Koger Race Report

Auburndale, July

by Trish Koger

"Looks like this track is back to its old tricks!" Rick Koger was quoted as saying after the conclusion of the July 12th Legends Cars of Florida feature race at Auburndale Speedway.

Hey, double deja vu... back at Auburndale, yet again! After a June 27th rainout at Volusia County Speedway, the #90 Florida Online car was back for a second consecutive appearance and its fifth bout of the season at the "Monster Arrowhead" track.

Due to the fact that we had just been to Auburndale, the TK Racing Team was able to benefit from our struggles with the car setup from the last trip. Rick checked his pit notes to recreate our best setup combination on the car for the first practice session. It worked. I shaved four-tenths of a second off my best lap times ever at Auburndale. So, with my speed up, I was ready to take on some traffic.

Thirty-two Legends Cars were on hand, so there would definitely be no shortage of traffic. Unfortunately, not all 32 cars would make the field. Since Auburndale is only a 1/4-mile, semi-banked asphalt oval, there would be very little room to race if all the cars were out at once. So, the track officials decided to advance ten cars from each of the two heat races and then four additional from a consolation race to make a 24-car feature race field.

Luckily, I did not handicap my starting position this week by failing miserably during the dreaded number draw. I drew #15 and started seventh in the first heat. Phew!

Starting seventh put me in the inside of the fourth row to take the green flag. We fired the engines coming out of turn three and then blasted past the flagman towards turn one. Then zing... cars were spinning. I stayed low and pulled out of the melee in fourth. I wish I could have stayed there; however, there is this pesky racing rule that says that you have to complete at least one green flag lap to make the start official... so we lined up (double-file) where we started to try over again.

On the second restart, almost the same scenario repeated itself with a car spinning coming out of turn four. It was only supposed to be a ten-lap sprint, but the caution flag got a workout... a good indication that it was going to be a long night.

The #90 Florida Online car, however, didn't care. It was hooked up, and I was hooked up. I was driving aggressively, and in the midst of one of my best races ever. I was passing slower cars, and holding off not-so-slower cars. I was in fifth place behind the #74 car for about three laps, and we were dead even. I would charge him down the straightaways, catching him the corners. My front wheels would get just past his rear wheels as we entered the turn. He would hold his line, and I would have to break and back out to give him racing room. This happened about three times, when, in turn three, I finally caught him. Or so I thought.

My front wheels were up to his driver's door, and I had the line. But having the line and keeping it are two different things. Apparently, the other driver didn't see me because again he came down... but this time there was no way for me to brake and back out. It always happens so quickly -- wrecking, that is. The Auburndale curse had returned.

The car did not look badly damaged. The rescue crew untangled me from the wreck and I drove off, hoping to join the back of the field and salvage a top ten to advance to the feature. I turned left through turn four, and went to straighten the wheel down the frontstretch... and it locked. I had no right-hand steering. Dejected, I just kept turning left into the infield to wait for the wrecker.

Now, as you may have noticed on televised races, it's not always the winner who gets the most airtime. For example, you may not remember who went to the winner's circle at this year's Daytona 500, but you probably remember how that Goodwrench Chevrolet did a barrel roll down the backstretch. (No offense, #3 fans.) In my case, the extended yellow flag did work in my favor. Tom Gray, our beloved PR man, has returned to the series and was back in the announcers' booth... and was he doing some great PR for Florida Online! Thanks, Tom!

Rick and I would also like to thank our fellow competitor, Ed Brown. After the wrecker dropped off the wounded #90 car at the trailer, we assessed that the damage to the steering system would take much longer than the 45 minutes that we had before the start of the consolation race. So I changed out of my driving suit, and we started to load up. When Ed found out that we were done for the night, he offered to allow me to use his backup car. I was bewildered at first, and hesitant to risk damage to someone else's car. However, he insisted, I accepted, and then I scurried to get ready to race again.

I had to start in the back of the consolation race, and two cars went spinning in front of me in the very first turn. I backed way out of the throttle to avoid any problems... and expected a caution to bunch us back up again. No luck. Both cars got going again, and the green flag stayed out. Ed's car ran great. Once my nerves calmed down, I got into a rhythm and starting chasing down the rest of the pack. I was gaining on them, but there were no cautions, and the ten laps ended with me in sixth place. My night of racing was over.

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.