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DUEL IN THE DESERT,
November 15-17, 2007, LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY! |
Warning, this
will take forever to read!! Typos are inserted to see if
you are paying attention!
The final preparations to the car were made Tuesday night and I headed over
to retrieve the trailer at my folk's house. Got the car loaded
and ended up having an incident with the neighbors near my parent's house
where a young child wound up screaming "F*#K YOU" to me several times as I
drove by. Put on the breaks and took care of that situation
before heading to bed for the night.
Worked on Wednesday and headed home to retrieve the trailer and head over to
the track. Pre-entered cars were able to get their pit bands and
park early. So we headed out to drop off the car.
Tried getting caught up on a little school work and had to update some of
the web sites I maintain on before heading to bed.
With my truck still hooked up to the trailer at the track, I took the green
monster to work while Mom, Blake, and Robert took to the track to get the
car teched and things situated. The car passed with flying
colors and they drew #129 for Thursday's line up. I joined the
gang at the track after work, about 3:30, and we hit the track to pack it
in. WOW was it wet. Took quite some time to get it
packed in and ready for action. I lined up 8th of the 11 or 12
cars in heat 5. At the green I was the third car out of a 4-wide
exit off the 2nd turn. I came out of the turn in 4th place and
soon slipped by into the 3rd spot. Once in third I stalled
out and wasn't moving up. Yellow. At the green we were
nose to tail and I slipped inside of 2nd. Off turn 2 there was a
bit of contact but I was still in 2nd and pressuring the leader.
Close, but just not able to get by on the inside. I knew I
wouldn't get by on the high side so I stuck low. Needing to win
to advance I was a little worried. White flag, the leader pushes high
in turn 1 and I slip by and into the lead. Through 3, out of 4,
checkered flag! I won my heat. That placed me
into the A-qualifier needing a top 8 to advance. I drew 15
of 16 and the final 8 cars from the B mains fell in behind me. I
got shuffled back quickly in the main and was just doing horrible.
At one time I was clear back to 21st or 22. However a late race
charge netted me the 9th position at the finish, just 1 shy of qualifying
for Saturday. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
I got to bed around 1:00am on Thursday night and was back up at 5:30am to
get ready for work. A LONG day at work on Friday for sure.
But I lived through it and met the gang at the track and the car, of course,
was in tip-top shape and ready to go. The bad news was I had to
start 14th in my B main and needed a top 3 to advance to the A-qualifier.
YIKES! At the green I took a chance and went down the middle
picking off a couple of cars before the flag stand. Into turn 2
I was in the middle and dove to the bottom to turn under cars slipping high.
Into turn 3 cars were spinning in front of me. Green still out I
stayed with it and just narrowly escaped a car rolling down turn 4 at me.
I heard it tick the quarter panel it was that close. Not to
mention I winced in anticipation of the collision. But believe
it or not, I exited turn 4 on the first lap in 5th, yes FIFTH place.
The green stayed out long enough that we finished that lap and I wound up
keeping the great start. From 14th to 9th in 1 lap! WOW!
(Lucky, yes, but it sounds impressive! ) On the restart I made
quick work of 4th place passing to the high side and set my sights on the
transfer spot. The next lap by I got a great run off turn 2 and
quickly advanced into the transfer spot. The leaders were having
a great battle ahead, most of the time side by side. I was
getting heavy pressure from behind and really wanted some breathing room on
the transfer. The leader pushed up and 2nd went by on the
outside. I slipped by low and was now breathing easier in 2nd.
Couldn't do anything with the leader, but hey I transferred from 14th so
I was excited! Drew 14th for the main and just flat stunk
up the show again. Fell back again and just never made a serious
challenge for the top 8. Wound up somewhere between 13th and
15th I believe. Didn't really want to know as I knew it wasn't
8th.
Was to bed late on Friday and up early (about 4 hours of sleep).
Off to breakfast and then to the track to prepare for the final day.
Once the points were posted we were excited to see we were #1 in points for
the non-qualified cars to that point. AWESOME! That
earned us the pole position for the last chance race transferring 2 cars to
the back of the A main. I also drew the 3rd starting spot for
the Top 20 Wild West Tour race later on that evening. I was so
nervous I could have puked at any moment. Jerry checked out the
car and tweaked on the motor a little bit. The car hot lapped
good and I was ready for the last chance. Took the green and
headed off to turn 1. Just before setting the car into turn 1 it
happened. WHAM, a car had climbed up the back of my car and was
pinned to mine. I was shoved and pulled around until a loud
clang finally signaled the release of our cars from one another.
