Miller Experience 2009

[lknysh]

RE: NATIONALS AT THE MILLER TRACK IN UTAH, SEPTEMBER 2009 I attended the Nationals with my cousin, Wayne McKeen this past September and felt compelled to write, not about the races, although they were exciting in their own right, but rather about the people I met. We had some car troubles from day one. I used to say “the foofoo valve broke on the watchamajigger” but I really learned a lot by observing the people who put themselves out to help out a fellow competitor. Wayne’s sister, Veronica and I were busy running for parts (me in skirt and high heels, I am sure some of you will remember me), to the local dealer in town for actuators and clutch parts and tire regulating valves and also to the Corvette Recycling shop in Farmerville for more clutch parts. The people there were fantastic as they waited on a Friday night until well after 5pm while we fought rush hour traffic and road construction just for one part. They were loading their trailer to come for the weekend but I wished they had been there on the Tuesday. Perhaps next year they will have a trailer there to help out the “Corvette enthusiasts”. The real story behind all of this though is the incredible people that took time from their busy schedules of racing and tuning their own vehicles to help out taking apart and putting back together Wayne’s car on a number of occasions. First there was the friends that Wayne has made over the years who are also Corvette racing buddies, Ken, Gary, John and Donna, Peter and Taige (sp). These are remarkable people to have gone so far as to call their own local mechanics for advice on such things as brakes (just trying to impress everyone now with the knowledge of the inner workings of the cars). Then there was the young fellow, Greg from Michigan who, along side Mr. Danny Popp, took the entire bottom end of the car apart to put in the clutch actuator (wow eh) and worked until Midnight to try to get it all back together. Wayne made it out the next morning only to have another issue with the clutch and along came Greg and Danny again, tore the broken part out and later that day put the new part back in (after our return from Farmerville). These people as well as the entire PFADT family went out of their way to accommodate all of us and to save the race for Wayne. I am sure he would agree that each of these people share the 3rd prize trophy that Wayne took home after this event. For myself though, I want to personally extend my sincere appreciation for restoring my faith in mankind. The trip from Canada was made memorable not because I had the opportunity of sharing the excitement of the racing community nor because of the sights (although Zion National Park was pretty spectacular) but because the people that I met on this trip will stay in my heart FOREVER. The racing community should be proud of the sportsmanship their events portray!!! Leann Knysh, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada (lknysh@aol.com)