Dale Ernhardt Sr. said, "You
win some, you lose some, you wreck
some."
Mama Lori says: "Racing. Gotta love it...or you wouldn't be paying
for it!"
Hunter had an absolutely fantastic racing year in TAG Cadet I at North Texas Kartway. Our 2010 racing season will go down for us as one of tremendous growth and maturity in racing. We watched this year as Hunter came out of his Kid Kart running consistently mid-pack, to being one of the three rotating front runners in this Cadet class. He won the Summer Series and was just mere points away from walking away with the Year End Championship at our last race yesterday. Mere points. A first place finish would've cleared it for him. A second place finish to Gunnr would have cleared it for him by 1 point. Anything else and he finishes with a 3rd place for the year. Nothing to sneeze at, ya know.
So, we start the day with a really good qualifying run - starts 2nd but on the front row. Move on to the pre-final heat and Hunter left the field behind...ran away with it...sets himself up on the pole for the final heat. Dad and I had checked the kart over...bolts tightened down, chain and bearings lubed up, air pressure right in the tires, carb jetting set just where it needed to be. We were all ready.
The boys were lined up for the final, rolled off the grid and since we had a bunch of rookies in the back of the field, there was some confusion on the rolling start so they were waved off for another lap. That's when it happened.
Hunter's side-pod fell off. Well, it didn't just "fall" off...it broke off. And the rules we run under for safety state that we can not run without a side-pod. Hunter received a mechanical black flag and had to leave the track. Leave the track. Not race. His night and championship bid was over. An entire year of earning points to get to this race...gone with one broken bracket.
Heartbreak just barely begins to describe the emotions we all went through (and still going through). But we all are strong enough in our Christian faith walk to know that God will "prune" us like a gardener growing grapevines will prune a vine to produce the very best fruit. Pruning hurts, but we grow...in character...in faith..in Christ...we grow.
Hunter did great. He is our champion and we couldn't be more proud of him. We'll be back next year ready to make that championship run again. And this time...we'll be checking those side-pods, too!!
