Bart Girls Racing

Last night the Bart Girls joined some other Quarter Midget drivers from across the country to help roll out the big flag for the National Anthem at the Indy race at Texas Motor Speedway. It was hot in their race suits but afterwards they cooled off nicely with a big glass of lemonade thanks to Tony Mazzo, before heading up to their seats with the family to watch the race. Thanks Tony!

We’ve had a great time in Texas! It was really hot but we got to race, got to hang out with some great friends, and got to spend time with some Texas family we haven’t seen in a while!

Savannah’s car was set up for a hot 160 track but her heat race got moved to the next morning due to the storm that came in late Thursday afternoon. So yesterday morning she was the first one to roll out (literally, she started on the pole in her heat race) but since there was no grip or heat on the track and we hadn’t made any adjustments to her car she didn’t do great and had to start on the pole again in the D main. She drove what she was given though, so we chalk that one up to handler error. 😀. She was smoking fast in the D main and finished 2nd so she transferred to the C main and started P8 there. Again she drove the wheels off a smoking fast car, but another car got into her and she bent her front axle. (I think the other car spun and she was trying to go around him but he ran into her on accident). The race timed out before we could even do anything to try and get it fixed so that ended her day. 😕

Samantha’s Heavy World Formula was a little hard to handle in her heat race and she admitted that she was applying some brake in the corner (driver error) so she finished last in her heat. John made some adjustments to her car and when she rolled out at P9 for the B main she had a MUCH faster and better handling car as well. She drove HARD and was doing great, but another car spun in the corner and she didn’t see it until it was too late. She tried to go around it but wasn’t able to completely avoid it. Needless to say by the picture below, John just walked out there with a grin on his face and with a dolly in hand to get her off the track. We’ve always told them to drive the wheels off it if they need to, just don’t back off, don’t give up, drive clean, and make smart moves, and both girls did exactly that!!

Sometimes when you’re racing you get bad calls, sometimes you have bad luck, sometimes you make bad choices on the track, and sometimes you just can’t turn or move out of the way fast enough to avoid a wreck. But at the end of the day if you feel like you drove your hardest and tried your best you can wipe away those tears of frustration and disappointment and be proud of yourself. And both of these girls should be VERY proud of how they drove yesterday!!!!

Thank you to all the other parents and handlers this week for the help with the cars (both on and off the track), for your advice, set up tips, and words of encouragement! Race families helping each other is what makes this sport so great! And we are so excited to see so many of our good friends race in the A Mains today! Good luck to you all!!! ❤️ 😊

Differnt kind of competition this weekend vs what we are used to...but Savannah Bart made her name known this weekend at HJ Fox Horse show in Conyers Ga!

Grand Champion Crossrails
Grand Champion Sr Jumper
Reserve Grand Champion Mini Hunter

All in all...an amazing weekend on "legally blond" aka Cork! Think I got them all...may be off one here or there below...
-Six 1st place ribbons/medals (embroidered pad)
-Three 2nd place ribbons
-Three 3rd place ribbons
-Two 5th place ribbon
-A 6th place ribbon

She loves riding and puts in so much work...awesome to see it pay off and to see her soooo happy! Her trainers are amazing!!!

Looking forward to racing at Texas Motor Speedway this summer!!!

2018 Quarter Midget National Events Get Tickets for 2018 Quarter Midget National Events.

Great weekend for BGR at MCQMRA this weekend.

We all knew going into this event that weather was going to be a challenge and the MCQMRA crew as well as the team put on a heck of a show. There is no doubt that they did everything in their power to make the best of whatever mother nature threw at us.

Savannah had a brake issue (her foot dragging it) in her heat and ended up having to fight through lower mains to make the show. She started 10th and worked he way to 2nd in the B main and we definitely had more for the A...but rain washed out our final race and we had to settle for 1st place points.

Crew chief missed the gear in Sammys HWF heat race and after a few scratches from other drivers she found herself starting 10th in the A main. Lots of restarts and once her tires came in she was moving up...she made a great pass on two cars to 5th but a caution before the lap was completed and time...put her with a 7th place finish.

Hats off to Michael Crafton for his parking skills! Never seen anyone run a skid steer and park 100 plus trailers inches apart.

Great job by Linnea Bart and all the ladies in the tower!

