Hey race peeps. Favorite trophy queen, Lainey here. And guess what? I’ve kicked off my race season, FINALLY!! For the beginning of this season at least, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to promote Youth Racing Solutions as a victory lane representative (i.e. TROPHY GIRL!) and this past weekend I visited PA’s oldest dirt racetrack, Bedford Speedway located in Bedford, PA.
I’ll start out by saying that I felt SO welcomed by the staff and fans there, it was a dream come true. Joe Padula and his team put on an outstanding show on a well-prepped track, and they did it with class. Actually, they did it with SIX classes—and still finished before curfew!
In the spirit of mother’s day weekend, and since my mom lives a mere 2 miles from the racetrack (how have I never been there before???), I dragged her along for the ride. Well let me just tell you: the team welcomed her as warmly as they did me. On the bright, sunny, warm Friday evening, my duties started with handing out carnations to all of the moms in attendance. A couple of drivers (Troy Swindell and Brian Lowery to name a couple) and some of the regular track staff gathered in the announcers booth with baskets of flowers and then we set out into the grandstands, handing them out! Cool moment of the night: handing a flower to my own mom. :)
Before the heat races got underway, I spent some time in the announcer’s booth with the track announcer Mike Sotosky. I got a chance to relay to the fans how I got involved in the sport and as a trophy queen, and to tell them about Youth Racing Solutions and the opportunities for children in racing to receive discounts on racing products from companies across North America. What’s fun about Bedford Speedway is that their race program is also broadcast on a local radio station, so I was on the airwaves too!
We watched the heats from the grandstands, which was great. THEN we watched the features from the FLAGSTAND. WHICH WAS AWESOME! And of course, victory lane duties after each race—this included handing a potted plant to the feature winner (for gifting to a mom in his life—keeping with the mother’s day theme) and smiling pretty for pictures. Got to meet some other influential Bedfordians (Bedford-ites?) and just generally enjoyed the warm, dusty night. I couldn’t have asked for a more awesome way to spend my Friday with momma bear. I really hope I have a chance to go back again soon, because it was one of the best track experiences I’ve ever had.
I stole a few thumbnails from Jason Walls, the track photographer, to stick in here. Jason is with WRT Speedwerx and he was phenomenal in capturing the action from the night. You can buy his photos on Zenfolio if you’re interested.
Stay tuned for the next blog post where I post some interview answers from Bedford’s 5/8/15 feature winners.
And cancel your plans-- cuz if it doesn't rain, we are going racing at Bridgeport this weekend :)
<3/
Miss Youth Racing Solutions
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