CRANDON, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 3 - 6, 2009

It has been a few years since we've been to Crandon, but after traveling up to Bark River, Michigan to race last year, we didn't want to miss Crandon's 40th, and the nearly 4200 miles round trip was more than worth it. Over the past 5-6 months we have found a better reason to race than we ever imagined. In March of 2009 our family started sponsoring 2 children that live in extreme poverty. Knowing that these children live without the basics such as clean water, we felt we had to do something more. An indescribable feeling of excitement just went thru us. A feeling that is so much more than the one you have when you finished on the top block of the podium, this was a deep feeling from within. Now we race to help our 2 kids in Africa and all the other kids throughout the world that live in poverty. One thing we're doing to create awareness is having flyers readily available at our race pit for anyone to take or ask questions. We printed banners and graphics for our trailer and 1600 Buggy (and quads) to also promote awareness of organizations out there that are in place and already making a huge global impact. For more information on various organizations and how you can get involved visit our SWORR page (SouthWest Off-Road Racers)

We rolled into Crandon on Thursday afternoon, got our pit which happened to be right next to Tim Crawley and his group. Tim is one of our graphic customers from Pennsylvania and we were quite surprised to see him there, let alone camp right next to him. Friday was a fun-filled day right from the start. Early in the morning we got Jeff set up in the buggy and Noelani and I loaded up our pit truck (Polaris Ranger) and joined in the procession down the highway and thru town with Noelani waving to all the locals as the Pro trucks, buggys, and classix made their way down to main street.

The parade events were fun to watch and during the parade there was a contest held for the "Badest Buggy". We were off checking out all the trucks and had no idea such a contest was being held. Later that afternoon while back at the track watching the pro's practice and race, our team was called to the south tower. Now unless our dog had somehow gotten loose (which he did later in the weekend) we had no idea what was going on. As it turns out, our buggy was the winner of the Bad Buggy contest. We were so surprised!

Saturday morning was our first look at the track from the seat of the buggy. We had done a few parade laps on Thursday night with our ranger, and our daughter loved it so much she asked if she could race. But the 3 laps Jeff got in practice weren't enough to really learn the best line for the corners, but at least he got a look at it and was ready to go for our 1st race. This was also the first time our new dual-port motor was pushed beyond the limits of our driveway. In practice Jeff was trying to be easy on the motor knowing we had a hairline crack at the oil return fitting and hoping the JB Weld would hold.

The races were extremely fun and exciting. From the spotters tower where we were at when the green flag waved, we couldn't see the 18 SRT Buggy's coming, but we could hear a little thunder as they made their way thru turn 1. Jeff said he got a great jump off the line, about 5th, but let off a little as buggys started side-walling each other a little coming into turn 1. He came out of turn 1 about 15th but started making passes right away. The race had some excitement when Larry Fitzgerald in the 311 buggy got into the back of Bob Blaney coming out of the Borg Warner turn (turn 2). Blaney ended up crashing hard and was out of the race early. This chain reaction wreck caused trouble for Jesse Plawman as well, but unlike Bob who took a quick trip to the hospital, Jesse was able to make the necessary repairs for Sunday's race. Jeff was smart to hang back or he could have been caught up in the mess as well. The rest of the racing action for us was great! Jeff battled with several others and although we were mid-pack, it was the exciting part of the race to watch. If there would have been one more lap we think we could have gotten by Ernster for 10th, but we settle with 11th and a lot of smiles.

Sunday's race started with Jeff getting another great jump off the line, but once again coming out of turn 1 with traffic in front of him. He was doing well and was in an intense battle inside the top 10. As the group was making their way into the hairpin of turn 3, Jeff picked a different line hoping to sneak in another pass while going thru the corner. As I was videotaping the action I could feel the adrenaline. But as they came thru the corner and headed towards the Traxxas jump I didn't see Jeff. I looked back and he was just coming out of turn 3. Disappointment hit the pit of my stomach. He was doing so well and now had to do everything he could to reel them back in. From Jeff's viewpoint, as he switched up his lines going into the turn his front tire hit a pretty good puddle of mud and spun him out. We all know that the layer of mud on the top surface can act like a sheet of ice and once your front wheels are cranked, but sliding a different direction there's not much you can do but correct and ride it out. He continued to fight his way back up but didn't have enough laps left to get inside the top 10. He finished on Sunday in 14th.

Even though we didn't finish as high as we were hoping, we had the time of our lives... and the JB Weld held the entire time. We would like to express our appreciation to all the members of the TORC Series for their hospitality, professionalism, and kindness. We're not a pro team, not even a big sportsman team, but it never fails that in the 3 races we've done in the midwest (due to travel cost), we have always been greeted warmly and by name. It's amazing how polite and courteous they all are. We even ran into Julie in the pits (member of the Kincaid family), she watched our daughter for us at our 1st CORR race back in 2005 when it was brought out to the southwest and Jeff and I were both racing. Our races were scheduled on top of each other and Julie volunteered to watch Noelani while I was in staging and Jeff was finishing his race. Another great moment was when Noelani and I were making our way to the spotters tower and I could hear a golf cart coming up behind us. I tried to make sure Noelani was out of the way only to hear "you guys are ok Missy, we have plenty of room". It was Tiffany calling out behind us from the golf cart. We have only met Tiffany and Julie at the CORR/WSORR/TORC races and certainly don't expect anyone to remember us, especially our names, but the hospitality of the midwest is genuine. That's definitely not something we've ever experienced in our 10 years racing in the southwest. Just an incredible group of people running the midwest series.

If you have a buggy or truck and would like to learn more about The Off-Road Championship Series (TORC), visit their web site.

Race photo's are posted below. Thanks again for checking out our site.

stay young, have fun, PLAY!