Our Week Off

We took this past week off from racing. Hunter did such a great job in preparing for his first race and did awesome there and since we had three weeks between races this time, Scott opted for a week of rest. Good call.

When we started talking about this back in January/February, it was the cost of it that really deterred us from making a snap decision. But after watching a race and asking tons of questions, we wanted to try one out. We did try a kart out and still wasn't sure if this was for our family. Hunter was never giving us a real clear signal on if this was something he really wanted to do or if was just something to pass time. For us, this was too expensive just to pass time away.

I prayed and prayed for an answer on what to do, but God just wasn't handing an answer over to me. Scott would ask me my opinion and I just waffled. I didn't know what to do.

So, one Wednesday morning the kids and I were heading out to my bible study class. I had told Scott that we really needed to let the dad with the kart we tried out know if we were taking it or not. One of Scott's concerns was where we were going to keep a kart - we have a two car garage, and we want both cars IN the garage. On our way back from study, I told Hunter that if he really, really wanted to race, he needed to let his daddy know that and he and I discussed how to rearrange the garage so we could put a kart in it.

We got home and Hunter went to talk to Scott. He told Scott that he really wanted to race and told him our thoughts for the garage. Scott just sighed, looked at me then back at Hunter and said, "well, you and Mom better get out to the garage and start cleaning it out, because we are going to get your kart at 4pm today." I was shocked and so was Hunter. Then we saw how excited Hunter truly was about this. He started crying and hugging us. I think he was afraid to get too excited before.

Anyway, that's how it started and I'm so glad you are with us on this ride. We are having a blast and we welcome you to come watch a race! The schedule and map are posted on the right.

We Survived the First Race!! - with Video

Whew! The first race is over and it was a great day! Scott was a nervous wreck the night before and had to go to work at the church on Sunday morning, so Carl (Scott's young cousin) and I loaded the kart, gear, and driver and headed to the the track. Nick (Carl's younger brother) stayed at our house to watch Hadyn until race time.

We must have gotten to the track at a good time for registration as I didn't have to wait in a long line, but there was one behind me when we were done. The pit runner was pretty full of trucks and trailers by the time we got there (10AM!) so we were pretty far down the runner. I wish now I would've worn my pedometer so I could see how much I walked and ran yesterday.

Carl and I unloaded the kart and gear and Hunter jumped into his firesuit and started playing/talking with the other kids around us. We rolled the kart to the tech barn for a safety tech inspection and the run down on the practice expectations. We passed safety tech and went all the way back to the truck, got Hunter ready to go out and rolled back to the grid for his first practice of the day.

His coach was watching him and advised me to do some set up changes on the kart. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, Carl or I neither one were sure on what to do, but finally found someone to help and got it done. Hunter got to run a couple more practices and during the in-between times, we made more setup changes.

Finally we got to go to the drivers meeting, get the announcements, rules, expectations, lineup and the "let's go!" from the race diretor. Again, back to the truck to get the kart and gear and off to the grid for the start. I was on the phone with Scott nearly the entire time because he had left the church and was "flying" to get there in time. The four young drivers lined up on the grid and took off to go line up on the other side of the track for the start.

Off they went for 8 laps of Heat 1. Hunter did GREAT...for most of the first lap and then he spun out on turn 8. Bummer. But he got right back around and took off. He had fallen behind, but was still racing his little heart out. Then he spun out again on turn 8 during lap 7. The lead kart was closing in behind him to lap him, but Hunter managed to keep ahead of him far enough that Hunter finished the heat on the lead lap...and Daddy had gotten there just in time for the last couple of laps.

Heat 2 was a little better, but Heat 3 was the excitement. By this time, Dad had made some more set up changes - and he knew better than Carl or myself what needed to be done. We went to the grid and Hunter was nice and relaxed. He took off from the starting line and kept up with the pack for a little while and kept a good pace with the kart in front of him for the entire race. One of the kiddos spun out and went off track and that pushed Hunter to the third place spot. He held that spot for the rest of the race and finished strong with some really great laps times.


All the kids in the Kid Kart class receive 1st Place awards, so at the award ceremony, the boys were called to the stand. Reilly took 1st, Ayrton took 2nd, and Hunter 3rd, (Ryan took 4th, but had already left for home) but since they all get 1st place awards, the other two boys pulled Hunter up on the 1st place stand with them. How sweet. These boys were so sweet to Hunter the whole day - I say sweet, I'm a mom.

Hunter also received a 1st Time Driver trophy. He was floating on air all the way home and cannot wait until April
11th.

Whew. I've got three weeks.
(pic of Hunter and "fans" - cousins Brendan, Elizabeth, and Andrea, and sis Hadyn)

Tick Tock...

Well, here we are. The day before race day. Hunter is so excited. I'm so excited for him, too!

I was in complete awe of my son yesterday at practice. When we started this adventure at the beginning of February, I just wasn't sure what he could do. Although Hunter has always had a car fascination of some sort in his short 7+ years, he has been a very cautious child. When he became a NASCAR fanatic (and hooked Mom, Dad, and Nana into the sport, too) he told us he wanted to be a race car driver like Jeff Gordon when he grew up. We really figured that his little sister was more geared to being the driver and Hunter becoming a commentator - Mr. Talks-a-Lot, you know.

