His Best!

 We've been taking the junior race car out as much as we can to figure out how to slow it down and to get Austyn to practice. Staging was the hardest part since the car wasn't set up correctly. 

 We like to go when the track isn't too busy so that the price is low and we can get more runs in. Zoe loves to hang out on the stands since they are so big and she can run all over them.

 While waiting to leave our pit I got a picture of Zoe and I in the mirror of the Golf Cart.

 We didn't know this time about what needed to be changed in our car. Hopefully staging will get easier now that we know what to change in the motor.

 Here's his best yet!! His reaction time was 0.00 seconds and his time for 1/8 mile was 12.96 seconds. His speed was 49.98 miles per hour. Notice the car fatigues just after he takes off from the start. That is a part of what I'm talking about when I say we were still having some technical difficulties. We'll get it sorted out.

 Zoe meets friends everywhere we go. These guys are watching the transport trucks race. The weekend we went to this track it was a weekend that a bunch of truck drivers met to race.

 Any vehicle could race. It's not always about speed. It's also knowing what your vehicle will do.

Any vehicle that is racing that uses diesel produce a great deal of smoke.

Third Time at the Track!

 Things went well for our third try at the track. With the new engine, we expected that there may be some adjustments to be made to make the car do what we want, but it really wasn't too bad at all. The first run, Austyn stalled at the start. This was because the idle was too low. Making idle higher fixed the problem. The car went in the 12's (12-12.9 seconds in a 1/8 mile)! This is much better. The rest of the adjustment to get it as close to 12.9 and slower can be made by adding weight! We can do this with lead-shot. There are locations on the dragster to add it including an empty nitrous bottle on the back. It's not there just for show and to confuse fans. LOL!!

 Zoe seems to like getting out. She likes to dress up, do her hair and wear jewelry. This will all change when she races. Her hair will look matted from the heat and her helmet, but I can really see her racing. She is the free-spirit type of kid. No fear! She can't wait to race now!

Sometimes we put her in the car to tow the car back to our pit spot. Here she is, having a great time!!

Mechanics 101!

Here are the boys changing the engine in the junior dragster! Yup... even though Daddy has NEVER changed one of these before, they did it! What better way to get to know the car than to take it all apart! What great experience for Austyn. He eventually lost interest since it's not a fast process, but even what he did do, was great!! There was a good deal of watching, helping and learning from what Daddy told him while it was getting changed. 

BTW... there is the little sandwich container under the motor with the oil in it. See how little oil this thing takes!!!

Second Time!

 We went to a different track to test 'n tune. The first race track that we went to only has test 'n tune on Friday nights and they are very strict about junior dragsters and what speed they need to be. So, we went to another track. It's less busy and they are more easy going. This allowed us to make a few passes down the track to see what this motor would do and if we could even slow it down without making that little motor chug too much.

 Finding a routine is something that usually happens at the races. This is all new to us. A large modified race car and a junior dragster are two different things all together. We are finding that the junior is much less work. With the mustang we need time to charge it, take the hood off to cool it down, fill the tank with gas, and check the tire pressure in between races. It needs an oil change only once and a while. 

With the Junior Dragster we find that if we want to go up and race right away, we can just fill the tank quick and run back up. The oil should be changed every 4 runs. This may sound like a big waste to someone who has never seen how much oil is in one of these little machines. It's not very much oil at all. We use a little plastic sandwich container to let the oil drain into and it doesn't even fill up!

The methanol used to run the junior is much cheaper and we are considering changing the mustang to it, to save money and to help the engine run cooler. We may be able to buy it in a barrel as well, which brings the cost down even more.

There are so many things for a rookie, eight year old to learn. Here is Daddy trying to show him where the dragster should be. Have you ever heard the phrase "Get into the groove!"? Well, this is a racing term that explains where the car should be when it's getting staged. "The grove" refers to the tire marks that are warn into the track surface. They are the dark marks where the tires spun a bit leaving remnants of rubber on the asphalt. These two dark strips on the track are where the tires of a full sized race car should line up. This is more important as you get into even faster cars. If the extremely fast cars (a pro-mod etc...) are not lined up "in the groove" they could crash because their tires won't grab well at the start.

