Racing, A story of how we met & how it’s still a major part of our life…

People have asked me lately, “What does your husband do?”  “How did you meet him?”  “He does WHAT for a living?” “You like NASCAR racing?”

Yes, I like racing and here’s a little bit more about how it plays a role…

Stock car racing has always been a part of my life. It started as a family affair with my “Papas”, a.k.a. Carl Trimmer, my dad, uncles, and brother, it continued when I met Scott. (www.trimmermotorsports.com)

We met in the winter of 1996-1997 during the ESPN2 Winter Heat Late Model Racing Series held at Tucson Raceway Park. After the last race, Scott & I were walking across the infield together back to the “pits”. Scott was the Crew Chief for Marc Groskreutz, who had just finished 2nd behind my “Papas” in the Championship.  As we chatted walking across the track that day, I never thought I would see him again. Little did I know, Scott was later offered a Super Late Model Stock Car “ride” by Patrick’s Motorsport’s and he moved to Tucson the following spring of 1997.

Mutual friends encouraged me to call him, he only knew a few people in Tucson and they thought we would hit it off. After a bit of coaxing, I called and we met up at Hooters for wings and beers… I add this because truly, I never thought it would go anywhere, and anyone serious wouldn’t really go on their first date to Hooters! Would they???

Scott & I 1997

Scott & I 1997

The rest is history, we married in April of 2001. Scott raced Super Late Models & the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series in those years. When we had Madison in June of 2002, we traveled with a Late Model Stock Car to race in Montana’s biggest race of the year, The Montana 200, held at Montana Raceway Park. It had been our third trip up to race in the big event, and Scott came close to winning that year until an electrical fire took us out in the end. It was a long tough trip and in the end we both knew Montana was calling us home.  It was a difficult decision for Scott to leave behind a racing career, and for me to leave my family in Tucson.

Scott Phoenix International Raceway 2001

Scott Phoenix International Raceway 2001

In the years since, Scott has crawled behind the wheel of a Late Model Race car, a handful of times, leaving the drivers seat with a win under his belt in the Canadian-American Shoot-Out at Montana Raceway Park in 2004.

He spent almost 6 years as the Crew Chief for local race car driver, Mark Owens. In their years together, they had 1 Championship, 2 handfuls of wins and numerous fast times.

Racing continues to play a major role in our life, and how lucky Scott is to be able to make a career doing something he is so passionate about.

Scott is currently working with Giles Thornton, an up and coming NASCAR racer who calls Whitefish, MT his home. When we met Giles a few years ago, Scott saw something in him that not a lot of others did and he built him his first Late Model Stock Car.

In the last year, a team has formed behind Giles that I am proud Scott is part of. The Crew Chief, Travis Sharpe, brought his family from the east coast and has helped Giles grow in amazing ways. Travis is incredibly talented, and a strong team leader. Ted, a long time Tucson friend, moved his family to Kalispell this winter and is the team’s Truck Driver & “Do whatever else needs to be done guy!”. He brings many years of racing experience with him, and we are lucky to have him! Roy, a Yakima native, joined the team a few months ago and has a lot of NASCAR K&N Series experience which brings a lot to the team. Scott is the Car Chief, and his primary responsibilities are the engine & shock program, and assist Travis in the car chief departments. All of these men work well together, and I am constantly impressed with what they are accomplishing

Giles Thornton is racing a full schedule of the NASCAR K & N Series, and selected Late Model Shows in Montana, Idaho & Washington.

I know there will be some good racing in the months ahead, and that Giles will be one to watch! Scott was talking with Madison, our oldest daughter, Saturday night as we were watching the NASCAR All Star Shoot Out on T.V. He told her that one day we will be watching Giles in that race, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will!

And the story continues…

September already?

Summer came and went and it is hard to believe that we are settling into fall. The air is cool in the morning and we have woke up to some frosty wet windows already.

I am a little discouraged with myself that it was actually June since my last blog post. I have done little writing this summer. And haven’t blogged once. Geez!

Needless to say, once June hit things went crazy around our house. We had a lot of family and friends visit us this summer. We explored our local area seeing the Flathead Valley from the top of Big Mountain to Glacier National Park to Flathead Lake and as far west as the Thompson Chain of Lakes. We put on a lot of miles and we probably over ate, drank and had to much fun… nahhh, I think it is impossible to have to much fun!  We laughed sometimes until our stomachs hurt and reminisced about old stories while making new ones. Life is good!

As we move into September, Scott is still as busy as ever. Giles Thornton, the Super Late Model racer he is working with now, has had a great summer season. It is really exciting to watch Giles as he continues to grow in his talents. To be honest, I haven’t been this exciting about racing since Scott drove!!! I know there are great things to come in this program and feel so incredibly lucky that Scott is a part of what is happening!

Madison has gotten her first few days of 5th grade under her belt! 5th grade? It really amazes me how fast the time has gone, and it only seems to be steaming faster ahead.  She loves her teacher, has enjoyed reconnecting with friends from last year and making new ones! We will continue with horse riding lessons and find some art lessons to nurture her talents, here is what she is working on today…

(When she saw me posting a copy she warned it is NOT done yet just for the “record”)

Mackenzie starts kindergarten this week. I am not sure how much of this I can really talk about without getting completely emotional. I am so excited for her to go to school, and she is ready. We met her teacher last week and visited her classroom during Open House.. 3 days and counting down! It is just hard to believe how fast the time has gone. Sniff sniff…

As for me? I accepted a part time position at their school as an Instructional Para Educator, a.k.a. assist and help in anyway I can. I am beyond happy to be able to be at school with them. It’s really perfect for me to be able to take them to school, work and still have a few hours in the afternoon to do other things until I pick them up. I am not sure exactly where this will all lead but I am open to the new opportunities that have come my way and will just sit back and see.

My biggest goal for this fall is to get back to writing, and blogging… stay tuned!