final race night of the year for me, with a model delivery

[18degrees]

hey y'all... if anyone remembers i posted a 1/18 sprint car build i did back in July with the intent of giving it to the driver, Danny Sams III.  things finally came together last night, the planets aligned

i went to Wheatland, MO (population around 300) to Lucas Oil Speedway for the finale' of the High Limit midweek money mini-series. i have never been to this place before, i put a little over 450 miles on the odometer round trip.  the place is actually owned by Lucas Oil, they didn't just buy the naming rights. and man... this place is nice.  all the seats have backs.  everything is paved (including the pits) and the amenities are top notch.

here is a panoramic photo i took of the track



the track prep was immaculate.  started off pretty heavy (someone on Twitter commented "There was 75 laps worth of water on the track"   there was no mud flying and there was very little dust, just a hint of it about halfway through the feature.  their track prep folks know what they are doing.

so i bought a pit pass (given how far i had to drive i wasn't going to wait around until the race was over) and got at it.

first stop- Danny Sams' trailer.  his dad was working on the car and i asked him where Danny was. he pointed towards where the cars enter the track and said he was in the blue shirt.  i walked that way and as i got closer he looked up at me and waved (likely because i was the only guy in the place aside from his family that had one of his shirts on) and i waved back and pointed to the bag i was carrying the model in.  he walked towards me and said "it that what i think it is?".  i nodded and grinned and he smiled back.  we walked back to his trailer, he invited me in and went to a work area with a small bench.  i took the model out of the bag and i'm not sure if he said "thank you so much" or "wow, this is awesome" more times... needless to say he was grateful and impressed with the level of detail that the kit has.  i took the hood off to show him the engine detail and explained to him a few of the modifications i had made and how painting the wings gave me fits.  after all that was done, i went on my way.  i looked back and he was still looking at the model, taking the hood off again and admiring the engine and ignition details (i wasn't responsible for any of that, that's how the kit comes).

he had his dad take pictures in front of the current car.  and no, i'm not mad, i know i look pissed off but the sun was in my eyes




went about my way and did some shirt shopping.  Danny's mom accidentally gave me a size above what i asked for when i went to their merch trailer, didn't realize that until i unpacked today.  hopefully some high heat in the dryer will help that out.


without getting into the whole story, i made a friend last night. her name is Nina Gennetten, her grandson Ayrton Gennetten was racing last night.  he is a third generation driver, Gene (Nina's deceased husband) is his grandfather and was an accomplished driver, her son Steve ("Beaver" as she called him, Ayrton's dad) was an accomplished driver, and now Ayrton.  Nina owns Ozark Barge & Dock Service if that rings a bell for anyone.  she said between going to races with her husband, son and grandson she has "been to every shithole track in the 5 state area"        she was awesome, we talked all night. very sweet and down to earth woman. still going to races at 80 years old, that's how you get to that age... keep livin' life.




that's all for now, hope y'all made it this far without losing interest... i can be long winded at times

[Volzfan59]

Great night all the way around. Made Danny happy with the replica model and made a new friend! Any older lady that says "I've been to every shithole track in the 5 state area" could definitely be my friend!

[Brian Conn]

....It's a small world.....



  This driver interview is from the August 4th 1978 addition of Race Week, which covered the Topeka, Ks. and Kansas City area racing scene which was sold at the weekly racing events in 1978.
   
 The world gets even smaller.....
  My Uncle Dale Horton was on Gene's pit crew some time during the 60's

[18degrees]

....It's a small world.....



  This driver interview is from the August 4th 1978 addition of Race Week, which covered the Topeka, Ks. and Kansas City area racing scene which was sold at the weekly racing events in 1978.
   
 The world gets even smaller.....
  My Uncle Dale Horton was on Gene's pit crew some time during the 60's

Very cool to read that. Nina said that at one point he won so much at Davenport IA (i think that was the track she said) that the promoters put a bounty on him. She said it was paid out a few times but not many.