Trip to the Cape

We took a trip to the Cape last week. We stayed at a great hotel in
Chatham (thanks L & S!). We loved our time in Chatham and look
forward to future visits.



Chatham Lightouse. One of several along the Cape.




After visiting the lighthouse, we walked down to the beach where,
if you walked out about a mile, you could get a really great view
of the seals. What a sight!

I hear there are great white sharks looming around there right now.
We missed them by a week. I'm sure they are there for the seals.




No beach trip would be complete without searching for shells and shell
skipping. :-)



Chatham Lighthouse from the beach.




The second day, we went to Fishing Pier. We watched a few boats
come in with their loads of what they told us were dog fish. They
looked like little sharks. The seals were swimming around the pier
waiting for one of the fisherman to let one slip into the water.
They were in luck that morning, as one slipped from the boat as it
was being loaded into the container on the dock.

J&D2 Racing Update - 8/3

J&D2 Racing Fans,

Monday 8/3 was an OK night for the J&D2 racing team at SMS. Weather was warm with temps in the 80’s and cooling down to the 60’s after sunset. This was the first race back after the Monster Truck show the previous weekend. The kart track gets covered with dirt for the Monster Trucks, and even though the track is cleaned up well, there is still some residual dirt which makes the track slick. The lighter karts that both J&D drive were loose coming out of the turns, but the heavier kart that S drives wasn’t affected as much.

A quick rundown of the three racers starts with J. He started 8th of 10 karts in his heat race. Moved up a spot or two and then got bit by the slick track conditions when he bobbled coming out of turn two. He dropped back to 8th and finished there. Starting 8th in the feature, he moved up to 4th and even had 3rd for a bit, but ended up finishing 4th. Not bad considering he started near the back. Josh is tied for 2nd in the point standings.

D started 5th of 8 karts in his heat, he moved up to 3rd and finished there. This gave him the 5th starting spot of 8 karts in the first feature. He fell back to 7th and maintained that spot throughout the race. He is 5th in the overall points standings.

S started 6th of 8 in the second heat and finished there. This allowed S to start 12th of 16 in the feature. He pretty much stayed there and picked up a position by passing a kart with 3 to go. When the checkered flag fell, S was in 10th. Not bad for the second time out, but still a way to go to be competitive.

Here is a picture of the 2009 J&D2 Racing Team.





No racing this week. The next race is 8/17 at SMS which is the Family Fun Night. This is the start of a four week stretch where we have racing at least once a week, if not more, so stay tuned.

Happy Birthday, J!

Happy Birthday and God's Blessings to you, J!
We love you and we're proud of the young man you've
become!

J&D2 Racing Update - 7/13, 7/20, 7/25 & 7/26

J&D2 Racing Fans,

It’s been a while since the last update and the month is almost over so here is an update on all the happenings for J&D Racing for July. We’ve raced 4 different times this month - 7/13 & 7/20 at Stafford, 7/25 at 106 Racepark and 7/26 at Pomfret Speedway.


7/13 at Stafford Motor Speedway
J&D racing had good night. A warm day and favorable track conditions worked in our favor. J started 8th of 10 karts in the heat race and finished 4th. Outside of the 2nd row was a good place to start in the Feature, but he fell behind the first two karts. As they began to battle back-and-forth, J was able to catch up and get into the mix as the laps wound down. In middle of turns 3 & 4 on the final lap, J made a good move to grab 2nd. A nice finish that kept him first in the overall point standing for the Tiger A division.

D also had a good night in the Tiger B class. He started 6th of 8 karts and he finished 4th. This put him in the first Feature race, starting in 6th place. He move up to what we thought was 4th, when the checked flag fell, but he was called back to the tech area and awarded 3rd place. The kart that was thought to have finished third was actually one lap down after spinning out earlier in the race. A nice surprise for D! This put D in the 6th spot in the overall point standings for the Tiger B class.

This night also brought a change to the team as a third kart was added. Now J&D Racing becomes J&D2 Racing - J, D & Daddy. We bought a kart for J to run next year in the Jr. Outlaw class, but no reason for the kart to collect dust with half of the season remaining. So S volunteered to jump in and run it in the Sr. Outlaw class. It was quite the experience - got scared once or twice as the turn 2 wall came up pretty quick and found out it‘s much harder than it looks from the stands, but had a great time nonetheless. S started 7th of 8 in the second heat race. Got spun in turn 3 on lap 2 of 8 and, therefore, finished last. S started 11th of 16 in the 15 lap feature. The feature ended with S in 13th place. A good learning experience and many changes needed on the kart (and the driver too).






