Mark racing at Putnam Raceway...

This is Mark, racing at Putnam Raceway this past weekend. As mentioned in previous blogs, he also crashed badly Sunday.

Today, he is headed home after being released from the hospital yesterday. He is going to check out the car before he leaves. NASA has the car and is going over it in technical according to blogs I have read. 

I want to thank all the drivers, corner workers, and officials that posted responses here. Mark and Sara are part of a much larger family of racers, and it shows what camaraderie there is in the sport. Thank you to all who sent me pictures of Mark driving, there are few because Sara is responsible for timing and scoring, and never has time while he is on track to take pictures. Luckily, some of you have taken pictures of him. 

-Andy

Interesting Quote....

"I knew how much he wanted the championship, but it wasn't until today that I realized he was prepared to die for it." - Alain Prost, speaking of Ayrton Senna his teamate at Mclaren in 1988.

It is a very interesting story.

The best investment ever!

Ok, so you all saw the last blog. Here is the update, Mark is going to make a full recovery. he has no broken bones. He suffered a compression from the accident, of his head down onto his shoulders, which knocked him out and closed off his breathing. You ask what one of the most important pieces of safety equipment you can wear is......

Yes, a HANS Device. (Head and Neck Restraint System) its a $2000 safety net that you can't afford to skimp on. The doctors said if Mark hadn't had one on, he would not be with us today.

So we are glad he had one on, and wish him a speedy recovery.

What is it with the weekends around here?

This is Mark. He is my Brother-in-Law (Seen here in the back of his Toyota) Gotta love the props to MadBrew on the truck..and also his car! This is how happy he is that his car is complete and he was cleared to race it.

This was taken awhile back...fast forward to this weekend, and the news isn't so good. Mark was participating in his first race of the year, and something went very wrong. He was rounding a curve and didn't break, or turn, and drove off the course and into the trees.

He was pinned in the car, but remained in his racing seat via racing harnesses, a HANS (head and neck restraint system) device and roll bar, but was knocked out. As the EMTs reached him, he was turning blue. Apparently the HANS ended up choking him so they intibated him immediately, and he took a huge breath through the bag. He remained unconcious throughout the rest of saturday and into saturday night. My mom flew out to Indianapolis to be with Sara and Mark sunday afternoon. By the time she arrived, Mark had turned a corner, and was actually waking up.
He knew who everyone there was, and knew what was going on.

He asked Sara, and one of the track people (who took pictures and was with Sara when the crash happened) which corner he crashed on....and how the car was! Spoken like a true car guy. The racing friend, said that the car is "fixable".... I haven't seen the pictures yet.

I am so glad he is doing much better. I have to admit, I am a huge race fan, of all types, and you would be hard pressed to find someone more hooked than me, so I prayed for the best and wished away the worst. I have seen too many serious crashes, and could see his in my mind. I took this really hard Sunday, and in a short time, was able to relax knowing that he was showing big signs of improvement. I will update this as time and imformation comes.

-Andy

This weekend!

Ok, so this picture was three weeks ago at our engagement party but lots has been going on in our lives lately. Stephanie has been back and fourth to Philly for work alot, but is holding up well. I have been working hard, and commuting a ton. I am currently looking for a career closer to home. More on that as things come together...

We have decided on a wedding date: September 12, 2009. And a place: the Carlyl House here in Atlanta.

We decided on well over a year out because of our schedules and all the travel (trips) we have planned in the meantime. We also wanted to have time enough to plan the perfect wedding and have it our way. We realized having a venue date early was a priority because we live in Atlanta and all the great places book fast.

Two weekends ago I went upto Road Atlanta with Joe (future father-law) to the Historic Races. The pictures for that are on Flickr (the feed is in the upper corner of this page) So check em out! Coming up this summer is the Suzuki Superbike weekend, the Petit Lemans Race, and a few others including a Nascar race in October. I cant wait.

Travel plans for the next 3 months, include: Charleston NC, Fenton MI, Chicago IL, and Harrisburg PA...pretty much every other weekend. UGH! going to wear me out but I cannot wait to see everyone.

This weekend is going ot be busy, and awesome! My parents are coming to town because we have two weddings going on this weekend. It has been awhile since I have seen my parents, so I cant wait. I miss them. My parents are also going to meet my soon-to-be in-laws for the first time on friday night when we all go to dinner together. Fun Fun!

ok, done enough talking...see ya next time.