Dusty Morgan - Hare Scramble Champion A Mom's perspective

When I took Dustin to his first race, age 13, (an FTR hare scramble at Reddick, Feb "95"), I had no idea what to expect or how significant the FTR organization would become in our lives. Five and a half years later, in writing this letter I realize there is so much for me to be thankful for, most importantly the FTR members.  Dustin has literally grown up on FTR race tracks, he has matured as a person through his commitment to this sport. What I have witnessed in attending the hare scramble events is truly a remarkable melding of family and friends that all really love, and are equally committed to enjoying this sport.  As a "track mom", I owe many thanks to all those individuals that have helped Dustin on numerous occasions with his racing.      I want to say to Dustin how proud I am of his accomplishments, and his personal contributions to his own racing.  Dustin has always worked hard to maintain his ability to continue racing, through learning as much as he can, and applying that which he has learned. Pay attention parents of teens:      The level of confidence that Dustin has gained through our involvement with our "FTR family:" will easily carry Dustin into adulthood in a position, where as a parent, I can feel comfortable! (This was an innocent by-product of our involvement)      I am impressed by the members of FTR and the organization as a whole. I know how lucky I was to have discovered it when I did. Another thing I feel very lucky to have found a home within the CFTR club. It was that first summer of racing when we attended a CFTR "Fun Days" at Reddick and Steve Hill approached us and asked if we might be interested in joining a race club?  Again I had no idea what was next, and Once Again Many Thanks are due its members.  The CFTR Club has always been an instrumental support group of truly wonderfully committed members. A Special Thanks to ALL MY FRIENDS in CFTR.      So many memories have flooded my mind while composing this tribute. One of my fondest and earliest memories was at that very fist race at Reddick in Feb 95, when someone came up to me (It might have been Dick Coffee) asked me,"If that was my son racing in the mini's, #17? When I sad yes, he asked, "How long had Dustin been racing?"  I can remember asking him if he knew what time it was? He responded with 10:30.. I then answered about 30 minutes!  He was startled and thought I had misunderstood, and so he said he meant altogether, not just this race.  And again I said 30 minutes, this was Dustin's first attempt at racing.  He told me he thought Dustin had great form and was a natural.  I can remember thinking, this guy's job must be convincing new members to spend another $30. bucks in a couple weeks for another race.  It took me a few races to understand he had seen a talent in Dustin at his very first race.  Who'd of thought?      I also remember vividly our first race injury (at Hardrock) a broken nose. Dustin had found one of those notorious trees that jump out in front of you guys.  After he arrived at the back of the ambulance, I can remember Dustin telling me, "If those guys (meaning the track officials) would have just given me a minute when I woke up to figure out what I was doing at Hardrock, I could have finished that race." That's when I promptly told him that in the future, anytime blood was squirting from his nose after tagging a tree while racing, we would be done racing for the day! Comprenda!      There are a great deal of FTR members that are due special thanks for all they have done, however I fear if I began to name names, I might be responsible for a paper shortage, so let me say THANKS to EVERYONE. And since Dustin learned a great deal of his current value system through the experiences with each of you,  you can all share in my pride. I guess I should not have held back for the last  five and a half years, for now I feel like I want everyone to know how much they have meant in our lives. And I really hope John Day doesn't regret asking for this letter.  And to think I didn't name names or sponsors, I let Dustin do that at Banquet. See all you guys at Greenlefe in August.  Let's PARTY FTR Style! Monica Boatman (you know, Dusty's mom) Proud parent of #17AA PS. Just one more side note and our most recent discovery... WE LOVE RACING FLORIDA! It is so close we will never again bat an eyelash at a 4 hour trip to a race track. Since we have been racing the GNCC series we can appreciate how seemingly close FTR races will be. IT'S ALL IN PERSPECTIVE. Speaking of GNCC races, Dustin is getting an eye opening experience with the various terrain outside Florida. Were having allot of fun and growing from the experiences, but we do miss our FTR friends.