went out for his hot laps and the car looked great. In his time trials the car was high up on the board, and again, it looked great. For his Heat race he was starting second. The car looked great but on a caution the car ahead of him slowed down considerably faster then everyone anticipated and Bruce clipped him…but it looked ok because Bruce was able to keep going. The green came out and he was doing well but then he started to slow down and on the last lap the third place car passed him and he finished 3rd. Once we got back to our pit area (1km walk I’m thinkin’) I asked what happened. Bruce said the car became loose. Upon inspection Bruce found that the shock tower was broken and I mean in half. Heck! (Not quite what we said but close). Bruce said if we can get it welded we may be ok. We found someone with a welder and he came over to weld it but unfortunately the weld wasn’t hot enough so it was only a band-aid not a safe fix.
The decision was made to go out for the Feature and run two laps so he could get his payout and come in. He was supposed to start in 9th position, disappointing yes but its better that Bruce is safe in my eyes. The car was definitely a contender at the beginning of the night but we just couldn’t take a chance.
So, after Bruce’s very long 2 lap run (there were many cautions, it took forever to get his two laps in) we began the quest of finding someone who lives close to the track with a shop and a welder. After a bit we found two people that were willing to help out. Another team even offered their car for the Feature but the rule is you must drive the car you qualified with. In the end Bruce finished 28th….yeah, he ran two laps and finished 28th out of 30…imagine!
I’m sure some racers weren’t in great shape the next morning as the track had a party with a bonfire and a band that played until 4:00am. We were wise enough to be in bed by 1:30am.
SATURDAY:
We got up early, had a quick breakfast and waited. The person that was supposed to help out wasn’t answering his phone. Luckily a member from another crew, Derek, had someone else in mind and we were off to City Auto Centre at 59 Division St. in Trenton. Here we were able to use their welder and shop to fix up the shock tower. It only took about an hour and it was done. Thank you to Derek for finding them and thank you to City Auto for letting us use your shop for no charge. I do have to say that the racing family is great. There are always people around willing to help out.
Back at the track we had lunch then they started to prepare the car for the evening’s events. Bruce went out for hot laps and time trials and the car just didn’t seem the same as Friday night. The times were not as good, during his Heat race he started 6th and finished 7th which meant he didn’t qualify for the Feature. He had to run the B-main (the last chance qualifier). So, Bruce and Bobby worked furiously on the car to find what was wrong. Bruce was starting 2nd in his B-main and well…they figured it out…the car just took off like a bullet. It looked wonderful. It was just like Friday night. But having to qualify in the B-main meant that he would start 25th of 30 cars.
The Feature:
He started 25th and was doing well, the car looked great and he was passing people. But then he came across a car that was all over the track. Every time Bruce got on the inside him he would just come down on Bruce and he’d have to check up. This went on for a while before Bruce finally lost patience (yeah…I know…Bruce lost patience…wait it gets better). So, Bruce said the heck with it (replace heck with whatever you might think he really said) and went for it. Yeah…he got spun out. It didn’t quite work out the way he had hoped. To the back of the pack Bruce went but on the restart Bruce lost it on corner 2 and hit the tractor tire. I thought for sure something had broken (I was thinking the hecking shock tower) but no that wasn’t it. Bobby sat in the stands rubbing his forehead (Bobby has a spare radio so he can hear the officials). Bruce (remember this is our Bruce) in a fit of rage just lost control of the car and made the radio official say “awww geez, caution, caution, caution” LOL…have you ever heard an official say awww geez on the in-car radios??!?!? The car was fine; it was Bruce that wasn’t in a good frame of mind at that point. Finally the green was dropped again. Bruce did get lapped by the leader and then a caution soon after. Now for the stupid rule. Even though he only got lapped by the leader he was considered lapped by everyone. There was no lucky dog and he had to start at the back so no chance of passing the leader back to get his lap back. Bruce was passing cars but only ended up finishing 20th. I estimate that he should have finished around 18th or higher. It didn’t make much difference for the payout but it’s more for the prestige of a higher finish. When Bruce got back to the pit area he came out of the car laughing and asked how I like it…lol. Sometimes you have to laugh or you’ll just cry (or say heck a lot).
