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WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE, 2007! |
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"Water under the bridge, 2007"
The 2007 season seems like it was so long. It's hard to
remember back to the beginning, but I do know that it began with a black
body and a new look for the team. We raced the first few
events of West Valley's Inaugural Winter Series and fared very well.
I actually fought for the win on the first night before finishing 2nd.
The next day I was again fighting in the top 2 before an ignition
problem under caution relegated me to the pits.
During the next couple of weeks I worked out a deal with Gimp.TV to do a
show on their web site and wrap the car in their colors.
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We got the car finished and headed for
the opener. I wound up in the back a couple of times before
going from 8th to 4th on the final lap in a wild finish.
Following a trip to Canyon Raceway I headed to Mohave again for another
wild night in front of friends and sponsors Dick & Joyce Eisele who
drove in from Iowa. In what became one of the closest
finishes of the season I was nipped by about 6 inches at the line for
the feature win. The following weekend, however, I
made up for it by coming from behind to win the season opener at Pahrump
Valley Speedway!
As the calendar turned to March my dad had sort of withdrawn from the
team began to stay home on race weekends. Missing his
knowledge at times, we plugged along and managed to make things work,
although not always smoothly. A huge melee on the
front stretch at MVR really mangled the car and sent us to the garage
for a couple of weeks. After some visits to a frame shop and
a lot of long nights the car was ready again for action and I managed to
come from behind to win the next race out at MVR. Over
the next couple of weekends we would hold our own and battle for the win
several times, but did not visit victory lane again.
April marked the beginning of the newly formed Wild West Modified Tour
and we drove through snow to get to the opener in Vernal, Utah!
The track was a true bowl and I began a really terrible trend with the
tour. I stunk in the heat race and wound up running the B
main, something I would do in all but two tour races. However I
was able to transfer in, start deep in the field and race to a top 4
finish in the very first tour race. I took a trip to
Alamosa around this time to be there for Jerry, Kelly, and Jerry Jr's
season opener at their track. Just watched, but was there
for support. Next we headed to Desert Thunder Raceway in Price
Utah for round 2 of the tour. I really liked the track
but the weather was brutal. We were huddled in the trailer
most of the weekend. Things went well and we ran in the top
5 both nights on very different tracks. Night one was fast
around the top while night 2 was low / middle grooved.
Returned home to Mohave Valley later in May and ran 3rd in a decent run
after that. As the school year wound down I
followed the tour into Aztec, New Mexico. I ran the B main
on both nights and came from deep in the pack each night to finish 8th
and 6th.
By this time I was starting to get frustrated and the season was already
starting to wear on me. I raced at Mohave Valley again, not
finishing very well, and then hit the road on the tour again.
We made the long trip to Olathe, CO, unable to find a hotel along the
way. We ended up on the road for a VERY long time with
very little rest in between. Then the hotel we booked
changed the "pet" policy and we scrambled for another place to stay.
The racing went ok, but again I felt like an "also-ran" instead of a
contender. The final race in June was in Rock Springs, WY
and it was just myself, Blake, and the dogs on this trip.
Very light crew. Funny thing is I had my best tour run
then with a heat win and a third in the feature.
Just my mom and I hit the Price, Utah Friday night show in early July,
along with the dogs and the newly acquired "Dorey." I
changed everything on the car I could in hopes of running a little
better and low and behold I WON the feature. Blake
joined in on Saturday and I had another great run going until a cut tire
put me to the rear. While battling up through the field I
made contact with another car and we both spun. The ensuing
melee took out a BOATLOAD of cars, several done for the year.
The incident wore on me for months afterwards as I felt bad about the
whole ordeal. It just haunted me for quite a while.
Finished off the month with a trip to Alamosa, CO for the tour race at
the Buesig's track. Wound up winning the first night because
of a DQ and then ran a tour best 2nd on the next night, the actual tour
race. It was great running well down there, but it just
wasn't enough to cheer me up and motivate me to do more.
The beginning of the end was coming.
During the trips it became obvious that things had changed.
My dad wasn't going, my mom was hit and miss with her job demanding more
of her time, Blake's job was tough to get time off of, Jerry & Kelly
were running their track and away from the team, friendships were
changing and at times I felt pretty alone out there on the road.
I was used to having friends and fans in the stands, friends and family
in the pits, and it just wasn't there. At one
point while racing in Price I simply remember looking out over the cars
racing on the track and thinking, "what in the hell am I doing this
for?" I couldn't come up with an answer.
But I kept on, thinking it would get better.
Off to Aztec in early August. This was the end.
We started out hoping to go to a certain point and get a hotel room.
By the time we wanted to check into a room, there were none to be had.
On to the next town, then the next, then the next. By the
time we found a room, it was the room we reserved for the next night as
we were already there. We drove over 12 hours
straight. The racing was miserable as Aztec horribly
over-watered and we packed for over an hour. The mud was so
bad on the car we couldn't get it off. I had enough!
The car was so bad in the heat I quit and drove off.
Got talked into running the B and amazingly managed to make the A.
However while battling my way into the top 10 the motor went south.
So did the season. I politely declined the offers to
help with the car and headed home.
For the next two months I was done. Didn't touch the car,
didn't think about the car, didn't do much of anything. Fans
were frustrated and taking it out on me in email, and my family just
didn't know what to do. I slowly worked my way around and
actually had the car loaded and ready to go several times before
changing my mind and coming back home. Finally I
got back to work and finally went to a race at Mohave Valley on
September 29. I ran a close 2nd and that set me up to race
the Nationals two weeks later.
A wreck on the first lap of the B main on Friday of the Nationals
relegated me to the back and sort of gave me a new outlook on things.
I simply didn't care what happened, I was happy to be back out there.
I went on to win that night and then took home the big check the
following night for my biggest win ever. I finished
off the year with a decent showing at the Duel in the Desert and am now
looking forward to 2008.
Over the last few months I have realized that I need to take back
control of myself and my surroundings. I let the situation
with everyone else really take me over last year. The
absence of friends and family led to me stopping what I love to do.
I cannot do that. Whether people are able to be there or
not, I have to do things I enjoy doing. My life goes
by much more smoothly when I have a race to go to. It gives
me structure, gives me a drive, and makes me feel better about myself.
So in 2008 I want to go back to racing 50+ shows a year, getting little
sleep and having fun driving around the track. At the Duel
in the Desert a friend told me that as we get older we realize that our
time is running out, pressure sets in. I know my time is
running thin and I want to do all I can until that happens.
I think I can still be competitive and still accomplish many things.
We have about done it all, but we can still have fun doing it again.
Not sure what it means, where I will be, or what my goal will be, but
you can bet that I won't be sitting home on weekends!!
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