I decided to try something new for the Regional series. I am going to ramble a little bit after each event about my experiences as race director and the weekend races, so here it goes! Let’s just say my first weekend was chilly and didn’t go without some first race foul ups. As anybody that’s done this enough knows, there is always the first race jitters and the constant Mach 10 running of your mind wondering, did I forget this, did I remember that, do I have this, do I have that? Yeah, you know what I mean! Well, it was no different for me.
Race day morning arrives with the sun out, a crisp -10 below with the wind chill, and a high for the day in single digits. (Nice! now I have snow dust to worry about as well!) First things first, the riders meeting. I had spent some time jotting down some notes the night before so I felt prepared and was excited to get the weekend going. I knew once we got racing that my heart rate and blood pressure should drop some. The riders meeting went pretty well I thought, I mean nobody threw anything at me so that was good. We ended in a prayer and then it was time to fire up engines for practice. First we need to do National Anthem. Oops no flag, no anthem… heart rate and nerves almost red line and its only 7:30am. My team managed to save me last minute so we had the anthem, thank God for technology.
The morning was going well. We’re racing, track is good and safe and seems to be forming some race lines. All seems good. About mid-morning I realize I had been too generous with the lap count I had given to riders in morning session and things were going too slow. There was no way we were going to get done by dark. After tossing a few thoughts around with staff and a couple meetings with riders, (again nothing was thrown), it was decided that we would just cut some laps. This would finish the day so we didn’t have to carry races over to the next day. The rest of day went smooth, there were no major injuries just a couple bumps and bruises. Hey it’s snocross racing, that’s to be expected, right? As the day ends a couple of riders parents came and asked about schedule changes to help their kids who were running two different classes on the same sled. I didn’t see a problem with it so we adjusted accordingly and day number one had come to a close. No majors and just a few minors. See you in the morning!
As daybreak on day two arrives it’s now -18 below with the wind chill and a high of 1 degree for the day. Hey, we got this, it is winter after all. The morning goes great! Riders meeting, Anthem, and practice were all good. As I’m watching things run smoothly and prepping for afternoon riders meeting I was approached by a parent asking why his kids racing was already almost over, he wasn’t supposed to race till afternoon? In trying to do something to help I had just made my first big booboo! In switching the schedule I had taken his kids races and moved them to the morning and they had made plans according to the schedule to come race in the afternoon. They had driven 4 hours to race and all that was left was a final. Oh boy, now it’s time for some tricks, and not the kind you see at a circus! Again my team and I came up with a plan to try and make it work with this gentleman and his son. Before I was done fixing the situation there were two other racers in the same boat! Lesson number 1,012, don’t change the schedule mid-stream or wing it, it usually doesn’t work for the planner and I should know better cause I’m that guy! In the end a resolution was made and for the most part all parties were satisfied, maybe not too happy but ok with it. (Again, nothing was thrown at me so that was good) I actually felt as though I handled it well as did the racers and their parents.
The rest of the day went awesome, again no injuries and we were able to finish on time as the laps had been adjusted accordingly from my lesson learned in the previous day! All and all it was a great safe weekend of racing with some very cool temps and some heated battles on the race track. It was a success. Along with myself and my awesome team, at times things were as smooth as a sled running on Amsoil. Thanks to our FXR gear we were able to stay warm because we all know were not as tough as those Ram trucks! I’m not going to say we knocked it out of the park for our first event, but like an Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson Packer touchdown, in the end there was lots to cheer about! Until next time, that is my Regional ramblings.
Have a safe and Happy Holiday season. See you soon at ERX.
Remember, save the racing for the race track and not the trails, be safe have fun and laugh often!!
Sincerely, “Racin” Jason