Saturday night there were 5 classes racing for a total of 300 laps run during the Features:
50-lap Pro Stock
35-lap Sportsman
100-lap Modified
65-lap Late Model
50-lap Canadian Modified
I’m glad we were only 35 laps and near the beginning of the Features…it was damn cold out.
Racing finished after 1:00am.
Well, that’s it for this year.
I’d like to thank all of our sponsors for being a part of our racing family: Sandy Vanier – CPA, CGA; Napa Manotick; Royal’s Restaurant of Richmond; and King’s Your Independent Grocer of Richmond. I’d like to thank the other teams that helped us out this past weekend and throughout the race season at MIR. And especially thank Bobby for all of his help during this past season.
I hope everyone has a warm and safe winter and we’ll let you know when the season starts again. We do plan on making Mohawk International Raceway our home track again. It’s a great facility , they have great staff and great teams. The racing is very competitive but it just makes us hungrier for that elusive win.
I’ve also posted some pics from this past weekend....enjoy!
Thank you all and take care,
Lynda
September 20, 2016
Hi Everybody,
So here’s the down low on the last races of our season.
This coming weekend we will be racing at Brighton Speedway.
There’s Sportsman racing on Friday and Saturday nights. Friday is looking iffy right now because of the weather but Saturday looks like a great night for racing. We plan on attending both nights.
It may be a bit cool but it usually is for this race. So, if you’re planning on coming out make sure you bring your winter woollies.
I’ll have a race update next week to let you know how it went.
This will be our last race of the season.
Have a great week and weekend.
Cheers,
Lynda
So here’s the down low on the last races of our season.
This coming weekend we will be racing at Brighton Speedway.
There’s Sportsman racing on Friday and Saturday nights. Friday is looking iffy right now because of the weather but Saturday looks like a great night for racing. We plan on attending both nights.
It may be a bit cool but it usually is for this race. So, if you’re planning on coming out make sure you bring your winter woollies.
I’ll have a race update next week to let you know how it went.
This will be our last race of the season.
Have a great week and weekend.
Cheers,
Lynda
September 19, 2016
Hi Everybody,
So, here’s our end of season update:
Have a great weekend and hope it’s dry for you MIR peeps this coming weekend.
Take care,
Lynda
So, here’s our end of season update:
- No we are not racing this coming weekend at MIR (car is not ready after the mishap last race)
- No we are not going to the World Short Track Championships in Charlotte (no pit crew and for this race we don’t think just Bruce and I could do it on our own)
Have a great weekend and hope it’s dry for you MIR peeps this coming weekend.
Take care,
Lynda
September 2, 2016
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday was the final regular race of the season at MIR. How’d it go you ask?!?! Well, not so well.
First the Heat race; Bruce started 4th in the second Heat, and the car was working like crap so he finished 6th. The track kept changing, it was sometimes dry and slick, then wet and tacky, then even both, so it was hard to get a handle on the set up and I think other drivers were having difficulties keeping their cars under control at times (at least one car rolled and there were several odd accidents; very unusual for MIR).
Thirty-two cars showed up for this final race and they started thirty cars. Due to Bruce’s low finish in the Heat race he started 22nd in the Feature. Everything was going fine until the first caution. Bruce slowed to avoid the wreck and was penalized for this. He was not part of the caution but cars passed him on the yellow and he was not moved back up to where he should have been when the caution came out. This is one of the few times I was not too impressed with the MIR officiating. Maybe they thought Bruce was part of the caution but I can assure you he wasn’t, I’m not sure if there’s a rule if you slow to avoid a caution that you get penalized and moved to the back?!?!? Maybe MIR can straighten me out on this. I’m not happy with this because of the outcome to come. So, to continue, Bruce started near the back of the pack but when the green came out he did start moving forward. The car was looking pretty good and Bruce was driving very good…then it happened….the second caution. This is where Bruce tried, again, to avoid it but this time was unsuccessful. As he was squeezing by between the wall and the wreck a car drove over him a bit. We thought he had made it out ok but his car just drove gently into the infield. After it was towed in we found that the front axle and a few other odds and ends were bent and damaged. He was out for the night. In the end he finished 24th…I guess starting in 22nd then getting wrecked and finishing 24th ain’t too bad.
