On Any Given Race Day

In the 1999 movie, Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino's character said, "On any given Sunday, you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you win or lose like a man?"

Change that to, "On any given race day, you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you keep your helmet cool and win or lose with humility?"

North Texas Kartway held it's Spring 3 race yesterday. Hunter was running great and leaving the pack behind in his qualifying and pre-final races, however, his competitors are quickly gaining speed and experience and it won't be too much longer before they are really pushing him for those wins.

The final heat started and Hunter took off from the pack and didn't look back. I even had time to take a little video of him and a couple of pictures from my phone. I was actually enjoying the stress free racing, knowing that in another month or two, the other kids will be chasing him down like crazy and then the stress starts over again in club racing.

Then it happened.

As he passed in front of me, he slowed down. Way down. His motor sounded like it ran out of gas, but he had a full tank of gas, so it wasn't that. No thrown chain sound. No broken sidepod to give us a disqualification. What in the world could it be? And to top it off, Scott (Dad) had to leave early for work and didn't get to set up the kart for the final. So, on my way down the fence line to where the kart had stopped, I'm running through my head all that I had done and did I miss anything? What did I do???? Okay, Mom, it's not your fault. It's nothing you did. You did what you were supposed to do. Oh, wait a minute. It's not about me. How is Hunter holding up with this?

Fine. Fine and dandy. According to him, he didn't know what happened, but things happen and you know, this is just how it is.

Huh. I really figured he'd be mad for a while then cool off and realize that. But this was right out of the kart. We ended up with a 3rd place. Still a podium finish!!

Yeah, on any given race day, anything can happen, but how you react to it defines the character.

The kart? Well, here's a picture - notice the chain on the sprocket? Yeah, it's not supposed to look like that. We're thinking the clutch bearing went bad and threw things off enough to shake the chain to where it didn't pop off, but caught on the sprocket and locked up the back end. It took some work to get the engine mount loose enough to get that chain back to where it belongs. On any given race day.

Wow. Just, Wow!

*Hunter on the front row to start a race on Saturday!*

Wow! What a weekend. We spent this past weekend in Norman, Oklahoma at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex for the first two races of the Southwest Regional Cup series kart races. This being our first big regional race and first time at this track, we really didn't know what to expect.

We arrived on Friday, set up and got ready to practice. Everyone was very helpful on giving Hunter advice on how to run this track and what to expect. He went out to get a feel for the track and after two practice sessions, started feeling sick...hot, dry, headache, stomach ache. We were familiar with this. Two years ago, we had a heat exhaustion run to the hospital with Hunter during a race. So we got him in the truck under a/c, ice packs, water, and meds for the headache. He was so excited that day, he woke up super earlyin the morning, didn't eat but a couple bites for breakfast, didn't slow down much during the afternoon to eat and just snacked and boom...it hit. So, we sat out the last two practice runs. But the good news is that he perked up later and felt great.

On Saturday, we had some more friends give him some coaching on how to run this track and fortunately for Hunter, he tends to listen to the advice given to him by experienced racers and coaches and then applies what he heard. We had 6 TaG Cadet/Gazelle's register for the Saturday race and Hunter qualified 2nd for the pre-final heat. Then he ran a great pre-final and finished 2nd to set up for the final. The final on Saturday finished with another great 2nd! Our first big race and first on this track...you betcha', we'll take it with joy!!!

*Boys hanging out at the trailer watching a DVD with Hadyn*

Afterwards, we met more of the racers' families and gleaned more driving info from them. I am always amazed at how friendly and helpful our competitors are. Perhaps as we move up and Hunter gets older, it may not always be that way, but for now, it's an awesome thing to experience.

*Big class on Sunday!*

Sunday came and so did the big winds. Ah, yes, I remember these winds from growing up in the Texas Panhandle. What I used to consider a mild breeze then was now hurricane winds! Okay, not quite, but it's good that those karts are so close to the ground!! Hunter got more advice and then poured it on. We had 3 more karts racing with us on Sunday making a 9 kart group (7 in our class, 2 from another). He qualified 4th overall (3rd in our class) for the pre-final then stuck to the front row racers like glue throughout the pre-final to finish 2nd in our class!! He was driving like he was meant to do this.

*making last minute adjustments*

It was final time. I find it amusing to watch all the dads/tuners/coaches pouring over the karts on the grid trying to find any last minute adjustments they may need to make - and then wondering if they should've done this or that or what. Finding that sweet spot in racing seems to ebb and flow with the weather - is the sun out on the track, is it cloudy, is it windy, what is the humidity level, the temp, and so on. And Sunday was giving us some weird weather to deal with. But ready or not, it was time to go and go he did! Although he stayed closer to the front runner in the pre-final, he still finished 2nd place for the final bringing our SWRC weekend to close with two 2nd place finishes!!

We are so appreciative of all the help and advice we received all weekend and most of all thankful that the Lord blessed us so much with a great weekend.

We're looking forward to our Spring 3 club race on April 16th. Maybe we'll see you there!