Still recovering from a sweltering weekend at the River's Edge? I am sure there are a lot of people who dragged their sorry butts to work this morning. Maybe only so they could get into a air conditioned environment.  Many more will be trying to recover at home.
The entries were down a bit for the second CACC race of 2015, some because they were in Road America showing off their Canadian flag and SCCBC decals at Road America. Congratulations to Glenn Nixon for winning 3 out of 3 in the Pirelli World Challenge series, to Andre Kisel for pushing Glenn the whole way and taking 2nd place in all 3 races, and to series rookie Nick Duynstee, who qualified 3rd and finished 5th and 6th in his first WC appearance.
Other entries were missing due to heat, with some opting to run only one group on the weekend, unlike "Iron Lady" Gayle Baird who ran her usual events; 2 cars in a total of 6 races. She gets her heat conditioning in Mexico! Go Granny go.
Not missing were the many volunteers, the unsung heros, who stuck it out when the heat and humidity were soaring. They can not be thanked enough. Drivers helped out by keeping the incidents to a minimum so we could stay on schedule, and crews helped out by jumping in when they saw we needed help, (thank you Nixon Prosports crew, Burton, Al, Gio & Darryl,  for running over to pregrid and the hot pit many times to lend a hand) and to the others who took turns on corners throughout the weekend.
Thanks to Ray and Roland Stec (yes, they are volunteers- not paid employees) for spending their Saturday night fixing the tow truck while others were relaxing with a cold one.
Thanks to Mike Kaerne and Andrew Mawdsley who installed the new air conditioner in the club house on the previous weekend, while Ray, Laurie, Sheryl and I were repainting the club house, so that there was a lovely cool place to find refuge from the heat during the weekend.
Thanks to Norm Shaw and his son-in-law for battling the wasps on that same pre race weekend while they were upgrading our power grid.
Thanks to Keith Robinson, who we missed this weekend, who constantly visits the track to keep the blackberries at bay.
At the end of the day Sunday, when everyone was busy packing up, jumping into their air conditioned haulers and heading for the gate, they may not have noticed Norm Shaw and Al Cruickshank heading back onto the track, on forklifts. The track had to go back into drag mode before they were through with their day. I spoke to Norm after and thanked him. It was evident that he was hot and tired, but he was still upbeat and positive. When I told him I thought he was an unsung hero he responded by saying - If only a few drivers could come to him at the end of each race weekend and offer 15 minutes of their time it would make his job so much easier. In addition to moving blocks their are cones and brake markers to be retrieved and returned to the container. Easy up (and down) tents to be retrieved. Gates to be closed. Vehicles to be parked. Etc.
So, please, next race weekend, please drop by Norm's paddock spot on the front row near pregrid and ask what you can do before you head out. And tell him "thanks".

Very well said, Pam. As a driver, I'm very, very grateful to you and everyone who make these events possible, time after time, year after year. There are a core group of quiet but dedicated and reliable volunteers that deserve a huge vote of thanks from the rest of us.

One thing karting used to do is assign the setup and teardown of scales, tents, corners, etc, to drivers of a different class each race. Maybe we should adopt something that at Mission. One race open wheel, the next race closed wheel, etc. Just spit-balling.