This past weekend was Steve's first national race! It was at a little race track just outside of Reno in Fernley. (This isn't a picture from Reno because he's no longer considered a novice racer .. no more green 'N' for him.) He had a blast because the Reno-Fernley Raceway has a very long straight away. At the end of it are a few little S turns and the cars were still accelerating past those into the first major turn at speeds of 115 mph! Watching the cars speed by I kept being torn between excitement and rooting for Steve to go faster and the worry that he would be okay. He did have a few spins but luckily he was able to get back on the track without any damage each time. Of course my heart beats much faster when that happens.
It's funny to see the group of us SRF (Spec Racer Ford) wives watching at the start/finish line. If our husbands could see how much we 'ooh' and 'oh-no' and scream during the race they'd laugh. Little by little I'm starting to learn everyone's names and match them up with their husbands and cars. And the rest of the people involved with SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), the track workers, volunteers and announcers take their hobby very professionally. Overall they're an incredibly welcoming group of people and make this racing experience extremely enjoyable for both Steve and me.
On another note, Friday we saw about four military helicopters flying over the hills just north of the racetrack. We knew that this was near an airbase and didn't think anything of it. Unfortunately we later learned that two aircraft, an F18 and an F5 had crashed somewhere outside of Fallon, NV. The helicopters were on a search and rescue mission to find the ejected pilots. Sadly the F18 pilot didn't survive.
