14th place at Southern National

Hey all-I had a great time racing at Southern National this weekend. This weekend was my first time racing there. Everyone told me it was a lot like Motor Mile Speedway, only a little faster. They were right. To get familiar with it and enhance our chances of victory, we participated in an open test on Friday. The test went well-Robert Huffman, Mike Compton and the rest of the guys were on top of their game with adjustments to the car. I had a little bit of rust that I had to work off, so the test day was beneficial. At the end of the test, I was very happy with the car.

Saturday came and the day got off to an ominous start. The weather didnt look so good with unseasonably cold temperatures and a very low ceiling, with dark, heavy cloud cover. We were able to get our 2 hours of practice in. Robert and I worked to get the car comfortable for the long run and to get as much forward drive in it as possible. We were reasonably successful and at the end of the session we were ranked 20th. Had it not been for a little bit of traffic, we would have run a faster lap. Robert and I believed that we had a top 15 car and we were eagerly anticipating qualifying.

Rain started to fall shortly after practice concluded but after waiting around and making a valiant but futile attempt to dry the track, the race was postponed to Sunday. It still puzzles me as to why we screwed around in the wet and cold conditions for so long. Anyone with any common sense could see that the track wasnt fit for racing, nor would it have been able to have been worked in. If I had been in charge, the race would have been postponed a good 2 hours before they called it. From a promotor standpoint, the conditions Saturday night was going to be brutal to the front gate (fans). Why take the beating? I'd be willing to gamble that with favorable weather forcasted for Sunday, the front gate would off-set the payroll for another day. In this case, a promotor is going to lose his shirt either way, so why do it cold and wet?

The right decision was finally made and we all showed up Sunday to clear, sunny skies. The field was to be set by points which placed us in 33rd spot. Honestly, I was a bit nervous, really the most nervous I had been in quite some time at the race track because I don't like starting that far back with a fast race car. Too many slower cars are in front of you and not everyone shows the type of patience needed. This was proven again on Sunday, with a wreck on the very first lap. Fortunately I was able to avoid it. The race was restarted and we were able to get a clean start. Somewhere around lap 20 we had our first "official" caution. I came to the pits for left side tires and the team did a great job getting us off pit road in a hurry. We didn't gain any spots, but just as important, we didnt lose any. As to our plan, that was to be our only visit to pit road.

Our car was handling well, a little loose on exit for the first 50 laps. I was able to manage the loose condition and was hoping as the fuel load burned off that the car would tighten up. I was able to set a pretty good pace and drive as aggressive as I have driven in the Hooters Pro-Cup series. After lap 50, I started losing the brake pedal. The brakes would fade away, to compensate I had to move the car up the track and use a higher line. Cautions through the middle and latter portions of the race would save us as they would cool off and allow the brake pedal come back to me a bit. The weird thing was that when they would come back, they would be erratic. No two corners would be the same, as in one corner the rear brakes would work and the next corner I would only have front brakes. Sometimes I would have very little brakes in one corner and in the next corner the car would stop on a dime. It seems to point to a master cylinder failing but we will see.

As I said, the numerous cautions was helping us out, but the car mysteriously started getting tight in the center of the corner and tight on exit. The front end of the car was bouncing on entry and acting really weird. I was suspecting a shock was going bad until after the race when we found that a front bump stop we were using had melted away. I was hoping to advance our position in the last 30 laps, but I just couldnt get the car to do what I wanted. I had to settle for 14th spot, which considering we started so deep in the field, wasnt too shabby.

Overall, it was a good day and good weekend for our team. We brought the car home in one piece, with a 14th place finish and with everyone in good spirits. The team worked hard, endured the elements and kept a great attitude throughout. I couldnt be more proud of them.

We now get to look forward to Rockingham and that challenge.