I limped off the turn and into turn 3 where the car took a scary swerve
towards the wall. It was wounded, and badly. I
slowly drove back to the pits, our chances of transferring in gone.
From 1st to worst, just like that. I guess another 5 to 10 cars
were also taken out in the melee. Bummer! I
originally thought it was a flat tire, but all of the left side suspension
parts were wounded and in desperate need of repair. The great
team of helpers went to work as I needed to be ready for the tour race.
Everything was fixed and I lined up for the tour race. At the
green I was able to slip by the front row cars exiting turn 2 and into the
lead. A few laps later I began to get pressure from the outside
and soon had slipped to 3rd. The leader slowed on the front
stretch and was sent spinning to the infield bringing out the yellow.
I wasn't able to hang close and fell way back eventually finishing in the
3rd spot. Not too bad but disappointing to say the least.
While we fixed the car I'm sure we didn't get it back to where it should
have been as we didn't have any scales, etc to make sure it was right.
But we got back out there and kept going and that's what matters most.
We went down swinging. After we realized we weren't
in the show, we gathered up the Baisch gang and headed over to the
Superspeedway for some high speed rides at the Richard Petty Driving
Experience. It was great fun! Everyone really
enjoyed themselves.
Was again up after only a few hours of sleep and saw Robert off early as he
headed back to Colorado. After that I dropped off the trailer
and helped Don load some items to head back to Idaho with. Off
to breakfast with Kim and Kelly and again back to the dirt track for the
"Day after the Duel" action. Kelly's son CJ was competing in the
Super Stock race and we took in the action until around 3:00 before heading
home. At 3:30 we took Kim to the strip where she checked
into her motel room. We again met up with the Idaho gang so we
could ride the roller coaster at New York, New York. Good times
as the Wyoming bunch also joined in raising our heart-rates.
From there we headed off to dinner and then said our goodbyes before heading
home for the night. Walked in the door around 8:40 and by 9:10 I
was dreaming off checkered flags and new race cars! The weekend
had come to an end. WHEW!!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but racing the Duel is absolutely
exhausting. Mentally, physically, all of it.
Friends, fans, family, sponsors, fellow racers I don't get to see that
often, all make for busy busy times. My days were filled
from sun up to long after sundown. Many people inquired about my
father and most just wanted to catch up on what had gone on in the year
since the last time we had seen one another.
Thanks so much to everyone for their help and support. While I
need to work on stepping up to that next level of competitiveness, I
certainly think they knew we were there! Couldn't and
wouldn't have done it without you all there.
There's more cool stories from the weekend to share, but I'll save those for
later. Gotta keep you all coming back, right?? haha! |
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OCTOBER 13, 2007
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY NATIONALS, night 2 |
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Night two of the Mohave Valley
Nationals started off with a very busy day. After just 4 hours
of sleep we were back at it fixing the pretty heavy damage from the
qualifier accident on Friday. It involved removing the body
panels, using a port-a-power to push out the frame rail, then welding a few
cracks in the tubing here and there. Got it all buttoned back up
while Jerry checking out the valve adjustment and replaced the header
gaskets. We were hoping to get a nap in before heading out but
at 3:00 we were just finishing loading and we had to hit the road.
Cleaned up some and hit the road. Dolly, pit dog, promptly got
sick on my mom shortly after hitting the freeway. Managed to
clean it up in route and without losing time. Arrived at the
track and had to do some work with the new tires we were going to run on the
rear of the car. After a very wet packing session Kelly and mom
went to work for a little over an hour getting the car cleaned again.
As usual it was spotless when I headed out for my hot lap session for the
qualified cars. The track was good, too good actually. My
car was a handful and I was fast but not consistent. Kept
watching the track hoping it would go the same as Friday, slick.
Low and behold it finally started to dust up during the feature just before
ours. Figured I'd be ok as I was pretty good on Friday.
The race was a 40 lapper and some were concerned about making it on fuel.
