Dirt Track Racing Jeremy #20

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

FINALLY! Jeremy Gets On the Dirt Track


Dirt Track Auto Racing at Roaring Knob

I could hardly believe it myself. Saturday, July 25th, Roaring Knob near Ohiopyle, the race was on, then off, then on again. The drive is long at about an hour and a half. The sky was more and more threatening as the day wore on. We started out at 4PM EST with high hopes and many many prayers. Just one lap on that dirt track Lord. Please. . . just one lap. We just want Jeremy to be able to test his new late model modified.


The closer we got, the darker it got. Then it started. Drip, drip, drip, pour. Oh well, the good Lord must have been answering someone else's prayer for rain. . . but still, we pressed on. It was coming down pretty hard at that point. Jeremy was in front of us and he never hit the brake lights so we became just as optimistic as he was.

We pulled into Roaring Knob. There was quite a crowd already and many anxious dirt track auto racers just waiting to see what was going to happen. The rain started to slow. Then the sky brightened and the sun barely peaked through the clouds, but it wasn't raining. 30 minutes later, the track was open and the engines were warming up. Thank you God. Just let him get on that track!

Jeremy's turn came and he was one of about 8 cars in his heat. This wasn't the race. It was just the warm up. They were allowed to do a hot lap. That meant that they went around the dirt track several times slowly and then the last lap was a fast practice lap. It was great. He was finally able to test his car and all went well. We were so excited.

The sky was getting darker. It was about 9PM and Jeremy was just coming out for his actual heat race. They were off. Jeremy was next to the last and getting ready to move up when one of the late models spun out. The yellow flag went out. The drivers continued to drive slowly around the track. They got the green. Jeremy was flying and right in front of him, three cars spun out and into each other and blocked most of the track. Thankfully, Jeremy was able to get around them without wrecking into them. Again, the yellow flag was out.

That was close, but Jeremy's car was in tact. Then it happened. Yes, the rain. It started pouring and it rained and rained until 9:30 when it looked like there was no hope. The race was over. People were packing up and leaving in droves. Lightning. Yes, it was over.

But once again, it was a successful night on the dirt track in Pennsylvania. Jeremy got the feel of his car, sized up his competitors, and brought his late model home in one piece. We were all very tired and very thankful that the Lord gave us this brief window of opportunity with no rain and that Jeremy was able to get a feel for what is in store for the next time.

Kickin Up the Dirt Track Racing At Dog Hollow Raceway With the Super Late Models