Friday we were blessed with seeing my sister Kalia Takabayashi...and then enjoyed dinner with some of our racing friends.

Saturday we got to see some great heat racing and some amazing cars DOMINATE their classes (Andy Loden)!

On the way home we got to spend a few minutes with the Watson's from FL when they came to our rescue on the side of 75S with a blowout on the hauler. Thank u Casey Watson and Jan for helping us out!

The memories are what make this sport what it is...everyone has a choice to make as to what they want to take away from weekends like this (and some have been made theirs known already 😉)...for us it will be the hair in the queso, time with a sister/aunt, the Duck Fat caramel, the roadside Blow out, the lovely Lila who adores the girls, the fake kiss of Hoskins, the "talk" with Sam Mazzo, Savannah protecting Bradley by tackling another boy....and the comoradory of the Dixieshootout family!

See ya all real soon!

Great opening weekend for BGR in sunny FL. Both girls got on the wheel and did great in the cars and Linnea did an amazing job in the tower.

Savannah drove her new Ultimateqm Afco car in Hvy 160. After the heat she started p8 of 12. After a 4 month break she's a little rusty and ran a wider line than needed. The race before had moved the wall back a foot or so and she kept picking up a little sand at the wall and was loose into turn 3 every time. That aside...she had a really fast car and ran it to end P6.

Sammy took the wheel of her Hvy World Formula NCChasis Grizzley. She looked good in practice and after the heats she was starting P9 of 9. After a few final tweaks to the set up and a lot more gear, she was on a rail in the A main. First HWF race against many other racers whove been racing athis class for a long time...and she wheeled it to a 5th place finish fighting fatigue the whole way and racing clean the entire time.

Great times, great memories, and a great sport for families to share.

It was awesome to see Levi Morrow check out in Jr Honda, Sam Mazzo take a P2 Hvy 160 and P3 Hvy WF finish, Kaitlyn Murphy wheeled up and ran from 7th to 2nd in her lower main, and all the kids fight for their spot on the track and play and laugh off the track.

The girls and I went to the MAQMA banquet last night and got a couple of surprises. John was sick and wasn’t able to make it to receive the beautiful clock the track gave him as a thank you for serving as track president for the past 3 years. The new president Lane Morrow said some really nice things about him as a friend, and all the work he’s done for the club. (Thank you Lane!). Patrick Christensen, the new club VP, had the idea to create a new Allstar Family award and they awarded it to our family for 2017. The plaque will hang in the tower, and they will add a new family to it each year. (And we got to bring home a beautiful award to keep at the house!) It was so sweet, so unexpected, and so humbling to get that award!!! Thank you so much Patrick and MAQMA for thinking of us! We’ve always tried to do whatever we could to make MAQMA a fun place to race for the kids! And I’m excited to see new families coming in and taking the reins to usher in a new season!

Speaking of kids... Samantha and Savannah didn’t come home empty handed either. 😀. Savannah got her trophy and her plaque for her 1st place finish in Heavy Honda and Samantha got her trophy for her 3rd place finish in Lt 160. The trophies are always great, but I think they have the most fun just hanging out with their friends and seeing our race family! 😊

This year we are going to focus primarily on regional and National races (including one at Texas Motor Speedway in June where I hope lots of my family will get to come see my girls drive since many of them have never been able to see them race!). Savannah will be driving her new AFCO car in Hvy 160 and Samantha is going to drive her Nervo in Hvy World Formula. We are looking forward to an exciting race season in 2018!!!

Great day today at NGQMA. Savannah took her Afco to the winners circle. She was the only Hvy so that by itself isn't a big deal...she ran with 4 other Light 160s who had a 60+ pound weight advantage on her...but she didn't let that slow her down. In practice she was 0.05 off track record and qualified .08 off TR. She ended 4th of 5 and ON the lead lap of the light 160 race. Very proud dad...thank you Afco and Ultimateqm

Savannah Bart is racing Heavy Honda and Heavy 160 this weekend at the USAC national race in Charlotte. She starts P1 in the first heat for one race and P2 in the first heat for the other race. Driving her new AFCO car for Heavy 160 today.... excited and nervous! Prayers for safe and fun day! 🙏

Yup! Savannah Bart just broke her own single car qualifying track record at MAQMA today! Way to go Savannah!