Race #4 at Columbia Motorsports Park
03-11-06

Here we are. Back where it all started - Columbia Motorsports Park.

We came up here for practice a few weeks ago and ran about 30 or 40 laps. The car was a tick loose but it felt strong. Our laps were the fastest of those that came out that day. Latter we heard that one of the cars in our group was turning laps about 3 tenths faster than us but we figured we could make a few changes and be pretty close to that... (more)

One of the things we were considering was to change out our Winters quick change for a non-quick change rear end. They tell us that the quick change takes away a good bit of horsepower. The problem is that the non-quick change only comes in 3 gear selections and we were not sure that any of them would work for us. I can only look at the tach somewhere at the end of the straight away before I turn into the corner but I usually hold the gas down a little bit longer than that. I had checked the tach and it looked to me like I was already past the red line. That was not what we wanted to see because it meant that we would not be able to change out the rear end. Just to be sure, we installed a data logging tach for the race and checked it against what the tach inside the car was saying and it now appears that the non-quick change will work out great.

Well, let's get to the races. In the first practice everybody seemed slow, including me. Still, the car felt better than it did when we were here for practice a few weeks ago. I jumped back in the car to go out for the second practice and the engine wouldn't start. It acted like the battery was dead and then all of a sudden I saw smoke coming up from under the hood. A couple guys from the pit next to us pulled off the hood and I shut off the power. It turned out that the radiator fan had shorted out and burned up the wiring. Guess we better put a fuse on that next time. Oh, well. I missed the second practice and now I wasn't sure that the motor would stay cool enough to finish the race but, when it was time to line up, I went to the grid hoping for the best.

In the heat I had to start 4th because we invert the field from the finish of the last race which I won. I wanted to get the best finish I could because this year we pay points for the finish of the heats as well. My crew chief and I discussed this race for what seemed like hours. The one thing he kept stressing to me was to play it safe so I was trying my best to do that. Starting on the outside is always bad because it's hard to get in behind the other cars. The car on the pole was the fastest car out there followed by another fast car but I was behind one of the slowest cars in our group so I figured I would just drop behind everybody and follow them for the first lap and hope I had enough time to get back to the front. That's pretty much what happened. I passed the slow car on the first lap and then got by the 4th place car with 3 to go but that was all I could get before the end of the race.

I had to start the feature race at the end of the field too because I won the last race. On the start I dropped to the bottom and passed 2 cars under that flag stand. After that I lined up behind a fast car and planned to run with him to the front. On the next lap we passed under the 9th place car for 8th. On the next lap I got under the fast car I had been following but then we came up on another slow car and I got blocked in behind him. I had to wait for the fast car to make it around the slow car and then I stepped to the outside and made the pass myself. In one more lap we were on the bumper of the 6th place car and the fast car and I were racing each other while we both tried to get around him. The 6th place car gave up the inside on the back stretch as we went by him going into turn 3. By the time we exited turn 4 we were up to the back of the 4th and 5th place cars. Over the next 3 laps we ran nose to tail until the 4th place car slipped up the track and all three of us went under him. Then, as we were coming off turn 2, the 2 cars in front of me came up on a lap car and had to lift. I got a heck of a run off the corner and passed the fast car down on the inside for 4th . A couple laps later I caught the 3rd place car and passed him coming off of turn 4. Now I was in 3rd but the 1st and 2nd place cars were more than a straight away ahead of me.

During the heat race the car only got up to 200 degrees so I was hoping that it would stay that cool in the feature but I really didn't think it would. I turn the engine about 9000 to 13000 RPM and at that speed the water pump sends the water through the radiator so fast that it doesn't have time to cool down. Sure enough, after about 10 laps the motor was up to 220 degrees. The fast car had a little trouble getting around the 4th place car so that gave me about 2 laps to build up a pretty good lead. Then, I realized my motor was getting pretty hot even though for the first time in the race I was out front in clean air running my fastest laps of the day. I thought if I didn't run quite so hard I might be able to get the motor to cool off a little so I started to lift a little earlier than I had been. On top of that, my crew chief changed the gear so I was on the rev limiter a little bit too so I just took it easy and the next thing I knew the fast car was back on my tail. With 5 laps to go we caught 3 lap cars all at once going into turn one. I went around the outside of the first one and the fast car went to the outside of me. We caught the next lap car in turn 2 and I went low under him and the fast car went high around him. The fast car and I made the pass on the back stretch and were side by side going into turn 3 when we caught the 3rd lap car. Once again, I was trapped down low and was going to give the up position and try to fall in line behind the fast car but the lap car saw the fast car coming around on his right and slammed the brakes on. Before I could slow down or turn I got into his bumper and turned him around.

Of course that brought out the yellow and when we lined back up they sent me to the end of the line of cars who were still on the lead lap. That wasn't so bad really because there were only 4 cars on the lead lap so I was still in the same position if you figure I was giving up the 3rd spot anyway. On the caution I was trying to take it easy hoping that my motor would cool down a little and the next thing I know they put a lap car in front of me and restarted the race. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention and they took off and left me and I never had time to get back to the fast car to see if I could get my position back before the end of the race.

The races where I start in the rear are always the most exciting even though it's hard to win from that far back. Next race I will be racing for position in the heats so it may not be as exciting a race but I got a good chance of getting another win.