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(Val) Death is a part of life, which makes it an unwelcome, yet unavoidable part of racing as well. No matter how many drivers we lose, each one takes us by surprise, breaks our hearts and causes us to take a step back and appreciate once more the danger of the sport we love.
Rookie Indy Racing League driver Paul Dana, 30, of St. Louis lost his life this morning in a horrific crash in practice for the first race of the 2006 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He was a member of the Rahal-Letterman Team owned by former driver Bobby Rahal and Late Night television’s David Letterman. Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick were Paul’s team mates.
As I sat here in my living room thinking about basketball, the start of the NASCAR race at Bristol, and the kick off of my own race season next weekend, the news of Dana’s death came across the Fox News screen. My first thought was, “oh no, not again.” We see so many race accidents on any given weekend, drivers climbing out of a mass of mangled metal without so much as a scratch, and we start to think they are invincible. It’s a rude wake up call when we are reminded that they are not.
Inevitably, today’s accident brings up memories of similar losses in the past. If you have been a fan of Motorsports for any amount of time, you have experienced loss. That loss may have been distant, in the form of a driver you were not overly familiar with, or maybe did not even like, or that loss may have hit very close to home. You may have witnessed the accident, or you may have heard about it second hand. No matter the circumstances, losing a driver is like losing someone in our family, because the racing community is just that: One big family.
And like the family that we are, we will grieve this loss together.
So today, my thoughts here will be brief. All I can say is that my heart goes out to everyone who mourns the death of Paul Dana. My God in His mercy bless each and every one of you.
(Val) It’s Thursday night, the March Madness Sweet Sixteen has just kicked off and I’m sitting here thinking about how much fun it can be when an underdog overcomes and is victorious over the team that everyone thinks will win. Since the beginning of this year’s NCAA Championships, it has happened over and over again, totally devastating brackets all over the country, and right her at home!
Seeing a rookie or a guy you’ve never heard of come in and win a race is just as exciting as a low-seed team winning in the NCAA. Ok, better. Way better. I’ve seen it happen, felt the growing excitement as the laps ticked off, watched with amazement as a kid I had never heard of before took the checkers. Those are the nights that make me thankful I’m a race fan.
It happened a few years ago, at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas. Ron Shuman’s gang of SCRA wingless Sprinters was in town and the competition was fierce. We spent a lot of time that weekend wandering around in the pits, shooting the breeze with old friends and new, trying to stay cool. Once the field had been narrowed down for the final Saturday night run, we settled into our seats for the feature.
As is usually the case with wingless Sprinters, there was a lot of movement through the field as drivers jockeyed for new positions with every lap. I have no idea where he started, but suddenly up front was a car that didn’t look at all familiar. When I asked my Dad, he didn’t know who it was either. It wasn’t long until we found out.
Right behind us was a huge group of people that became more and more animated as the race progressed. They were shouting, clapping, cheering and calling one name: Jesse Hockett. I took turns watching them, and watching the race because both sights were equally entertaining. There was no doubt that this was a mix of family and friends, all full of nervous excitement, most wearing some form of Jesse Hockett apparel. They urged him on, and if he couldn’t hear them, he certainly must have felt their support.
When he crossed that finish line in first, it would have been impossible not to join in with their excitement. Here was a young driver who had just beaten some of the best drivers in the country, veterans from Indiana to California, some of whom had been driving since before he was even born.
I loved watching that race because the excitement was palpable. When you leave the track for a four hour ride home, and you don’t even remember the first 50 miles of the drive because you keep reliving the race, then it was definitely worth the trip. There have been a few like that, and a few I’ve missed and had to hear about later from my Dad. It’s nights like that that keep us coming back for more.
Hockett’s win ranks among my most memorable race nights. There have been some great times out on the road, and a few close calls. Most of the latter involve tornadoes. Who ever said living in the Midwest was boring never lived here during tornado season.
With that said, we are just about to get rolling on the racing season here. Spring and I got our first confirmation of credentials yesterday and will be attending the ADRL event at Gateway next month. Look for our combined coverage right here in the blog and also on WhoWon.com. Neither of us have ever attended a Drag Race, and we will be getting a full indoctrination in our two days at Gateway, I'm sure.Before Gateway, and If the weather holds, I will be heading down to I-55 Raceway for their World of Outlaws Sprint race on the first, and with a little more luck, my hubby and I will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary at Jacksonville Raceway’s season opener. You know you're a race fan when your idea of a romantic night out with your spouse involves dirt, "big as your face" pork tenderloin sandwiches, and more dirt.
