The Thrill of Victory....The Agony of Defeat

Wow!! Wow!! Wow!!

Summer 4 at North Texas Kartways started out GREAT for our Speed Racer, Hunter. Now that he is out of rookie status, he doesn't have to start at the back of the pack and try to catch up. Well, starting on the front row worked well for him during the qualifying heat. Hunter took off like a flash and stayed out in front for the entire 8 laps! He even pulled ahead of the other 4 karts and put a great deal of cushion between him and them for a fantastic finish. There was a delayed reaction when he took the checkered flag...one that almost said, "who's that for? Oh YEAH, MEEEEE!!"

However, the thrill of victory was short lived. Last night was also the last race for the Red River Regional Series race, so when we went out to qualify for that race, things did not go so well for Hunter. With no set up change from the first heat to this one, we lost on average 4 seconds a lap which put him dead last. The only thing that changed was the weather. It went from hot to cooler and cloudy. And Scott and I are not experienced or knowledgable enough to know how to change the set up according to weather.

With there being a club race and a regional race last night, Hunter ended up running a total of 6 heats last night, broke a chain, lost some set screws on the rear axel, passed some karts, got passed by others and we didn't leave until 11:30 last night. By the time the last couple of heats came up, we had made enough changes to get some of his time back, but nothing like he ran in the first heat. I guess we'll be experimenting with his fuel mixture based on weather. Anyone really good at formulaic equations for stuff like this?

We are so proud of how well he is doing with all of this. Even with the bad runs he had, he never quit, he kept running until he crossed that line. That's racing, folks.

On another note, we are so very proud of our little NTK friends who went to Kid Kart Nationals in St. Louis this past weekend. Reilly won 2nd place in nationals in the unrestricted class!!! His trophy is almost as big as he is. Our Tulsa friend Paige, placed well too, in nationals. Ryan and James placed 1st and 8th in the restricted class. Way to go kiddos!! We are so very proud of all of you!!!

Diagnosis: Heat Exhaustion

Saturday night's race did not end the way we imagined. We imagined his last rookie race to go great and then he would be awarded not only his ribbon for competing, but also his white plate to replace his orange rookie number plate. But no. Not this Saturday.

We have coached Hunter repeatedly on drinking a lot of water and have provided him with bottles of water and replenishing drinks as well as insisting he peel out of his firesuit as soon as he is off the track.

The problem with coaching is that sometimes the coach-ee does not always apply the teaching. I was working in the gatehouse (in the air-conditioning) doing registrations yesterday so I was not on hand to enforce the rules and Scott was working on the kart and had repeated the rules but apparently, they were not applied. I think Hunter was drinking, but not enough, and he and his friends were running between from trailer to trailer and goofing off inside the trailers (although they were air-conditioned). And he was only dropping his suit down to his waist - all the boys were doing the same - and not taking it completely off.

As the first heat was ready to start in the 109* heat, Hunter told me his tummy was hurting. At this time, my Mom senses were telling me it was heat, but I also knew he had not had dinner yet, so I ran back to the truck to get a cool neck wrap for him and his poweraide drink. I cooled his neck down and he wanted to go race. He completed the first heat, but when we pulled him out of his kart, I could tell, it was not good.

He was taken to an air cooled room and then Brad, our track paramedic came in to look at him. He put ice bags under Hunter arms. The child I was listening to was not our Hunter. He was sick, tired, weak, eye hurting, just wanting to lay down, and just generally, not well. After a while, Brad advised us not to have him in the heat any more today and we might want to consider taking him to the hospital for evaluation and possibly IV fluids. After getting him back to the car and watching him for a few minutes, we did take him to the hospital in Denton.

At the hospital he was given an IV for fluids and a popcicle for a treat. After getting the fluids into his little body, he was a new kid. Our sweet little boy was back and better than ever.

Lesson learned for sure - HYDRATE 3 days before an outdoor activity, keep cool, and get that suit off!!

But the good news is: since he took the green flag for one heat, he was signed out of rookie status and has his white plate!!

Last Rookie Race?

This coming Saturday is the Summer 3 race at North Texas Kartway. It could actually be Hunter's last race as a Kid Kart rookie. Possibly.

I say possibly because NTK is a member run club dependent on the club members, family, and friends to volunteer to work each race. And from what I've seen on the forum so far, we have scoring, registration, scales, and gatehouse covered - all moms/wives positions. And as great as this is, unless the corners are covered on the track with volunteers, we don't race.