I have raced several long races up north so I wasn't worried about fuel.
I was worried about keeping my nose clean until 1/2 way. At the
green my car was a little on the snug side, meaning it was hard to get it
turned. But I knew that and was ok with it. Everyone
was up higher on the track so I hugged the bottom and picked off a car or
two after losing a spot on the start. Continuing with my low
groove efforts I finally slipped into the 3rd spot and found myself quite a
ways behind the lead cars. Yellow. At the green I
was doing ok but found that I wasn't as good as the lead cars.
So I searched around and found that I was good up high into 1 and was better
if I could cut the turn and shoot off the bottom of two. But as
I got to 2nd he was running low in three and four. I hadn't
tried the top but the leader was killing us up there. So as I
got to the back bumper of 2nd coming off turn 2 I went in high as he cut off
to the bottom. Riding high I was able to get a great run and
slipped into 2nd. From there I could only close slightly on the
leader. But I noticed lapped traffic ahead and they all seemed
to be running mid to high. To my advantage as I had run the
bottom to move up early. As we caught the back of the field a
lapped car was right in the middle groove. I ducked low and the
leader was high. As the lapped car pushed up he trapped the
leader and I slipped by them both and into the lead. From there
it was wild. We were going so fast and the lapped cars just kept
coming. I was passing high and low but I was running scared.
I knew I was under siege as the previous leader was quicker than I was.
Luckily for me I had gotten through traffic better and had actually built up
a decent lead when the yellow waved. At the green the battle was
on as a tire and door appeared to my inside. I was way up top
running the rim and he was right there. I could smell his
exhaust we were so close. I was holding him off but could hear
him, he was there, EVERY lap. Yellow. The restart,
which I didn't know, was with 5 laps to go. I again went back to
the top and again I would see glimpses of 2nd place just inside.
I was getting nervous. White flag in the air. I
didn't go in hard enough. The car pushed. NO!
Got it turned and could really hear the pressure. Into 3 high,
there he is!! Hit the cushion, got the bite and drove off 4 just
inches from the wall. In the lead!! We had just won the
Nationals at Mohave Valley!! Oh yeah, and a cool 2 grand!
What a weekend! Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly and
Jerry for their help getting ready and to all the great fans who gave us
such a great ovation in Victory Lane!! Be sure to check out the
photos! PHOTOS |
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OCTOBER 12, 2007
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY NATIONALS, night 1 |
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Friday started off as a normal work
day with the alarm interrupting the nightly snooze abruptly at 5:30am!
After school was out for the day I returned home, got some things figured
out at home and headed over to load the trailer onto the truck.
By 4:02 we were sitting in rush hour traffic and by 5:15 we were out of the
city limits and on the highway. Arrived at the track to
Mini-Sprints already hot lapping. Shortly after the driver's
meeting we hit the track ourselves for hot laps. The car was
pretty good, but a little on the tight side. Tried to calm it
down before the heat by making some weight adjustments. Lined up
6th of 6 for the first heat and there were some good cars in the heat.
They were racing side by side and there wasn't much room to maneuver so I
wound up 4th in my heat, missing a chance to qualify as only the winner
advanced. Next up was the qualifying feature. 21
cars, 20 laps, top 4 to the big money main. Lined up 9th and
decided to stick to the bottom early to feel out the track.
Going into turn 3 cars slid up and I jumped in to move up. Some
cars from the top came sliding down in front of me and I slid hard into the
side of another spun car. The impact pushed in the right door
pretty far. Metal was slightly blocking the exhaust exit and it
actually caused a couple of header bolts to exit the head. OUCH!
That put me to the back as I was involved in the yellow. So I
lined up 20th or 21st and we went to a restart. At the green the
action was intense and I had a choice to either go or go home.
So I went. High, low, and sometimes in between. By
the first yellow I had already climbed into the top 10, settling in about
the 7th or 8th spot. From there I had to work the open line until
finally getting into the rim running groove all alone. I began
picking off a car a lap and was just passing for 3rd when another yellow
waved. Back to 4th, the top was left open and I quickly jumped
to third coming off turn 2. The leaders were having a decent
battle and I closed in. Finally made the move on 2nd and was
ready to battle for the lead. The leader was running the extreme
bottom and I was running the LONG way around the very top.
