Hallett doesn't disappoint! "Dad-that was Fun, when is the next race and I want to come back here next year" Dax says as we pull out of the gates on the way home. That's all a dad really needs to hear especially when it's not just a weekend for him. But yeah Dad had an absolute blast all weekend!

Huge thanks to Jerry and the Hallett staff for an excellent event. Another huge thanks to OIF and the great meals we had as well as all the people who brought something. Dax has also said many times the midnight rib was "Good".

I have tried to tell Dax why it's 'different' at Hallett but you just have to go to find out and now it has great AC in the bathrooms so there really isn't an excuse to miss. But I think he gets it now even though he isn't a fan of the Chicken song. So here is my rundown.

Packed and ready to leave Sunday without my son who comes down saying his Xbox Fortnite deal has been delayed and now wants to go-which means I have to unload the truck and repack-then change up the car trailer to fit the four wheeler. Great drive up and so good to come in and see so many happy Thunder racers getting setup. Hung a window unit on the side window of the suburban and some reflectix and it was cold all weekend-worked great.

Friday session bed brakes and tires. Ran the next two sessions but felt off in a few spots but at least no issues as cars were starting to drop with issues like a small cooking fire and broken axle. Enjoyed a great dinner, later and later introduced Dax to the outdoor showers and went to bed maybe the earliest I ever have at Hallett. Saturday I try the Nankangs in warmup and was scared to push them really hard as they were a little slicker than old RR's and I didn't want to have a mishap as most know I need to be clean there but sometimes things happen but you just have to be at Hallett to know what happens.

Needless to say the racing was awesome and clean as far as I could tell. Throughout the weekend I had some great runs with so many but first time visitor to Hallett Robert Weston and I always seemed to mix it up at some point. Great to have two CO guys come down just hate we missed English and others this year. I think Robert enjoyed getting to run with us and how hard but clean we raced everyone so hope he comes back. The only thing was it was HOT all weekend and especially Saturday. But the schedule was awesome and we were done before it got super hot which was just in time for the kids to play slip n slide for a few hours.

Then came a big ol mess of Brisket, sides, and table full of desserts. More riding around the track which was what Dax was looking forward to the most and then see the finals of the 3rd Annual Slip n Flip which is a sight to see. While it was a smaller group for midnight ribs I think we came close to wiping them out. Funny my son was deadset on wanting to stay up for them and didn't want to miss out of a trademarked tradition.

Sunday brought in a nice breeze that seemed almost cool. The new covered pavillon was a great place for a meeting. I tell people going to Hallett is like going back in time to the way things used to be and still should be. Nobody got sent to the back of the field because their starter broke and we all agreed on how long the main race should be which was at 12:30 and to allow an earlier departure. During the event I told my boy it would be hard for me to get a top 5 on RR's from 2016 but that was still my goal. I had solid 4,5 place finishes but still don't understand the points system as it's obviously better if you aren't in the top three in early races to come in early to try and get a top 3 in another heat race. Never understood how a car that doesn't finish one of the prior races still starts in the top three. Oh well.

The champ race is of course a standing start which I love. But guess I was too focused on the start and turn one as going up the hill I have some mental fart when tapping my brake and grabbing fourth all that same/wrong time. Thankfully I was ahead of the group behind me enough that it was fine I just lost some ground on lead pack. But it's a 30 minute race and on the next lap a car is facing the wrong direction after bus stop so I pick up a place. Few laps later another car is slow after 6 so pick up another. Meanwhile Weston and me are dogging it out and he makes a clean move to get ahead. I see the temps start climbing and move out to get air. Figure out I'm in 5th and nobody is behind me so pedal back a little to cool the car/tires/driver off and start working on a few things. yeah I wait till R4 to try a different gear in a part of the track I was awful and felt like a huge difference. Can't figure out what the yellow is going into the bitch for several laps but I'm extremely cautious at this point. Finally see another car way off track to the right under the shade trees so now I'm in fourth. Then I'm thinking dang that podium wasn't that far away from me and should have tried to push. But all I have done all weekend is add some gas/oil/change tires and never put a wrench on the car so I'm smiling and happy getting the checker.

Congrats to Records for a great run, Crumpacker for showing up and getting his car running on all 8 Saturday night for second and Weston rounding out the podium in CMC. AI I heard was a great battle with Craig claiming the top spot with Smith and Reed rounding out the podium.

Just an awesome weekend. Excellent that we had several who haven't been on track with us for awhile so kudos to Liebbe, Richardson, and Crumpacker for getting your cars ready and hope you get the bug back again. Of course I'm leaving out so many people and stories. But a smooth drive home and three days at the track with the best group at the races is Winning all the way around.

I'll close by adding Comma runs in September and over Halloween...