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What a weekend! What a strange race! Let me tell you all about it...
We got to the track just before practice on Friday night and went right out to run in the track. It was a little sloppy at first but not too bad and by the second round of practice we started to get a little bite in the corners. We have raced here a lot the last couple of years so I just needed to get in some laps so I could get comfortable with driving the track. We decided to put the kart in the trailer early and didn't even go out for the last practice.
Saturday morning we practiced as usual and went out to qualify right after the drivers meeting. The kart felt good and fast and we qualified 3rd for both light and heavy. So far everything was going pretty much according to plan but, when the first race started, things got a little strange.
We started the race and I got off to a great start. I lead a few laps before Jordan Dill passed me and then after a few more laps it started to sprinkle a little. They threw the yellow on the ninth lap but the corner workers were telling us to run fast! I've always gotten in trouble for that so I didn't know what to do. Everybody else just went around slow too because no one wanted to get black flagged for going to fast during a caution. The rain was light but continued and the officials decided to red flag the race because we would probably run out of fuel before we could restart and finish the race.
My crew chief said they should have left the karts on the track, maybe covered them up or something like that, but they shouldn't have let us come completely off the track. Now, everybody was going back to their trailers and changing gears and tires and who knows what. So, our crew chiefs all took a vote and they decided that we couldn't just restart the race, we had to run the whole race over again.
The rain stopped and they told us that they would call us back up to the grid in 15 minutes so we took a look at the tach and decided to change the gear and clean and prep the tires. We no sooner got the gear off (about 2 minutes!) and they called us back up so we threw the gear back on and went to the grid without prepping the tires. When we got there they told us to over fill the tank a little because they were going to have us run 5 extra laps before we started the race to run the track back in. Then, after we overfilled the tank, they got us out on the track and decided that they were just going to start the race with out any extra laps. I was so confused I almost got out of the kart to look and make sure it was mine!
When the race started I was on cold dirty tires and I slid up the track in turns 1 and 2 while everybody went by me. I was in last place. I ran back up to 4th but I couldn't catch the leaders. I was praying for a caution the whole way but it never came.
Then came the second race (heavy). I got a great start again and I fell in behind the pole sitter and we ran the next 19 laps bumper to bumper. I was faster than he was and I tried everything I could to pass him. I set him up going into the turn to get in under him coming out but he blocked me. I tried to run him down on the straights but he blocked me there too. I almost had him on one lap but couldn't quite make the pass and had to let up. Then, he slipped up in the next turn but I wasn't back up where I needed to be to take advantage. Darn! Then, on the last lap, in the last turn, we came up on a lap kart that was right in the middle of the groove. I've been here before and I didn't want to wreak so I let up just a little to see what the leader would do. Well, it looked like he didn't know what to do and at the last second he started to go to the outside so I went down to go under. I was way faster through the corners than he was and, when he saw that I was going to pass him as we went around the lap kart, he quickly turned down to go low instead and shoved me into a cone. The cone went under my kart causing me to spin across the track while almost everybody went by before I could get back under way. I finished 8th.
I was real disappointed after the race. When I came off the track my crew was all giving me the thumbs up and my friends all told me that I should have gotten the win so that made me feel a little better. Then, Papa Moon told me that he was impressed that I went for the win instead of just sitting back and taking an easy 2nd so I guess it's not so bad. On Sunday my big toe on my right foot was sore from pressing down on the gas pedal so hard during the race. I told my crew chief he better check that real close to make sure I didn't break it off!
I REALLY want to win a race this year. I can tell it's just around the corner! Both races were 19 and a half great laps so I know I'm only a half a lap away from a win. That's a lot closer than I was just a few months ago so don't count me out just yet!
