 |
See ya at the track... |
|
|
|
2006 Summary I finally got tired of waiting for a wisp of inspiration before writing this annual summary, so I went back and read what I’d written prior years. Doing that is a good thing because it reminds us (1) why we participate in this crazy sport and (2) if it were easy everybody would be doing it. Since BK Racing first became official during the construction of Lucifer back in 2000 we’ve gone through the “Start-up”, “Learning”, “Discovery”, “Rebuilding”, “Wonder” (or maybe “Wander”) and “Transition” years. Although we’ve been players in fourteen championships of one sort or another since 1989, this year things finally came together for us on multiple fronts. Based on adding four more titles to that string, I’m going to refer to 2006 as: “The Championship Year” It wasn’t easy by any means. On a personal front Harriett & I had to make the very tough decision to put down our pet greyhound (and team mascot) Daytona in February. We had gone through a lot together in the ten years we had him, but a quick-growing cancer in his shoulders had rendered him pretty much immobile and that’s a terrible thing for a dog that was built to run. Ironically, when I went to leave the vet’s afterward the Camaro wouldn’t start – it and Daytona had run out of gas at the same time. Then in late June Harriett’s mom passed away, which added a LOT more emotion to 2006. You can read the individual race reports for more detail, but the April 22,23 weekend at Roebling Road yielded a bent valve on Saturday, an infield repair job Saturday evening, then our first 2006 SARRC win on Sunday. Three weeks later we got two more SARRC wins at VIR, then the fourth SARRC win came Memorial weekend at Kershaw but we also broke the third link bracket that weekend. We led early at Lowe’s in June but ended up third, then were cruising at Road Atlanta in July before encountering a “fuel delivery problem” with two laps left. A solo win at Nashville Labor Day weekend set up the showdown with Steve Magowen at the 2006 SARRC Invitational Challenge in September. In a great race (see the race report for details), I finished two car lengths ahead of Steve to win the 2006 SARRC GTA title. Finally! In addition to the SARRC title, BK Racing was also involved with Chris Ingle’s SEDIV T-1 National Championship, Jeff Bailey’s SARRC GT-1 Championship, and Mike Eakin’s (Purple Frog Racing) ARRC CFC Championship. As my dad would have said, “You guys almost look like you know what you’re doing.” I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating that winning races (and championships) is NOT a one-man operation. A lot of people have contributed to our success over the years, but the major players in 2006 were Eric Bartel, Mike Eakin, Dennis McClintock, and of course Harriett.
We all attended the SEDIV Awards Marathon at Jekyll Island this past January to celebrate, and I’m just happy my driving didn’t let them down. The plans for 2007 include taking a shot at defending the SARRC GTA title plus going after a GTA win at the ARRC with a vengeance. We’re not going to be traveling near as much as we did in 2006, but Larry Pulliam will be sharing the ride in Cuervo at selected Track Trial events so we’ll still be pretty busy. As usual, we’re always trying to go just a little bit faster than we can afford. <g> See y’all at the track… |
|
Send mail to
ebartel@gmail.com with questions or comments about this web site.
|
