Friday – Hays, Kansas
It was great to be back on
the road again with Justin’s parents and Justin’s brother Nick flew out to help
us kick off the season. This was our maiden voyage in “Redemption Rig”. The
drive to Hays went smoothly although the headwind added an extra hour to our
trip. The travel was surprisingly comfortable and allowed us to drive longer
distances with the large fuel tanks.
We arrived at the race track
and got settled in to our pit stall. It was thrilling to meet up with Billy
Jack and Cathy after a year and a half of rebuilding! We also saw several other
drivers from past seasons that were completely shocked to see us and hear our
story. After we got the car fired up and went out for mud packing, a giant
storm came in and sent everyone running for their trailers. It was a blessing
to experience the new tall trailer being able to roll the race car quickly
inside with the wing on. After a second try at getting cars back out, mother
nature won and the night was called.
Saturday – Jetmore, Kansas
We
headed to Jetmore to catch the local town Memorial Day parade. On the way
there, we discovered that a tornado had touched down just a few miles outside
of where we were the night before. Buildings and cars were scattered and we
realized how fortunate we were. The tiny of Jetmore went all out for the Sprint
car event including them in the parade along with the military and local
businesses.
At
Jetmore Motorplex the wind was raging none-stop. This race was our very first
National Tour event which hosted many of the world’s best sprint car
drivers…basically Nascar on dirt. We quickly got back into race mode and
enjoyed the spacious trailer and April loved having the atv to zip around the
giant pits and push Justin to staging. April’s mom, Aunt and niece came out
from Colorado to show their support and cheer us on.
Justin
was in the first heat and for his very first time being back on the track, he
pulled the coveted inside pole position! Cool but crazy for just getting back
into things. Learning the brand new race car and fighting the high winds was a
huge challenge but he was thrilled to be back in the car. He placed 5th
out of 8 guys. He missed the transfer to the A main by one spot but had a good
starting position for the B main. Starting mid-row gave him a jolt when 4 cars
shot for the same opening but he stayed on it and coasted out without any
upsets. Two laps in and hauling…the coil wire broke and sent him to the infield
to sadly watch the rest of the race.
Sunday-
Jetmore
After
making sure that the car was working again, we were ready for another night of
racing. In his heat race he was doing
well but got a little too aggressive fighting the wind tunnel in turn 3 and
spun out with two laps to go. The biggest disappointment of the weekend was the
pit set up with no loud speakers for announcements and the lack of
communication from the division leader. We were so far away from the staging
area that it was hard to know what was going on and we missed the B main since
we got down there too late. All and all it was a great first time out and
exciting to be doing this when we never knew if we’d get this opportunity
again. We were honored to be racing with some of the most talented drivers in
the country and Justin looks forward to many more nights on the dirt with them.
Special
thanks to God for keeping everyone safe and allowing us this opportunity. To
Billy & Cathy continued support and friendship. To Nick for his support of
my dream. To Mom & Dad for not giving up and believing in this team! And to
all of our many friends and family members who have stood by us and pray for
us. And to everyone who supported us through the silent auction. We love you
guys!
