Good Evening all!
Here for the final post race write-up for our 2021 rookie campaign in the late model division.
We rounded out our points counting season with a 15th place finish, putting us 15th overall in the final standings, and then ended Milk Bowl a respectable 19th, after cleaning the nose off of the car in the second segment, and parking the car for the third.
On a more personal note, here's the standpoint. I'm sure all of you know that I (Cooper) am the one that writes all of the post race write ups, so I'll take this last write-up to share something a little more personal with you all:
"If I were to look back at myself sitting in the stands watching the race cars come flying out of turn 4, I never thought I'd ever be that person out there. I was fortunate 6 years ago to start the journey for myself with some help along the way. In 6 years we've won races (almost a championship), wrecked race cars, ruffled feathers (no matter how hard we tried not to), and learned a lot about racing and the people in it.
Coming into this year we we're taking a huge step. A small family team on a shoestring budget. I didn't know when we started how much of the season we we're going to run, but we were going to make every effort to do every one we could.
We started the first race off with a bang and backed it into the wall and had to clip the rear. Right then and there we thought that was the end for us. Some people stepped up and helped us out physically and financially, and we had the car ready for the first points race at Thunder Road. We took some lumps, pissed a lot of people off at first, but man we tried our best to make things happen. We struggled through the first few races, earned our handicap, and got our first heat win on the year! We couldn't quite seal the deal after that, just not finding any consistency with our car between both lanes, but we kept plugging away.
Weeks later, we started upfront again, had another heat race win, and all of the stars aligned and we wound up winning a feature race. Something I can truly say I never thought could happen in our rookie year. We ran around the outside, cleared the leader, and set sail. Got passed by THE GOVERNOR (something I also can also say I never thought I'd do), and worked hard to pass him back and win after a few late race restarts.
All of the hard work all of these years had paid off, and all of the blood sweat and tears our team put in finally seemed like it was worth it.
After that win, we came back to earth, but gave it our all until the very end until the last race of the year, The Milk Bowl.
That race is another one you just can't understand it until you're in it, but a dream as a kid that turned into a reality was just an insane feeling. We practiced, we trialed, we had a great 1st segment, and once again got humbled by the racing gods, and tore the nose off of the car trying to avoid a wreck. We bent some small stuff in the process, and our hopes at a good finish was through, and we made the decision as a team to park the car for the final segment. We still ended P18, and can go down in the history books as being a participant in the "Toughest Short Track Race in America."
To be able to look back again as a kid and see myself from a fans perspective, and for everything to come full circle; that is all that I could ask for.
I need to thank the people specifically this year that helped in the garage and at the track and helped fulfil this dream of mine:
My Dad David, My Mom Tonia, Mongo, Randy, Zachary, Grant, Ciara, Micayla
I owe you all the world for putting up with me in this endeavor, and all the time (and money) spent, and for keeping me going.
Thank you for everyone else who has helped me get here. I could write your names all out, but I don't want to forget anyone. Just know if you've helped me at any point in my racing career, this goes to you.
All of that being said, we're going to come back next season with a book of notes, a hungry heart, and a big old smile, and try our best again to show what our team has got. If you got this far, thank you for reading how much this season and this sport truly means to me."
Last but not least, this season could not have been possible without some amazing partners:
KAS Inc
MasterTech Automotive
East Coast Construction
Woods CRW
Vermont Sim Racer
Giroux Body Shop
Village Tavern
WorkSafe New England
Gardner Contracting and Excavation
Laplante's Plumbing and Heating
Champlain Valley Crosscuts
Green Mountain Bagels
Mascitti Bros Custom Vinyl
We hope you all enjoy the time off from racing, and look forward to seeing you all next season!