All American Clash FINAL RACE

What a busy week!  Didn't get much if any working out done thanks to events at night almost every single night.   Life will slow down some day right?  

Monday was my rest day since I had crammed 3 days of running back-to-back to back and needed a day off.  Tuesday was a new to us event Plates and Pours.   While we almost weren't allowed to participate since there was an invisible check in time that I never saw and we both work jobs (urgh), we finally were able to find someone and get our passports to begin our culinary journey.   Basically, you get a map, and every participating business has a drink and or a food.  Most places had some really yummy drinks and as someone who doesn't drink hard liquor, it hit HARD.  Plus, we got to go the fancy smancy speakeasy that is membership only in Manhattan and have some really tasty fru fru drinks that we would never order normally.  

All in all, it was a fun experience however, if none of the businesses have any of the foods offered at the event, what is the point?  At several places, we had very amazing food for them to tell us, yeah, we just made this for the event, sorry you won't ever get to try it again.  Okay.  

We also had football this week and unfortunately this team was really good, so Andrew got 0 playing time.  I get it and I am not mad because those kids looked like GROWN ASS MEN.  Seriously, what are they feeding these kids?  With the big race coming up I did NOT want him getting hurt.  If we race more next year, we may have to let football go and it makes me super sad :( I also may need two more jobs and to find sponsors to help fuel our fun next year!!!!

The weekend culminated in the last two races of the All-American Clash.  This is the series we have been traveling to all summer.  We had races in Tulsa that we didn't attend, Minnesota, Greenville IL, and then our home track.  We love this series because a) our track is in it but also b) it's on tracks and not parking lots.  Lots of kids love flat track racing and maybe Andrew would too but we love the value of him racing on a track.  Before NASCAR took over our youth program, all of the series were at home tracks and the home tracks made money off of the events.  Then everything moved to NASCAR tracks and guess who doesn't get the money anymore????  Now we have tracks going under because they can't keep kids in weekly races.  We have members who love flat track racing and who kick butt flat track racing and maybe Andrew would like it at some point, but we want our money to stay with the tracks and local clubs.  Anyway, off my soap box LOL.  

We came into our home track in third place in points for the Heavy 160 class by the skin of our teeth.  Again, we mainly were in that position because our teammate Noah's car kept breaking as he was usually in 3rd and we were in 4th.  I hate to win on a technicality. I know that is racing, but it still hurts my heart for Noah as he clearly had the faster car in several races.  

We had had our one and only practice with our white car this week and when we arrived at the track, a couple of club members were there and worked on his car and turned it into a rocket!!!! I wished we had had the other car there becuase they not only fixed our car, but they also explained the whys to both Tony and I and it made so much sense.  He went out and turned the fastest laps he had ever done in that car in the dark.  We were super excited to see what he could do.

National races are all about passing points in the heats.  This has not been our strong point in the past but lately, he had been passing like crazy.  It's best if you start in the back and work your way forward to get maximum points.  He drew P8 in a stacked heavy Honda class, so we told him to get to work.  He went from P8 to P4!!!!  This gave him a wonderful starting spot of P3 in the feature which helped him to get to P2 for the finish against some super awesome kids.   I am not sure why his podium picture looks like a mug shot though.  Go figure.

Heavy 160 was not working that night.  We made lots of adjustments, but last place in the both the heat and the feature was the best we could do. I figured that eliminated us from the overall points because his teammate kicked ass and took names and got a 2nd place finish and podium that was well deserved.

The second day was all about dealing with this newfound speed.  We ended up fourth in both classes, so one off of the podium.  I was SO proud of that finish though in heavy Honda because they battled to the very last lap.  Heavy 160 was thrilling as we finally got the car dialed in and he was battling for 2nd, but a tire losing air pressure and going flat made us end up last.  I am so excited for the last few races because this kid is ON FIRE!

