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Race #10 at Orlando Speedworld
09-10-05
Two steps forward, one step back. Still, we're a step ahead of where we were!
I was so pumped up about this race. I just knew I was going to win. We were so fast in the last race and the only thing we changed was the gear to get a little more RPM. We got to the track about 2 hours early just to get an additional round of practice or 2 and make sure everything was still good. And it was. Last race we were in the 17 second range in the practices and after were changed the spring we got down in the low 15's. Tonight, right off the trailer, we were still in the low 15's and the car was just a little loose. We made what we thought was a minor track bar adjustment and went back out for the second practice. This time the car was a little tight but I still was running the same lap times so we put the track bar about half way back to where it was in the beginning and then checked all the fluids to get the car ready for the heat race.
I guess I still have my touch on the pill draw because I pulled the pole again. Well sort of. We had 10 cars so we split the heat races into 2 groups. My pull was second so I started on the pole in the second heat race. While we waited to be called to the grid, my crew chief got to talking to a few other people about tire pressures and they convinced him that we needed to go up about 4 or 5 pounds on the tires so that's what he did. On the start of the race I got out front while the 2nd through 4th place cars jockeyed around a bit. That gave me the opportunity to open up a pretty big lead. My car started out a little lose but quickly hooked up until about lap 6 and then it started to go to the tight side. By the time I took the checkered flag on lap 8 I was fading pretty fast but I held to the lead to win my first heat race of the season!
We decided that the higher air pressure was the reason for the car changing so much during the race so we let the air back out of the tires and went up a little on the track bar to loosen the car a little bit more for the feature.
Since I won the second heat, I had to start the feature on the outside pole. I've been doing a lot better on the starts but when the green flag fell I was stuck outside with no room to get down in line until the 4th place car got by me so I finished the first lap in 5th. Shortly after that the yellow came out for a spin in the back of the pack and on the restart I wasn't paying attention to the car behind me and he got a run on me coming off of turn 4 and I lost another position. Turned out that car was pretty loose and I was gaining on him getting ready to set up a pass when he spun coming out of turn 4. That brought out the yellow again and sure enough, I wasn't paying attention to the car behind me, and he got a run on me coming off of turn 4 just like the time before and I lost the position again. The rest of the race I ran with the 5th and 4th place cars and I watch as the fought for position. At one point I thought they were going to take each other out and I would get 4th but they keep the cars in line and we ran pretty much bumper to bumper all the way down to the checkers where I finished the race in 6th.
The car didn't change during the race like it did in the heat race but I wish it would have at least a little bit. The car was loose all throughout the race so I couldn't get off the corners like I needed to. I guess we let the air out of the tires a little too soon before the tires cooled off so when they did cool down all the way the tire pressures were a lot lower that we wanted them to be. My crew chief didn't check the tires again until we were on the grid and even though he thought they were a little low he didn't put any air back in. When I found that out after the race I was going to say something but there is a lot of stuff to remember and I miss a few things once in a while too so I decided to give him a break. I will remind him to check the air before we leave the pits next week though!
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