Why racing?

Racing is in my blood. Its what fuels me. The sense of speed, the demand of competition, the desire to win, the thrill of victory, all the aspects come into account as you approch the track that morning.
    My father and grand father both raced, my dad turned it into a professional career climbing all the way up to the NASCAR nationwide series. In 2001, Carlin financial, the team he raced for went bankrupt. This led to the closing of the team just weeks later with the championship approaching. My dad won two NASCAR slim jim all-pro series championships against the current points lead in sprint cup Matt Kennseth.
     I attened my first first race when I was only 4 months old, I grew up at tracks all across the country. My father bought me a racing go kart for my 4th birthday. I never slowed down since then. I raced go karts for 3 years racking up wins at 8 different tracks in South Carolina. I then moved on to the lower classes of stock car racing in the from of 4-cylinders, and street stocks. I finally received the opportunity   to fulfill my life long dream of racing against my father. On April 4th, 2012 in my first super truck start it would be along side my dad on the front row. At the end of the race, I was the one to come across the line first. In dominating fashion I took the victory in my first career start.
 

What I learned today

In the late 1700’s racial tension was beginning to climax. Slaves had a big part in the production of crops after the revolutionary period. The increased numbers in slaves from the early 1700’s led to the increasing number of plantations and white slave owners. When the American Colonization Society was introduced in 1787 is primary cause was to rid the country of all black because of the rising racial tension. They proposed that all slaves be sent to Africa to find religious prosperity, economic, and political leadership. Nevertheless the African Americans would receive none of this if they were actually sent off. African Americans and Indians were refused the civil and political rights that the whites were given. The expansion of the colonies westward led to increasing problems with the Native Americans. Indian tribes believed that the whites were implemented to support and aid the struggling nations. Little by little the whites would take Indian land, via backing of the government. Although the white men that did encounter the tribes spoke of the Indians in good praises. Thomas Jefferson described them “In body and mind, equal to the white man."

FALL BREAK!!

     I play to spend my Saturday at Dillon Motor Speedway. I am running in the PASS Pro Late Model Series, this is my 3rd time racing the late model at Dillon this year. Dillon is my "home track" in this series, but I have some of my worst finishes of the season there. I hope I can turn over a new leaf as the season comes to an end. 

     The rest of my weekend will consist of absolutely nothing. I want to catch up on some much needed sleep! I also plan on going to my girlfriends house to see her and her nephew. Depending on how the weekend goes, I may go down to Charleston. 

I am currently typing this blog on the side of pocket road. I was leaving FMU when I noticed my truck was acting up. First my radio cut off, then all the gauges zeroed out. When I turned on pocket my truck battery died. I am not waiting on my dad to get here with a new battery. This makes me hate chevy…. I have already had to change fuel pumps twice, i changed my power steering box last month. This will be the second battery I have put in my truck since I bought it. 

Are racers considered athletes?

Many people do not consider race car drivers real athletes. I have played baseball my whole life, year round. I have had first hand experiences of true athletes. I can honestly say there has been no 9 inning baseball game that has worn me out like 50 laps in a race car. The longest race of my career has been 125 laps. After the race I climbed out, drenched in sweat I took a seat inside the trailer. I remained seated there trying to catch my breath fully and regain control of my body. Inside a race car temperatures can reach up to 130 degrees. If the physical demand seams easy try being inside a car with  600 horsepower and only weighing 2,800 pounds. In the corner touching the gas takes your breath away. As you are traveling down the straightaway the pressure lessens, but you still hold your breath until you let off the gas. If this claim does not justify that racers are true athletes maybe considering the fact that instead of playing against another team, there are 25 or more drivers and teams all striving for the same goal. Combining all of these aspects together creates an incredibly challenging sport.

English

For my English 111 class is was given the assignment to write an argumentative essay on a topic of my choice. I choose to write on my beliefs concerning Major League Baseball players found guilty of using any performance enhancing drugs should not be considered for induction into the hall of fame. Growing up the only thing I wanted to be was a professional baseball player. I always dreamed of playing in front of 65,000 people, having kids imitate me on the field as I did with my favorite players. With my love for the Atlanta Braves my two favorite players were Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield. In 2003 Sheffield stood in front of a grand jury pleading guilty to using BALCO steroids that are undetectable on a normal drug test. Sheffield also admitted to receiving the steroids from Barry Bonds I remember sitting on my bed watching Barry Bonds strip Hank Aaron of the all time home run record. I was devastated to see a man cheating his way to the top of Major League Baseball using steroids. I feel that any player implicated of using PED’s should not receive any votes for induction into the most prestigious home in the baseball world.

History

Today in History 201 we focused on the causes of the whiskey rebellion.  Alexander Hamilton implemented a revenue tax on distilled whiskey and spirituous liquor. This angered many farmers because they used their excess crops to make these sprits. The tax hurt all farmers, but the small farmers in western Pennsylvania were particularly upset. They sent petitions to the state and federal government, along with refusal to pay the revenue tax. When this did not work the farmers took matters into their own hands. The farmers in the western part of Pennsylvania were of the poorer class. They had just settled on the land in hopes of making profit. The taxes incorporated by Alexander Hamilton made it hard for the farmers to increase profits. The farmers did not have enough money to buy the distilled sprits from other countries. 

FALL

It's finally Fall! I love when the weather starts to cool down. Fall also brings fairs, haunted houses, festivals, the start fair, and most of all, hunting season.  I also like the cooler weather at the race track. We no longer have to have the a/c running in the trailer the whole day. The cars pick up almost half a second during qualifying because the motors can stay cooler. The cool weather makes me want to sit in the stand and hunt for Bambi's dad.

