Getting ready for this race was a struggle. We had it all planned out but every time we got started it would start to rain.

We have been working on the corner entry of the car trying to get it to turn in better. Nothing we were trying was really making much of a difference. Then, a friend of ours who has raced for many years, gave us a set up that was quite a bit different from what we had been running. It sort of sounded good so we figured we would buy some springs and try it at the Thursday night practice session. If it didn't work we would just put it back to the old way... (more)

Well, we got one lap in the practice before it started to rain. So, we left the trailer and came back on Friday morning to and try again. This time we made about 20 laps before it started to rain again. I didn't have time to tell if it was really better or not but it didn't seem any worse so we decided to leave the car as it was for the race.

A few years ago we had problems like this with our TQ. It turned out to be 3 or 4 things that were wrong. Once we got them all fixed, things that should work, like changing a spring, started to work as it was supposed to. I think that this is what's been going on but I don't know yet what the 2 or 3 things are that need to be fixed!

I am starting to think that one of the problems is my brake system. It seems they don't come in at the same rate front to back. I can adjust them so that they have more power on the front or the back but if I set the brakes to the back, and I have to get in to the brakes hard, the rear brakes all of a sudden grab and I spin out. If I set it more to the front then the front brakes grab under normal braking and the nose of the car wants to push. Something there is not the right size or compound or something.

On Saturday night we don't get a lot of practice so we really don't get time to do much more than make a few minor adjustments. I also don't have a lot of experience with qualifying. For the 50 lap race everybody has to run 2 laps qualifying to set the starting order. We made a few changes to the car trying to loosen it up but it just made it loose off the corner not in. I ran the best lap I could but I was over a half of a second slower than I usually am. Turned out it wasn't all that bad, I qualified 9th out of 16 cars.

In the l ast race I had a different spotter than I usually do. He had worked with some NASCAR teams and taught us a lot about spotting. My dad and I talked a lot during the week about what I liked about the way the pros do it and we came up with some things that he could do to help me. My dad usually doesn't talk that much on the radio. I usually don't listen that well either. I guess it was because it was someone other than my dad on the radio and this guy had some professional experience that I started to listen closer and he was talking constantly. Now I know how important the spotter can be. Even though the car wasn't much better this week, my dad was giving me a lot more input than usual and I was listening to every word, so we had a lot better race.

Usually my dad will tell me that the next time around we are going to start. Then he'll remind me to "tighten up" which means to get up to the car in front of me. I think I am but I'm not so I get a bad start. This time he keep telling me to move up until I was where I needed to be. Usually, he doesn't tell me where to run on the track either. I think I'm down further than I am and cars always get under me coming off the corner. Now he keeps telling me over and over to hold the car down and I do until he says to let it start to drift up. Because of that, I got much better starts in the race and held onto my position better.

The next thing I usually try to do is drive into the first turn too hard and then I slide up the track through the turn. In this race race he kept reminding me to go easy on the first corner until I could get some heat in my tires. So, that's how we ran the entire race. On the starts he talked me all the way through the corner and on almost every lap he kept telling me to roll in easy while encouraging me to get back on the gas as soon as I could.

I also usually run a lot faster when there is a car ahead of me that I can try to catch. The problem is that I try to catch them by driving into the corner too deep. Then, I have to get on the brakes hard to get the car to turn and I lose all my momentum. With my spotter constantly telling me to roll in easy and get back to the gas sooner, I was actually gaining on the car ahead of me a little bit better that they way I used to drive.

The first part of the race was pretty tame. Everybody for the most part was taking it easy and trying to save their tires for the last 10 laps. Of course there are always a few drivers who go a little too hard and that was the case on lap 14 when the leaders got into it and spun coming off of turn 4. For some reason they put 2 cars that were already a lap down ahead of me on the restart. We did the spotter thing just the same and I got a great start but going into turn one I was behind this slow car with no where to go to get by him. That bunched the cars up behind me and when we came back around to turn one I jumped to the outside and made the pass but the cars behind me ran out of room and one of them spun to bring back out the caution on lap 15.

The exact same thing happened again on the next restart. They put a car ahead of me that should have been behind me and when we got to turn one the car was dead in the turn and I had to get out of the gas. That let 3 cars get by me on the outside going down the back stretch and I wound up back in turn one behind this slower car again. I was trying to set the car up to get under it coming off turn 2 but I didn't time it right and I bumped the car going through turn one and spun it out. That brought out the caution again and now I had to go to the back on the restart.

I guess I was a little frustrated and didn't get a very good start. 2 cars got by me on the next lap before I could get back to driving my line. My spotter didn't shut up until I got back to driving the way I did before. 3 of us ran about 12 laps in line and then the first car got out of sorts in turn 3 and the car ahead of me and I got by him. That tightened us up in a 4 car draft with me the second car. In about 2 more laps I got a great run off turn 4 and passed the car in front of me but just as I did the 2 cars behind us got into to each other and spun.

On the restart I timed it really well and jumped to the outside of the car in front of me to pass him at the flag stand. I dropped down going into turn one and got another terrific run off of turn 2. Down the back stretch I passed a car and then I saw an opening going into to turn 3 to pass another car. I guess I got a little excited and drove it in too hard. Then, when I got hard into the brakes to make the turn, I spun the car out and brought out the caution. Now I had to go to the back again.

On the restart we were on the 36th lap. I was in 11th place. I didn't get a very start but I did pass one car one the next lap. 2 laps later I passed another car but just as I did the car ahead of me spun right in front of me all by his self. That was the closest call all night. I don't know how I missed him but I went high and made it by just as the caution came out again.

With 11 laps to go, my spotter and I were back in sync and I got a really good restart, but the same car that spun the lap before spun again in turn one and hit the wall. This time his night was over. While we were lining back up a few cars in front of me were trying to work out a little disagreement they had and the one wound up brake checking the other about 5 times until he tore the nose off his car! That put me up two more spots because they black flagged the one guy and the other had to go to the pits to get his nose piece pulled the rest of the way off.

I restarted again in 7th but lost a position to the guy with no nose piece. A few laps later his fender blew up over his windshield so he couldn't see so I got back around him and was planning on getting to 6th but the caution came out again for a wreck that happened behind me. Now, with 9 laps to go I was still in 7th but for some reason the flag man motioned me to go ahead of the 6th place car so I restarted the race in 6th. I think I would have passed him anyway but I shouldn't have been given that position. Oh well, I guess they owned me one?

I was a little slow getting ready for the restart and never got to the back of the car in front of me so the leaders pretty much drove off and left me. Still, no one was challenging me from behind until 4 laps from the finish when I had to pass a lap car up high. Just as soon as I cleared him the car with no nose was back on my rear bumper again. My spotter was going nuts because we had to finish ahead of that car! He and I were tied for second in the points! He talked me all the way around the track for the last 3 laps until I started to pull away to take the checkered flag in 6th.

The last time we ran a 50 laps race was last year. In that race I spun out twice, punched a whole in the radiator, blew both head gaskets and cracked both heads while finishing the race in 7th. This time, I didn't hurt the motor or the radiator, I only spun out once, and I finished one place better in 6th! Plus, I moved into 2nd place in the points by myself. Now that is progress but I still wish I could get this car to turn a little better in the corners...