Octoberfest 2009

After spending a good portion of my free time the last three weeks working on getting the race cars ready for Octoberfest at Beatrice Speedway, I’m not sure if we will get to race. Not because of some unexpected mechanical bug, but because when I got up a little while ago, there was SNOW on the ground!! Not much, mind you, since the ground is still too warm for the dreaded white stuff to stay for very long, but snow nonetheless.


I didn’t go to the track last night as I figured one day of freezing would be one day too many. From the looks of the results posted on the www.dirtdrivers.com website, there was a good field of cars. I heard Beatrice Fire & Rescue leave the track and head for the station at 11:20 PM. I wonder how many people were left in the stands. The weather last night was clear, calm and as soon as the sun went down, it was COLD!!

I keep hearing about how Congress is spending billions of dollars to keep “Global Warming” in check. Here’s news for our Congress - I DON’T BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING!! I keep pretty detailed records on my Gold Wing, especially when it comes to changing oil, putting gas in it, etc. In 2006, the last time I put gas in it was in December. The following year it was the middle of November. As much as I love to ride, if this weather doesn’t straighten up soon, you probably won’t see me on the Gold Wing until spring!





I’ve gotten cold at the race track before, but March of 2008 was the first time I was in a snowstorm while waiting for the races to start. We went to Thunderhill Speedway at Mayetta, KS to race on a Sunday afternoon. The forecast called for high temperatures of 50. I knew as we unloaded that the temps were nowhere near that. We went out and rolled the track in, then pulled back into the pits to get ready for hot laps. As we pulled back into the staging area, it began snowing!! It was not just a few flurries, as for a while visibility was about a hundred yards. It didn’t last long, though, and it quit while we were on the track, before the green came out for hot laps. I thought that would be the coldest weather I would ever race in. However, there’s the distinct possibility that it will be colder today if the races come off. The predicted high for today is 38 degrees. I hope I can find enough warm clothes. I do know where my long underwear is because I only just recently put it away.

We had originally planned to load the 6x last night, then Jeremy was going to pull it to work. As soon as he got off work, he was going to head to the track. However, the schedule was moved up and with the questionable weather, I plan to take one car to the track, then return and get the other car. He will come to the track with the other trailer when he gets off work. If we get the plug pulled before he gets off work, we won’t have to unload his car in the weather.

If we do get weathered out, we will still have the chance to race at McCool Junction next weekend. The Cool McCool 100 is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 17th & 18th, and we are planning to make the trip out there with both cars. That will be the end of the season for us.




Just got back from the Women for Racing pancake breakfast. The races are cancelled. Here’s hoping next weekend is better and we can finish the season with good weather.