ChasinRacinDL

  The first weekend of April we are in Webster City, Iowa at the Hamilton County Speedway.  This is a 1/2 mile track with moderate banking and a pretty good racing surface. The track usually holds two decent grooves for the night, one down on the very bottom and the other right up at the wall.  Still some opportunity for passing. Most of the teams were able to park in the infield;  by the time we got there they were parking the bigger rigs outside the track at the edge of spectator parking. Not all bad, as we had a fairly level spot in a grassy location.  And the "people" entry was just yards from the rig, so it was easy to go back and forth from the stands.  This track is right in the center of Webster City, which is an older town maybe the size of Durango back in the 80's.  The town "claim to fame" might be that it was home to the "Doodle Bug" scooter factory back in 1946-1948.   Yes, there are still some of them around - they have a big c...

  Having driven the Jeep to Stillwater from Durango a few days ago, we then drove to Humboldt, KS without the camp trailer.  The Thursday USRA race was postponed due to excessive wetness (my term!), so we didn't go up til Friday.  Watched from the stands for that night's race, because Billy had driven down with Wade from South Dakota, Billy is very good in the pits and around the car in general, and the car was fully race ready.   Oddly, in all the time we have spent following the USMTS Series, this was my first ever opportunity to watch a full race event from the stands with Lorna.  Glad for that, you get to see a LOT of racing from up there!  The team did ok, with a decent showing in the Heat race and a B-Main.  But not strong enough to make the show, on a night with 200 total cars entered, and 91 of them being in our division.  Again, only 24 cars make the Main. We then ran Saturday morning as a USRA entry in the postponed Thursday sh...

  So you've already been barraged by boring pics of RV's and stuff. Had enough?         Tough. So a couple weeks ago we went to the WinStar RV park for a night, ended up staying 4 nights.  If you're ever in the area, especially if you're pulling your home along with you, stop in.  First night is free if you get a player's card at the casino.  Then $20 per night thereafter.  You can stay as long as you want (especially if you go to the casino only once or twice!) Then if you run out of cash, there's another option. Acres of nice, level parking out there in front, easy walking distance to those  one-armed (but now armless) bandits.  Clean, quiet, secure.    And FREE!       What could be better? It's Like Walmart .    Except for the lack of traffic, noise and random trash.          But RVers across the country know well that most Walmart stores don't seem to mind if you ...

  So in mid-February we bought a new camp trailer in Las Cruces, NM.  Made a deal on a Grand Design Reflection fifth-wheel, then overnight decided to get something smaller instead in view of the upcoming travel commitment.  Lorna had liked the 17-foot "Imagine" which is made by the same company.   To make this happen, of course, we had to transfer everything from the old Komfort to the new rig, then haul the Komfort to Durango.  Then back to Las Cruces to take delivery, 2 nights in Deming to check things out and get organized, then a long drive to Stillwater OK to get set for the Texas races. During the night on the way to Crandall, we realize that the refrigerator is not cooling as it should, and ultimately that it is not working either on gas or electric.  This after living in it for about 3 whole weeks.   Long story short - I managed to get it going again in the camping area at RPM Speedway by bypassing what I think is a thermal fuse of so...

  Saturday night, March 6.  63 Modified entries, we were in Heat 5.  Casey started on the pole and managed to fend off Dereck Ramirez to win the race.  We get to go directly to the Main.  Yay Not only that - but we start 3rd in the A-Main.  Got shuffled back to about 7th in that before contact  with another car cuts down our right front tire.  Casey made it to the "Hot Pit" where Wade and I got him in-and-out in under 45 seconds.  NASCAR style, but not NASCAR quick! So now at the back of the pack (27 cars at this point) and Casey starts working his way back up.  And hits something to cut down another front tire.  He was stuck in the infield after this one, so we're done for the night. And who goes on to win the 10 Grand?      Dereck Ramirez. Great racing, though.  Very exciting finish.  Crowd loves it. So we gather things up, put the car away, and we're done for the night. Except for that 2-plus hour driv...

  The much delayed, cancelled, rescheduled etc race season for the USMTS Modifieds finally saw some cars on the track last night.  We're at RPM Speedway in Crandall TX for 2 nights of racing.   The Thursday practice session was cancelled due to wet grounds, which are a disaster for heavy car haulers.  When racers arrived yesterday (Friday) they were clustered outside the facility while final work was done by heavy equipment in the pits trying to dry the surface.  Then once allowed to enter, the pits filled quickly, so our rig and lots of others ended up parking in the spectator parking areas.  In this particular case, "High and Dry" is a really good thing! Then the spectators arrive and quickly FILL the remaining grounds, with the later arrivals parking offsite and walking to the track.  Needless to say, it was a total cluster with race cars trying to get to their races thru lines of cars looking for parking. USMTS modified entries totaled 71, whi...