What are your Dreams?

Happy Hump Day!

As I watch the news special about the anniversary of the MLK's I have a dream speech, I starting thinking about my own dreams. Now days, it seems like dreams are out of reach. I try to think positive and hope for things that aren't extreme. Lets face it, I can dream all day long that I am going to become a millionaire, but that is far fetched.

The past few years have been hard on my family and I as we dealt with my severe allergies and not being able to do much and not being able to see a lot of our families. We lost our second income and gained an added expense, a very joyful expense, our little boy who is much, much more than just an expense. He was a dream come true.

But with the changes, we lost hope. We prayed for answers, we prayed for financial help, we prayed for solutions, and we haven't received any of it. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect things to land in our lap. But we have done our fair share of searching with no end in sight. This has caused our hope to depreciate and I am trying to find a way to gain that hope back.

My hubby and I talk everyday about things we wish could happen. Dreams of ours that are somewhat realistic. We try and think positive and keep our heads held high, and maybe, just maybe that will pay off at some point.

I felt like I could share what our dreams are with our viewers. I receive such positive messages from my viewers and some even ask questions as if I know all the answers and that makes me feel good about what I have started here, and that I am open to sharing so that we keep things at a personal level.

Here are a few of our dreams/hopes/wishes that we have in mind;

• A cure for my rare sensitivity so we can at least see some of our family again, and be recognized as family instead of the enemy, who they seem to talk so poorly about.
• A new home, one that has all of the healthiest purifying equipment to help me breathe better and to provide a cleaner atmosphere for my family.
• I'd love to move away from Kansas. I've lived here my whole life, and in the farming area. Its not the greatest place for a someone with hay fever to live and I would love to live by a beach somewhere, but who wouldn't?!
• My husband loves selling race parts and car parts. He attends auctions each year and cleans items up and resells them. We hope to make it into some sort of business.
• A blogging career, I enjoy blogging so much and hope to get to a point that I am recognized for it and may be able to travel to the blogging conferences and be able to blog about bigger things like vacation places for your family and my reviews.
• I would love to travel with my family. As a kid we never really had family vacations because my sister and I were so involved in sports that our summer didn't allow for extra time to go on vacations. My husbands family went skiing almost every year and took numerous vacations. I want to show my son the world. I want to experience it with him and my husband.
• I would be lying if I didn't say that I wanted my husband to make it in the big leagues of racing. He has such a passion for it and would love to see that all of his hard work pays off for him in the end. He deserves it.

Now, these are pretty normal dreams. There is nothing too extreme and I think with hard work in some aspects, we should be able to achieve some of these things. The allergy cure is out of my hands. But, I am meeting with a doctor next week and he seems promising. Now, I must continue working on my dream of becoming a great blogger and working my way up the career ladder in the blogging world!

I hope that dreams come true, I wish our hope will come back, and things will fall into place. I hope the same for all of you. I want to know some of your dreams, big or small. What are some things you do to help reach your dreams? What kind of things do you do to keep positive about your dreams?

Have a great hump day lovely's!

The Reality of a Racer's Wife

Happy Hump Day!

I wanted to start off by saying thank you for the great response to last weeks blog. That was Chris' first time writing and he was very concerned on how he did. I told him it was one of the most viewed posts and he was happy to hear that. So, thank you! Maybe he will be more comfortable with writing more posts and post some "manly" blog posts.

I mentioned last week that we had a request for a post about how I deal with being a racer's wife and the strain it can cause on a marriage, along with what I think about Baby J getting involved in the racing scene. This can be a lengthy topic, so I hope I don't ramble on too much! HEHE!!

