Koger Race Report

Desoto County Raceway

by Trish Koger

"Just exactly where are we... Talladega?!" Rick Koger was quoted as saying after the conclusion of the April 19th Legends Cars of Florida feature race at Desoto County Raceway.

Since it has been about two months since our first excursion to Desoto County, let me give you a little refresher course about the track. It is located in Bradenton, Florida, just south of the Tampa/St. Pete area. If you happen to live in Daytona Beach and you own a race car trailer, the journey includes a 400-mile, white-knuckled, tourist-dodging, round trip down I-4 and I-75. But I guess it's appropriate training since the destination is, after all, the "South's Fastest Short Track."

Fellow Legends driver, David Logan, christened Desoto as "Our Talladega." If you have ever seen a NASCAR race at Talladega, that infamous 2.66 mile superspeedway, then you have a pretty good idea about what a Legends Car race at Desoto is like:

Green flag... VERY FAST... BIG CRASH... VERY FAST... BIG CRASH... and so on... checkered flag.

This race was no exception. Fortunately, however, I was only involved with the VERY FAST portions of the race. In fact, the race went so smoothly for me, that it didn't leave me with a whole lot of writing material. (But sometimes in racing, that is a good thing!)

I walked away, unscathed, with a respectable 11th place finish. Eleventh place has actually become a consistent theme for me this season -- which is good for the overall points standings, but frustrating for a racer's overall ego. (My plan is to bust through that top-ten barrier again real soon -- Chuck Yeager-style!)

Believe it or not, another member of the Florida Online / TK Racing Team also brought home an 11th place finish over the weekend. Okay, how is that possible, you ask? Did we buy a second car and then come by the checkered flag in a photo-finish tie? Yeah, right...

The weekend's racing program was extended with a Sunday bonus at Sunshine Speedway in Clearwater. Since it was a Legends-only, non-points race, Rick (husband/crew chief ) got a chance to increase his "seat-time" by taking the #90 pilot's seat. It turned out to be day-long lesson in adjusting the handling. After his second practice session, we discovered that the right rear tire had a NAIL punctured through it. Thank goodness for that BFGoodrich radial because it held together... but we definitely had to replace it before the race. Now, replacing a well-seasoned right rear tire with a new, thick-treaded one does very silly things to your car when you try to turn. To his credit, Rick hung in there all day, making multiple adjustments to the suspension, and completed the race without any incidents... plus landing the second 11th place finish of the weekend.

We will not be racing this weekend... or next week, for that matter. In fact, I won't be racing again until the May 31st event at the Sebring road course. (More details on why later.) However, with some practice on the books, Rick will be the one competing at our next points race -- May 16th at Orlando Speedworld. If you get a chance, please come out and give Rick your support! Since it will only be his fifth race, he'd sure appreciate it!

So what else is on tap for May? The reason I will not be racing until after Memorial Day weekend: I AM GOING BACK TO INDY!

Lyn St. James has asked me to return as a team member for her sixth consecutive year at the Indy 500. I will be lying out on May 8th, the first day of qualifying is May 10th, and the 81st Annual Indianapolis 500 will be held on the 25th. She will be driving the #90 Lifetime TV/Cinergy entry. (Any guess as to where I got my number?)

So, if you have actually made it to the end of this report (I always start off with the intention of making them a bit shorter) -- then you have the whole story! Please keep in touch... I will try to send a quick note from Indy.

Until then... keep on racing!

Thanks for all your support!

--Trish Koger #90

To send a letter to Trish, email to koger@thunval.com

Check out the Distant Thunder archives for other articles by women drivers.