The banquet was Saturday night at the track, and of course, I had to leave due to well, dogs.  My BRF had some obligations and wasn't around to let them out, so I had to leave as soon as the racing was done.  That was okay, Tony and Andrew were going to stay for the banquet to cheer everyone on.  I knew it was going to be close for the overall points but figured his teammate Noah had won and should have won.  I just happened to sit down at my computer after getting dogs taken care of and opened the final spreadsheet of points to see Andrew in 3rd place in Heavy 160?????  WHAT?  I quickly called Tony and told him to have Andrew at the awards to cheer on his teammates just in case it wasn't a fluke.  Y'all, he won by three points!!!!!

I've said it before and i will say it again.  I don't like winning just because our teammate's car broke.  I wish they could have tied for that award becuase Noah deserves it hands down. I know that part of racing is having your car ready to go and that is sometimes how it just happens, but dang it, I want them both to win because Andrew did pass cars and did well, but Noah had a rocket in every race. Andrew did have good parts to every 160 race, so I am going to remember that.  I am also going to look forward to next year and winning in both classes.  

  

To wrap this up because yeah, it's long, I would like to for my memoires make a bullet list of all of the things I am proud of for this year's clash series.  

• Winning 2nd place in Heavy Honda.  That class was stacked with awesome drivers, and he didn't let any of them scare him
• Going against kids that were mostly older and or in high school and not being intimidated
• Conquering a new to him track that was very tricky and again not just phoning it in in IL
• Lots and lots of passing in all races!
• Improvement in MN, a track that kicked our ass last year.  
• The heavy 160 class in MN where he was up 2nd place's butt the entire race
• Getting all the way up to 5th place in MN in heavy Honda after getting a bum call and being put to the back
• Driving a car with a flat tire like he was on fire

I am just so very proud to see the maturity and the improvement, and I can't wait till next year.  I am really loving watching him to come into his own and truly love racing.  I am so hoping we get at least one more year if not two in quarter midgets before he gets too big for his cars.  We have one large car waiting for him and may have to sell our other three to get a second large car.  If ya see me on only fans, mind ya business, baby needs racing stuff!

Have a great week y'all!

Go me!

I will try and be short and sweet and to the point.  This week has been long with lots of challenges, and I am exhausted from mentally trying to deal with all of them.  I am giving thanks that none of them involve poor health, death, or anything super serious.  I am very disappointed in lots of people in my life.  What is new right?

I had a lot of physical activities after several weeks of bleh.  I had two walks, 3 runs, and one class.  Going to have to abandon my Thursday classes for a bit since I will be busy on Thursday nights with football.  Hoping I can keep this streak up but looks like the weather is going to go back to summer next week.  Can we just hang on to fall for the rest of fall and not skip straight to winter???

Andrew had his first 7th grade football game.  While I didn't have high hopes for him playing much thanks to him not subbing himself in during practice, we ended up blowing them out, meaning the second and third team got a whole half of playing time in.  Andrew got to sub in on first team as well, which I love because they help him SO much when he is in with the starters.  I know that he probably won't get much playing time every week due to us playing our better teams, but that is okay.  At least now he is feeling more a part of the team.  He said it was the best night of his life.  Seeing him SO very happy made my momma heart super happy.  He's been struggling with several of the kids on the team being not so nice, so to see them all sitting there laughing and having a great time as a team was a good sight.  

We also had yet another night race.  While I enjoy the fact that Tony has all day to work on the cars, something was not right with both cars this weekend and it showed.  Tony was super late getting to the track which meant no practice time and then he fought set ups all night as it got very cool, and the track changed.  Andrew decided he had no patience in the heavy 160 car and wrecked one of the slower cars with a bad pass and then passed another car on a restart, which meant he had to go straight to the pits with a big fat last place finish.  We so needed a good finish in that car, but I am proud of him for pushing that car as hard as he could.  We have the All-American Clash coming up this week so the few nights we can, we are going to practice.  After the clash we have 3 more points races and the big 100 lapper.  I am getting to the point where I am ready for this season to be done.  We have talked about going to Las Vegas for a big race but at this point, I don't think we will be ready for that type of racing yet.  Flat track racing isn't for the faint of heart and requires a new level of aggressiveness that we aren't quite at yet.  Maybe next year.  

