Yesterday afternoon Mary did an awesome job at No Problem Raceway - a course that was ideally suited for her. Her run was good enough for 31st overall and most of all showed that all of our fixes - axles, differential, brakes - were working as we had hoped. It's hard to hop in a car with brand new this and that and have the confidence to throw it around a race track at you have never seen before but we did and we were rewarded with a car that we know we can trust.
After leaving No Problem we had a relatively short transit stage (380 miles I think) to Birmingham, Alabama where we were able to catch up on some much needed sleep. The transit stage was not, however, without incident as we were having some intermittent issues with our trailer lights which, while not a huge deal, is worrysome especially when thinking about the long drive the next day. I think it is (was) a bad ground, we will find out tonight...
(9:40 update... It looks like the light issue is Rocky the Raccoon's revenge... When Mary splittered him, it looks like he not only took out the splitter strut but also walloped the Marquez running light. It's loose now so think we might have a ground issue up there... Fingers crossed we can get through the night).
This morning we had a short drive to Barber Motorsports Park and the best description that I can give is that it was like pulling up to an elite golf and country club. It is immaculately prepared with rolling lawns, trees, facilities, and what is supposed to be an awesome museum (that we didn't have time to visit). The track itself is even cooler although it is very intimidating, especially to those of use with more "conservative" abilities. It is far and away the most technical track that I have ever seen in person, let alone driven on. Most difficult are the multiple elevation changes which give you an interesting variety of blind turns - both uphill and downhill. We walked the track before heading out and I am glad that it was something that we been doing all week. Maps are great, notes are helpful, and video goes a long way to creating familiarity with tracks but nothing compares to walking it. Video didn't even come close to capturing the elevation changes and the pucker moments. When you a get instructions like "whatever you do here, make sure you are going straight when you crest this blind hill (at 90 mph)" you think about it a lot.
It turns out, I think I thought about it too much. When I went out in the morning for reasons that I can not explain I never really "got up" for the run. I was ready, and I was confident about the car and the track, but for whatever reason I never got in to the "gotta go" mentality. I think to some degree I was nervous about the run... We have 700 miles to drive tonight and a couple of hundred tomorrow - I know that preservation of the equipment this close to the end of the race was on my mind. We have locked up first in our class and are too far down overall (after missing Daytona and Gainesville) to recover - I know there was no urgency besides do well and represent the team and the car as best I could.
It was probably a combination of those things but when I got out I was way to tentative and nowhere near as aggressive as I needed to be. The braking zones are all very clearly marked and I gave them a lot of respect... Too much respect. If you have ever participated in one of Baer Brake's speed stop challenges you know what I am saying. You get hard on the brakes only to stop (or slow down) 100 feet too soon... And I just never pushed it like should have.
One of the greatest feelings about driving a car on the track is the surge of adrenaline you have after making that perfect lap, or turn, or apex... You get back in the pits and your whole body is crying out for more; you're shaking with the thrill of having done IT. I didn't have that feeling this morning... I ran my laps, pulled in to the pits and knew that I had been nowhere near the edge. Heck, I probably couldn't have even seen the edge from where I had driven. Bad feeling.
And it showed in my time, a disappointing but not unexpected 40 somethingth overall.
Mary on the other had, got IT. She went out after a solid days preparation (if you know Mary you will know what I mean) and she got on it from the start. She was second in her run group and made up 6 seconds on the car in front of her in the first lap. she got another 6 by the end of the second lap and was drag racing him down the front straight at the checkers. That's really impressive on a 2 mile course. It was amazing the number of people who came by afterwards and looked at Mary and the car in a little different light. The run itself was good for 38th despite being held up on her third lap.
Which more or less brings us to now... Somewhere on I-65 North between Bowling Green and Louisville in Kentucky making a bee line for Joliet. After Nashville traffic and a stop or two for gas we are looking at a 130 arrival at the hotel...
Long night coming.
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