Wife's view from the pits - by Lynda Makinson (September 2017)
Disclaimer: This is my view and opinion, not the view or opinion of Bruce Makinson or anyone else.
September 1, 2017
Hi Everybody,
This past Friday night was not as pleasing as the previous one.
As some of you know you either have the set up or not. Well, this past Friday was a not. But let’s start from the beginning.
The Heat race was good. It seemed that most of them were pretty much where you started is where you finished unless you had really bad set up problems. Bruce started 3rd in the first Heat and finished 3rd. Not bad and somewhat satisfying.
This past Friday was the Number 1 Speed Sportsman Series race, 35-laps and 30 cars attended. Because Bruce finished 3rd in his Heat he had to redraw for position. He picked 7th for his starting position in the Feature.
It was a good starting position and he held it for a while, but it was thru several cautions (it seemed one after another, nothing big but a bit annoying). Then the race finally got underway. He was holding 7th until he had assistance from another car in being pushed up which helped him loose several track positions. Then the car just didn’t hold anywhere. He went high, then low, then middle and nothing. The car just wouldn’t stick anywhere. I could see he was trying to find a line that the car could hold to no avail. He lost a couple more positions and in the end finished 17th. Not a happy ending to our not long racing year. With all the rain-outs it would have been nice to finish a little better than that. But it is what it is and the car came home in one piece. There were others not so lucky; blown engine, and badly damaged front-end.
I do want to thank MIR once again for a great year either way. We feel safe racing there, it’s not like a bullpen, it’s a race track! They encourage racers to race not demolition the cars. This is much appreciated, I feel like my husband is safe out there. Yes, racing mishaps do happen but I don’t like it when a track almost encourages them. And once again, they gave an incredible Driver and Team Feast after the race, even though they lost money this year due to mother nature. I spoke to one of the owners and was told that they like to take care of their people. I’m glad we’re one of their people. Thank you, MIR, for another safe year of racing. You are a class act!
And koodoo's to Bruce because he's my man in the arena. It's from an incredible speech by Roosevelt in 1910, it has a place in many areas (yeah, it's my mushy moment):
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
You can read the full speech by following this link and scrolling down:
http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html
Thank you to our sponsors for helping us bring smiles to kids and adults alike. And thank you to Rick at the Races and Hilary Jacobs for the track photos posted on our website. You are all a very important part of our program. Thank you all.
Well, that’s it for regular racing this season. We will be doing a special event(s) this fall. I’ll keep you posted. Here’s a hint: I’m thinking we’re going far south in October.
Thank you for tuning in and check back during this fall to see if we’re up to anything. Or is you get bored you can contact us thru this site.
Take care and stay safe,
Lynda
