WEEKEND REFLECTIONS: RACING

This week can be described as, "That"s what I'm talkin about!"

We had a really good night finishing 2nd in the 1st main and 3rd in the 2nd main.

Practice.
Practice was decent. Car was stable and felt like where we left off last week. Steve knew we could make it better. I knew I had to give more feedback to the handling characteristics. We made a few changes.

Qualifying.
I thought it was pretty weak. Turns out, it was my fastest ever on the 3/8's, 17.511.

Main#1.
I started 3rd row inside and quickly wrestled to 2nd. JZ caught me after a few laps, and I settled into 3rd. I was gaining on the 2 car. He pushed up in the center of 3 and 4; I got underneath him, and finished the pass in turns 1 and 2. John was checked out and there weren't any yellows. I finished 2nd, which was the 1st time I ever finished 2nd. I now can say I've finished in every position in my short career.

Between Mains.
Although excited about 2nd I want 1st! I really didn't know what to do about the car. It was comfortable to drive, but getting into the corner it wasn't fast. I sought some counsel for JZ. He asked me what the car would do if I just drove it into the corner with reckless abandon. I thought for a moment, and told Steve the car was loose in. The guys made a change.

Main #2.
I started 3rd row inside again. On the start the cars in front of me got to wreckin in the 1st turn. I tried to slow up, but got hit from behind, then, out of nowhere I got hit in the RF wheel. I saw the fender rip away from the car and the toe was jacked up, bad.

Under caution I was dissapointed because a) my car was tore up and obviously wounded, and b) my thumb took a thump from the steering wheel.

The race restarted and although the car was hurt it was good. The change the guys made was noticable. At first the damage made the car dart here and there, but as I adjusted my line, braking and throttle points it got faster. I was in 4th for most of the race, but the leaders wouldn't gain much, mostly due to the large amount of cautions we had.

Naima was runnin 3rd, and I started outside of him on a couple restarts. One time I gained pretty good, but coming off of 4 he slid over and made contact with me, he was getting loose for certain. A few laps later I got under him coming off of 4, but to no avail, there was a red flag.

Under caution I told steve that if I could get to Naima's door in 1 and 2 I could get him. On the Green-White-Checkered restart I got to his door into 1. He held me outside best he could, we rubbed wheels. My car just stuck and I made the pass. I was in 3rd. That's where I'd finish the 2nd main.

I yelled on the radio, "That's what I'm talking about!" It was like this past month of disappointment, wrecks, frustration and the rest just erupted. I was stoked to have the break through we needed.

The car? It was hurt pretty bad, but it was bad fast. I came in with 2 nearly flat tires, a bent upper control arm, bent spindle, broken fender and severely dented wheel. With all that was damaged it shouldn't have turned out so well, but sometimes the breaks are with you.

Conclusions.
* It was 2 years ago this Labor Day weekend that I took my first green flag in a late model, finishing 10th. I still am amazed at the fact I get to race. What a privilege.
* We found something between the mains that will really help us on the 5/8's. * It's amazing that one good week can erase the multiple weeks of junk. It's like golf in that way.
* With 2 races to the end of the season thing are getting nervy in the points battles.
* They announced that the Awards Banquet in Nov will be open to the public. That's cool.
* I'm starting to plan sponsorship for 2009, if your interested in racing sponsoring a car is a whole nutha level of fun!
* We have a week off next weekend. First one since July for me.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T