Character Building - For All of Us!

Hunter's weekend has been pretty good...he had a great first week of school (what a Praise that was!) and on Friday we took him to see "Senna", the documentary movie about F1 racer Ayrton Senna. Awesome movie! That will be a DVD purchase for us when they release it in the US. He loved listening to Senna talk about his Faith and watching him race.

On Saturday, we headed out to the track with 108 degree heat to race our Fall Series race #1. It was scheduled to run on the "short track" to give the racers a change up and make them learn new things. And learn new things, we did!

Scott had made some changes to Hunter's kart. He put on a new axle, with longer wheel hubs, which set the rear tires out way further than what he usually runs. Also, in trying to keep from needing to spend more money for the next and final round of SWRC Regional races in a month, Scott had pulled off all the "new" stuff on the kart - the tires, drive sprocket, spark plug, and more that I just can't remember...it's in a box. So, without him really knowing it, Hunter was already running at a disadvantage - old stuff.

When they went out to qualify, there were 7 karts on this very short track all competing for the same space. Hunter got caught behind one of his buddies and could catch Jake in the corners, but Jake had the pull away on the small bit of straight and Hunter couldn't get around him. So we were prepared for Hunter to start in 2nd position. But somewhere back behind him, Ethan made a better lap time. And that's all it takes in qualifying - just one good lap. So, we started the pre-final in P3. Not something that I'm used to anymore. I didn't like it. And I admit...I'm spoiled to Hunter being in front. And yes, I know, that's not always going to happen, but I'm Mom and I like seeing my baby in front.

But the cool thing was...Hunter was having so much fun. He loved chasing Jake in qualifying, he loved having someone to race with. Scott made another gear change and we started the pre-final in 3P and immediately, Hunter got a bad start and dropped into 4th. With only 10 laps on the short track to catch up, he picked off one kart and moved back into 3rd. Then he went to work on Ethan and Jake. I'd like to think they knew Hunter "Blue Bolt" Stine was on their tails because those boys were racing!! At the very end, Hunter found an opening and was racing Ethan to the finish line and it was so close, but Ethan pulled out the 2nd place finish. Hunter came in laughing and high-fiving the others and just kept saying what a fun race it was!

I was blown away. Shame on me. I had been sulking over him starting in 3rd and finishing in 3rd, and here he was laughing and having fun. Oh, Mom. Lesson learned.

Starting in 3P for the final, I walked to the grid with Hunter. I leaned down to talk to him and he said, "Yeah, Mom, I know...get around them." I laughed and said, "Well, yeah, if you can, but the priority here is to have fun. I would love to see you win, but the important thing is that you have fun. I will be proud of you no matter where you finish if you get out there and have fun and do your best."

Another bad start and he was running in 5th place! One of our friends said that it was good character building. I said, "Yeah. For me!" We laughed and then watched Hunter go to work. Methodically picking his time, working the corners and then picking them off one by one. He was running faster lap times by 1/2 to 1 second than the other drivers, but with no good openings on the corners, trying to preserve his kart for the big races, and old parts, he just didn't force a pass until he was good and ready. He moved into 2nd, but the kart slid and left the door open for Ethan to pass him back, so we finished the night with a 3rd place. Still...a podium finish.

Hunter was bummed on that one. I felt horrible. Did my attitude create this in him? Did I show such poor character that he felt he had to win or nothing? But later on in his prayer time, he asked the Lord forgiveness for showing such a poor attitude after the final.

More character building...for me.

Hunter cheered for his friends as they stepped on the podium. I love this boy.

Hot for Racing

And I mean it was a HOT day for racing! We wrapped up our Southwest Regional Cup series racing this weekend with another spectaular win from Hunter.

During practice, Hunter broke track records (not officially counted, though) and was running speeds of over 56mph. However, notably absent from practice and qualifying was his main competitor, Michael. We finally heard that Michael and his parents chose to go to church this morning...message received...racing isn't as important as making sure that God takes first place in your life. I love that.

But with Michael back in the mix - starting from the back of the class, we were back in racing action for pre-final. Michael worked his way up through the pack, but just didn't have anything for Hunter, so we got the pole for the final heat. And, with the times Hunter was running, all the Dad's were scrambling to make adjustments to see if they could catch him.

Starting the final on the pole, Hunter just didn't have the pickup and ended up 4th by the first turn. But within two laps, he had picked off all 3 and was blowing the doors off the field. It was the Blue Bolt in action.  It was a weekend sweep for us and we are still trying to absorb and record all we learned this trip.

And yes, we survived the heat.  Right as we were leaving a rain storm blew in and cooled us all off! But we're still hot for racing! ;-)

The 2 in HES2 Motorsports

For almost 3 years I've been keeping this blog to follow Hunter's racing progress, but we named it HES2 because there are 2 of them...Hunter is 1 and Hadyn is 2.

Hadyn has been telling us for quite some time that Hunter's Kid Kart is HER kart. So it is. She'll be eligble to race at the end of October when she turns 5 and we've had her in the kart some, so more practice and maybe she can debut at the end of the year.

She is a trooper, though. She is at every race, every practice, just about every event we go to. She takes the heat and the cold. She has the heart of a racer. We'll see how far she wants to go.

She's my Warrior Princess!

Some Wins Are Hard to Take

We are in Katy, TX this weekend for races 7 & 8 of the Southwest Regional Cup Series. It has been HOT, too!!! All of us here this weekend are walking around looking at each other thinking, "Oh! So that's what a crazy person looks like!"

Hunter and his racing friend Michael were back at it today. Michael took the pole for the pre-final and final heats. Before the final, Scott made some set-up changes and our friend Chris gave Hunter some corner coaching.

It paid off for him in that he was running some great times. He was reeling Michael in lap after lap. Then Hunter took a great pass on turn 1 but Michael took advantage of an opening and passed him back! Two laps later, Hunter was making his move again and took the corner, but it appeared that Michael came down on him a bit and something happened to Michael's kart and he came off the track leaving Hunter in the lead.

Hunter took the checkered flag, but was not celebrating. He said Michael is one of his best friends, and it hurt to get a win that way.

I love that boy. Let's see what tomorrow holds!

Summer Heat

Proof that the kid can work on his own kart!! Under supervision, of course!

Hunter holding up his $winnings$ from Saturday night

NTK hosted the final Summer Sidewinder Series race this past Saturday night. And it was hot - 109 at some point in the afternoon/evening - and the digital read out in the truck said 100 at 10:00. Isn't it supposed to cool off when the sun goes down? Well, technically, I guess it did...a little.

We debated on the necessity of racing in this heat - and since Hunter ended up being the only one from his class in attendance, but given that he is racing in the next round of regional races this coming weekend, and Scott had just rebuilt the carburetor, he needed to get some time in on the kart. The race director coupled our class (and the Yamaha class we usually run with) with another class that have faster engines than ours. But Hunter loved it. It was unusual to see him start at the back of the pack, but even though his engine isn't as fast as the others in that class, that boy kept up pretty well! It was a good race for our Yamaha friend, Ryan, as well! Maybe they needed that extra challenge - don't get lapped!!

It was a good night to run some different set-ups and we feel ready to go to Katy and run the regional races. It will most certainly be hot there...not looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to seeing what Hunter can do on his 2nd trip to Katy!

Wish us all luck and to keep cool!!