What a strange day. I had been getting ready to go kart racing this morning at about 6am when I placed my black tape across my number plate in memory of Ben. Other drivers had asked me why the tape was there, I just shared the story with them, all were sadened by the tragedy.

Off to the races. The first heat, the pole car stalls, there's a pile up a foot in front of me while I'm launching my kart, I miss the maylay and end up having a great heat.

2 heats completed and revving up for the main, I decided to test my clutch before gridding...it stalled. A quick push, and I was off to my spot, P5, with my new found info of my clutch needing a few more revs this race (thanks Ben).

2nd lap in I see positions 1 thru 3 take each other out at the end of a high speed turn, all of in the grass safely as I cruise by in 2nd. Thanks Ben (it looked like they just got nudged off the track by a big finger).

Lap 7, the kart in P1 slows on the front straight, then off into the gravel with a broken brake pedal weld. A weld, I don't know how you did it Ben, but thanks for getting me to the top of the podium today. After the race, I sat staring at the black tape and laughed and smiled.

 

That's really funny. You've got quite a guardian angel.

I just got an incredibly cool-looking helmet to kart race with this week, and I was going to meet up with Ben on Friday to excitedly show it to him and invite him to come karting with me at a big track out here called Moran Raceway some time in the next few weeks. There are like three or four people who I wanted to show it to--my son, Ben, another close car racing buddy that Ben didn't know and a kart racing pal of mine. It's funny how you sort things in your mind to only talk to certain friends about. Ben was so enthusiastic about driving.