Thunderhill 3/9
We were spared any wet weather conditions as predicted earlier, and ended up with near perfect days for this NASA weekend. Practice did start a little under the gun for me. During the Saturday race, Kevin had lost the master clutch cylinder. Thanks to Donny Edwards bringing a Valley Motorwerks supplied part the following morning, Master-on-the-spot-engineer Kevin was able to begin the part swap. However we also got held up with our swaybar binding up on us. It literally was up to the last minute that we got the car off the jackstands while the paddock was just beginning to leave for practice. The practice session had all three major race groups out on the field, making for pretty crowded conditions while everyone gave their cars the necessary shakedown. We were still working out our pressure strategies with the new Toyo R888 tires, and under cold conditions the car was a bit more unpredictable then the last time I was driving it a month ago at Infineon. This practice session never seemed to give a good lap with all the traffic and me sorting out the car. However I was very amped up for the day and saw the potential with this car at this track.
Qualifying yielded some similar frustrations. We made some changes to the car to address some of the new knowledge we were learning. During the first lap around, I could immediately sense the difference. The car was much more stable and I knew now we were closer to a better setup. The downside was that except for the first 2 laps, it was not possible to get a clean run as accidents sprang up and yellow flags began to fly out of corner worker stands. While on my third qualifying lap which was about to be very clean, the course was black flagged and we all came in to pit. I got a 4th position, right in the middle of the pack.
The race field was inverted, so I maintained my same position. This was my first time in a standing start, which turned out to be a blast. We had one false start in our group, but for the most part everyone drove like pros. When I started my grid up, I realized I could not see the flag man from my position. Thus I would have to rely on watching everyone else. So there I sat with my revs up waiting for movement, and when it dropped I was able to traction out very well and pass the first 2 cars ahead of me on the right. Into turn one we came, and I saw I was free on either side and about to pass a Honda challenge car. Out of turn one I pass the Honda, and see Steve Krshul and Donny Edwards right on my bumper! We all pass another Honda and train through turns 3-5. Out of 5 Donny makes his pass on me with Steve behind me in pursuit. The next few laps were simply great racing with Steve in pursuit and a great side-by-side race with Brenden Selvig through turns 11-13, with me passing between 14-15. Next lap I have a USTCC car get into my inside into turn 1 and force me to break off way to the outside during the turn. Steve was able to use this and slip in with the Challenge car for a clean pass on the inside. At this point we see that a major accident has occurred as yellows begin to fly, and through turn 5 we see some serious wreckage of two cars. The race is immediately ended with a checkered yellow, and shortly after the race is red flagged and we stop, with a pace escort to the pits. A Honda Challenge driver was injured in this event, but I hear good news he is making a full recovery and was not seriously injured. Thus the race ended with 5 laps in, and I finished 4th.
The car during the race felt very good. Despite a rough practice and very short qualifying, I was able to get a few good laps in and milk out a 2:12. Given more time I think that would have gone down as in this race I was able to discover some new things about this car at Thunderhill. Not bad for a first race there. The tires were now awesome, and thanks to the support of AIM Tire for the traction. Especially I am thankful to Valley Motorwerks and the support they give.
