Presenting...Pike County Speedway Photos!

After a bit of a delay, we wanted to let everyone know that the photos from Pike County Speedway have finally been posted. We will have a few on the GGR site, but there is a much more extensive gallery at this link:

http://www.millersevents.com/?m=36081

We invite you to check them out, and if you find something you like, ordering can be done right from the web site. The best way to look at them is in the Slide Show mode, but be forewarned, there are over 300 photos so it may take a while. Trust me though, it's worth it.

Spring did a great job, and she wants everyone to know how much she appreciates their patience, and more importantly, their prayers. She is feeling better, although not yet 100%. We were actually able to go to a race last night for only the second time since our trip to Pike County.

If anyone has questions, please feel free to drop us a note. We really did have a great time at PCS and hopefully we can come back one of these days. Enjoy the pictures!

To Our Friends at Pike County Speedway

We have had several emails about the photos that were taken at Pike County Speedway, and I wanted to make sure that we let everyone know what is going on.

First, Spring and I both apologize for the delay. Usually we try to get photos up on our site within a week of any event. Unfortunately, we have been unable to do that this time because we ran into some unforeseen problems.

Without going into too many details, Spring was in a car accident about a year ago, and has had some issues ever since. In the past couple of months, things have gotten worse, and she has a pinched nerve in her neck that is causing terrible pain in her neck, shoulder and arm. She was actually in quite a bit of pain the night she took the pictures, but she’s a trooper, and since we had committed to doing this, and she loves to take pictures, she wasn’t about to stay home.

This past week has been very hard on her, and she has actually been restricted by her doctor from doing almost anything, including working on the computer. Because she took so many photos, and she wants to get as many of them online as possible, she planned to do this using her photography site instead of our Girls Gone Racin’ site. She is the only one who can get all of those hundreds of photos edited and loaded onto that site, so it’s something I can’t even help her with or I certainly would.

Please rest assured that as soon as she is physically capable, Spring will get the pictures up. Once she does, there will be a link on the Girls Gone Racin’ site that will allow you to access them, and order any that you choose to purchase.

We sincerely regret the delay, but there are some things that just can’t be helped. I know that Spring would really appreciate your prayers as she endures this painful time. We both enjoyed meeting so many nice people up at Pike and told our families all about the great time we had. We would love to come back again some time.

Thank you for you patience.

Blessings,
Val

More Karting Photos!

Spring finally had the chance to sit down and upload the rest of the photos from the got milk? Fall Nationals in Hartville, Missouri last Friday. Believe it or not, even after editing out over 200 photos, she still ended up with 730!

We hope everyone enjoys looking at them, and especially the collage poster she created. It's really awesome. Way to go, Spring!

Here's the link to the pictures. Enjoy!

2006 got milk? Fall Nationals photo album.

Back to the Basics

(Val) There is a scene in the movie The Rookie where Jim Morrisey is torn between hanging up his big league dreams once and for all, or sticking it out in the minors just a little bit longer. He wanders out into the night and hears the sounds of a nearby little league baseball game so he makes his way over to the fence to watch for a while.

A young outfielder sees him, tips his hat, and Jim nods back. That’s it, just a tip of the hat and a nod, not a word is exchanged. Yet in that moment, a whole conversation takes place, and it is that unspoken dialog that sets the wheels in motion for one of the greatest player comebacks in the history of the game.

I have no idea the percentage of kids who start out in minor league sports, dreaming of some day making it in the big time, that actually see that dream through to reality. It has to be low, but not low enough to discourage hundreds of thousands of kids from trying.

Last weekend, Spring and I saw dozens of young athletes who have sports dreams of their own, and those dreams involve not baseball or soccer, but racing. These kids look, sound and more importantly, race like professionals. The only thing missing were snobby attitudes and big paychecks. I think that’s what made it so refreshing.

These kids don’t go out and race for big bucks every week. These cars don’t come into the track via million dollar haulers followed by million dollar motor homes. There are no deep-pocketed sponsors or sleazy agents knocking down their doors. Media circuses don’t exist at this level, and no one seems to mind. These guys and girls race for the joy of racing, for the thrill of taking home a little trophy or an even smaller check. They do it for the sheer love of the game. And I’ll bet those kids are more proud of those little plastic trophies than some professional drivers are of the real thing.

