OPENING NIGHT-5th
It was not the opener I was looking for at Evergreen Speedway, this weekend. A bolt inside the oil pan, some bonehead driving, extensive caution laps and a shortened race made the 6 months of sleepless nights, hard work and money spent a little anticlimactic.
It started Friday at about 6:30pm. We had tested the night before and were putting the finishing touches on the Trinity Construction, Rock of Ages Plumbing, Digital FX #70. Draining the oil from the engine, we found a bolt. By the time we checked every bolt inside the engine visually with a fiber optic camera we felt a little less than assured the engine was ok. Turns out it ran great, just made for a long Friday night and late arrival to the track. Thanks to Fred Hall for the use of his camera. Turns out the bolt probably fell in there when the engine was being reassembled after rebuild.
During practice, I pulled a bonehead move coming off turn 2 and backed my car down the backstretch, but that would be only the first of many moves I would observe throughout the night. From my vantage point there was some wrecking going on during the opener. Maybe all of us drivers were a bit over zealous with our new paint, parts and season, but now that everyone's car is wadded up in some fashion, we can hopefully race.
What made the wrecking worse was the caution laps required to get the field sorted out. Dozens of laps were run to put spun out cars back where they were on the restart because the majority of the wrecking was on the first lap of a green flag run. Funny thing was; I was never in a caution, but had to pass several cars that were, under green conditions, two and three times! I laughed in my helmet while watching 3 or 4 cars who were in 3 or 4 cautions be put back in front of me for the next restart, but what could I do?
So then, because of cautions and time, the race was shortened 15 laps. This was the final shot to the heart of our night. Our car was really strong, but frankly we needed more green flag laps to get to the front. When tires are cool, they are fast. There were so many cautions I'm not sure anyone's tires were heated up. I needed the 15 laps to improve my position and they never came.
All in all I was satisfied because I qualified 3rd quick, was a strong 2nd in my heat race, started 10th and finished 5th. Car is moderately straight, a few bumps and one puncture to the fender, so no harm no foul.
I will be looking to week 2 to get the #70 in the top 3 and get after my goals for the season, which are: T-3s, wins, and be a championship contender.
What made the race night better were all the drivers and crew who I saw the next morning at church! It still blows my mind every time I see or meet someone from the track at church.
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