But yesterday, wow, what can I say other than I was in complete awe of my son. He went from running 1:12's laps in the beginning to yesterday running :56's!! He rounded those corners with such confidence and poise. He looked to me like he has been doing this all his life and that his life has been longer than 7 years. Awe. And this is only the beginning.

Yeah, I'm the mom saying this, but, well, you just come watch him for yourself and then you can tell me.

Can we pray?

If there are any more possible delays to getting Hunter on the race track for a race it would be one of these two things:
1. Rain
or 2. Not enough volunteers

The races are run by the member volunteers and according to the rules, if there aren't enough workers (most needed are the guys on the track watching the corners), there will be no race. We've been getting emails from the current race director and seems that as of now, there aren't enough workers to have a race. But it also seems like, as I peruse track history on forums that this is a common occurrence per races and everyone steps up at the last minute. We did hear from one race director that he actually had to cancel one race last year for lack of workers.

Geesh. How about adding some more stress to this why don't ya?

Hunter and I prayed this morning for enough volunteers (Scott offered his services - even though it's Hunter's first race and Scott will get there late) and for good weather.

Will you join us in prayer, too?

We're Just About There...

We had another "coaching" day with Hunter. We met up with his coach at the track today after all our delays and it was a really good day. The kart had some mechanical issues that Coach and Dad had to work on - good coaching for Dad, too - but all in all, it was a good day.

So good, in fact, that Hunter was running 59 second laps!! His coach said that "Hunter is a good little racer" and once he stops "lifting" he'll shave more time off his laps. Lifting is simply enough, lifting his foot off the gas pedal. The idea is to slide through the corners, not slow down and take the corners nice and easy. And Hunter had two spin-outs today and got right back on the track and took off like nothing had ever happened.

Awesome!! Sunday is almost here!

Delays, delays...

Marvin the Martian would walk around his space platform upset that his plans to blow up the planet Earth were foiled again and again. He would mumble, "delays, delays..."

Yup. We're there.

Oh, not to destroy planet Earth for a better view, but to make better times around the track. Due to the much needed rain we received in North Texas last week, practicing was not an option. Scott took Hunter to the track for a little bit on Sunday, but there were things going on that weren't really conducive to speeding up the time. Then the NTK website said the track would be closed on Monday (yesterday) for engineering evaluation for the forth-coming track repaving. So, we didn't go practice yesterday. The plan was to go today. BUT...the evaluation that was supposed to be done yesterday, was delayed to today. So, I guess the track was open yesterday, but we didn't know it. And now we are waiting until tomorrow. Sigh.

Delays, delays.

And it begins.

I decided starting a blog site for Hunter's karting adventures would probably be easier than having to tell everyone all the stuff separately. And why HES2? Well, Hadyn has to do everything her bubby does, so we figure she'll be racing in a few years. Anyway...

Hunter is our NASCAR fanantic. Ask the kid anything about NASCAR (for the past few years) and he can probably tell you what you want to know. Jeff Gordon is his favorite driver. Hunter wants to be a NASCAR driver like Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon started his career by racing karts when he was Hunter's age. Following the line of thought here? Ergo.....

In Google-ing around one day, I found a karting track fairly close to us. We went to visit and watch a race, asked some questions and watched Hunter to see if he really wanted to do this. Since he is 7 years old (turning 8 this year), he would be in the Kid Kart class for a year before he would move up to the really competitive classes. In the Kid Kart class, everyone comes in 1st place and gets a nice trophy...you know...just gets them into the racing aspect of this sport. So if he was going to do it, this was the year to start.

We started checking around to see if anyone had a Kid Kart we could just try out and see if he would even be willing to "go fast" and race. We talked to a couple of racing dads and found a kart to try out and maybe buy. Hunter didn't seem too sure of himself while trying it out, but we decided to make the plunge anyway.

As we have visited the track (we're members now), he has gotten more confident and faster. A mentor we are working with complimented Hunter telling us that he as a natural ability as a racer. Wow! The Angels were singing with that statement. Any parent loves to hear that about their child. Especially a kid that has had no interest in anything other than racing and cars for years.

We skipped the first race of the Spring season to make sure that Hunter was ready and safe to race before getting on the track with the other kids. His mentor advised us that he should be making this 1/2 mile, 9 turn track in under 60 seconds in order to be safe to race. His first few times on the track were turning 1:15's down to 1:04's. The last time we were at the track, he was making the laps in 57 seconds!!! So, we are ready to race.

His first race will be on Sunday, March 22nd at 1PM at North Texas Kartways. I've put the schedule of races and a map on the sidebar of this blog for the convience of Hunter's fans ;).

We hope to see you at a race!!!

(FYI: the Kid Karts run 3 heats - qualifying, pre-final, and final. For the 1PM starts, the times usually run as such: 1PM qualifying, 2:30 pre-final, 4:45 final.)