Race Report

As The Wheel Turns

by Lisa Devlin

No, you haven't missed any race reports this year, I haven't written any. Although, with the way the season played out, I should have written race reports and submitted them as a script for a new soap opera - As the Wheel Turns.

So why am I writing this now? Well, the season ended on a pretty high note, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The last race of the season was at Sears Point on October 7-8. It was a double points regional, which means that the main race and the sprint race were both worth double the points of a regular race. I went into the race in a pretty solid second place in the championship, despite the fact that I had two DNF's (did not finish) from the beginning of the season (don't wanna talk about it) and that I had skipped two races because I didn't need the points, and at the time I wasn't having fun racing and just didn't want to go.

OK, enough lead in... on to what happened...

There was a pretty sparse field for this race - just me, Andy and Rich - but we're close enough that I was anticipating some good racing. In practice, I got off to a slow start. I was bedding in new brake pads, but even when they were bedded, I had set the tire pressures wrong, so the car was a little slidey. I'm good at setting tires when it's sunny and mild, but I'm still struggling with the proper pressures when the weather is cooler.

Now while my pole position was exciting enough, I want to share the success of the group I've been pitting with. Our pit group took the pole in four classes! Me in DSR, Roland in RX7, Bruce in EP, and Michael in SSB. Roland and Michael's race was at the end of the day on Saturday. Both won their respective races which put the pressure on Bruce and I to win. Well, no big deal for Bruce, but I hadn't won a race in this car yet. I knew I was capable, but I also knew it wasn't going to be handed to me.

Rich starts well, so I devised the following strategy: Plan A - stay ahead of Rich on the start and lead green flag to checker; Plan B - Rich gets by me on the start, but I stay on his tail until he gets tired and makes a mistake or until I get the opportunity to pass him and I get by him to win. Those were the only two plans...

Unfortunately, when Rich went by me, some of the other slower cars also got around, so now I had to get around them to get behind him. I focused on that task for a few laps, and then realized that I couldn't see Rich anymore. Oh man! I must be going slower than I thought I was. We aren't using a pit board or a radio so I had no idea what kind of times I was turning, I just needed to be going faster.

The weather was cool again, but I had consulted with Bruce about tire pressures and, following his advice, they were working well. In fact the whole car was working well. So let's kick it up a notch and get to Rich. This plan was working until a car went off and into the wall at Turn 2, right in front of me, which brought out the pace car. Since I had just been lapped by the leading Formula Atlantics, I was at the beginning of the pack, which meant that Rich was going to be at the tail end. There goes my chances for my first real checkered flag. What also happened is that the pace car gave Andy the chance to catch up to me - and I mean catch up, since it put him right behind me on the restart.

Well, I may not get first, but I sure wasn't going to settle for second. I got a great restart and even though I got caught up with some traffic, Andy did also. It was down to two laps to go and Andy was all over me. I saw the starter give the last lap sign and as I looked over to Bob on the wall I did a double take because there, standing at the pit wall, was Rich! The single word ohmygodimleadingtherace was followed by the thought that there was no way Andy was going to get by me... No Way!

As I pulled into the pit lane to get my flag, I still couldn't believe I'd won. I was sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me with seeing Rich. When I got to the guy giving out the flags, I even asked him if he was sure I'd won... He looked at me like I was nuts...

I turned out that Rich had come in after two laps. He wasn't feeling well and didn't want to put himself or others at risk. So even though I didn't know it, I had been pretty much in the lead for the entire race, and had been trying to catch a car that wasn't even there.

The sprint race was just Andy and I... I drove like crap. I have no idea why. I think I was just so relieved to end the season on such a high note, that after the main race, mentally my season was over. If that's the case, I need to work on that...

And to finish the story completely, Bruce's race was right after mine and he went out and won his class. Four poles, four wins for our pit... A pretty good weekend overall.

So this ends the 2000 season. I did end up in Second Place in the Regional Championship again and in First Place in the Racing Driver's Club Championship. I'm working on plans for next year, but I haven't decided anything yet. I'll keep you informed.

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