To me, this is what it’s all about. Grassroots racing at its very finest.

All evening long, I wondered if I might be witnessing history in the making because you never know which of those kids might just pursue that dream to the highest possible level. For all I know, I met a kid who may some day kiss the bricks or drink the milk at Indy.

Sure, the odds are against them, but anyone who’s worth their salt doesn’t let a little thing like odds get in the way of their ambitions. And yes, a large number of those kids may get just as tired of trekking to races every weekend as other kids get of making three baseball practices a week. For the majority of those drivers, it won’t be long before these days are all just fun memories tucked between the pages of a dusty scrapbook, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because kids should be kids.

But a few of them feel the passion, fall asleep running through the turns of the next track in their mind, hands gripped tight, foot mashing the imaginary gas pedal. They live for the rush and even now they understand what competition really is. They understand defeat, and they yearn for victory.

These young drivers have one thing in common with the guys who suit up every Sunday afternoon and climb into cars that cost more than the average American home. And it’s the only thing that matters. They dare to dream and they won’t let it go.

It’s too bad more of the big guys don’t take a night off now and then and head out to a small town Karting event. Maybe they would see that kid in his Daddy’s too-big, hand-me-down driver’s suit nod, tip a hat in return, and then walk away remembering what it’s all about.

Got milk...and cookies!

HARTVILLE, Mo. – Tonight is the kick off of the 4th annual Outlaw Kart Fall Nationals and Spring and I are here to take photos and see what the karting scene is all about. So far, we have met several nice folks and are getting a huge kick out of these kids in their driver suits. Oh, and we’ve already sampled the grilled burgers too. Yum!

We hit the road about 11:30 this morning after a detour to FedEx to pick up some sample trading cards and business cards that Spring had printed up. They turned out great and I think the traders will be a huge hit. I know how much I enjoy my son’s little league pictures, and so I can’t imagine why parents wouldn’t want a good photo of their kid with his or her race car.

The trip down went really fast, but that’s mostly because Spring is a race car driver at heart. I tried not to sneak too many peeks at the speedometer, but when I did, it was dialed in at a comfortable 80mph. Despite the speed, and Spring’s tendency to eat with one hand, talk on the phone with the other and steer with her knee, she never once made me nervous. I teased her with the nickname of Dalena Earnhardt, but I don’t really think it’s going to stick.

We had a nice chat about last night’s Cards victory over those nasty ol’ Mets and from the sound of it, we would have had a good time watching it together. Oh well, we have at least 4 World Series games coming up, so maybe we can plan to watch one of those instead.

The farther south we drove, the prettier the colors became. I was down here only about a month ago, and I can’t believe how much things have changed. Of course, on my last trip it was cloudy and rainy, and today the sky was picture-perfect blue, so that certainly helps.

I can hear cars warming up from our table here in the concession building, and the temperature is dropping fast. A space heater was on my list of things to pack, but when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find it, so I think I’m just going to have to tough it out.

Spring is out taking pictures during hotlaps, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. She was very excited to see these little cars, and has been wishing Caleb was here all afternoon.

We have had several folks stop in to see what we were doing and everyone seems to be pretty interested. I’m anxious to see just what kind of business we actually do. Could be overwhelming, or just the opposite, none at all. Either way, we have already decided that this trip is all about having fun and enjoying our last race adventure of the year.

LEBANON, Mo. -- 1:51 AM

Well, we survived it! The road back from Hartville to Lebanon is about 35 miles and we were fortunate because we had a big ol' tractor trailer leading the way. We figured if there were any deer alongside the road, he could take care of them for us.

Right now, Spring is polishing off her apple walnut snack from McDonald's. She's trying to get me to split the last cookie with her too. Since they go well with wine, I think I'll go ahead.

What a fun night this was. I am exhausted, but I know I won't be able to sleep for a while be cause the adrenaline rush is still going strong. Things worked out really well. Spring spent the whole time out shooting, and I stayed at our table printing proof sheets, taking orders and printing pictures. The crowd was awesome and the photos Spring took were fabulous. Everyone loved her work and was glad to see us and we already have our invitation for next year. We will be back.