7/20 at Stafford Motor Speedway
July 20th wasn’t as good of a night for the team at SMS. The warmest day of the racing season so far with temps close to 90F during the day. D had a decent night in the Tiger B class. Started and finished 6th of 7 in the heat race. This earned him the 4th starting spot in the 2nd Feature race. He moved to 3rd early in the race and held the spot through to the end. A podium finish, so D brings home some hardware. Good Job D!

J started 9th of 10 karts and finished 4th in the heat race again. The Feature race turned out to be an ugly race for the whole class. The caution flag was waved 5 or 6 times in the 12 lap race. As the laps wound down to two to go, J was battling hard for 2nd. As he took the white flag, the other kart squeezed him down to the inside of the front stretch, the kart behind him got impatient and decided to get to the inside of J. As J backed out of the gas so as not to wreck the kart in 2nd place going into turn 1, the other kart forced him way out of the groove in turn 1 & 2, so J fell to 6th coming out of turn 2. As the kart that forced him out of the groove & J got going again, this same kart lost control in turn 4, spun out and collected J. J ended up finishing 7th with a busted up right front spindle & tierod. After the may-lay, J fell to the 2nd spot in the overall points standings.

S didn’t race the Sr. Outlaw as “life” got in the way of getting the kart set up on time for this event.


7/25 at Rt. 106 Racepark, Concord, NH
This was race #3 in the Saturday Night Live Series that J has been participating in. D has been asking to race in this series and since he has been doing well at SMS, we decided to let him race too. J qualified 3rd and D qualified last of the nine karts. J was in 2nd for most of the 30 lap race and on the tail of the lead kart. With about 10 laps to go, J and the lead kart came up on D to put him a lap down. The first place kart got around D easily. J had a little harder time passing his brother. They raced for a lap or two and by that time, the lead kart had gotten ¼ of a lap ahead and J couldn’t catch up. D finished 8th and J finished 2nd.


7/26 at Pomfret Speedway, Pomfret, CT
Pomfret Speedway hosted an invitational race and invited those who race at Stafford on a regular basis. A neat little 1/8 mile oval track with a slight amount of banking in the turns. Seven karts from Stafford showed up, so a decent field for the Tiger Sprint class. D drew the 2nd starting spot, while J drew 6th. Starting the heat race took a couple of tries, but once they got going, it was a good race. J made a nice move in the final turn to grab the win by ½ a kart length as they came across the stripe. D finished 5th. The start of the feature was a repeat of the heat as it took 3 times to get the race under way. J took the lead and held it for about half of the race (25 laps). The caution flag came out with 4 to go. J tried to get past on the restart, but couldn’t get there, so he finished 2nd. D finished finished 5th. A decent run for both guys for the first time at this track as each one brought home a trophy.


Upcoming Races
The next race is scheduled for Stafford on Monday 8/3, which will be Car Club Night. There will be show cars from 3 different clubs on display - something for all of you car-buffs. Mark your calendar the race at Stafford on Monday, 8/17. This is Family Fun Night which is the event with many games for the kids on the fairway. Cost is $8 for adults and free for those 12 and under. Hope to see you then.

The J&D2 Racing Team

The Nest, Part 2 :-)

Here's the latest pic of the family that's taken
residence in my fern. She laid 4 eggs and 3
have hatched. She flies off every hour or
so to get food for the babes. You know she's
back because you can hear her little ones
chirp with delight as they know it's feeding
time. :-)

The Nest

Here's a pic of the nest and it's contents (looks like
the family is expanding). :-) She did a great
job with the construction.

J&D Racing Fans,

Happy Fourth of July to all of our fans! We hope you are enjoying your Independence Day weekend. Weather was nice enough to get the Wild Thing Kart Series race in on Monday, 6/29. It was another good night for J&D Racing.

J started “shotgun” (last), 9th place in the 6-lap heat race for the Tiger A division. He moved up and finished 5th. Starting 5th in the Feature, he moved up to 3rd after the caution came out for two karts getting together. He made a run for the lead and took it, but got shuffled out in turn 4 and fell back to 3rd. On the final lap, the lead car spun in turn 4, so J finished 2nd. J is now first in the overall point standings.

D started on the point for the second Tiger B heat race. Watch the video to see how he does.



Having won the second heat race, D started 2nd in the first Feature. He held his own and stayed within 2-3 kart lengths of the leader and finished 2nd. This was D’s first podium finish at SMS. Congratulations D!! We can see the improvement D is making in his driving abilities with each race. Keep up the good driving.



Next race is scheduled for 7/13 at SMS. This event will be a special one as “Racing Against Cancer” will be involved throughout the evening. So those of you in the local area are invited to attend and support this worthwhile cause.

P.S. Stay tuned for a update announcing a change to J&D Racing.