THE BEGINNING
     As we mentioned in the last post, Chris grew up in a racing family. Racing was second nature to him, and it was one of the most important things in his life. When you have someone who has a hobby that they live and breathe, it is important to take interest in that hobby because the person you have feelings for, has a strong feeling for that hobby.
     I didn't grow up around racing, but close friends of mine that I grew up with had began racing so we made it a point to go out and support them at the track. After going just a few times, I became addicted to the sport. I've always been a so called "tomboy" that didn't mind getting dirty, and liked working on cars. Being at the speedway gave me such a joy. I was going every weekend just to learn the sport and learn more about the cars. My mom even became the track photographer, and she is still the photographer at the same track today.
     I met Chris at the speedway and had seen him race there. We became friends and about a month later we started dating. Our dating relationship wasn't like any other. The time we spent together wasn't just hanging out watching TV, or going to dinner and a movie. Everyday, as soon as I got off work I would change clothes and head out to his parents house. We would have family dinner, and as soon as dinner was over, we were in the garage working on the cars until at least midnight. As we closed up shop, I said my goodbye and headed home to do it all over again the next day.
     Saturdays meant early morning wake up calls and in the garage making last minute changes to the cars, last minute trips to the parts store, sonic happy hour drinks and loading the cars up to head to the track. We would be at the track from about 5pm to sometimes 1am and then head back home to unload the truck and trailer and try and catch some shut-eye. It was clearly something you had to have the passion for to stick with and Chris could tell that I loved it just as much as him, so he proposed a few months later, bought our house and started planning our wedding. We married in 2011 and even in some of our vow, we had stuff about racing.

THE EVERYDAY ROUTINE
     As I mentioned, the everyday routine meant working on the car until late every day of the week until race day. But, with our own home to take care of and family dinner being just the two of us, and no other help for the car other than each other, things changed. We worked, came home and he would be in the garage before I got home. I would make dinner and sometimes have to eat alone because he didn't want to stop in the middle of something, so either he would come in late, or I would take him a plate to the garage. There were more arguments because I needed help with something in the house, or needed him to go with me to the grocery store and he needed to finish up his car. In the end, I knew that the car needed to get finished or we would pay for it on Saturday.
    We rarely had date nights, and most of the time those date nights happened because the races rained out that night or his division didn't race that weekend. After a long week of working on the car, and a long night at the track, we wanted Sunday to recuperate, but Sunday is for washing the car and creating the checklist for the fixes that need to be completed for the next week. No break there. That can take its toll on a relationship, so you have to be able to communicate with one another and tell each other when you need some "non-racing" time.
     Our season can start as early as March and last as late as November. We would race every Saturday night, and sometimes Friday and Sunday too. If there happened to be a rain out, it would be scheduled during the week on a Wednesday or Thursday. By the time the season is almost at an end, you are ready for a break. But, "off season" really isn't "off season". Most think that drivers just park their car in the garage until about a month before season start time, but really..."off season" means breaking the car down to the chassis and figuring out what to replace, rebuild, or redesign. It is a whole process that takes up most of the "off season" and garage time continues.

THE FEAR
     When I talk about Chris' racing to friends or family that have never experienced it, the first thing they say is "it sounds dangerous". Dirt track racing is a dangerous sport. But, he is in a roll cage, wears a 5-point harness, fire suit, fire shoes, gloves, a helmet, and a neck brace. He has all of the safety equipment to try and keep him safe. Racing is a rubbin' is racing type of sport. There is a lot of contact between cars, spin outs, fires, and rolls.
     There is no other feeling like the feeling you have before your husband goes out for a race. I kiss him and tell him I love him before he gets in the car, not knowing if anything will happen. I stand in the back pit area and watch and cheer him on. But, anytime he gets spun out or gets into a wreck, I cringe. Thankfully he has never rolled his car, but his brother did and I will never forget the feeling of watching it roll and running to get to the car as fast as we could to make sure he was ok.
     Chris has had one bad wreck, and the feeling I had, I never want to have again. He was racing in the Thumper (stock car) division that year. I had been standing on the back wall in the back pit area with his dad and brother. When you stand in the back pit, you can't see the front straightaway that well. You can see them head into the straightaway and you can see them come out in the corner. We were watching the race and they all headed onto the front straightaway and next thing we know, the red light is out. Typically, the red light mean a bad wreck and all the cars have to stop on the track. With a yellow light, cars have to stop the race, but they can continue to drive around the track while the caution is taken care of. So, the red came out and the drivers started to pull around to the back to park for the red, and we heard over the loud speaker that Chris was in the wall.
     His brother and dad started to run off to get to him, and told me to stay put as we couldn't tell how bad it was. I remember grabbing my chest and dropping to the ground as the ambulance pulled out onto the track. I had tears in my eyes and a friend of mine said I was as white as a ghost. I heard over the loud speaker that he was ok, and getting out of the car. A few minutes later, I see them towing the car off the track and I see Chris running my way. He jumped over the wall, dropped his helmet, picked me up in a bear hug and told me he was fine and that he was sorry. I told him don't be sorry about the car, and he said he wasn't sorry about the car, he was sorry he put me through that.
     Racer's take the track knowing something can go wrong, they are well aware of the safety issues and know that it takes a special kind of crazy to love someone who races a car.

