Seasons of Change

Last weekend I became and official College Mom when we dropped our daughter off in her new home at Missouri State University. She settled in fast, and I know she will be involved and become a part of the community there just as she was at home.

So yes, this week has seen its share of tears, but I just keep reminding myself of how proud I am of all she has, and will accomplish. That, and I am really looking forward to the fact that she will be home next weekend!

Our son is a freshman in high school now and a member of the marching band. He is a percussionist and plays in the pit, which means he gets to learn how to play a lot of different instruments. His first performance is next Friday night, and I can’t wait to see him in that uniform for the first time!

It has been a busy couple of weeks here in our household but it seems as if we are starting to settle into our new routine and our conversion from a four person household down to just us three. Of course, every now and then I still find myself peeking into my daughter’s room to see if maybe she’s in there working on her laptop as usual.

All of these changes, combined with Spring’s month-long sabbatical in the south, have necessitated some alterations to our racing schedule. As of right now, next weekend’s Ted Horn Memorial at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds will be our second-to-last race of the year. Tri-City’s moving of their POWRi race from Friday October 5 to Sunday, October 7 is a welcome change because it means that we will be able to make that our last race of the season. Unfortunately, we have had to drop our return trip to Hartville for the got milk? Fall Nationals because it was moved up a weekend and I have a prior commitment. All of these changes will soon be reflected on the schedule page of our web site.

With all of that said, I am really looking forward to next weekend’s race. Last year was my first trip to DuQuoin and I was blown away by everything from the historical old fairgrounds itself to the awesome racing and all the fun I had on my first trip out with the Pentax K100D. Last year’s weather was beautiful too, and I am hoping that the weather forecast is correct and we are headed for a cool down by the end of next week.

With credentials provided by Track Enterprises, we will make the trip over to DuQuoin after church next Sunday. It looks like we may have a van full this time, although Spring has not yet decided for sure if she will make it or not. Hopefully, my camera techniques have improved enough from last year that I can do a good job even if she decides not to go along. I did okay the first time out, but I have learned a lot since then, and I am much more confident when approaching people, so we’ll see how it goes.

I am looking forward to seeing the big Silver Crown cars again, since this is the only time each year that I get to do that. They are such classic machines that stir up a lot of nostalgia and put on a great race.

For anyone who considers himsef a fan of open wheel racing, this is one event you don’t want to miss!

It's never too hot to go racin'!

I am not sure what the official high temperature was for yesterday, but I know that somewhere along the highway from my house to Belleville, Illinois, one of those bank signs said 103. That would not be surprising, considering how sweltering the heat was at Belle Clair Speedway. But hey, it's the midwest, it's summer, and we expect it. And as far as this year goes, our weather has been awesome, so this little heat wave somehow feels like it is well-deserved.

So yes, it was warm, hot, uncomfortable, and a host of other related adjectives last night, but that could not stop the POWRi guys from putting on some great racing over at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds. All I can say is, my pal Spring is missing out on some great racing action while she wiles away her time with family and friends in North Carolina!

We headed over kind of late for us, after hot laps and just before the heat races, but it was ok with me. The later we went, the cooler (or rather, less hot) the temperature and the more time we spent in the comfort of air conditioning. Believe it or not, it didn't feel all that bad to me, and I am usually one who does not tolerate summer well. Maybe it was the breeze created by the cars, or my constant duck into shaded areas of the infield, or the bottled water that two different teams kept offering me, but I managed not to overdo it, which was nice.

I met up with our buddy Rich, who is always a lot of fun to talk to. He recently spent some time shooting Super Modifieds in New York and has plans to go back. We talked about racing and photography, and compared some of the shots we managed to get. It's pretty cool how we can have exactly the same camera, yet get totally different pictures.

Rich and I stayed out long enough to shoot all of the Midget heats, but then we lost the sunlight and just couldn't contend with all of the shadows. We both lamented the lack of proper flashes, but those things are expensive and on our long-range wish lists. Belle Clair is a fun track to shoot at because of the low walls, but that also means being extra careful when the cars are in motion. Of course last night we worried less about the race cars and more about the crazy push truck driver who kept trying to run us over!

Anyway, we survived, then went our separate ways to watch the rest of the night's action. And it was definitely action-packed! The feature was especially good, with a ton of movement throughout the field and several lead changes. There is just nothing like racing on old fairground tracks, that's for sure. I kept thinking to myself how all of those NASCAR fans who have never been to a dirt track race have no idea what they are missing!

Brad Loyet won the feature, but really had to work at it. There were a couple of big crashes, but thankfully everyone walked away.

Looking forward to my next, and probabl last, race of the season which will be at DuQuoin in September. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy last night's photos!