So we joined the racing action at South Sound Speedway for the final race of the 2020 season. As it always is, a serious roller coaster, full of ups and downs. So let's get started!
We met at the shop to do a couple last things to the car, check the toe, that sort of stuff, then load it up. I will say, it was odd not needing to be at the track until 2:30. We were done with the car and sitting around waiting for a couple hours. Being closer to our shop, the drive to South Sound Speedway isn't as long, plus the whole COVID affected schedule meant a lot of time just...waiting. We left the shop under partly cloudy skies, but drove through a very heavy rain shower on the way there. Pulling into the parking lot outside the pit gate we had to wait out another small shower and then found out that the "morning session" had not run any of their main events yet. So, instead of opening the pits to us at 2:30 like scheduled, it was more like 4pm by the time we got in.
This meant that our schedule was severely shortened. Not a big deal really, we weren't there to be super serious anyways. Once again, we just wanted to see what would fall off. but what it also meant was that we would only get one single practice session, they told us it would be 30 minutes, and then we would go straight to the main events. No qualifying, no heat races, none of that. Just get in line for practice and then straight to the race. Okay, sure. I got in line immediately for practice because I didn't want to miss any of it. I was out there the entire time, and it didn't feel like 30 minutes to me, but whatever. I needed every lap and I used every second.
The result was that the car was good. Like, very good. I told my team not to change anything, it's fine, just let me get used to driving again. Honestly, was there stuff we could have done? Yeah, sure. But it wasn't that big a deal and the car was on pace with the field, so why bother going through a ton of work when the biggest thing needed was the driver getting more laps and being more comfortable. Let's just run it and not get crazy here. And that's what we did. Tire temps showed us that we could use some camber adjustments, but again, minor things.
So the main event came and they lined us up by points with the points leader on the pole, no invert. That means that since I had not raced there ever, I got to start dead last. That's fine, in al honesty I kind of wanted to be back there anyways because I really didn't know how we stack up against these guys in race trim and I kind of wanted to take a few laps at the beginning of the race juts to feel this out. Sometimes starting shotgun on the field isn't a bad thing.
When the green flag dropped I immediately went to work. The car was good, probably better than the driver, and I think a switch just flipped and I just went to work. I think I picked off the car to my inside in the first corner and then set my sights on the next guy, sending it in on the outside as quickly as I could. With two guys down it was all looking forward. The next guy was clearly struggling with his car and after a couple bumps to let him know I was there he moved over and let me by. I really didn't expect him to do that, but he is a great guy and an honest racer and he said he just wasn't handling very well and letting me by was the smart thing to do. After a short yellow flag to bunch us back up I set my sights on the next guy in line. This is where things got tougher.
I clearly had the better car in the corners, but he had the horsepower to pull away down the straights. So I could get up next to him in the turns, but then he would power away from me again. We did this for what felt like an eternity, putting on what would have been a great show had fans been allowed to attend. It was fun, exciting and exhilarating to know we had a car that could battle like that. It's been a very long time since I was door to door with another racer battling like that, so it's good to be back in that form. Then everything went wrong.
With just 3 laps to go, I came off of turn 2 onto the back straight, full throttle, the car pulling good like it had done for 32 laps and then heard a "BANG" and felt the car just nose over. I knew it wasn't the engine because I could hear it still running and a quick glance at the gauges showed that everything looked fine, so I reached over and shut it down. Luckily I was approaching the pit entrance so I just made the sad right turn off of the track and coasted towards our pit stall. It turns out that the bolt holding the top link in had apparently left me, causing the top link to come loose and the rear end to rotate backwards, pulling the driveline out of the transmission. So this makes a second transmission broken, a second driveline broken and some other things I'm sure we will find later once we assess all of the damage. We came up a bit short, just 2.5 laps from the checkered flag. But we made a statement and the car looks amazing on the track!
I want to thank a lot of people here, starting with my crew -
Pops, Tommy, Les and Donny - I really could not have done any of this without these guys. they have worked hard on this car, put in a LOT of time and effort helping me build it, and in some cases their own money so that I can go out there and race. They have donated parts, helped me buy parts and spent time working on my car instead of theirs. These guys are seriously the best and I owe them a massive thank you!
Jim at Race Car Help - He has been a huge supporter and a big help with suspension and setup guidance. I know I drive him crazy because I have weird theories that don't line up with what he wants to do, and I often don't give him enough info for him to really do it right. But this time I just did what he said, no questions asked, and the car was a bullet right off the trailer. If you need help getting your car pointed in the right direction or you want to take it a step further, you need to talk to Jim. And I promise Jim, we will measure everything this winter and get it over to you.
My marketing partners - Freelancers Communications, Clevenger Associates, Voeller & Associates, Lucky's Drive-In and the Food Is Free Project - Tacoma. I am proud to represent each and every one of you and I thank you all for your support.
And of course, all of you who follow my nonsense. Thank you for taking a moment to read my ramblings and cheer for us.
We will get the car patched up over the winter and be ready for the 2021 racing season. Hopefully it's a new year and things are not as bizarre as this year.
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