Whoo! What a Race!!

Wow! I haven't seen a race this close in a while!! Our little karter, Hunter, did great last night. He was running 55 second laps during qualifying and running really good. This was his fourth race under rookie status, so we have two more to go and then he'll be out of rookie in this class for the rest of the year. Which means, he'll be able to start where he qualifies instead of a the back of the pack. But with Hunter, that doesn't seem to make too much of a difference.

For some reason, even though he doesn't have the speed on the straightaways that some of the others do, he has the speed and pickup on the starting line. During the pre-final heat, Hunter bolted off the starting line and caught up with the others and was in 3rd position for a while, but eventually got caught by another and ended up in 4th.

But the final heat was the race. It was under the lights and was a real race! Hunter, starting from the back, bolted off the line and passed 1, 2, 3 kiddos to get up to 3rd position and held on to it for the entire race! Reilly and Parker were battling out 1st and 2nd and that was a good show to watch, but a couple of seconds back from them was the battle for 3rd between, Hunter, Aryton, and James. Oh my goodness! These three boys were stuck to each other like glue and Hunter was not giving up his spot. They couldn't catch and pass him on the straights and he owned the corners with them. I was so excited for him!! I became that mom standing at the fence yelling "tuck down, tuck down, faster, faster, go faster!!!!" And when he crossed the finish line in 3rd I jumped in the air cheering along with several others around me who were cheering for our boys!

Wow! All Kid Kart class kids are awarded first place ribbons and trophies so we have a new ribbon to add to the wall. It was so cool to see him run like that. I hope more of you can make it out sometime to watch him run!

Oh, yeah, one of the coolest things is watching the boys (and girls) before and after the races. They are the best of buddies. They all can't wait to get to the track to see each other and play together all day. But when it is time to race, they are competitors. But they aren't out of the tech barn and their karts before they are high-fiving each other and off to run and play again.

I love this sport.

(picture: Ella, Parker, Reilly, Hunter, Aryton, and James - Kid Kart class 5/30/09)

Countdown to Saturday and NO RAIN???

Saturday, May 30th is coming up and hopefully we will have no rain on that day. Way far out extended forecasts are showing a clear day, but we'll see. If you are in the area and can make it, we'll start racing at 6PM. Hunter's class is always first up.

Also, Sunday, June 7th is Hunter's 8th birthday!! We will be having his "party" at the track this year. Just cake and melted ice cream, good company and great kart racing. Come on out and support our local track and our 8 year old little boy!!

That's the Way it Works

For any of those that are really following our blog, you may have noticed that we included a race date for today in Waco. But after watching the local weather all this week and even up to last night, the potential for rain here and in Waco was just too high for us to load everything up and drive 2 hours to "maybe" get to race.

Of course, now that I look at the weather and forecast, there is no rain here or there right now and there may be some rain late tonight in Waco.

Bummer.

But on the bright side, we been having a great family day and are watching the NASCAR All-Star Race on TV tonight.

Silver linings, baby, silver linings.

Rain, Rain, Go Around NTK Please???

Eech. Well, it started out to be a good race day. It was nice and warm, a little humid and overcast, but no rain. There was a threat of rain in the afternoon forecast, but Hunter had been praying fervently all day, so he was pretty sure it wouldn't rain.

By the time we got to the track, it was no longer nice and warm, but windy and cold. And we didn't take jackets with us. Silly us. May 9th and we didn't take jackets. What were we thinking? Oh, I don't know, maybe that IT'S MAY???? But yes, I know, it's May in Texas, which means the weather can change on a dime.

Anyway, we got in three practice sessions before driver's meeting. Then after a short delay, the race got underway with the qualifying heat. Hunter did GREAT!!! He finished in 2nd place! It was great to see him run so well and with such improvement.

Scott tweaked on the kart a bit more for the 2nd heat. Remember, Hunter is still under rookie status, so he always has to start at the back of the pack. Immediately off the line he passed two kids and caught up with the leader. I was so excited for him. Whatever Scott did was working.

Then it happened. The kart stalled off of turn 1 on the 2nd lap. There was no starting it back up. She was gone...for this heat anyway. And I had a heartbroken little boy on my hands.

It was a minuscule piece of something - grass, dirt, etc. in the carburetor. Scott and Carl cleaned it all out and got the kart ready for the final heat. But it was not to happen. Droplets of moisture fell from the sky. The weather service assured NTK that is was not rain, but dew, mist, condensation. Uh huh. Look, if it's wet and falls from the sky, it's rain, okay?

After several minutes of waiting for a clearing, it was finally decided to call the race. Hunter was devastated. "Mom, I prayed for no rain. What did I do wrong?" I just calmly and gently assured Hunter that he had done nothing wrong, simply that God answers prayers with "yes" or "I have another reason and purpose". We also discussed that this is just racing - sometimes you have to fight weather, sometimes it's mechanical problems or an accident.

Anyway, he did great for what he got to run. He'll be wishing for some cooling rain come this summer in the heat and him in that full fire suit and gear!!

(picture of Hunter & Aryton and their 1st place ribbons - all kid karts get 1st place)

Race Weekend - Let's Try This Again!

Last weekend, our schedule race was rained out. This weekend, we have a 40% chance for showers in the afternoon. I'm praying that those showers will miss the NTK track!

Scott and Hunter just left to go practice a little bit. We're still having some kart issues - seems to have lost some power and we don't know why. But, Hunter is anxious just to get back out there and race.

If you are around, come on out!! Saturday night at North Texas Kartways at 6PM.

Race #3 - Will it Happen?

Detailed Local Forecast for Denton, TX:

• Today: Cloudy early, then thunderstorms developing this afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 73F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
• Tonight: Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Scott's plan is for us to continue on as usual. Plan to go. Pack it all up, tarp it up and go. We live in Texas - and if you don't like the weather, stick around for a little while - it'll change. But in looking at this picture, I'm not so sure the weather people are too off target in this prediction. Look at what is coming in toward us!!

Hunter will be so upset if he doesn't get to race today, but we will have another scheduled race next week, too, and we may go back to Waco the following Saturday.

I'm sorry for my baby boy, but we need the rain - we have to make it through a hot Texas summer, so let's get all the rain we can now!

I'm still praying for this to be moving a whole lot slower than what it looks like.