WEEKEND REFLECTIONS: RACING

Greetings all! I am sort of looking forward to a week off from racing, sort of. Racing on Saturday nights at Evergreen Speedway is a fantastic thrill, but our car has struggled the last three weeks. We haven't been able to find the mojo we had the weeks we ran up front. Here is how this week went...

Practice.
We missed the 1st practice (not good). The track opened a half hour later than normal, and we were caught off guard. After waiting an extra amount of time in tech inspection I buckled in, but as I was heading out on the track practice was over. The 2nd practice revealed what plagued us all night, a tight race car--tight like a riding lawn mower on wet grass. We went to work to make some changes.

Qualify.
Again, car was still tight which means when you turn the wheel the car continues going straight. The only way to make it turn is to wait for speed to drop so the tires grip and go left, not good for qualifying. We were 8th.

Heat.
Started 2nd row outside. Finished fourth, but car was bad tight. My quote on the radio, "Guys, we are not even close with this thing."

Main.
Started 2nd row inside. Usually a good starting position. There was a first lap wreck along side of me that accounted for the first caution. On the start the car in front of me hit the track dry and water in turn 1. He slid up the track loose. I stuck my nose to the bottom making it three wide to protect the bottom. There was a good distance between his left side and my nose. When we went into turn three it looked, from my angle, like he tangled with the outside car.

At the restart I was 1st row outside, but I would quickly drop. When the car is tight there is not much a driver can do, it makes for a long night. So long that on lap 20 I look up at the scoreboard and think, "Are u kiddin me?" That was the first time I've ever looked at the board under green conditions. We ended up 8th.

Post race.
Post race I had to put things in perspective. It is thrilling to race cars. It's not always about the finish. Its about the experience. We next weekend off, I'm excited sort of. We will spend some time the next couple days getting things fixed and be back the last Sat of May.

Thanks to MTS Construction, Rock of Ages Plumbing, Taco Del Mar of Monroe and TNT Mechanical. I've got a good team, and we will sort out this tight issue to get the car up front. There is a lot of racing left this season.
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