Here is a recap of last Saturday. Twin 50 lap races on the 5/8's mile track for the first "Big West" event.
Practice-
If you remember the last race, we were rained out but got to practice on the big track and the car was pushing on entry and good off. During the off week, we made some minor adjustments to the set-up, and they helped, but a little too much. We went out for practice this week and the car was good into the turn but was loose in the middle and off. Between the 2 practice sessions, we backed off the adjustments we made during the week and found a happy middle ground.
Qualifying-
Before we qualified, we made a rear-end gear change. It paid off as we qualified faster than we ever have with what I believe was a 22.9 second lap. (The problem with the pits at Evergreen is you can’t see the scoreboard or hear the announcers from there. So it takes a while to learn how you qualified. And even then, you heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy.) That put us fourth quick out of the 14 cars there.
Race #1
We started in the 4th row for race #1. There were a couple of early cautions in the first half of the race. After the second caution we ran the outside line and briefly moved up to 3rd while running side-by-side with the 39 car of Shane Harding before he was able to take back the position. We settled into 4th place with the 00 car of Naima Lang close behind. With about 18 laps to go in the 50 lap race, just as I passed the start/finish line, the engine grenades, tossing oil and debris down the rest of the front stretch and into turn 1. Our day was done.
Race #2
But wait, there’s more. The 6 / 26 team had brought both cars to the track, but the driver of the #6 car, Fred Hall, got caught up in a project at work and didn’t make it to the track. So, Michael Prudnick, the driver of the #26 car, told me to jump in the #6 car and start the race in it so we could get the points for starting the race. So, I started and ran in the back of the back for about 20 laps. A couple of cars dropped out ahead of us, so we didn’t finish last…
Not sure what we are going to do about the motor. But we just may make it out this weekend. Stay tuned.
Here are some pics from last Saturday: