As I sit back and reflect on my weekend racing in Grove, there are a few important takeaways that I would like to comment on. In an effort to be as transparent as possible with my dozen fans, I would have liked to do a traditional write up commenting on all of the different races, but unfortunately racing with a completely different crew, it was too much of a struggle to accurately recall all that happened this weekend and I didn't want to misreport and tarnish our image as a journalism institution. Even without the writeup, I have some things that simply needed to be put into blog form. We were met with the greatest hospitality and it truly felt like we were just at another weekend APBA race with just a few different people. It took our crew an embarrassingly long time to figure out what we were racing and how to stay in the boat, but the NBRA guys went out of their way to make sure we felt welcomed. This blog won't really have any structure to it but I want to point out a few things.
John Matthews- This dude has always been a favorite of mine, but this weekend secured his spot as my racing hero. Not only did we have some incredible races in BH and CSH(I'm hoping his GoPro videos turn out as good as I expect them to be), but it also clear as day that he is one of the biggest driving forces in making our sport even greater. Through meeting all of the NBRA drivers and crew, every person had nothing but glowing things to say about John and he should be an inspiration to all.
The Class Structure- I have to be completely honest, out of the 3 or 4 trailers that my extended crew came down with, I think I may have been the only one who knew what class I was running. Once we figured out what we needed to sign up for and when to be on the water, I actually loved the attitude that they take that everybody has a spot on the water and should have a chance to race regardless of the equipment they come with. All of the best races of the weekend were some hodgepodge of Yamatos(stock and mod), hot rods, sidewinders and mercs in classes like BH and CH or a mixture of AXs, ASHs and 200CCMHs in the "A1" class. While racing continues to pick up around the country, I hope that clubs can take a lesson from this style and maybe consider combining classes to make racing more interesting not only for the racer, but any potential spectator.
Spectators- The entire race committee for this race was on their "A" game. It was clear that this was a well run event and every detail was accounted for, but the biggest indicator that tons of effort was put into the NBRA season opener was the amount of spectators who came to watch a bunch of boats drive in circles all day. The race itself was only part of the experience, a band played for 3 days straight, there was a fiddle contest and plenty of other activities. The way that the race is engrained in the community is the type of interaction that we should strive for.
Competition- I have debated internally on if I should include this into the blog, but I think it is important to note as we try to potentially bridge our racing bodies and try to race with each other more. I don't know when it started and I have been guilty of it myself to some extent but there is this overarching theme or a stigma that APBA has all the premier drivers and equipment or whatever and I can confidently say that we are wrong in this assumption. I have had a relatively strong few seasons running Yamato hydro classes and when we decided to head to Grove got a few messages along the lines of "oh man take it easy on them" and I went out the very first heat and got absolutely smoked. And this experience was not unique to just myself. The NBRA crew has a plethora of superb drivers who would gladly welcome the challenge from some of us who have yet to join them.
Racing- The biggest takeaway from the weekend is how great it felt to race boats again. I can completely understand and would never judge anyone for not feeling comfortable racing in these unprecedented times, but for those willing and able, it is the best feeling in the world racing with a bunch of great friends once again. I hope that when the time is appropriate and we know more about this pandemic, we will all appreciate how great it is to be spending time with friends and family while racing boats.
-MP
P.S.- I am hearing the boys may be back in action this week. Stay tuned.