Mod Nationals Weekend

This weekend was the 7th annual MN Mod Nationals in Alexandria, MN.  The kids came with and I just have to say that they were quite the troopers!  When we debated buying a hauler (camper/semi thing that pulls the trailer), I was kind-of against the idea, but it has turned out to be the best thing ever (minus the fuel mileage)!  Especially with a baby needing to be fed, changed, and napped.

We had our kiddie pool at the track which we used 1 of the days, but the 2nd day we drove to a big pool to cool off for the day!

 Even Mason needed a 2 hour nap both days...I think the sunshine all day wore him out!

But back to racing... We have raced this show since Shane started racing A-mods in 2006 (the year he won it), and have been fortunate enough to qualify every year so far!  This year there was 58 modified in attendance and 44 midwest mods.  They used passing points to determine who transferred to the main event.  So the heat winners don't necessarily make the show, it's who passes the most cars. In the Midwest Mod, Shane went from 5th to 2nd in his heat, which was 6th best?? of all the drivers.  He won the qualifying feature so that earned him a front row start for the main feature.  He ended up winning after a good battle with Travis Saurer near the end of the race!   

This pic was taken by a track photographer (CRP photography); which you can view more of his photos here

The A-mods also went by the passing points system and Shane went from 8th to 4th in his heat.  That was 16th best of all drivers, which was extremely crucial because they only took the top 16 cars from the heats. We JUST MADE IT!  Had he done worse, he would've had to run a consi (b-feature) to try to make it in.  It's always a relief to make big shows from your heat, to take the pressure off for the next day!  The goal was to make the main event, so we were happy! He ended up 13th in the main event, with Ryan Gustin taking home the $7,000 check!

They also ran Superstocks on Saturday night, where Shane finished 2nd after a good race with Cody Lee, who picked up his first win ever!  He was so excited he hugged Shane when he came to thank him for racing him clean and congratulate him on a good race!  Whether it be your first win, a big win, or just a good hard race between 2 drivers, it's fun to see the joy and pride that the drivers experience, and really puts into perspective why we do this...Because we have fun doing it! And even losing is fun (sometimes...LOL! :)

Monday (the 4th) we spent the morning/early afternoon cleaning out the hauler and unpacking from the long weekend.  We then spent the late afternoon/evening out on the boat on the river with some friends on the sandbar, then watched the fireworks from the boat at dark!  It was the best weekend of July thus far! ;)  And a short week to boot...Doesn't get much better! :)