High Plains Enduro Race

Marty, Lizzie and I drove out to the racetrack to watch some of today's eight hour Enduro.

The guys weren't lying when they said it was an hour into the middle of nowhere. 

But it was a cool track with elevation and a great spot to watch where you could view the straights, several curves and up over the hill and into the pits.

We got there in time to watch 15 minutes of Nick's driving -- about 7 laps --

and the transition from Nick to Dan.

This is Pete, Dan, Corey & Nick's coach and fourth driver -- the pro.

He's been driving since he was in high school and they've loved learning from him.

He's also a great guy to spend time with. His wife, Wendy, was also on the trip and I loved getting to know her too. They've done so many interesting things in life and we had a few similarities and it was just great conversation whenever we were together.

Four guys on crew also attend each race and are suited up in fire suits and helmets just like the drivers for safety when they do their jobs when the car comes into pit. Wendy was working all day too with the crew and also providing food and drinks for the guys all day.

The driver on deck (Dan) helps the current driver out of the car (Nick),

Then the driver who just exited helps the new driver get buckled in, cool suit hoses connected, window net buckled etc. Meanwhile the crew fills the car with gas and one person stands ready with a fire extinguisher in case of fire.

Everyone is hurrying as fast as they can and it was pretty intense and exciting.

Shut the door and he's off...

Corey and Nick each drove two 1 hour 20 minute stints, Dan and Pete did just one.

Nick had contact with another car so got called in to the office (we called it the principal's office).

They can be really strict, even pulling your race permit for the rest of the season, so it was kinda scary.

But luckily they gave Nick instruction on what he should have done differently and used it as a learning opportunity. Later in studying the video Nick saw the driver gave him a point by which explained why he'd gone for the pass. We were relieved it all worked out.

We watched Dan for a few laps, then headed home.

The freeway runs along the track and we raced Dan down the straight.

He beat us even though we had a good head start.

Fun to spend time with Marty and Lizzie AND get to see some of Nick and Dan's race. 

Next time we're in Denver, it will be to see the new baby!