My first Blog!

I have seen on IOW different threads with "a week in the life" of drivers, owners, crew members, etc.  I figured I may as well enlighten some on the life of a racing family.  Yes, I know we aren't the first to do this racing thing full time, and I definitely know I'm not the first wife and mother to endure what it takes to make this life work, but that's exactly why I fell compelled to share a little peek of what goes on in my family.  For those of you that don't know my husband is Jerry Coons Jr.  We have a 19 month old son named Cale who is most definitely our whole world even when less than 2 short years ago we thought racing was.  Jerry races the full dirt/pavement USAC Sprint, Midget, and Silver Crown schedule and basically any other race he can find/ get a ride for.  Jerry, unlike many, has TRULY worked his way to where he is.  We are so blessed to have the car owners and rides that we currently have, but Jerry got there on his own talent, not money, and no other excuses.  Of course I'm biased, but I absolutely stand behind everything I say about him.  He started running quarter midgets as a child and switched to go karts, he then ran his fathers midget in the 80's in Arizona and surrounding areas and began earning rides  from there.  He quit his job in 98 and came out here to try to do this for a living for a few years, and he has successfully done so ever since.  Now, this isn't a biography about Jerry, but I felt like I needed to give you some background on where he came from.  Now me, I was born the year Jerry started running midgets :)  I grew up going to Putnamville watching my dad race late models.  My uncle owned a #6 Sprint car Bill Rose used to run (Karl Clearwaters is my uncle).  My dad helped with it, and then worked on the #27 Silver Crown car owned by Doug Jones (from Major League Baseball).  The car stayed in my garage so I was a frequent "shop rat".  My mom and I went to the races we could and I had already caught the racing bug.  My dad began working on Tom Capie's Silver Crown car (#153) and I started going to all the races I could.  We would also go to Putnamville every Saturday night we could as he built some motors and we just enjoyed racing! I met Jerry while I was at Purdue and soon graduated and shortly after we had our son! So when I met Jerry I assumed he was a typical driver...but he's not, and here we are! 

Juggling his schedule, a job, a baby, and a dog is NOT easy.  And sometimes it's just impossible.

Let's start with this week because these next two are going to be insane.

There are times I have no idea what day of the week it even is because we are on the go ALL the time. 

So we'll just pick Tuesday... Tuesday I had to work until 5:30.  I work part time at an AWESOME place with an AWESOME boss. [Frameworks Marketing Group - contact us if you need a sprint car wrap, trailer wrap, hero cards, anything like that! :) ] Jerry stays home with Cale while I work, but they never stay home.  He is taking care of the 3NZ midget and currently trying to get it ready for Kokomo, so they spend lots of time at the shop, picking up shocks, and running other various racing errands.  So up until Tuesday we thought Jerry was running Gas City Friday, Alma OH Saturday, Kokomo Sunday, Oswego Wednesday, Belleville Friday and Saturday, etc.  So Tuesday we found out 1. Eldora was having an open test Friday and the Hoffmans want to do it - so no Gas City.  THen, 2. Oswego is cancelled, our travel arrangements are shot, Jerry's flight cancelled, etc. And within an hour of finding about about Oswego, Our new schedule is Eldora Friday, Alma Saturday, Kokomo Sunday, Rising City NE Monday, McCool Junction Tuesday and Wednesday, Belleville Friday and Saturday, Knoxville Sunday, Oskaloosa Tuesday, Marne MI Thursday, Salem Saturday.  Hmmmmm Kokomo to Nebraska in how many hours? Is that possible? And are we taking the motorhome? And how are Cale and I going to get to Belleville? And I don't have a babysitter for Monday or Tuesday with Jerry being gone.  What do I do with Cale? I have to work because we HAVE to have the money. Jerry isn't coming home between Oskaloosa and Marne but I can't stay gone from work that long, but when I do come back, I won't have a babysitter for Cale anyway, Jerry is the only one that watches him.  Amazing what the changes in one hour can do to us!!

I get on IndianaOpenWheel to get the scoop.  Of course all I see are USAC Compainers.  I get so irritated that this.  Not a soul has mentioned the REAL reason Oswego was cancelled, that's because they don't know, they assume.  Heaven forbid anyone think it may have ahd something to do with the RACE TRACK, not the sanctioning body for the cancellation. But oh well Same thing happened with Terre Haute, we got the pleasure of seeing the pictures of how under water Terre Haute was, but got to listen to people speculate that it was because of Under Promotion.  Whatever, I hate how personally I take USAC bashing, but this is what we do for a living.  I wish I didn't look at message boards, but I can't help it. There's so many topics that get me so fired up.  But I try to tell myself it's just people that aren't doing ANYTHING for this sport that say the mean things.  We are, we are trying our hardest to help this sport.  We walk through the gates at a race track and pay nearly $90 a time to get us 3 in the pits and one of us is actually RACING, and another is ONE but we don't complain...while people sit at home and BITCH that they're FREE live feed isn't up to their satisfaction.  Then those same people complain that the purses aren't high enough, you think we don't know this, while my husband travels more in one season more than some people do in 10 years to do this sport we all love, there are actually people out there degrading what he does.  Perhaps if some would get out from behind these keyboards and get to tracks, promotors would realize they should pay more to get these USAC drivers to their tracks. 
That is way off topic, but these are all things that went through my head on Tuesday prior to trying to figure out what the hell we're going to do in the next two weeks.

Wednesday: New plan is Cale and I are going with my parents to Belleville, Knoxville, and Osky. No work today, Jerry is off to the silver crown shop to the team meeting.  Cale and I have some free time so we're off to the zoo.  But we hafta get back when Jerry does because he has to get the motorhome, take it to get the oil changed, I have to go by Napa to get filters if he's taking this thing on this trip.  Man, Cale and I wish daddy could go to the zoo with us once in awhile, but he's so busy.... Get home, zoo calls, they found my drivers license, Jerry takes us back to get it...oh well at least we got to spend time with him for about 40 minutes today...

Thursday: I gotta get the rest of my hours in.  Work all day.  Good thing I work next to Pace performance coatings because I gotta go get the tire cart for Jerry so he can pick it up from my work late tonight.  Cale and I are going to Greencastle to go to the county fair with my mom, Jerry REALLY wants to go but has work to do on the midget.  He comes for a bit, we have a great time while he's there, but he has to leave early to go to the shop.  I take Cale home and put him to bed, Jerry said he'll be home soon.  12:30 A.M. He rolls in, maybe we'll hang out tomorrow.

Friday: Wow, the house is a wreck, get up, Jerry has to mow the yard, then head to the midget shop.  Cale and I hang out all morning, and Jerry will be home in a bit.  He gets home just in time to leave for Eldora for the test.  Just me and Cale this evening, he's a pretty cute date to have :) That's where I am now at 11:30, looking up race results from Gas City, where we were supposed to be, waiting for Jerry to get home from his test, he's got a little over an hour left to drive.  Tomorrow morning maybe we can talk about what the hell is going on the next couple of weeks before he leaves for Alma, OH....

Oh an while this is going on, all I get to read is bashing about what the car counts are going to be at K-C and Knoxville...but we'll still be there, doing our best....but I know, I know, A lot of IOW'ers are USAC haters except when it's convenient for them, so they don't care about those races anyway....why do we go through all this again?