August 17 – Steve and Jacob travel for a two-night show at the Stockton Fair.  It will be Jacob’s first time on a half-mile track.  I was in New York for work anxiously awaiting results.  He finished 5^th in the feature!  Top five on his first time on the track is super.  He had a lot to learn and did it really quickly.  For example, a half-mile track can get up to some pretty high speeds and knowing when to let off and get back on in the corners is different.  Jacob’s experience and seat time driving different tracks is paying off.  Everyone was really happy with his finish.

The next day, the boys picked me up at the airport, Grandma Effie joins us and we travel back to Stockton.  It is a draw-redraw again, and Jacob doesn’t draw well for the feature.  He will have to start in the 9^th position.  The feature was one of the most exciting races yet.  Jacob works his way through the field one by one.  This takes a bit of time, but he works his way up to a solid 4^th position.  By this time, he is quite a ways behind the 3^rd place car which happens to be Cheeseburger.  For those that do not know him, Cheeseburger is the current State points leader and veteran racer so when we are running up with him, that is quite an achievement.  Jacob is flying and each lap, he gains on Cheeseburger.  Of course, this is one of those times when you wish there was a caution to bunch the field back up.  Of course, you never get a caution when you want it and the race goes caution free.  With three laps to go, Jacob has closed the distance and is close to Cheeseburger.  With two to go, he is on his bumper, and with the white flag, he is diving in beside him.  As they exit the last turn, they are side by side across the finish line with Jacob about a half a car ahead.  You truly cannot imagine the concentration it took for Jacob to run that race the way he did.  There was no room for error at all and he did a fantastic job.  It was great to be in post-tech with the other drivers.  It was great to have two nights in a row with such great finishes.

Friday morning, the boys are changing the gear and going through the car to prepare for Hays.  We arrive at the track ready to keep the momentum going for a third night when the storm moves in and they have no choice but to cancel the race.  So, the boys decide to change the gear that night to prepare for Mayetta the next day and this way, they can sleep in the next morning.  However, we wake up to a text message that Mayetta is cancelled.  So, now we are in search of a race as we try to gain National points.  And, yes, they get to change the gear yet again. 

Not an easy decision as there are three tracks running, yet we need the car count so we end up choosing Minneapolis after much debate and even consultation through text messages and phone calls.  Matthew can catch a ride with B and join us at Minnie after Matthew gets off work.  Well, I think it was a decision we wish we could take back.  But, that is racing and for whatever reason, our bad luck at Minnie seems to outweigh the good.  Matthew had another transmission break in the heat, so he did not get to run.  Jacob had two cars crash in front of him and as he came up the front stretch, he had the wall on one side and cars on the other, so while he tried to slow down, he still hit the two cars that had crashed head on.  They can fix the damage, but at that point, I think exhaustion, frustration and disappointment over-ruled and the boys loaded it up.  As they say, that is racing.  If you cannot take disappointment, do not race.  How many times have I written that one?!

It is a new day, so time to get to work on the cars.  Obviously, there is a lot to do before next weekend.  And Jacob already has a load of homework as well while Matthew starts college tomorrow.  So, as if we could not get any busier, I guess we will juggle more!  The points season ends on September 25, so only one more month of racing left in the season.  We hope the weather cooperates and lets us get in the remaining scheduled races.  Next weekend, we will return to Mayetta on Saturday and the boys will travel on to Wakeeney for a make-up race while I race to the airport.  I couldn’t schedule work around that one since it is a make-up race.  Hopefully, Hays will be able to add a make-up race as well, but we don’t know yet.

~CBR Mom