Hey everybody, We had a fun time this weekend in Mansfield, Ohio. The car ran well and the team worked really hard. We had a little extra help this weekend as Andy Wizorek from GEM came up to help us out. Andy works with my brother and also helps Michael Ritch out in the Southern Division. He was great help and a lot of fun to be around. Andy knows his stuff and I'm looking forward to working with him again soon.
Our race weekend was filled with a lot of highs, a couple of lows and a lot of work in between. USAR was able to get practice started on time despite the heavy rains the Mansfield area had overnight and early Saturday morning. Our car was pretty good to start with, the bumps in 3 and 4 were very upsetting to the car. We were tight in the center of the corners too. Andy and I put our heads together and made some adjustments that really dialed the car in. We improved our time with each adjustment. By the end of practice, we had the 12th best speed. The coolest thing was that the car was fast and consistent.
Qualifying was fun. Andy told me before we went out to take it easy getting into the corners and not overdrive the entry. I agreed with him and told him that I wouldnt do it, that I would be smooth and let the car roll free. I practically guarenteed him that I would behave and be smooth. Guess what the first thing I did was? Overdrive turn 1 on the first lap. I buried it into the corner, probably 3 car lenghts deeper than I had driven it all day. Spun it out and ruined that first lap. I turned the car around, thoroughly aggrivated with myself and very embarrassed, I layed down a conservative second lap that put us 16th on the grid. When I got out of the car, Andy had this "I told you so" look on his face. All we could do is laugh, because he did tell me and I promised but I guess it went in one ear and out the other. Typical for race car drivers. Honestly-we should have qualified 3rd, 4th, or 5th but I let us down on that one. I was too greedy, too keyed up, and was trying too hard to be a hero. Next time Andy, I promise I'll listen!!
The coolest part of the weekend, was that Lisa and Ryan were the Grand Marshalls for the race. (Thanks Craig!!) They were a part of Driver Intro's and got to say Driver's Start Your Engines! Lisa was trying to coach Ryan into saying GO DADDY!! but he clammed up with the sight of the TV Cameras. Anyway, it was really special for me. I have to admit, I did get a little emotional in the car hearing them give the command. I'll never forget this weekend and their participation in it. It was probably the best racing weekend for me ever.
The race was pretty typical Mansfield. High Attrition, lots of wrecks and a surprise ending. I was pretty conservative to start the race and let a few cars go by. I didnt want to push the issue too much, I just wanted to get some laps in and let some of the knuckleheads take themselves out. The race was pretty much going our way until a flat tire derailed it. We're not sure what caused the flat, but when the tire went down it broke the sway bar arm and drop link that attaches it to the Lower A frame. It took us a few laps to engineer a solution and to determine if would be safe enough to take the car back out. Mike Compton, Andy, Jason Hagerman and the rest of the guys did a great job figuring it out and getting me back out there. The rest of the race for me was spent running hard, respecting the leaders and burning the brakes off of it. Yeah, on top of everything else, I lost brakes with 50 or so to go. I cant tell you for sure how many laps were left because it sure felt like a 100 or so but I know it wasnt. I couldnt quit. My team didnt quit me so I damn sure wasnt going to quit them.
So the highs were Lisa and Ryan, being fast in practice and gutting it out to take the checkerd flag. The lows were the flat tire and the broken sway bar arm and the surprise ending??? Our buddy Agnew ran out of gas on the last lap and Derek Kale won his first race. Congrats to Derek-he deserves a win and my heart goes out to my close friends on the 73 car. Those guys help me out so much, I wished I could have given them a quart of gas so they could have won that race. Oh well...till next time....Michael
Our race weekend was filled with a lot of highs, a couple of lows and a lot of work in between. USAR was able to get practice started on time despite the heavy rains the Mansfield area had overnight and early Saturday morning. Our car was pretty good to start with, the bumps in 3 and 4 were very upsetting to the car. We were tight in the center of the corners too. Andy and I put our heads together and made some adjustments that really dialed the car in. We improved our time with each adjustment. By the end of practice, we had the 12th best speed. The coolest thing was that the car was fast and consistent.
Qualifying was fun. Andy told me before we went out to take it easy getting into the corners and not overdrive the entry. I agreed with him and told him that I wouldnt do it, that I would be smooth and let the car roll free. I practically guarenteed him that I would behave and be smooth. Guess what the first thing I did was? Overdrive turn 1 on the first lap. I buried it into the corner, probably 3 car lenghts deeper than I had driven it all day. Spun it out and ruined that first lap. I turned the car around, thoroughly aggrivated with myself and very embarrassed, I layed down a conservative second lap that put us 16th on the grid. When I got out of the car, Andy had this "I told you so" look on his face. All we could do is laugh, because he did tell me and I promised but I guess it went in one ear and out the other. Typical for race car drivers. Honestly-we should have qualified 3rd, 4th, or 5th but I let us down on that one. I was too greedy, too keyed up, and was trying too hard to be a hero. Next time Andy, I promise I'll listen!!
The coolest part of the weekend, was that Lisa and Ryan were the Grand Marshalls for the race. (Thanks Craig!!) They were a part of Driver Intro's and got to say Driver's Start Your Engines! Lisa was trying to coach Ryan into saying GO DADDY!! but he clammed up with the sight of the TV Cameras. Anyway, it was really special for me. I have to admit, I did get a little emotional in the car hearing them give the command. I'll never forget this weekend and their participation in it. It was probably the best racing weekend for me ever.
The race was pretty typical Mansfield. High Attrition, lots of wrecks and a surprise ending. I was pretty conservative to start the race and let a few cars go by. I didnt want to push the issue too much, I just wanted to get some laps in and let some of the knuckleheads take themselves out. The race was pretty much going our way until a flat tire derailed it. We're not sure what caused the flat, but when the tire went down it broke the sway bar arm and drop link that attaches it to the Lower A frame. It took us a few laps to engineer a solution and to determine if would be safe enough to take the car back out. Mike Compton, Andy, Jason Hagerman and the rest of the guys did a great job figuring it out and getting me back out there. The rest of the race for me was spent running hard, respecting the leaders and burning the brakes off of it. Yeah, on top of everything else, I lost brakes with 50 or so to go. I cant tell you for sure how many laps were left because it sure felt like a 100 or so but I know it wasnt. I couldnt quit. My team didnt quit me so I damn sure wasnt going to quit them.
So the highs were Lisa and Ryan, being fast in practice and gutting it out to take the checkerd flag. The lows were the flat tire and the broken sway bar arm and the surprise ending??? Our buddy Agnew ran out of gas on the last lap and Derek Kale won his first race. Congrats to Derek-he deserves a win and my heart goes out to my close friends on the 73 car. Those guys help me out so much, I wished I could have given them a quart of gas so they could have won that race. Oh well...till next time....Michael
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