As most of you know, my oldest son Robbie has been going to the races with me since he was in diapers, literally. Well, today is his 15th birthday and he only wants one thing........to make a pass in "our" race car. He has all of the knowledge that someone can accumulate from just being around racing, plus with a little burnout coaching, I think he'll do fine. I'm going to walk up to the starting line, put my son, in my car, in the water, and watch him make his first pass. I can't believe the day has come, and to some people it might sound silly, but to me, it's a HUGE deal! You see, a lot of you have never seen the family oriented side of me. I have a huge heart, especially when it comes to my wife and kids. So if you're there this weekend and you happen to see me walking towards the water box with my car following close behind, you know what's up. I'll just be going to watch a historic moment in my life. That's all.

That means that you're getting old Toby. It may not be long before he's the driver and you're the pit crew LOL. I'm just joking with ya. I hope all goes well this weekend. I had originally planned to head down that way but now it's looking like I may not make it. If I don't see you and the rest of the Montgomery crowd this weekend maybe I'll get to see you guys soon. Good luck to you and also Robbie who I'm sure is just making the first of what will be MANY passes in his racing career.

Steve Stites

P.S. Don't be too hard on him if he's not .50X something first time out.

SS......thinking I'm starting to see alot of the young second generation racers around Montgomery turn into good footbrakers. Guys like Timmy Smith, Jeremy Ellis, Matt Bates and probably before long, Robbie Barnes.

Toby , if Robby is better than .080 , I'm putting him in the Nova. Lord knows I can't hit it anymore. Good luck with the run , I'm looking forward to watching it myself. Robby is a good kid and I know he will do great. See ya'll tomorrow.

Toby, I know the feeling, my oldest girl has started making passes in my s-10. she is only 14. and when she made her first 7.70 pass at 89 mph I was almost in tears. It was a proud moment for me, next year I plan for her to start racing regular. Dont worry he will do good, heck you know he is a chip off the old block. Now that Barnes racing team is just going to keep getting bigger and bigger,

Robbie did great! He felt like making a run with the box and brake would be easiest for him. So his first pass, he rolled to the water, did a good burnout, and rolled towards the line. He turned on both bulbs correctly, but when he lit the second one, he said he looked down at his feet because he forgot to take his foot away from the brake pedal. He looked back up and the tree was on, so he let go of the button. He was .135 (.635) but went 7.288 at 92.20 straight as an arrow! It tickled me to death! But, he was pissed because he missed the tree. So Sunday morning, Chris let him make a pass during new entrant time trials. Again, he did a good burnout, rolled to the beams, staged, and left. He was .012 (.512)!! Then the e.t. came up, 7.266 at 93.03. Man. It was great and I'm so proud of him. The 1st run he made he had the tires set 1 1/2 pounds too low, if they would have been correct I think the car would have made 2 7.26 passes. What a great feeling.

Toby really dont know Robbie all that well but i can proablly speak for everyone that saw him make the pass feel a little something inside. Good to see a new race getting his feet wet. See yall next time. Again congrates to Robbie on 2 good passes.

Congrats Toby!!! Nice to see some young blood get into the sport. guess you'll be shopping for a two car trailer now huh?
Maybe we will both be watching from the sidelines in the future as my youngest son(22, boy do I feel OLD) is getting the fever. Let him warm the car up 3 weeks ago at MMP and never seen anyone so nervus in my life! Too bad the car gave up Sat AM and had to load up. Wilbur offered to let me double in his wagon but had to hurry home and board up. Hope to be back in action for Footbrake Challenge. See ya then. Mike