My favorite class that I am taking this semester is Political Science with Mrs. Warters. I love the way she teaches. She makes learning fun. The way she explains things are always clear and easy to understand. I am planning on majoring in Political Science. I just took my first exam in her class. I feel confident in my score. I hope to continue to learn more about the government to prepare me further in life.

In Political Science we are writing a paper establishing what we think should be the 28th amendment. I proposed the 28th being the legalization of marijuana. Many people look down upon frequent marijuana users. I think legalization would help the economy in a variety of ways. Creating jobs would be the first. From farmers, to medical scientist, jobs would be all over. I have also seen the good effects of the herb. A 10 year old boy was having up to 10 seizers a day. His mother looked upon a local grower to help the young boy. The man created a pill using marijuana and the boy now only has one seizer a month.

Today  in University Life our class went to the old cabins on the grounds of Francis Marion. The cabins have been around for over a century. We got to take an in depth look at how the African American society worked and lived. The plantation workers worked from sun up to sun down. They lived in small log cabins. The scales they used to weigh the cotton bags are still being used today. My dad uses the weights to scale the race cars. I really enjoyed the trip to the cabins. My favorite part was hearing the man on the tape doing the interview.

This weekend was championship night at Dillon Motor Speedway. Saturday morning we loaded up and got to the track early for extra practice. The super truck was handing decent throughout the day. I qualified 3rd, and my dad qualified 1st. I qualified 18th in the mini cup due to some motor problems. Thanks to the crew chief Hunter Britt we were able to get the car running a lot better. In the first mini cup feature i went from 18th and winded up finishing 4th. The truck race was looking promising. I felt like i had the truck to beat. On lap 15 I dove up under the man in second and a plug wire came off and fried the ignition. This ended my night shortly. On the bright side I ended up finishing 3rd in the Dillon Motor Speedway, Myrtle Beach Speedway, and second in Pee Dee/Coastal Super Truck Series. My next race will be october 5th at Dillon. This will be my first ever start in a PASS Super late model.

jumper

If I could choose to have one super power I would choose to be a jumper. I could teleport wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. You wouldn't ever have to worry about gas prices. If you wanted to go to China, all you have to do is jump. When you needed money you just jump to a bank and get all that you want. A jumper can also travel back in time. Imagine jumping back in time to fix the past. I think that would be great.

"the great awakening"

Today in University Life Mr. Flowers told us that the college workload was a great deal more difficult than we thought. I knew i would have to work harder in order to maintain the grade point average I was striving for. I think it hit me before it winded up hurting me. I have had many people telling me that i need to get all the assignments out of the way as soon as possible. I never imagined that I would have all these papers due so soon. I plan on working on them most of the night tonight. I also have a writing lab at 8:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. I will also be taking my MacBook to Charleston this weekend. Hopefully my girlfriend will proof read them, and give me some feedback.

Get me to the weekend

Only 4 more classes until I'm Charleston bound. I have a 9:30 math class that I am really not looking forward to. Then I have a break until 11:30, I plan on doing some schoolwork during my break. At 11:30 I have my English class. After English I go to the nursing building for my Political Science class. This is my favorite class that i am taking this semester. Lastly, I go to FH for my History 201 class. When the professor dismisses us, I will sprint out the doors, jump in my truck, and hit I-95.

8:00 a.m.!!!

My Tuesday and Thursday classes start at 8:00 a.m. I think I am going to need a Red Bull! My first class is a writing lab. I hope to start my rough draft for my first college paper. This is something i am not looking forward to in the slightest bit. Since it's my first paper I do not want to procrastinate; therefore i will start brainstorming tonight.

College life

Two of my best friends are here for the long weekend. They both attend USC. Its hard having your friends and girlfriend living a couple hours away. The phone can only bring you so close to actually being there with that person. Conversations just are not as humorous over the phone. You cant see that big smile that you love so much, see the facial expressions that you've be accustomed to seeing; throughout, your whole life so far. Its hard knowing that most high school friendships don't last much longer after college, but i feel like i have a select few friends that I would never lose touch with, even if they were on the other side of the world.

This weekend was great. I rode up to Clemson to go tailgate with some friends. Im a huge Carolina fan,  so it took a lot to get me there. Friday night was rush blowout, its the biggest party of the year at Clemson. There was a little over 2,000 people at the party, and it didn't begin slowing down until 4 a.m. We woke up around 8:00 and started getting ready (after we found the alive) the tailgate was great, everyone was having a great time. The food was delicious, the beer was ice cold, and the tigers won. This weekend changed my views on Clemson, i think Clemson is a real nice atmosphere, but go cocks!

That's what I love about Sundays

Today after church I went to my girlfriend's house. We rode the tractor with her little nephew, Landon. He is the cutest two- year- old I have ever seen. My girlfriend is currently turning the television off so I can finish my last blog. I have to say, she knows how to keep me in line. Now that I am finished with my blogs, I'm going to take a nap to top off my lovely Sunday.

GETTING WRECKED BY A GIRL

During the same night, I won the mini cup trophy dash. A mini cup is a 700 pound 1/4 size race car. I started 5th and took the lead on the first lap of the feature. I also participated in another race with the same car later that night. During this race, the yellow flag came out because I " jumped the start". I battled for 2nd and 3rd all night. Things got wild on the last lap, when a girl hit me going into turn one. She then proceeded to hit me all the way down the backstretch. When we entered turn three she finished me off for good. I spun all the way around, shifted down, and still managed to finish 4th.

RACE DAY

Last night I competed in the PASS pro late model series at Dillon Motor Speedway. Throughout practice that afternoon I was never fully satisfied with the handling of the car. I started 5th and was competitive during the race. The 12 car of Harrison Burton picked up the win. He is the son of NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. Racing against that type of competition is tough. When someone's shocks and suspension cost more than your whole car a 4th place finish is pretty gratifying.