So, it’s NCAA basketball this week, and dirt track racing next. The season’s they are a-changing!
(Val) Saturday morning at the Laundromat is not as busy as I expected it to be. Maybe it’s the warm, cloudless, blue March weather that has everyone putting this chore off until later, when it’s supposed to rain.
Maybe most of the regulars all have their own washers and dryers now and I’m the only one who is here because the wiring harness on her dryer fried like eggs on the hood of an overheated Chevy.
Maybe I just got lucky.
For whatever reason, I manage to find seven empty washers in a row and an open dryer for the load that had been halfway done before the dryer meltdown. Between the quarters I scrounged from the change crock at home and a roll from the bank, I’m hoping to have enough for this mountain of laundry. But at $1.25 to wash and .75 to dry (so far) it’s possible that I may be hitting up the only slot machine I’ll ever play – the change machine on the wall. At least I can rest assured that I will most likely break even. The odds are way better than they are for all those race fans out in Vegas this weekend. Of course, I’d rather be taking in the World of Outlaws, NASCAR Busch and Cup races than taking baskets of laundry into the Laundromat, but my time will come.
It’s been a while since I’ve had to do this, not since the last appliance failure a few years ago. The price has gone up, but I guess that’s true of just about everything. At least this time, I’ve got music to keep me company. Heaven knows everything’s a little easier in the company of Keith Urban, Jon Bon Jovi and Gary Allen.
The job goes fairly quickly, definitely faster than if I had done all this at home. All this laundry and I’m in and out in about two hours – a job that would normally take me a couple of days to get through. That’s the plus side of the Laundromat, I suppose.
As I wash, dry, check, fold and sort all these clothes, I make several observations. For one, Miranda Lambert’s Kerosene was intended to get a body moving and it takes sheer willpower not to dance around as I transfer clothing from machine to cart to table. Head bobbing is acceptable in public, but breaking into a spin move is better left to the professionals in the iPod commercials. Especially for a slightly overweight, 42-year-old, married mother of two.
Secondly, clean laundry is no lighter than dirty laundry, and thirdly, the van smells a whole lot better on the way home from the Laundromat than it did on the way there. My final thought is that washing clothes and going racing really have nothing in common, so I can’t even come up with a cute little anecdote to tie the two together. All I know is that the weather is perfect for a day at the track, and I would have preferred racing over laundry any day of the week. At least the NCAA Brackets come out tomorrow so I’ll have March Madness to fill in a few empty spaces on the sports calendar. (Go Jayhawks!)
(Val) Last night was one of those rare evenings where I actually looked forward to a little time to relax and dive into a new book that I had picked up from the library the day before. A Delirious Summer by Ray Blackston, for which I had waiting weeks after putting it on reserve, was beckoning from my bedside table. The kids were busy doing homework, so I slipped on my headphones, powered up my Dell DJ and settled in for a cozy, rainy night of reading.
Three chapters in, and I had already laughed out loud several times. I love authors who can do that! Comfortable and lazy, Jennifer Nettles singing Just Might Make Me Believe in my ear, I am rudely interrupted by my daughter saying, “Hey, what’s that noise?”
Removing one of the earpieces, I hear the piercing beep of the smoke detector in the basement. I leap from the couch, dash down the stairs and am greeted by the hideous smell of something electrical burning. A bit of smoke rises above my dryer, so I grab hold, pull it away from the wall and notice flames inside. Fortunately for me, there’s a fire extinguisher nearby, and even better, it works! I take one shot down the back of the dryer, and as far as I can tell, that does the job.
Of course, it’s not until after I’ve sprayed this stuff, and inhaled a bit of it, that I realize the dryer is still plugged in. (Note to self: Before trying to put out an electrical fire, make sure the device you are extinguishing is unplugged. And instead of yelling at your daughter to “Go get Daddy” tell her to call 9-1-1!)
