6/26/10 at Thunderbird Raceway

The rain stayed away, it was a beautiful clear night, and fun was had by all. Tommy and Ally Blackford, our grandchildren, travelled with us to the Thunderbird Raceway for the MTS show, sponsored by Lane Automotive.

Again, we made and completed, the feature, and again, there were 21 cars. It was especially fun to watch as Rand experimented with different grooves on the track without causing any "incidents".

Our good friend, Mark Strpko, finished 13th, and Rand 14th. I would say it appeared they were having a wonderful time!! Mark and Rand each spun out once. Mark is usually able to make it a complete 360 and just keep on going, but for whatever reason, didn't. So he caused a caution, and then later Nick Landon spun in front of Randy. Rand's dodge of the spin caused him to do an about-face, but the caution wasn't caused by him. There was much more action including a ride over a right rear tire that caused the orange 58W, to make it's way into the catch-fence in turn four. The driver was fine, and the car didn't appear to have season-ending damage.

Dave and Mike made the trip with us and brought a quad, which made the job of delivering the 5K car to the chute a little easier. I love that they are such a great help to Rand, and both truly great guys.

The track was tacky, and the mud was flying! I could have made a couple of pots with all the clay covering the car!

John Watson, and his wife, Terri, stopped down for a chat. They come from Toronto to race with MTS Sprints, because as he puts it, "The people make it worth the drive."

Rebuilt and Raring to Go

2010 brought a double header for the season opener. Saturday night at Thunderbird and Sunday night at Crystal. Memorial Day weekend was busy, hot and very fun.

Sorry folks, but I asked Randy to promise me he would hang back, stay out of traffic and get used to the car. Mixing it up can come later. He's, of course, good for his word. The weekend was great.

Saturday night at Thunderbird, hotlaps and the heat race come off without a hitch. There was an accident in the feature involving our good friend, Mark Strpko. His car was damaged, but not seriously. Rand left the track without any brakes. Not sure when they left, but when the caution flag came out, they were MIA.

Sunday morning Mark scrambled to repair his car, and then they went to work to fix Rand's brakes. Crystal is the site of the rollover accident and the track is a 3/8 mile with nice banking.

Hotlaps came off without a hitch, heat race, too, and we have completed our first 25 lap feature. Rand, again stayed back, but midway through the race Mark spun out (doing a perfect 360) and Rand passed him. Mark worked his way back. Rand moved over to allow him to pass, but once he's in front, Rand gives him a little love tap on the rear bumper. Later, Mark got to return the favor. We all enjoyed their show and they were having a blast.

It was nice to get this race completed without incident. Next we're back at Thunderbird, and then in July they race at Butler and Merritt. Merritt is the same date as the reunion, so we'll miss that one, but there will be more. Rand is having the time of his life.

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The Incident

Hot laps went well. Qualifying heat went well. Then the incident. Two cars criss crossing the track leave Randy no where to go. He is momentarily knocked out, the engine fries, and the car is wrecked.









You can see in the above photos that there was damage to the car, but most striking to me is the halo, added only that afternoon is collapsed, but likely saved his life. Glory to God.



A trip to the hospital, a concussion, and a wrecked car. Everyone else involved in the accident is fine, but their cars, too, are wrecked. It was the last race date of the season, so we have all winter to rebuild. Rebuild, we do.

Grandson, Ben, sits in the stipped-down car. Re-building has begun.