The track really did undergo a major transformation to go from horse arena to kart track and we spent a little time out in the middle during the hotlaps sessions. There were a lot of little bitty kids racing these karts, and they are really something to watch. You can tell that they just eat it up and the parents I met were right there cheering them on and doing whatever it took to keep them going. What a blast.

We both wish we could stay for tomorrow night's races, but it's just not meant to be as Spring has a big family shoot to do. We're putting this event on our calendar for next year though. What a fun time! And maybe next year we'll actually get to race against each other. That would be SO cool!

Here at the hotel, we celebrated our last race of the season with a glass of wine and these McDonald's chocolate chip cookies. There's nothing like $3 wine in plastic cups from the Days Inn, let me tell ya!

We hope everyone has enjoyed our adventures this season. I know I have had a great time. This blog and our web site will not be idle, however, so please keep checking up on us even during the cold winter months.

A huge thank you goes out to Dustin Arnall and everyone at the Hartville Saddle Club Speedway for making us feel so welcome and at home. We really enjoyed getting to meet so many fun people! We will have lots of photos up ASAP, and Spring is actually blogging at the same time I am so you'll get her perspective shortly.

Girls Go Karting

(Val) Yes, the weather is growing cooler and the Cards are one step away from another trip to the World Series but for my pal Spring and I, this weekend means one last chance to hit the road and go racing.

When we first came up with the concept for Girls Gone Racin’ one of our goals was to experience new kinds of racing, and we did that right out of the gate by checking out drag races at Gateway back in May. This weekend will be a different experience entirely as we head to the small town of Hartville, Missouri for the 4th Annual got milk? Outlaw Kart Fall Nationals at the Hartville Saddle Club Speedway.

Hartville is about 35 miles south of Lebanon and the other 51 weekends of the year when the Saddle Club is not being used as a Speedway, it is actually a horse arena. I stopped there on my way back from Springfield last month just to check out the place, and it was hard to picture cars racing there, but the more I hear about it, the more excited I am to see how this place transforms into an actual speedway. To say the least, I am intrigued.

I had never heard of the got milk? Fall Nationals before we met up with Dustin Arnall down at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri back in September. We were there doing some work for Weld Racing and Dustin told us about the event and invited us to come down to take some pictures. In the three years the Nationals have been in existence, they have never had a professional photographer in to shoot the races, so Spring will be the first.

So far, the weather looks good for Friday and our plan is to head out bright and early in the morning so we have time to set up shop when we get there. We will be printing some photos on site, which has proved to be a bit of a challenge to set up, but I think we finally have it figured out. Spring has done little league team pictures for years, and we thought it might also work well to offer this kind of service to race car drivers. Who wouldn’t want a nice shot of them with their car? We have no idea the kind of response we will get, but we figure it’s worth a shot and we really have nothing to lose, so why not?

Anyway, we’ll be out and about one last time for 2006, watching Outlaw Karts, meeting new people and just doing what we love to do. As for me, I’m just excited to see how this place transforms from a horse arena into a racing venue! There are drivers coming from as far away as California, and some full-sized Sprint Car guys will be in attendance too, so that ought to really liven things up.

However things turn out, I know we will have a good time. It’s been a while since Spring and I have hung out together, and we’ve both had a busy couple of weeks. It will be nice to get away for a while and see what kind of trouble we can get into.

Check back here on Saturday (or sooner if the hotel has wireless) and we will share all the details of this latest adventure.

Hartville or bust!

Rainy Days and Mondays

(Val) It's been a rainy Monday, so rainy, in fact that tonight's NLCS game between the Cards and the Mets has been postponed until tomorrow night. After last night's performance, maybe it's a good thing that the Cards get an extra day to rest up.

The countdown is on to our next (and my last) race of the season and so far, the weather for that looks perfect. I just hope nothing changes!

As it stands right now, Spring and I head down to Hartville, MO Friday morning for the got milk? Fall Nationals for Outlaw Karts. I am looking forward to the event, if not the drive. After last week, spending more time in the car is really not all that appealing!

Spring should be back in town now after her big wedding shoot over the weekend, but I haven't heard from her yet. More than likely, she's trying to catch up on calls, emails and everything else that got put on hold while she was gone. We'll get our schedules aligned soon enough, and then finalize our plans for the weekend. Stay tuned for updates and more!