Team Renezeder Enjoying the Journey
LAKE FOREST, CA – (October 21, 2009) -- With over a decade of short course racing under his five-point harness, Carl Renezeder has enjoyed the highs, endured the lows, been knocked out of races in more ways than most rookie drivers can imagine, won races on the start, as well as the final corner, lost races on the last lap and before the race has ever started, and it’s starting to sink in that it’s not the end results that define a race season, let alone a career. Bad weekends don’t have to make you feel miserable, and stellar weekends aren’t required to make you feel great. It’s not singular moments that define a team, but the accumulation of learning experiences, successes, failures, and most importantly, how you react to each and every one of them. It may be cliché to say that it’s about the journey rather than the destination, but when you’ve arrived at goals you’ve set several times over in a career, the cliché becomes more and more profound.
This past weekend at Speedworld Motorsports Complex in Surprise, Arizona didn’t host any profound revelations for Team Renezeder. There were great moments like a win, two second-place finishes, and a fourth place finish that could have just as easily been a DNF. There were frustrating moments like the fuel system gremlin in the Unlimited 4 that just won’t go away, 100-degree weather for the umpteenth time this season, and getting passed on the restart of the final race, which led to an unfortunate chain of events. But, the most important realization this past weekend was the understanding that good or bad, each thing that happens should be a learning lesson, not simply a catalyst for emotional reactions.
“We have one race weekend left in the championship chase,” explains Renezeder. “But the last weekend of the season carries the same weight as the first one and all of the subsequent ones, which means we’ll approach the race in Primm the same way we did the season opener: with the goal to win all four races. If we let the emotions of a championship cloud our judgment, we’ll end up on the defensive rather than the offensive, and that’s not our style. We won’t go out there hoping to hang onto our points lead; we’ll go out there to show why we’re on top of the points to begin with. If we do our job, the championships will work themselves out. If we don’t, it won’t mean that our season was for not. We have a lot to be proud of already, and we have a lot of things we know we can continue to improve upon. What more can you ask for in a season?”
Renezeder and his crew will spend the next few weeks preparing for the final points weekend of the season in Primm, Nevada on November 14-15, enjoying the success of the season so far, laughing and joking in the shop like they always do, all the while focusing on the job at hand. They will arrive in Primm with every tool in their arsenal ready for battle, and they will fight for the championships at stake. Only time will tell if their efforts were enough, and that anticipation is all part of the excitement.
The events of this past weekend in Arizona will be aired on SPEED Channel on Saturday, November 7 at 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. In the meantime, log onto the team’s website http://www.teamrenezeder.com to view webisode three of TR17: Firin’ on All Eight to see how the team dealt with Sunday’s racing in Lake Elsinore this summer.
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