Race Day 7-19-14

So this is it, I’ve been looking forward to this race for months. The conditions are set for what should be a race I can capitalize on big time. We are last in the running order so the track will be at its driest and its worst shape. A few of the faster cars are also racing out of town but that doesn’t keep us from putting a nearly full field on the track. Today is going to be all about track position and smooth driving and putting power down off the corner.

We got a late start but arrived just in time for tech, there were already twelve cars on the sign in sheet so I took the car over as soon as it was unloaded. Being third in line left a lot of numbers available for the taking in the pill pick. I pulled a twenty seven. Not great but It could have been worse, nearly the middle of the road out of fifty. Eventually tech finalized with eighteen cars meaning there would be two loaded Heats of nine later in the day. After the drivers meeting it was time to suit up and prepare for Hot Lapping practice.

I waited for quite a while to get in line so that I could be near the end of the line and create some clear track. It was a while sitting in the sun though, in the first group of cars that went out in our class the sixty eight car blew an engine. Then when It was our turn on the track the corner workers made it a point to show us where a giant rut was coming out of turn four. It was sending cars airborne and in to the wall so it was good to know where to avoid if at all possible. I left quite a bit of space between the ninety car in front of me but when we went green I closed the gap in a hurry. It was mostly a waste of a practice session as I played with different lines, letting the ninety gain some distance then closing the gap coming out of the corner. I was always ready to pass or avoid him should he make a big mistake but I never pushed the issue. The car was good, no problems came up, I just wanted to get down to business.

Back in the pits there was a lot of waiting around as all the other classes ran their Heat races. I was slotted in Heat two, outside row two, in fourth position. It was a decent spot, I would have liked the inside line of course but I was behind the twenty three that I knew would go well on the drop of the green. We were now down to eight cars in this Heat as the sixty eight was done for the day and I saw no reason why I should finish worse than third. Finishing third would also put me in line for the random invert for the Main Event. The winner of the first Heat always draws a number which could invert anyone in the first three rows. With two Heats, the top three from each Heat occupy those spots, which means by chance I could end up on the outside pole in second.

It was finally time to line up for the Heat race. Again it seemed I would be paired near the ninety car who would be in third on the inside of me. However he was late to line up and pulled to the outside of staging. Being nice I let him on the track before me to allow him to assume his position but when we rolled the pace lap he didn’t take his spot. After a moment the forty two car who would have started behind him moved up and took his spot, while the ninety lined up beside him in fourth which was my spot. I pulled along side everyone to make it three wide and show the officials there was a problem, which is what everyone tells me I am suppose to do, but over the radio the officials repeated that we were about to go green. With the lights still out on the track and clearly no one paying attention, I just slotted back in line in the sixth position. As I did so we went green.

Completely frustrated now, it was time to drive. The start was clean, a bit slow being preoccupied but everyone situated themselves within the first lap or so. I cleared the ninety one car quickly to take up fifth position then set my sights on the ninety car in front of me. I closed the gap in the next couple laps then made a dive to the inside of turn three to get position on him. Coming out of turn four I just about had him clear and completed the pass going in to turn one. Now it was time to hunt down the forty two who had about a half a straightaway on me. It didn’t matter though, the caution came out for a spin by the thirty one car. Now I was lined up in the position I should have been from the start. We went green again and I got a decent start as I was nearly side by side with the forty two down the front stretch. There was no way I was going to be able to pass him on the outside so I backed off just slightly to fall in line behind him going in to turn one. With just a few laps remaining I patiently worked the low line. Lap after lap I worked on him, inching my way further past his door. He was getting a good run off the corner so it was difficult to know if he knew how close I actually was to him. I rolled through turn one a little easier than normal and was able to get a really good exit off two then we drag raced down the back stretch. I had position now and there was little he could do about it. I sailed it in on the inside keeping it right on the berm and drove out of the corner clearing him completely. The white flag flew as we passed the start finish line and shortly after the caution flag came out. The forty two had spun out trying to fight back on the outside of me in turn four. He probably got on the throttle a little too hard too soon and lost traction in the high line. The checkered flag waved as we had already take the white flag.

