June 29, 2013 Portland, Oregon

Flying Backwards!

June 29th and 30th marked the annual IKF Gold Cup event in McMinnville, and "flying backwards" is no exaggeration. Randy's race ended in a cloud of dust as he literally flew off the track backwards and into the safety barriers. We know how to keep things exciting!

More details about the big crash in a minute, but first the events leading up to it. Randy qualified on the front row in 2nd place. with a 41.9 second lap around the 14 turn 6/10 mile long track. A decent result, but Randy was not happy with it. "I was held up in traffic during our qualifying session. After a couple of failed attempts to get in a fast lap, I took a slow lap to look for a good opening. I found an opening and had an excellent drive out of the last corner to begin a fast lap, but it was too late because they pulled out the checkered flag (ending the session) only a second before I hit the start line".

Ethan had just returned from a week of vacation at the beach. His job at Joy Teriyaki is flexible around his racing (and they even sponsor him!), but after a week away, he didn't want to ask for additional time off. So, it was up to Randy to represent this weekend.

In the Saturday race, the third place driver had a better start (after reviewing video, we noticed he actually jumped the start), dropping Randy from 2nd to 3rd. On the second lap, Randy had a good drive going down the back straight, and made an excellent move up the inside going into the corner. Randy had the inside cleanly, and was in front of the other driver (textbook pass), but somehow the other driver did not see Randy in time, and turned in early with his front tire going under the front of Randy's rear tire...launching Randy into the air! After nearly flipping and spinning in a 180, Randy landed backwards into the grass and crashed into the safety barriers.

The force from the landing broke the seat in several places, but our prototype (version 4) rib & back protector (designed & manufactured by Randy) did a fantastic job and Randy was uninjured. Special thanks to Mark, at Barrier Corporation for donating the materials for our prototype rib/back protectors.

Sunday's Race

We discovered that one of the seat struts had broken through the side of the seat. This is a safety issue, so we sat out the Sunday race. We are replacing the seat and will be back on track this coming weekend, alternating between time at the kart track practicing, and time at Portland International Raceway watching the Pro Mazda formula cars (a series Ethan hopes to race in soon).

Racing Season in Full Swing

Now that Ethan is finished with school for the summer, we are planning to hit several races. We also have some exciting developments to announce soon, so stay tuned!

Thank You for Your Support

The work and preparation going into these races can be overwhelming at times. We want to thank those who have helped by contributing time or money to our driver development program for Ethan: Vol-Tech, Axis Design Group, Lee Slack, Pacific Office Automation, Shark Shifter, Zamp Helmets, Fastenal, Word Web Design, ProGold, Joy Teriyaki, RPG, and Barrier Corp. We appreciate your support. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Randy Word #71, and Ethan Word #77
WORD Racing
Portland's Father & Son Racing Team
Web Site: WordRacing.com
Phone: (503) 869-4970

WORD Web Design | Shark Sport | RPG | Joy Teriyaki | Zamp | VOL-Tech

Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved.  If you need high-resolution copies of any pictures simply reply and let us know what format you need.  Please add us to your address book or safe list. If you would like to unsubscribe from our mailing list, please reply and let us know.  Thank you.