I will end this with my disappointment. I as well as others volunteer hours and hours to this club and to race day.  I love what I do, and I am damn good at it.  Do I make mistakes?  Yes.  Am I human?  Yes.  Are you allowed to question me in a respectful manner and have a discussion about rules and why? Heck yes.  What you are not allowed to do is yell and scream at me.  I grew up in that environment where I had no way to get out and as an adult, you no longer get that right, and I get to walk away.  Also, if I prove to you that you are wrong, I would like an apology admitting that.  I get that people get frustrated and, in the moment, some people can't control their emotions.  I appreciate apologies for outburst but walking away thinking you are still right when you aren't after I have given you every rule to prove the point makes me super sad.  For ANYONE to think I try and screw ANY kid over makes me really, really sad.  I am a rule follower to my very core, and I love all kids.  Even when we had kids racing that I truly didn't like, I NEVER let them be treated anything but nice and followed every rule to the T when it came to their racing.   I know I keep saying this but after a night of no sleep, I need to walk away.  I would love to enjoy my kiddos last year of racing not being in the tower.  The problem is, no one has stepped up and I fear no one will.   This is my last term as secretary and I am walking away from the board as well this year and as of now, I have not heard of anyone who wants my spot.  I would really like to train whomever but if no one wants it, not sure how this is going to go.  

Have a great week y'all!  Try not to melt!

Confessional time!

How about some confessionals to end the month?  I don't do link ups anymore because I don't have time to read lots and lots of blogs, but I still love their prompts.  Also, you are welcome for some random AF memes about fall, adhd, and my overthinking.  

I confess I haven't missed the battles that equal my neurotypical child and our school system.  Andrew was gone with an excused absence for the race last week.  I had emailed his teachers to make sure we had any and all class work done before we left as I knew we would be in a car without WIFI to power his IPAD which is where the majority of his work is done (and for the record I HATE).  He got an F on an assignment that he was supposed to get done that I NEVER knew he had because that teacher chose to not communicate with me.  YES, he has an IPAD with google classroom that tells what assignments are due when but when it just says class work, how am I to know what that actually means?  Sometimes class work is on paper, sometimes on the board, sometimes it's on the IPAD, but I never know that.  Anyway, he was offered to do the assignment during class on Monday but was never explicitly told it HAD to be done by end of day Monday, so he didn't get it done, choosing instead to do the classwork for that day.  Now, do I think my kid is 100 percent innocent in all of this, no. He had pride time (homeroom) to get this assignment done before his math class and he still didn't get it done.  His thought process was that since he had an excused absence, the work was excused which is totally not correct, but heck that is how his little brain works.  He's 12 and in 7th grade and every day I regret putting him in school right after he turned 5.  After consulting the handbook that he indeed had to have any and all assignments turned in prior to his trip (which he did for all other classes), the teacher decided to have grace and let him finish the assignment.  I was ready to battle for my child and didn't have to thankfully, but I honestly cannot do this all semester, and I am sure that is what is about to happen.  I am a HUGE advocate for my child and will continue to be, but what about the kids that fall through the cracks?  The ones whose parents don't have time to care or just simply don't?  It makes me sad.

I also confess that i am very disappointed in the school system for NOT getting the services in place for my child.  Again, the squeaky wheel gets the grease but why does it take a almost a year to get this going?  I know that our school system is not doing well with regards to retention of teachers and staff due to horrible pay and benefits.  I am trying to be full of grace but it's hard when it directly affects your own child.

I will end this with I confess middle school is hard and I am so proud of my kiddo for knowing who he is and what his worth is.  There are lots of kids trying to fit in, trying to figure out who they are, and they are being not very nice to him.  He's always been different due to his interests and his maturity being one of the youngest without an older sibling in his class, so he's unfortunately used to being the brunt of a lot of jokes and mean things.  He told me about a few things people had said lately in football and while it makes me shake my head, I am proud of him for not letting them get him down.  

Two runs, one walk, and one work out class done.  Ready to get back into the groove with some cooler weather on the way! Have a great week y'all!