First Stop,Calgary

Hey Everyone.

Out west was awesome, although it did not start that way. We had a 100 lap race on Friday night - full points, plus a 300 lapper on Sunday afternoon - full points.

Those rookie points are everything.

During Friday's practice The Weather Network chevy blew a motor. The team went quickly to work to change it. But we missed qualifying. We almost missed the race, but just as the cars were about to pull away from the starting grid, I was able to start it up and go. I started last. (16th)

In 100 laps I was up to fourth. I was so happy. I finally figured out oval track racing. How you just plant the car into the corner and let physics take over. My crew was so happy, even Peter met me at tech to congratulate me on an excellent race.

I gained 24 points of the rookie battle!

Sunday's race we started 9th. I stayed in the top 10 most of the day. With no yellow from lap 109 to 223, my tires were starting to go. Then on lap 210 the worst possible thing happen. A FLAT TIRE. I rode around hoping for a yellow, but we were losing too much time. We pitted for 4 tires. AND lost 4 laps. I went from 10th to 17th.

We have a lead of two points on the rookie battle.

Vancouver next stop

Hey Everyone,

Coming out of Calgary on a high, plus leading the Rookie of the Year points and having my best career finish with a 4th, our team had momentum.

Vancouver was a frustrating event. It was the first time any one had been to the new track. It was a great track but only one lane. There were few places to pass.

In practice the Weather Network Chevy was in the top 15 and we were feeling pretty good about the event. But come qualifying, it was a different story. The crew placed new tires on the car and it did not handle well at all. I kept telling them on the radio that this car was suicidal. It wanted to drive itself into the wall. At times it felt like there were only two tires on the road. We came in for a look at the tires, because it was the only thing we had changed, and they seemed to be okay. I could not drive the car. After qualifying we noticed that the sway bar was totally off the car, both brackets were broken. That made me feel better.

Second round qualifying was rained out so we would start 23rd. I was not happy about this position because I knew it was really hard to pass anywhere on the track. I had my work cut out for me. I was making a few passes under braking but got hit and spun once. The next two times I tried to out-brake someone for the pass, the car would spin out. We were about to change the brake bias, but never got another chance to race. With only an hour race, and three or four accidents, it felt like we only raced 12 laps, the actual count was 25 or 29 laps, but it was too short.

The good news, finishing 19th, we are still ahead for the rookie battle by four points.

Pete looked at the race car after the race and found that the front brake line was broken, giving me only rear brakes. That explains most of my troubles.

Next race is the Delaware double header. 100 laps for full points and 250 laps for full points.