Here we go, we've finally reached the first "race week" of the 2022 season. This Saturday, April 2nd, kicks off our 12 race long season. I'm not sure if we're ready or not at this point, it's been an interesting road so far.
So how did we get here? Well, that's a good question! Pre-season testing started March 12th, with three dats each Saturday after that, the 12th, the 19th and the 26th. We had planned on participating in at least one of those just to see where we were with the car. The ideal approach was to make the first date so we had time to correct any issues before the season opener. That didn't happen.
So what happened? Another good question! We gathered at the race shop on the 12th to much concern about the threat of rain. It was raining lightly at the shop off and on, so we chose not to go. We had planned on taking both my car and the Mini Stock of my niece together, but the thought of towing her car on an open trailer...in the rain...wasn't thrilling. So we chose to hang back and skip it. That would later prove to be a mistake.
Leading up to the following date on the 19th the crew found some issues with the Mini Stock engine, so I chose not to go to the track that date so that the guys could work on the #92 engine. If I took my car to the track, it would split the crew and be less hands to work on that engine, so I called it off. I'd rather she have an engine in time than go burn up tires practicing. Nobody wins practice.
The last date, the 26th, was my wife and I's wedding anniversary. We had planned on taking a mini-vacation so that date was never gonna happen anyways. And, we did just that. So where are we now? That's a great question! Basically, we're heading into this season opener blind. I mean, sort of. Let's be honest here, more often than not, practice is usually a great time to blow up an engine or something when you can't get points. So it can be a double-edged sword. You can learn things, or you can destroy things, you just never know which it will be. So while we may not know exactly what the car will do, we have a pretty good idea based on previous data. This new setup is a hybrid of something we tried at the end of 2020 mixed with some things we tried during the 2021 season. So while we aren't exactly blind on this one, we definitely have one eye closed here. 😉 It's race week, let's go get some! 😎