The races were halted during the 3rd heat of Midwest Mods, which eventually brought the next heat  of cars (Skyler's) onto the track to help pack in the moisture.  After twenty minutes of low speed laps, the flagman threw the green for some hot laps.  The cars seemed to stick all right, but the packing took its toll on the No. 16 Bookmobile.

In his heat, Skyler quickly lost two positions, and developed a serious "push" in the turns, especially turn two.  He had a hard time trying not to drift upward in the corners, and had to slow considerably.   We discovered later that a couple hundred pounds of sticky clay had lodged in the suspension, hence creating the "push."  Because the circumstances, we weren't able to pit, where we might have taken care of issue.   But the other cars had their own problems, and Skyler hung on for a respectable 4th place finish in his heat--which guranteed him a good spot in the feature. 

However, Sunday's feature was not to be.  Bemidji Speedway cancelled the races, a move that was puzzling to everyone.  The conditions--light mist--Saturday night were worse than on Sunday.  But the track officials apparently had their reasons, and they might well have been about driver safety.

In a nutshell, our season has ended.   It was mixed summer in many ways, with rainouts, and then intermittent mechanical issues.  The big blow was crashing in Grand Forks--when we took a hard, broadside hit after Skyler spun out.  That crash reverberated for several races afterward.  Bill kept finding more things amiss with our car.  And that hard hit in GF was probably why we threw our drive shaft at the same speedway a week later.  That proved costly, with the driveshaft taking out three tires, a rim, the driveshaft yoke--and cracking the transmission case, which we didn't discover until a week after that, and which caused us to scratch one more time.

All in all, it was learning, building year.  Skyler got used the Midwest Modified, and we hope for a better year on the track next season.  There were still many "victories", however, including some great promotional events for Team Weaver, including the MN State Fair.

Crew Chief Bill Smith and I will on the road soon with the "Bookmobile," visiting schools and talking about racing and dirt track novels for teens.  Check our schedule under "Appearances" on my website:  www.willweaverbooks.com