LMan and I will be at Barber Motorsports this weekend with National Auto Sport Association. Come down and watch the action. I'll be running in the American Iron group.

 

That'd be fun to watch or better yet race the track. kennyg

 

I had a great weekend. It was my first wheel-to-wheel racing weekend with my shiny new comp license.

Saturday's schedule was 10 minutes of practice, 20 minutes of qualifying, and a 35 minute race. Practice went good. Qualifying went better. I ran a 1:46.7, which was good for 2 out of 6 in American Iron. Because it was my first race, I had to start at the back of the 42 car field, which was fine. I was 10 spots behind where I qualified, so I quickly passed 6 or 7 cars in as many laps. I could finally see my competition and I was closing. On the back stretch, I see a puff of smoke followed by no power steering. I figured I had lost my serpentine belt and would soon overheat, so I pulled in and went to my paddock. I was disappointed, but not upset. I lifted the hood and found my belt intact and a power steering return hose had popped off the metal line. I popped the hose back on but the clamp was broken. I didn't have any fluid, and I desperately wanted to finish my first race, so I just jumped back in the car and got back out on track. I muscled my way through three slow laps with no power steering, all the while pointing people by. I saw the checker and finished my first race! Woohoo!

With my car back in shape, I was ready for Sunday's schedule of 15 minutes of qualifying and a 50 minute race. Qualifying felt good, but I slipped a spot to 3 of 6. After qualifying, I helped one of my new comrades drop his fuel cell to fix a fuel starvation issue. We got it all put back together in time for the race, but he tore one of the seals. He was just going to hope for the best. This time I got to grid properly for the race. There was some confusion on the rolling start and I ended up losing a spot before the green. After green, the 3 guys ahead of me left me. I settled in and drove my own line for a few laps and caught up with the guy with the fuel cell. We were bumper to bumper for 5 or 6 laps. I noticed everytime he went into a left turn, he was spilling fuel. I found myself slipping on it a few times and adjusted my line. I did all I could, but I couldn't get around him. I even tried a few aggressive moves on the inside grass, but just couldn't get him. I thought I had finally got him, but it turned out he was pulling up. I found out later that his fuel problem came back. Now I had third place with half the race to go. 50 minutes is a long time in that heat with no Cool Shirt. I thought I could maybe catch up with the others if I just drove my line, all the while passing slower classes and letting faster classes by. On the white flag lap, my brakes went soft and then went to the floor. I figured I had third place sewn up and couldn't get second, so I limped around the track for two more laps and took third. What a rush!

Glad it's Monday so I can rest a bit.

 

I don't think he noticed the change in his division.

 

Hey dude,

sounds like you kicked ***. you guys ever run up on the north parkway?

 

What sanctioned track is up on North Parkway?
Do they have a schedule?

 

*grins*
Dude...
Sweet!

*writes on notepad*
Take PS fluid, clamps, and other "stuff" in trailer.

Sounds like you had a great time!

 

Hey Dud, One of the coolest places in town to run is off South Parkway. Go south to Airport Road, but take a right, theres some real cool curves through there. When you get to the Armory turn around, and the same when you get back to the Parkway. Eventually you WILL get someone to race, I mean chase you! kennyg

 

yeah well.....this weekend I ate three whole baskets of garlic bread at Red Lobster all by myself and you don't see me bragging

 

*sigh* who let this kid in here?

 

I don't know. He would fit in with ACCTC though.

 

Need to spank some mommy for it.

Wait, that's another thread.

 

what's wrong with kids? They make great slave labor. I believe everybody should own one

 

Yeah, but then you have to feed it, bathe it and all that other stuff. If you don't, Social Services will take you slave labor away. Then your back to doing everything your self. Why put up with the headache.

 

Mark, I'm sure you had a great time in real competition. The many events you ran leading up to this finally paid off. Congrats on the Comp License, kennyg

 

dude,

north parkway is where you can rack up tons of street kills