In the end it was the finish I expected I would get but I was still pretty pissed at the track officials for the start of the race. I could have spend most of that race fighting with the two lead cars, or at least trying to chase them down. Instead I had to meticulously work my way through traffic all race. I tried talking to the race officials to get an explanation but it was the same answer from everyone, they either didn’t know there was a problem or didn’t see there was a problem. My opinion is they just didn’t care to spend one more lap under caution before green because the whole race night was so far behind schedule. Staging knew the lineup wasn’t right when going out on the track, they could have easily radioed scoring to let them know, in turn they would have looked closer, noticed I was three wide and postponed the start as they radioed to us the proper order like they do on the Main Event under caution. Regardless, I was going to start sixth because the invert was a zero, a decent place to be.

Main Event time and I was ready, the car was ready as I fine tuned the setup for the dry slick track. It was all fast cars up front, no surprises there. Everyone was going to get a good start so I would be tough to slide down to the low line going in to turn one. We went green and I couldn’t quite get the drive I wanted on the side to keep up with the twenty seven who started inside of me and the zero seven filled the gap as we went in to turn one. I was able to get a hole as we came out of two though so I quickly closed the door on the bottom line. Now in seventh it was time to let the field sort itself out and see who I could pick off. For several laps nothing happened, I never lost touch with the lead group but I couldn’t quite get to their bumpers. The four car pulled out of line suddenly and fell off the pace which I assumed was a mechanical failure. Now I was in sixth position. Laps continued to count down as soon we started catching and passing lapped cars. Probably a third of the way in to the race the caution came out for the thirty one spinning by the outside wall in turns three and four. I lined up on the outside row again and it was a good restart, I found a hole on the inside going in to turn one and put my tires right to the edge of the berm. It wasn’t low enough I guess because half way through the corner the eighty three aggressively dive bombed the corner inside of me and knocked me up the track. It wasn’t enough to kill my momentum as I stood on the throttle though and I pulled clear of him down the back stretch. Again I couldn’t quite get to the bumper of the twenty seven in front of me but as a group we were pulling away in the short green flag run before the second caution. Another restart on the outside and I was starting to wonder how many bullets I would have to dodge starting out here. It was a decent start but things were getting chippy up front as the leaders battle for position wheel to wheel. I guess the fifty six had enough because the zero seven got too free going in to turn one as he tried to put a slide job on him and the fifty six intentionally or unintentionally turned him in front of the field, right in front of me.

I made a lightning fast reaction save, holding my breath for the impact and narrowly missed hitting him. One more bullet dodged and one more spot as the fifty six was sent to the back for causing the caution. Now I had the inside line on the eighty three car and off the restart we were side by side going in to turn one. He predictably drove it in too hard and I had him clear by the time we came out of turn two, now I had a solid top five position. Two more laps in and the eighty three brought out the fourth caution of the night. Now the zero seven was up set with the twenty three and twenty seven so as we made our way to the green in turns three and four he brake checked the entire outside line. So hard in fact that while being in row three I was nearly along side him. That really messed up the outside line on the start but it threw the zero seven off his game as he over drove turn two and spun out all by himself, right in front of me, again. I jumped on the brakes and I don’t know how I didn’t hit him but I spun myself out to avoid him. Then I watched as car after car narrowly avoided a head on collision with me. I got the car pointed in the right direction and drove back through the field under caution. With the rules this year, only the car that caused the caution is sent to the back, not the cars involved. So now I was in fourth potion under our fifth caution. Again another restart on the outside and again a good run going in to turn one. I wasn’t quite sure if I had the spot cleared so I left the door slightly open in case someone was down there already but I got a good enough drive out of the middle line to know that I was clear. It’s so easy when you’re following to just drive in to the corner harder than the person in front of you, I got tagged from behind several times but fortunately not enough to upset the car too bad. The caution came out again for the sixth time. Another good restart and this time I almost pulled along side the twenty seven in front of me but as I made a move he moved a bit higher towards the wall and boxed me out, I’m sure he didn’t know I was there. I tried to get back to his bumper but I just couldn’t make any time entering the corners. One more to go as the white flag came out and I resigned myself to a fourth place finish, until I saw the twenty three and twenty seven hammering each other through the center of the corners. They both washed out wide our last time through turns three and four but I wasn’t close enough to capitalize on it.

A fourth place finish, my best since the end of the 2011 season, and that was back when I was still apart of the sportsman class. It was a great drive, a little too much defending at times and way too many cautions but still a great drive. It was also a great points day which is something we desperately needed if we were going to stay in contention for the top five finish goal at the end of the season. I did everything I expected we should do and closed out the day properly on my best track type. Next race might be a different story running first in the lineup again but I think I’ve learned a lot since the last time we faced this kind of track. We’ll be ready for it.