In the pits!

Being in the pits at the go-kart races is one of my favorite places in the world to be. My boyfriend races go-karts (that's him in the picture), and I always go with him. It's awesome to see how they work on the karts, and what they have to do, and how many things can go wrong. Even when Stephen (boyfriend) wins, there's still always something wrong that could have been better. Stephen wins-- a lot. A lot of people don't like him because he wins so much, and they say he's cheating even though he passes Tech every single time. Tech is when they tear apart your motor, and check your fuel to make sure you're not cheating. If another driver has a problem with Stephen, and they want to put him through Tech, they have to pay $150. The tracks always make good money from people who Tech Stephen. I wash and prep tires. I haven't missed one of his races in over two years. He calls me his good luck charm, :). I love being in the pits at the races, especially when there are fights. It's exciting, unless it involves me. I've gotten myself into enough trouble at the races. When people sit behind me on the bleachers when I'm watching Stephen and they start talking about how "That number 8 car cheats!" I'm definitely going to say something. So it's just really exciting being in the pits!

Jr. bored at Taledega?

This past Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series raced at Taledega Speedway in Alabama. Dale Jr. and Jimmy Johnson paired up the whole time. They were attached like a little girl to a puppy dog. Coming out of pit road, Dale would wait for Jimmy, and Jimmy would wait for Dale. Last year at Taledega, Jr. pushed Jimmy the whole way to the front for the win. Johnson and Earnhardt rode the back of the pack on Sunday for almost the whole race. At one point, an interviewer came over Dale's headset and was talking to him, and Dale said, "We're just riding the breeze for right now, when we feel like racing, we race, then we back off again." Then Jimmy and Jr. were talking with 22 laps to go, and Jr said "Do you wanna go show these guys how to race, or should we stay back and let them crash?" They were so bored with it, and it was kind of funny to hear them talk like that. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been having a lot of problems the last couple years, but he is slowly getting better. He's had a lot of top 15 wins, and that's how he's in the Chase for the points. Jr is one of my personal favorites, because I loved his dad. After his dad passed away, I, along with many other Dale Earnhardt fans, went right to Dale Jr. because we were hoping he could continue the legacy and be "The Intimidator Jr.", but we were let down, big time. Oh well. He's a good racer, and he doesn't race dirty, which is most important to me.

Bad Chad Layton

I don't like him. At all. But, a lot of people do like him, so I figured I'd do his profile.

Chad Layton was born on October 14th, 2011. He has a loving (beautiful) wife named Schenley, and two adorable children, Chad and Tregan. He doesn't have any occupation other than racing (He doesn't really need to have another occupation because he "wins" everything. BUT ANYWAY!) He was born into racing. Chad's father was an SCCA National Champion G Production road racer. He spent his entire youth around race cars and fell in love with it. His brother Jimmy also races. Jimmy, however, got into the 358 Sprints; Chad races 410 Sprints. Chad did start out racing 358 Sprints, where he has 55 wins at nine different tracks, and he holds the all-time win record in PA for the 358's. Now that Layton's gotten into 410's, he has a point championship at Selinsgrove Speedway, he's raced with the All Stars, and the World of Outlaws, and has raced at the Knoxville Speedway Nationals in Iowa. Chad WAS one of the top 410 Sprint Driver's in PA, but he had a bad 2011 season, having only one win.

"No, he didn't slam into you. He didn't bump you. He didn't nudge you. He rubbed you. And rubbin', son, is racin'." -Days of Thunder

[This is a quote Dale Jr. lives by.]

Is it over for Johnson?

Jimmy Johnson was four points away from winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Going into the Bank of America 500, Jimmy was right where he needed to be. On lap 317 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmy seemed to be getting a little frustrated and irritated with Ryan Newman. When Johnson tried to get aggressive with Newman, he ended up putting himself into a wall. After the wreck, Jimmy went from third to eighth in points, and now he's 35 points behind the leader, Carl Edwards. However, Talledega, Martinsville, and Pheonix are some of Jimmy's best tracks, and those are some of the upcoming races. But, you pretty much have to race a perfect race to gain 35 points. If Johnson were to win, this would be his sixth consecutive championship. I think his chances are over. I hope so, anyway. I don't like Jimmy at all. If he wouldn't be such a hot head and a dirty racer, he wouldn't have gotten himself into the position that he's in. He got himself into this by trying to take out Ryan Newman.

So, good for you, Jimmy. Good for you, :).

RIP, Dan

Getting behind the wheel of a race car is dangerous, but the drivers make it look so easy that we forget that sometimes. IndyCar Racing lost one of its most popular drivers, Dan Wheldon, on Sunday, Oct. 16, in a fiery crash in Las Vegas. The last race of the year would be the last race, period, for Dan. Imagine:  It's lap 11. The green flag dropped just seven minutes ago. You're on the outside of turn two, and there's a huge wreck in front of you-- 14 other cars, to be exact, and you end up being the 15th car when you can't steer away from them. You clip another car. You fly through the air. And your car catches on fire.   I don't know about you, but that gives me chills just thinking about it. An emergency helicopter immediately transported him to the hospital. Then the announcement came: "IndyCar is very sad to announce that Dan Wheldon has passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family today. IndyCar, its drivers and owners, have decided to end the race." The 200-lap race was over after just 11 laps.
After the announcement, the drivers took a five-lap salute around the track, while everyone in the stands stood and cheered. And sobbed. IndyCar hasn't had a fatality since 2006 when Paul Dana died in a morning warm-up race. Wheldon won that race later that day.... Creepy?

