Perseverance pays off
There is a saying that “Work hard, and you shall reap the rewards.” Well, this past weekend of racing, we did just that. Throughout our trying season, the team kept at it and soldiered on to every planned race. Regardless of the circumstances, out to the garage on a regular basis, we would go. We spent days going through the various mechanical issues, nights tweaking the setup, all in search of that one elusive good run.
Going into Lee Speedway’s annual Octoberfest race on Oct 2, the team had no expectations. We only had one goal in mind, to complete the race and be able to move forward.
Practice was uneventful, and though we were not at the top of the speed charts, we were happy with the car. Everything ran fine, and we made calculated adjustments to get faster. Entering the heat race, we would start fifth and knew new tires would be a help. Starting fifth, inside the third row, we got a good start, and the outside row backed up, which allowed us to run in the third position for the entire 12 laps. It was not a win, but at least we were competitive, and nothing went wrong.
As this event was scheduled to have twin 40 lap races, we need to plan our strategy accordingly. Our heat race finished earned us the fifth place starting spot in Feature one. As the feature began, we diced for a few laps and settled into the fifth spot. Many attempts were made to try and get by fourth place, but with a car that was not handling the way we wanted, it proved to be a tough task. When the third-place car got loose after being tapped in turns three and four, we moved up a spot only to be passed several laps later by that car and continue to run in fifth place. As the race wore on, the looseness we battled all day didn’t get any better, and with three to go, we got passed by several cars and finished in 8th place. Not a win or even the finish we wanted, but, on the upside, we completed a race and were very competitive as well—a victory in our books this season.
During the break between races, we made several changes and repaired minor damage from the first race. We hoped the changes were enough to propel up towards the front after the decent car we had in the first race. The second race was lined up based on inverting the top 18 cars from race one. Based on our finish in the first race and a car unable to start the race, it put us in the number nine starting spot. We knew now what our car was capable of and hoped the changes from the first race made it even better.
The second race was spent battling with cars in positions six through ten. Lap after lap, we were side by side with these cars running in close proximity to each other. Derek climbed as high as 6th position, and on lap 38 of 40, while running 7th, a caution came out. It was a heartbreaker as positions 6th through 9th (us included) were moving faster than the next three cars, and it looked like we would overtake them just before the race’s finish. But heck, that is how racing goes, and a restart with two laps to go would seal the fate of everyone racing. We lined up seventh and, on the restart, the inside line did not come up to speed as quickly as the outside line, and we ended the race in the ninth position.
Again, the finish does not show the results we had hoped for but based on the season we have had so far, we’ll take it and build on it. The car performed to our liking, the driver was up on the wheel, and the crew got the satisfaction the car finished a race. It made the 2-hour ride home so much easier. We are now off to the season’s last race on Oct 24 at Seekonk Speedway for the Tri-Track Series Haunted 100 race. Hopefully, our climb upwards will continue.
See ya at the track