After unplugging everything on that wall (freezer, washer, and dryer) and yanking all of the clothes out of the dryer, it is finally confirmed that the fire is out, and we have been spared what could have been a horrible disaster. As I take a few breaths, then cough to clear my lungs of fire extinguisher stuff and electrical smoke, that’s when the shakes set in and all the “what-ifs” start to overwhelm me. What if the battery in the smoke detector hadn’t been changed? What if the fire extinguisher had been outdated? What if I didn’t always insist that the dryer be turned off before we leave the house, go to bed, etc.? What if the kids had been home alone? As I sat in the recliner a bit later, silently thanking God for taking care of us, I felt overwhelmed, and very, very grateful.
So now I have two things on my agenda: 1) Find a new washer and dryer (the washer was already on its way out. Heck, the pair were at least 15 years old) and 2) Take a trip to one of my least favorite places, the Laundromat. It’s not that getting all your laundry done at one time is such a bad thing, it’s the thought of all the laundry that has come before mine that kind of grosses me out a bit, but hey, one has to admit that the trip can sometimes be entertaining. There are certainly some interesting characters at the Laundromat, although I have yet to see anyone have as much fun as that couple in Keith Urban’s Better Life video. Oh well, one can dream.
Yes, this is my exciting life here in the heartland, which I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. But I know what you’re thinking. “What has this got to do with racing?” Well, nothing, really, but racing season in my neck of the woods doesn’t start for a couple of weeks, and I have to do something to keep you coming back as we get ready.
With regard to racing, blogging and the like, I have posted the tentative schedule here in the blog. We’ll be working on getting our credentials together and making any travel arrangements over the coming weeks, as well as trying to get a little financial/goods support from interested sponsors. (If you know of anyone, please drop us a note.)
Spring and I are really looking forward to hitting the road and seeing types of racing that we’ve never seen before. Our first event looks like it will be a drag race at Gateway, which will definitely be a new one for me. I have been around circle tracks, mostly dirt ones, my whole life, so it will be interesting to see what all the fuss is about these guys who just have drive a straight line for a few seconds. (Just kidding!) I would assume it’s a little bit like those lunatic rodeo guys trying to stay on a crazed bull for 8 seconds, and although it’s fun to watch, I’ve always wondered just how one goes about learning to do that. It’s not like you can say to the bull, “Ok, let’s just take it easy this first time, no rough stuff, good boy!”
Anyway, the rain has finally stopped here, the clouds are on their way out, and it looks like a beautiful day here in my neighborhood. A good day to string up a clothes line and send some garments flapping on the breeze while I peruse the appliance ads.
(Val) Great ideas come randomly, sometimes in the contemplative quiet of a summer evening, other times in a noisy mini van full of kids, dogs and sports equipment. The idea for this venture came from a combination of things: Love of racing, passion for writing, desire for adventure, and a healthy dose of Robin Jones Gunn’s Sisterchicks novels.
The premise of Robin’s series is thus: Two friends head off on vacation looking for time away from family obligations for a chance to relax and renew their friendship. The stories are always full of surprises, funny anecdotes and adventure, all tied together with a renewal of spirit and faith. I love these books, and they always leave me longing for adventure, heart-to-heart talks, and laugh-‘til-you-cry experiences.
I imagine heading off to faraway places and seeing the world, but I am bound by time, commitments, finances and an paralyzing fear of flying. This may limit the distance which we may travel, but I have no doubts that it won’t limit the fun that Spring and I will have.
It was during the 2006 Daytona 500 party at Spring's beautiful country home that the idea for this project really came together. We had hinted at it for ages, but with husbands, kids and jobs, the timing just never seemed right. Now, for whatever reason, the obstacles don’t seem to loom as large, or maybe we’ve just mellowed with time and can finally admit that our husbands can handle things at home just as well as we can.
Yesterday, after Spring finished up a session with her trainer and I wrapped up my morning's work, we met up for lunch at the St. Louis Bread Company and put together a preliminary schedule of racing events we hope to attend. Some will be just the two of us, but others will include husbands, children, my Dad, whoever wants to join us for the fun. Judging from the conversation and laughter we had in that brief time together, I can only imagine how much fun we will have out on the road!
So, here's to fun, friendship and racing. Can there be any better combination?