Here Daddy is trying to get him into the grove. Since a Junior is so much smaller, he only needs to be in one grove and the inside grove is good because it's farthest from the wall. We are still working on this with Austyn. Also, one thing that has been overlooked a few times is attaching Austyn's arms into the race car. There are straps that go around his wrists, so that if he does crash, his arms stay inside the car and prevent injury. We will get there. Eventually nobody will even need to think. We'll be so use to a routine.

Another thing that Austyn is working on, is staging the car with the light properly. He is suppose to inch up until the two staging lights are on and stop to wait for the rest of the lights before he goes. It's a bit tricky because the car wants to move forward to quickly. He was able to do it on his own at least once. This video is an example of what happens when he goes too far forward. If this happened in an actual race it would be a "red light" and he would lose the race. A "red light" is when the driver goes before he is allowed to go.

On this second try, going to a race track, we learned that this motor is way too fast. For the age 8-9 bracket he isn't allowed to go faster than 12.90 seconds in an 1/8th of a mile. He went in the 9 seconds when the car sounded good. When we were able to get it to go slower, it sounded like it would break something. A new motor is needed. Also, we learned that the slicks on the back were too worn down. Something punctured one of the tires and they couldn't be fixed because they were too thin. So, we ordered a new motor right away and got new slicks. Not to mention... do we really want to risk trying to fix a tire and have it not hold when racing. That could be dangerous.

We all seem to be enjoying ourselves and we are all learning so much. Hopefully we will get some races in soon.

His First Pass EVER!

We went to the track for a test 'n tune. We were a bit late arriving and still needed to eat. We kept moving and got everything we needed out of the car trailer. Here Daddy is placing pillows under his butt to boost him up high enough to see. 

This is his very first drive. He drove it around the pits to get use to it. As he drove, the more nervous he became.

After a quick bite to eat we went up to show him the track. We wanted his first pass to happen before it was too dark to see well. Here he is getting his first overview on what to expect and what to do.

The track was shut down for an injury in the staging lanes so we drove him down the track to show him where each marker that was important to him. First, where he races too and then starts to slow down. Then where he gets off of the track and what he does next.

When we got back to the car there was a crowd around it. Everyone was checking it out. This weekend was a weekend for old cars and there are not junior dragsters, so I guess it made his car more interesting.

Here is Daddy getting him ready.

Here is him giving me a nervous smile while he waits.

It's time! He is getting his final pep talk.

It was a bit of a challenge to watch Zoe and take video at the same time, but I did it! I wish I could have got closer and kept it on for his burnout.

Here he is all excited and wanting to go again. Unfortunately he went too fast. We kind of expected that after talking to some of the people who recognized the car.. The car is set up for a faster speed. So, we can't send him down the track again without some adjustments. At least he made his first pass. It was all worth it!

New Toy!

We purchased a junior dragster for Austyn! He is old enough to race and we always told him that we'd let him when he was old enough. We found this one online, saw it at the track one weekend, and went the next week to see it and bring it home. 

He was so excited! These are pictures of Austyn's first time in it and us moving it from our car trailer to the house for the first time. His sister is wearing the fire resistant shoes.

There is so much to learn when racing. Most of you probably have never been to see drag racing, or if you have you likely didn't totally get it. My husband started racing when he was 17 years old. I've been around for that whole time (I stared dating him when he was 16... believe it or not). We have learned so much in that time and still continue to learn. Junior dragsters are new to us. 

Here he is showing me the inside details. Already he has learned so much about how it works and the parts. He will soon learn about the track, christmas tree, safety, the mechanics of adjusting things to make the car do what we need it to, maintenance, racing rules/regulations, and finally the math/science involved in predicting an accurate time. I said science in that last one because weather conditions and mechanics change the outcome of a race.

It should be fun!!

Racing Again!

 We've started racing again. The first time we went was for a Test'n Tune, so that we could make sure the car runs okay, but it got rained out. 

 The next chance was on Canada Day weekend. It was our first time back for an actual race. 

 There was a bird that was loud and the song was so pretty, but we couldn't see the bird up close. It didn't seem to mind that there was racing going on. It just sat there and sang a beautiful song. 

 Because they don't have anymore seasonal pit spots we needed to find a way to make it work without a trailer. It wasn't as easy and due to the heat, we didn't feel like doing much in between races.