My peeve regarding where he started after the first caution is that maybe he wouldn’t have been part of this wreck.
So, MIR, please correct me if I’m wrong in thinking he shouldn’t have been penalized for avoiding a wreck and getting passed on a caution by many other cars! I don’t mind being wrong, I’d feel better if I was in this case, cause right now I’m pissed.
I’m not completely pissed with MIR because this is the first time we were wrecked since starting to race at MIR mid-season last year. Racing is usually good and clean there but with the odd track conditions last Friday and the way some people were driving (a little on the “crazy” side, I’m sure I could find a few Maroon’s if I really review the video), all in all the season turned out ok. We still don’t have a handle on the track and it’s very competitive there but it’s still a fun place to race. The yearend festivities were very nice as usual. MIR had an amazing meal for the drivers and teams, and there was one heck of a bonfire. And again this year we made many new friends there in other teams.
Now you know we have some repairs to do and we are in discussions as to whether we should attend the yearend races in two weeks. My suggestion to Bruce has been to do the repairs and not attend the yearend race so we can save up to go to a special race we’ve been talking about in October (details will come, just not until all the logistics are ironed out....no....sorry...it's not Brockville).
Well, have a great fall everyone and I’ll keep you posted as to when and where we will be racing next.
Be safe,
Lynda
This past Friday was the final regular race of the season at MIR. How’d it go you ask?!?! Well, not so well.
First the Heat race; Bruce started 4th in the second Heat, and the car was working like crap so he finished 6th. The track kept changing, it was sometimes dry and slick, then wet and tacky, then even both, so it was hard to get a handle on the set up and I think other drivers were having difficulties keeping their cars under control at times (at least one car rolled and there were several odd accidents; very unusual for MIR).
Thirty-two cars showed up for this final race and they started thirty cars. Due to Bruce’s low finish in the Heat race he started 22nd in the Feature. Everything was going fine until the first caution. Bruce slowed to avoid the wreck and was penalized for this. He was not part of the caution but cars passed him on the yellow and he was not moved back up to where he should have been when the caution came out. This is one of the few times I was not too impressed with the MIR officiating. Maybe they thought Bruce was part of the caution but I can assure you he wasn’t, I’m not sure if there’s a rule if you slow to avoid a caution that you get penalized and moved to the back?!?!? Maybe MIR can straighten me out on this. I’m not happy with this because of the outcome to come. So, to continue, Bruce started near the back of the pack but when the green came out he did start moving forward. The car was looking pretty good and Bruce was driving very good…then it happened….the second caution. This is where Bruce tried, again, to avoid it but this time was unsuccessful. As he was squeezing by between the wall and the wreck a car drove over him a bit. We thought he had made it out ok but his car just drove gently into the infield. After it was towed in we found that the front axle and a few other odds and ends were bent and damaged. He was out for the night. In the end he finished 24th…I guess starting in 22nd then getting wrecked and finishing 24th ain’t too bad.
My peeve regarding where he started after the first caution is that maybe he wouldn’t have been part of this wreck.
So, MIR, please correct me if I’m wrong in thinking he shouldn’t have been penalized for avoiding a wreck and getting passed on a caution by many other cars! I don’t mind being wrong, I’d feel better if I was in this case, cause right now I’m pissed.
I’m not completely pissed with MIR because this is the first time we were wrecked since starting to race at MIR mid-season last year. Racing is usually good and clean there but with the odd track conditions last Friday and the way some people were driving (a little on the “crazy” side, I’m sure I could find a few Maroon’s if I really review the video), all in all the season turned out ok. We still don’t have a handle on the track and it’s very competitive there but it’s still a fun place to race. The yearend festivities were very nice as usual. MIR had an amazing meal for the drivers and teams, and there was one heck of a bonfire. And again this year we made many new friends there in other teams.
Now you know we have some repairs to do and we are in discussions as to whether we should attend the yearend races in two weeks. My suggestion to Bruce has been to do the repairs and not attend the yearend race so we can save up to go to a special race we’ve been talking about in October (details will come, just not until all the logistics are ironed out....no....sorry...it's not Brockville).
Well, have a great fall everyone and I’ll keep you posted as to when and where we will be racing next.
Be safe,
Lynda