The Race Director can cancel the race if he does not have enough volunteers up to 24 hours in advance of the race - which means by 6pm tomorrow night (Friday), but may allow us all to get there on Saturday, register, then beg for volunteers - the "if you want to race, you'll get out and work" tactic.

However it has to work, I just hope and pray we can race so we can finally be rid of that orange rookie plate and Hunter can start in the position he qualifies in.

Praying. Keep you informed.

Kid Kart Volunteer Day at the Races

Well, Hunter didn't lose his rookie status orange number plate this weekend. He didn't run a race. There was a call for the Kid Karts as a class to not race and to instead work the race. I volunteered to work registration and Scott was on standby as a corner worker, but was not needed. There was another dad who was also on standby, but was also not needed, so we thought maybe the two boys could run the race, but it was decided to pull out as a whole class.

So, we got to watch some awesome karting in 103 degree heat until the sun started to set. Hunter and all his Kid Kart friends were running and playing all night long. So he had fun anyway.

In addition to the great Kart racing, there is the Northstar Dragway right by North Texas Kartway. So we can hear the drag racing and see the end of their strip from our track. A skidding-braking sound caught our attention and we looked over at the dragway just in time to see a car tumbling over and over and over before coming to rest. Our paramedic heard the radio chatter that the driver was complaining of only a sore side. Ambulances were called in for what we assumed to be just procedural checking for an accident of that magnitude. But then finally we saw CareFlight coming in. We pray that this driver is okay today. It looked like a nasty wreck - I imagine it was a lot worse close up!!

Next race - July 11th.

Hot. Just Too Hot.

We have a race on Saturday. The weather is predicting 100+ temps all this week and weekend. And Hunter will be practicing and racing in the heat of the day. So, even though we would love for you to come out and cheer him on, we will certainly understand if you choose to sit in your nice air conditioned homes drinking nice iced down cool beverages. Just please think of Hunter often!

I have two nephews serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. Andrew, the Marine in Afghanistan, was able to acquire a few precious minutes on a satellite phone to call home. His one request/desire: a refrigerator. They are tired of warm/hot drinks in that heat. Can you imagine?

So, yeah, I'll whine a bit about the heat and my little bitty being in full racing gear, but at least I can cool him off and give him iced down drinks and then we can go home to our cool house.

Post more after the race!

Birthday Run

Hunter had a great birthday yesterday! He had a choice of having a birthday party at home or racing (with a smallish party at the track) and he chose racing.

Even with the heat, it wasn't too bad. We had a nice breeze blowing all day, so it was bearable for a daytime race. Hunter broke his carburetor on Friday night during practice, so we were using a borrowed carb. He was turning some really good times during practice. Then we had some other issues and thankfully for the good sports of other dads (Scott was still at work), those problems were fixed and we were good to go.

He had a really good qualifying run and then he and his race buddies met at our pit stall for birthday cake. Hunter opened his box of NASCAR's from Mom and Dad (he collects and plays with the 1:64 diecast cars). Seems that all the karting boys like NASCAR and Lego's, which was what Hunter was getting for his day.

Heat 2 - Pre Final went pretty good for Hunter. It would have been better, but one of the kiddos was black flagged for blocking another racer and had to leave the track. In leaving the track, he slowed down right in front of Hunter, which made him slow down and he ended up losing a position in that race, but up until then, he was flying!

Heat 3 - Final. For some reason, Hunter was not prepared to leave the start/finish line at the green flag and did not get his good start. He was in fourth place keeping up with the pack and then he spun out at a corner and dropped even further back from the pack. He knew he could not catch up but he did not quit. He raced hard to finish strong. Of course he was so bummed out when he came off the track, but it didn't last long. Once the boys hit the tech barn for the awards, he had cheered up and was goofing off with all of them.

I told Hunter I was so proud of him. He raced even though he knew he would not win. He was bummed, but he knows this is just part of racing.

Yeah, I think I have a racer on my hands. Love it!!

Hunter's 8th Birthday - Sunday Race

If you are anywhere near North Texas Kartways this Sunday, June 7th, starting at 1PM, please come join us for a great Sunday afternoon of kart racing and to celebrate Hunter's 8th birthday.

His birthday is Sunday and we decided to have his cake and "eat it, too!" so to speak at the race track. He was excited about having a race on his day and sharing it with his family and friends at the track.

We hope you will be able to join us!