 It was wonderful to be back and see old friends and familiar cars. We missed this while we were away in Edmonton.

While waiting to watch Daddy, they searched for fossils. It's funny because a couple of years ago when we would come to the track they played in the dirt while they waited. I guess they still like to do this.

Here are just a couple of fossils they found. The ground there is very sandy and these fossils were fragile. You can see how they can easily become fragments of sand.

Meeting New Friends

I decided that it would be nice to network with other homeschool groups outside of our area. The group closest to us was having a get-together at a beach and we decided to drive there and attend. It was to celebrate our freedom to homeschool here in Ontario while all of the other kids are back to school. 

Well, they may not be new friends but last year our kids didn't play as much with them. At the race track there is a family who parks behind us in the pits. Their kids and our kids love to play. They are both getting old enough and us parents are becoming more comfortable with letting them go back and forth to each others' pit spot.

Busy with Racing

I've been away from blogging for a little while. Life is busy. The times that I normally blog I'm doing laundry, packing, or other things. Racing is back in our lives and with racing comes more work. I've found a way to make it less work. I just don't bother to unpack fully. I do laundry, fold it, put it in order in baskets and most of those clothes go right back in the suitcase. 

 While Daddy worked on the car in our garage the kids find things to do. Above they got out some tools and decided to build things with wood pieces. They got markers to colour the wood and I went and got them paint and brushes.

Sometimes while he worked on the engine we stayed up later than usual. The kids liked to go outside while he was in the garage and look for bugs or build things with sticks. 

While we were waiting for the engine to come back to us our fellow race drivers have had great weather. We've seen a bit of rain. For us that usually means being inside the trailer more. There is always a good supply of books, crafts and toys for the kids to play with when this happens.

They play with clay from the dollar store sometimes. This is one of Zoe's creations.

This is Austyn's creation.

At the races we sometimes notice something cool. This is a Praying Mantis. A week later we saw a brown one not far from this one.

Sometimes when we go it's not as busy as other weekends. The kids find it hard to watch racing and do nothing else. Here they are playing in the dirt while we wait for Daddy to race. 

Zoe is making dirt angels.

One thing they find fun is running around and playing on the stands when they are almost empty. 

I am finding that as the kids get older I'm able to do a bit more with my hubby racing. With a faster car he actually could use more help. I am enjoying it more as I feel more involved. I hope to keep getting more involved as the kids grow. I now can check the tire pressure. I may eventually check the track and tire temperatures.

One new thing I do, when I can, is help him "get in the groove". The grove is the dark tire marks on the track. When a race car is in the grove the tires stick well. When they aren't in the grove it can actually get dangerous. This is especially the case for faster cars. If they can't grip the track the car could lose control. With a different hood (made for racing) it's more difficult to see and be able to put the car in the groove without some assistance. 

One thing I can tell you about that that dark part (the grove) is that it's very sticky. I have to stand right in it to show him where it is and I almost lost my shoes the last time. The track officials were laughing at me. LOL!

Yes!! and Yes!!

Blogger must have put back their old image import feature. I can put images on again! Yes! And the other "Yes" is for us finally racing. This is a picture of my hubby under the race car. I love this picture. It's a bit humorous. Disclaimer: No mechanic was harmed in the making of this photo... Ha ha ha!! He does a large amount of the work himself. 

We had a new engine built this year and it was suppose to be finished for the long weekend in May. It wasn't finished until a couple of weeks ago. It's in and ready to go! 

If you know anything about racing you'll know what I mean when I say that our car use to be in the 12's and now it should be in the 9's. We will find out this weekend. If it's in the 9's we'll have to get a special license. Also, if it has a really hard take-off we may need a wheelie bar.

Wish us luck!

Race Season!

For my kids, race season means seeing race cars almost every weekend. It means playing around them. It means seeing work being done on our race car. Normal life for them is being witness to engine work. Here the kids are playing while daddy works away in the background. 

Race season means helping with the car and learning how it works and how to put it together. Here Austyn is using the air gun to tighten some bolts on the transmission.

Race season means watching cars that most people never see. This is a jet dragster.

Race season means meeting new friends, seeing old friends, and trying out other cars.

Race season means time with family!