Finally we are racing. Practice day arrived and after a brief shower we were able to hit the track, and hit the track we did. The first time out the car was pushing, some of it was me, but it was the car too. The guys changed the sway bar and away we went again.

This time the car was much better. My wrists weren’t killing me when I came in and I had 2 16.9!!!!! on practice day, now we’re cooking with gas!!

The engine appears to be running fine, we are having some trouble with the carb though as when I step on the gas coming out of the turn there is a lull before we go. The guys plan to check that out before opening night. I need to work on not coming out of the turn and veering to the bottom of the track, as I am cutting off way too much speed when I do this. April the track has 4 turns not 6, April the track has 4 turns not 6, April….

We went out 2 more times and I am consistently hitting the 17.2 to 17.9 range, now if we can just kick it up a notch…..

Opening night April 27th

What do I say…The car is awesome, we seem to have most of the gremlins worked out of the setup and the engine, now it seems they have migrated to the driver. I was so D*** fast I didn’t know what to do! It is one thing to pass the slower cars it is totally another to pass the fast ones.

I seem to be one of the “fast” cars now, not the slow fast car. I caught the leader, miscalculated the pass and dumped him. Then on the last lap I saw a hole under a new guy and took it, and he closed it up.

I got disqualified for rough riding. Seems they wanted to use me as an example. No prob as long as I am not the only one! Took me 7 years to get dq’ed for rough riding. That would be Thumper or Kevin Harvick Jr to you!! At least we know the car is fast, now I gotta learn how to drive again!!

Week 2 May 4th

Victor took the week off cause he was too mad at me from last week. I went out for my heat race starting last because the first 2 weeks we draw for starting position. On about lap 7 I was going through 3 and 4 and thought I had the spot on another new guy and he closed up the hole on me. I was so scared that I left the track, not wanting them to dq me again for rough riding.

I knew I would go from one extreme to another. The feature came and I had to start last because I didn’t finish the heat race. I worked my way though traffic and with a couple of early cautions was able to work my way up to 4th without hitting anybody!! Unfortunately by the time I got through the traffic the front 3 had pulled far enough ahead of me and we didn’t get another caution. I can’t help but think that had we, then I would have been at least in contention for a trophy. Next week…..

Week 3 May 11th

Okay this is the week, no pressure, because I am low points guy/gal I get to start on the pole in the heat race. I held them off till about lap 7 when 2 guys got under me. I was driving too high and left open a hole and they took it.

I once again have gone from one extreme to another. This week I stay up, but forget to turn down at the end of the stretch and end up going into the turns too high, which puts me too high all around! UGH it ain’t as easy as it looks!

I do finish 3rd in the heat and even work the upper groove, passing a guy on the outside!. The feature sees me on the pole, low points and I did qualify in the heat race.

Okay now there really is no pressure. I do need to just not worry about it, cause I am trying too hard and that is no good either! I get a good start and lead the first 11 laps of the race. On lap 12 the 44 gets me, I left a little bit of a hole and he took it.

I am settling in behind him on the same lap when out comes a caution. Last week we wanted one this week we didn’t! I am still the leader cause they go back to the last completed lap. On the restart we are going into 3 the 44 gets the jump, he is fast, when all of a sudden I, as they say, “got planted” by the 28 in the sand bank.

It was a hard hit, half of his grill is still in my rear bumper, and several people say he just dumped me and never lifted. I went around at least once who knows maybe more, I couldn’t tell what with all the dirt I am eating and the caution comes out again. I get to start in the back and am wondering who the h*** it was that did it, cause no one is coming back with me.

Finally I see the 28 come around and know it has to be him, because he wasn’t at the back before. The car won’t handle for sh** after that, but I keep going, and end up finishing 8th for the night. Come to find out I had a very soft tire aka almost flat so that was the handling problem. When I left the track my brakes failed for a moment and I got into the back of the 28 ever so slightly, he stopped in front of me and I couldn’t.

Luckily that was just a momentary problem and the brakes seem to be fine now. They scored the 28 in last so I decided to go to the tower to find out why he was scored and I wasn’t. Seems you can dump one person a night no matter if it is the leader or not or how bad the dump is, but you can’t dump two… I will remember that.

Are we having fun yet or what!! Gotta love it. I actually am, I always do, the politics just get a bit much. But the politics will make it easier to walk away next year! So I will continue my pursuit of a trophy and at least 1 trip to victory lane this season!!