Great Finish to Season at Lorain County

South Amherst, OH After finishing 13th at Barberton on September 27th, we were off to Lorain County Speedway this weekend for the Halloween Festival of Speed. We had nice finish to our 2008 season.

The car was very loose in the first set of hot laps. We made some changes, and the car ran much better in the second set. I finished 5th in the heat, just behind the battle for the lead. I started on the pole for the feature, leading the field into turn one. I lifted too soon and ended up getting turned around. On the restart, I took the lead and led the first five laps of the feature, ultimately finishing 7th.

Dave Spotton, in the #41 Legends car, also had a great night, leading laps in his heat and finshing 5th in the feature. Many thanks to Jeff Gibeault, who joined us in the pits, and also took some amazing photos I will share with you soon.

Deerfield - A Fun Time

With all I have going on it's hard to keep this blog going, but we had such a great experience at this place that I just had to take time out to write about it:

The Northern Ohio Legends Series was off a few weeks ago, so Dave Spotton and I decided to go to Deerfield Raceway, in Deerfield, OH. We had heard some good things about the place, and after all, several classes of little race cars were right up our alley.

Dave and I decided to sit in the stands and act like spectators for once. This was the first time I had sat in the stands as a spectator outside the pits since I began racing in 1996. The first thing that caught our eye was how well the place was maintained. Then, we saw kids climbing all over Little Tikes toys just inside the entrance. In fact, there were kids everywhere. It was Kids' Bike Race #3 Night, and there were bicycles everywhere as well.

The car counts were good, too. We were entertained - yes, entertained (I will get to that in a minute) by several classes of little race cars, including Mini-Sprints, Mini-Mods, Dwarfs and one of our favorites, the "Kids' Karts," which are go-karts that look like little sprint cars. The competition was amazing in that class, and because the cars were so quiet, you could hear everyone cheering the kids on. And, to see the kids walking around in those little drivers' suits, well, it was just cool. The other classes simply fly around that track, and entertained us with some great racing.

It's no coincidence that I keep using the word "entertainment." For those of you who know me, you know that I feel like racing is just as much as show as it is a race, and Deerfield "entertains." At one point Dave said, "This is like a Captains game!" For any of you who have attended a Captains game, you know what I am talking about. The announcer, Tim Phillips, of WQMX Radio, entertained the crowd. He has a great sense of humor and kept us laughing all night. And, when every feature winner pulled up to the flag stand, he was down on the track before the car stopped and made each winner sound like they were the greatest thing on wheels. Then, he handed them the mic and let them talk as long as they wanted. Tim "gets it."

The Millers were class acts as racers, and their track is a class act as well. While I'm not suggesting you pass up one of the upcoming Northern Ohio Legends races, check out Deerfield Speedway the next time we have an off week. I bet you'll have a much fun as we did.

It's Been a While...

While things have been a bit quiet on the racing front, my personal and professional life has been anything but calm. On July 3, after over 30 years in the corporate world, I made a career change. I'm taking that experience and sharing it. I'm a teacher now.

I've returned to college, and just completed a 6-credit-hour in 16-days Pre-Service Program at Kent State, and will start my new job as the Engineering CADD Instructor at Mayfield High School's Excel TECC in late August. My wife, Rebecca is also a Counselor in this district; we also live in the district and our oldest daughter attends Lander Elementary.

My energy levels are off the map; getting out of the "safe zone" has been incredibly energizing. It has also been an incredible experience sharing a classroom with 27 other posotive, energized people, all in the same situation, as they made a this same change in their lives. I will, as most of my classmates, be working toward a degree (a Master's degree in my case) over the next few years.

We're also returning to the track this weekend. So, if you see someone with a little bigger smile than usual, it's probably me.