After the week we had building a new car because the 22 was totaled, We went to the track hoping for the best but expecting the worst. We arrived at the track early so we could double check the cars. Before regular practice began they let Dj bring the new car out for 3 laps alone  to make sure that the car was right before being out with the pack, when he came off track the car stalled and would not restart.I was thinking this was the start of a horrible night. We found a broken spark plug wire and fixed it, we missed 1st practice but made it out for second practice, In the 2nd practice Hans ran a 16.9 second lap (woohoo he ran his first 16) and Dj ran a 16.4 second lap, Dj came off the track saying he likes this car better than the one he wrecked and don't change anything.

http://www.ontiltradio.com/video/22-minicup-6-15-12-practice

Now it was time for the Qualifiers, Hans was starting the OTR/DCW Motorsports 02 on the outside pole (second) In the 8 lap qualifier the 3rd place car jumped the start and went into the lead, Hans ran a very smooth and clean race and after the 69 was pentilized for jumping the start Hans was rewarded with a 2nd place finish (wooohooo his first trip to the scales, after every race the top 3 finishers must be checked for ride height {car must be a minimum of 1 3/4 inches from ground at its lowest point} and weight {car must weigh a minimum of 680 lbs with driver in full race gear and a max of 55% of that weight can be on the left side} )

http://www.ontiltradio.com/video/02-minicup-6-15-12-qualifier

Now it was Djs turn to Qualify , he started the 8 lap race in 4th, but did not stay there long and by the time they exited turn 2 on lap one he was in the lead and gone. While it made for very boring video it was nice to see him finish the race with a half track lead.Both boys made the scales in qualifing - dad was in seventh heaven.

http://www.ontiltradio.com/video/22-minicup-6-15-12-qualifying

Now its time for the boys main, in the 13 car field Hans was starting the 02 second and Dj was starting the 22 fifth, As the green flag dropped Dj started moving forward but in the middle of turns 1 and 2 Hans (yes his brother) turned down into Dj, being the smart driver Dj let off so the two of them would not wreck and dropped to 12th, My heart sank because I was thinking there is no way he is going to make it thru all that traffic , once again I was wrong, As the video shows he was a man on a mission and drove that car like a veteran racer with years of experiences (not a 13 year old kid) and picked his way thru traffic , by lap 7 he had caught the leaders and soon was in front and gone, pulling way from the rest of the pack and lapping cars, he took the checkers with over 1/2 straight away lead.Hans got turned into the grass on lap 3 by the 69 and was too far behind by the time he got going again he finished 12th but his video shows he was fast and the last 5 laps was catching the cars in front of him.

http://www.ontiltradio.com/video/22-minicup-6-15-12-main

http://www.ontiltradio.com/video/02-minicup-6-15-12-main

After going thru tech, which this week was removing and disassembling the carb so it could be inspected for illegal modifications and parts, giving a oil sample to check for illegal flammable additives, and removing the rocker arms and pushrods to check that parts are within specs, with everything passing tech, it was now time to call it a night, load everything into the trailer and for dad to once again explain (translate as yell) that team members to not swap paint on track.

On fathers day dad bought a gift for the boys, I am steeling from peter to pay paul, we bought another complete car, with tons of spare parts, and 2 more spare engines, there are 3 reasons i did it, first was that DJ is running great and has a good chance at a championship, second was i do not want to ever try to build a car in a week again in my lifetime, third is a new chassis to have onhand as a spare is $2500, we bought everything ( about $7500 worth) for $3000, at that price it will be worth fighting off the collectors for a few months while i get caught up. Yes i am crazy, but if your kid was as skilled and as committed  to this sport as DJ , most would do the same.