BABY J'S FUTURE AT THE TRACK
     Racing is a family tradition, so we wouldn't be shy about putting Baby J into the racing scene. We plan on having him race carts by the time he is 5 years old. A lot of people don't agree with us taking him to the track in the pit area because cars are all over the place in the pit area and you have to pay attention. But, as long as we are paying attention as parents, and know what's going on and where he is, it is completely ok.
     Baby J is 9 months old and has been to the track numerous times. Of course he was in a stroller or strapped to one of us the whole time so it wasn't hard to keep track of him, but he enjoys it. I went to the track every weekend when I was pregnant with him so the sound of the cars soothes him. He does wear ear protection as it is loud out there though.
     Chris took this year off to spend as much time with Baby J since they grow so much in their first year, and he knew it would be hard to keep him on a schedule if we went racing and we didn't want to throw him off every weekend by going to the track.
     I think next year Chris will be racing again and Jayden will be old enough to actually watch the race and see his daddy race. Chris is looking forward to sharing those moment with him and teaching him the right and wrong about racing. I just need to be prepared to handle Baby J while Chris is racing, as I am usually a frantic mess!

Racing is a family sport, it is a hobby, it is a passion. Take an interest in your loved ones hobby. It takes a special kind of crazy to deal with the life of a racer. It's not easy by any means. Be dedicated to dealing with the struggles that are to come. It is a time consuming hobby. If you don't enjoy it, realize that you may not get to spend as much time with your spouse as you would hope for. Since I enjoy it, I don't mind hanging out in the garage and going to every race. Just support them either way.

I hope you got an idea as to how it is as a wife of a racer. I can go on and on about the subject but I'll spare you the randomness.

Thanks for stopping by Our Fast Track Family!

Remember that we take request for product reviews and other topics, don't be shy and leave a comment or message us!

-Danielle

Tradition, Legacy, and Passion: Our Racing Family

A big reason our blog is called "Our Fast Track Family" is because our family lives and breathes  the fast lane. We are a racing family with deep roots into the sport.

I have had messages from some of my viewers wanting to know how our family is involved in the dirt track racing scene and some of the family history behind it.

I also have a request to follow up on how the hobby effects our family, how it effects me as a wife or a racer and what I think about my husband racing and bringing Baby J up in a racing environment and starting him in racing. That is a HUGE topic in itself so I wanted to give you the family history first before tackling that subject next week. So, stay tuned for that!

This is more of a topic for my husband considering his family is the backbone to our racing life. A big portion of the story will revolve around his grandfather, and I wasn't lucky enough to meet him(he passed away 3 years before Chris and I got together) so I feel I shouldn't be sharing his story.

So, I now introduce you to my husband, Chris!

My wife didn't feel comfortable writing about this topic, since this mostly deals with my side of the family tree (although her mother is currently the track photographer at our local dirt track). So now here I sit trying to think of the words to keep you interested in a family tradition that is second nature to myself and the rest of my family. The picture above is of my grandfather, Bud. Although, growing up, I was never allowed to call him "grandpa", my cousins and I called him "Uncle Bud" because "Grandpa" made him feel old, and he wasn't old enough to be a grandpa, according to him. My grandpa started racing in 1964 and ran his last race in 2006 so the tradition of dirt track racing in my family has stretched many years, states, and family members. As far back as I can remember, grandma and grandpa had always owned a salvage yard and race parts business and grandpa raced at least once every week during the summer months. I spent most of my summers during my grade school years wrenching on engines and changing tires, I was "Wrenchman Chubbs" because I was chunky, and my little brother Jay was "Jackman Jay". We loved going to the local dirt tracks in Coffeyville, Ks and Caney, Ks every weekend during those summers.

Grandpa raced many types of cars over the years including super modifieds, sportsmans, limited lates, super lates, stock cars and late models. I personally think the late models are the coolest of them all. He was very good at driving anything with wheels. His shop is stock full of more trophies than I have ever seen in one place in my life.