He was just 33 years old, and is leaving a wife, a two-year-old son, and a seven-month-old son behind.

"I'll tell you, I've never seen anything like it. The debris! We all had to drive through the lap later, it looked like a war scene from Terminator or something. I mean, there were just pieces of metal and cars on fire in the middle of the track with no car attached to it and just debris everywhere. So it was scary, and your first thoughts are hoping that no one is hurt because there's just stuff everywhere. Crazy." -Ryan Briscoe

Get well soon, Lance!

Lance DeWease, number 30c, whose motto is, "Trust your instincts" either didn't trust his instinct, or didn't have a very good instinct on Friday night at Lincoln Speedway. When the axle of his Sprint car broke while exiting turn two, the car flipped and landed hard on its LR Framerail. The compression broke two vertebrae in his neck. Lance had a successful surgery on Monday, and the doctors got everything pieced back together smoothly. DeWease will remain in the York Hospital for a couple more days, then he has a three- to six-month recovery. In six months, it will be April, and racing starts at the end of March, so he's only going to miss two races. Filling in for LD in the 30c car on Friday night will be Brian Leppo. Lance is one of my personal favorite drivers, and I was heartbroken to find out about this. So, get well soon, Lance!

"Make a dream a reality, even if you have to sacrifice!" -Lance DeWease

Lucky #7!

Danica Sue Patrick is an Indy Car driver. She's the first girl ever to do this, and she is my role model. Along with being a very talented racer, she has become a huge pop icon. She graced the covers of Sports Illistrated, SHAPE, and the ESPN magazine. Patrick has guest starred on many TV shows, and she is the star of the "Godaddy.com" commercials. Danica's most memorable achievement is leading the Indy 500, which is a huge race for the Indy drivers. If Danica wasn't racing, she'd be doing fashion. That's what I love about her. She can get dirty and race, then go home and design beautiful clothes.

Rine gets the memorial win!

There are many memorial races at Port Royal Speedway. However, Butch Renninger's has to be the biggest. All the drivers want to win this race because it's important. It's important because Butch won many races, and he had a huge impact on the Port Royal race track. One of my favorite quotes of all time came out of Renninger's mouth: "If we don't win the race, we win the fight." Butch was a fighter. If he didn't win, something was wrong, and he beat up whoever screwed him over. Then, on May 1st, 2004, Butch had just won his Enduro race. Who would have thought it would be his last win-- ever? He was sitting in Victory Lane, preparing to give his thank you speech. Renninger had told his daughter to go get him a beer, and when she came back, he was no longer living. He had had a heart attack, and everyone else's heart broke. There has been a Butch Renninger Memorial Race every year since this tragedy happened. This year, Jeff Rine worked for the win for Butch, and he got it. Rine, 33, drives the black and orange 2J Late Model. Jeff is the owner of Wing Dynamics, which is where all the best Sprint Car drivers get their wings for the cars. Rine has had 11 wins in 2011, including the Butch Renninger Memorial.

"The Man from Mifflintown!"

Career stats: Keith Kauffman is 61years old, and has been racing for 41 of those years. In the four decades of his racing career, he has earned 307 wins and eighteen track championships. Of those 307 wins, 128 were logged at Port Royal Speedway, 51 at Williamsgrove Speedway, 25 were with the All-Star racers, five were at Lincoln Speedway, and many more! Kauffman has won in 12 different states and twice in Australia! According to his website (http://www.keithkauffman.com/), he has won too many awards to even mention-- a great driver obviously. Kauffman has raced Late Models, Champ Cars, Go-Karts and is now in the 410 Sprint division. Keith doesn't have a favorite track. He says he loves all of them. He is so well known, that even Jeff Gordon (professional driver from NASCAR) says Keith is HIS hero!

Personal Profile(from his website): "The Man from Mifflintown" was born on June 9th, 1950, in Mifflintown, PA. He and his wife Kathy have two children, Becky and Chase. Aside from racing, he has a full time job! Who would have thought he has the time?! He's a full-time equipment operator for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Keith has been doing this job for nine years. In Kauffman's free time, he enjoys hunting, yard work, and deep sea fishing with Barry Camp, who is also a driver for the USAC division. Kauffman loves steak and lobster, and his favorite drink is coffee. When Keith is cruising down the road in his car, going the speed limit, of course, he's more than likely listening to oldies music, and when he's sitting at home, hanging out with his family, he's probably watching something with John Wayne, James Bond, or Clint Eastwood.