Roil-ridding Rob!

Dirt, muck, mud, soil, or roil - whatever you call it - sprint cars ride on it and when they do, that junk flies everywhere and splatters the car like crazy.  Luckily, both racing teams of Thomas Ogle and Michael Curtis have the hard-working hands of Rob Samour, mudscraper extraordinaire!  After each hot lap session or heat race, Rob can be found bent over, hind-side up, scraping tires, ridding the car of dirt clods, wiping down the car with water soaked rags, and spraying the tires with baby oil to make them shine!  I would call it a thankless job but that would be a misnomer, as I was witness to the deep appreciation both teams felt for Rob's toiling.  As you know Rob loves racing, and although he'll never be a Thomas Ogle or a Michael Curtis, he can live vicariously through them and pitch in however and whenever he can.  He may not be the engine builder or chassis set-up expert, but he'll turn a wrench and make the car shine each time it goes out on the track.  He's away from us often on weekend nights, but we're okay with that because we know how much he enjoys it and now that I've gone to a race myself, I see how much he's utilized.

Here is Thomas getting pushed off for hot laps by his wife Michelle and his dad Tim.  Notice the car is fairly clean.

Here's the car upon its return from hot laps.

Then it's time for Rob to get to work.  The rump is up and the mud is falling.

There's always opportunities to talk shop and that's a plus.

Michael's car gets dirty too and could definitely use a de-mudding.

The team goes to work and it looks better.

Here are the Ogles pushing Thomas off for a heat race. 

Rob and I are in the back on a ride-along!

Here's Michael in action.

Don't you want to hear what sprint car racing sounds like?

Michael did pretty well.  He was in the B feature and running good until someone bumped him and he cut a tire.

Thomas had flipped the previous night, spent all day getting the back up car ready, only to experience the same fate.  He was on the pole of this heat race - in the black car - when disaster struck.  Watch and listen....

On the first lap near turn 2 Thomas flipped again.  It was definitely not a good night for him and for my first race in years, the amount of cars turning over was quite frightening, especially now that I actually know two of the drivers personally.  Thankfully Thomas is okay, just sore in body and poor in spirit and in pocket.  This racing thing is expensive and often a money pit.  I thought Samour Sounds was an expensive endeavor but after going racing for a night, I realize it's far from. 

Thanks to the Ogles and the Curtis team for allowing me a sneak peek at life in the pits.  I look forward to traveling with Michael to New Mexico.  Let's hope for lots of luck and fortune in the Land of Enchantment!