One of my favorite cars that Grandpa built

 

Naturally, his racing "addiction" rubbed off on his son, my uncle Al. Uncle Al drove his first stock car when he was 14 years old. It was a Camaro that matched my grandpas. But it only matched grandpas until he drove into the first corner of his first race and drove it off the end of the race track and rolled it a couple times. I wish I could find the picture that was in the paper of the ordeal. You can see the tree line in the distance and the tops of the trees are lower than my uncle Al's car while it was upside down. He was ok of course and had another car built before the next weeks race.

My father, Mike, now had two racecars and drivers to deal with on a weekly basis. My dad did most of the pit crew work on both cars and never got into actually racing them. But he sure does know just about everything there is to know about building, maintaining, and setting up dirt track racecars. He instead did demolition derby's which are a whole new kind of fun! Smashing cars into other cars on purpose, I mean what's not to love? He was even featured on a TNN TV Special about demo derby's because he was a corporate businessman by day and demo derby driver by night.

Uncle Al took winning to a whole new level for the family racing business. He's the only 7 time O'reilly NCRA Late Model Points Champion, a 6 time MLRA Late Model Points Champion and has also won a few MARS Late Model Points Championship. Grandpa, and Al's racing careers have taken them all across the country to do what they love. I don't know all the places they've been but the places include Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Arizona, and Nevada to name a few.

My uncle Al's championship late model



When my grandpa stopped racing as much, he decided to open his own racetrack on the land that his salvage sat on. Thus was the start of Stateline Speedway, the fastest 1/4 mile track in the tri-state area. This operation was truly a family run business. Grandma and my Aunt VJ made all the food for the concessions, my mom, brother and I worked in the concession stand and pit gate. My dad worked in the pit area with grandpa to keep everything running smoothly. Uncle Al and Uncle Russ (My Aunt VJ's husband, who also raced) had the easiest jobs, they just raced at the track. We ran the track for about 10 years until grandpa got cancer and could no longer run the operation smoothly.

By the time the track closed down, my brother and I had strayed away from the racing scene because we were in high school and had other things on our mind. My brother actually got back into racing before I did, and it was literally by accident! I'll explain..someone backed into my brother's truck in a gas station parking lot and naturally he took the truck  to my grandpa to buy new parts and fix it. He left Wichita on Friday evening to drive to Coffeyville where our salvage is located, with a wrecked truck and returned Sunday afternoon with a still wrecked truck but had a Camaro race car on a trailer in tow. Grandpa had actually convinced my brother to use the money he would have spent fixing the truck to instead buy a racecar and leave the truck wrecked!

Then began my part of the family tradition. My dad and I went to work immediately helping my brother build his racecar. We raced every weekend in Hutchinson and Wichita. My brother raced that car for one year and I was back to being hooked. I agreed to buy the car from Jay and help him build a new one. We didn't get the new one finished in time for the next race season so we shared my car. I raced it in Hutch on Friday night and he drove it in Wichita on Saturday night. I finished 3rd in points, and he finished 6th. I always felt bad because we had all week to make the car right for me and had very minimal hours on Saturdays to fix all the damage I caused and set it up for him. He did however win the points championship the next year and moved up to modifieds and I bought his car and we spent every weekend together at the track. Currently, we both race modifieds. He races on a more regional circuit, going to tracks in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas while I stay home and race our local track in Park City, 81 Speedway.



My brother (35) and I (36) at 81 Speedway

It was at 81 Speedway that I met my  loving wife. It takes a special kind of crazy to love a dirt track racer. She was all for it though! Long nights in the garage, and countless hours and dollars spent to keep the car maintained in top notch shape. She is there by my side through all of it. While we currently do not own a racecar (sold it to spend all the time we could with Baby J), We are still very active in the racing scene. We will have another car soon and start to bring Baby J up in a racing family so that he can continue the family tradition of dirt track racing.

I hope this gives you an idea of the lifelong tradition that we enjoy. Its definitely an addiction that can't be shaken. I look forward to seeing my son win his first race in a car we build together.

-Chris

There you have it guys! An inside look as to why this sport is an important tradition to us. It is a legacy to our family and nothing could ever fill the space that racing has in our hearts.
We will see you next time!
-Danielle