Especially in turns 3 & 4 where the track was pushed all the way to the very
very top. Several times we were side by side and I actually was
on a good run to take the lead when the yellow waved. Finally
with about 4 or 5 laps to go I slipped by the leader on the outside of turn
4. Held on to the top spot for those final few laps and
won the qualifying main. That puts us into the money main on
Saturday! Wish us luck!
Thanks Mom, Blake, and Kelly for their
help and support on Friday night! Wishing my dad a "get
well soon" as health issues have rendered him to a hospital stay.
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SEPTEMBER 29, 2007
MOHAVE VALLEY RACEWAY! |
After
nearly two tumultuous months of wondering whether racing was going to
continue or fall by the wayside, I made the choice that Saturday would be
the "big test" of whether a comeback would really happen or not.
Over the last two weeks I finally began working on vinyl for the other car (see
the new look here) and was beginning to see if I could get myself back
into the race mode. Taking things slow and just feeling it out,
not sure if I was ready for it. Blake and Kelly were
helping me with the vinyl when I told them I was taking the dogs for a ride.
I came back 15 minutes later with the trailer attached, ready to go to
Mohave Valley Raceway. They were excited and instantly told me I
couldn't change my mind. While I almost did change my mind
twice, we managed to hit the road by 4:30. Arrived at the track
very quietly as only the people in the truck knew we were going to race.
Parked in the corner next to Jerry Jr and the Snowden bunch.
Unloaded and was actually late. Suited up and headed out to pack
the track. On the way I would have to stop by tech.
Didn't make it there. The left lower ball joint busted.
Ended up having to have officials tow the car back to the pits.
Thankfully we had a spare and Blake, Jerry Jr, Eric, my mom and Kelly got it
all fixed up. I also need to thank the tech man and the Cross
team for finding and letting us use the welder. Went to fire up
the car and the car locked up. Luckily I knew what was wrong and
didn't fight it. Got Blake and Jerry to remove a plug from each
side so we could get the fuel out of the cylinders. With it
jacked up so high the carb normally leaks down. Finally fired, I went
and got in line. Lined up last of 8 for my heat.
It felt a little surreal as I drove on the track. Strange.
At the green I moved up a spot or two and then was battling for 3rd when I
got too high where it wasn't packed down. Slipped off the track
and back to last. Whoops! Fought back up to the rear
of the field and got too high down the front stretch where it was still
soupy and flew off the track again, this time WAY off. Hit the
4X4 gear and managed to bounce back to the track just barely in front of the
lead pack. Managed not to get lapped, but finished last.
YIKES, I looked and felt like an out of control rookie. But the
funny thing is I didn't seem to mind.
Went out for the feature in the 15th position and had a very positive
outlook. Could only move up! The track now does driver
introductions so I got to hear the nice crowd give me a warm welcome when I
was announced. (Scattered boos were there too, just to keep me
honest). By the first caution I had moved up to 9th
and by the next caution I was knocking on the door of the top 5 in sixth.
The track was very fast up high and most were running there. So
I began going in low but it just wasn't good enough to break the momentum of
those up top. The good news was the car felt great and I was
enjoying it. Finally I would go in just about 3 feet higher get
the car turned early and run down the bottom to diamond off the turns.
It finally allowed me to get inside a couple of cars enough to allow me to
slip by and I was finally into third. From there I quickly
caught the lead duo who were fighting hard for the top spot. I
was trying to find an opening but it wasn't there. After several
laps of the three of us at top speed just inches off one another, I slipped
by and into the runner up spot. Several times we were three wide
off both turn two and turn 4. (See photos
from J & E photography) I was working the inside of the leader as the
white flag waved. Side by side into turn 1 and out of two the
momentum allowed the leader to pull slightly ahead. He moved
down to slow my progress (as he should) and I slipped back. Went
in low and came out of 4 side by side for the win. Approaching
the flag I was right there but unable to overcome the momentum that the high
groove allowed, finishing a very tight 2nd.
I really enjoyed myself and felt absolutely no pressure for the first time
in a very long time. Hopefully I can keep it up and keep
the 87 team out there competing. It hasn't been easy, but I'm
working on it. Everything takes time, especially after the rough
times lately.
Britney's return BOMBED, ours was more like THE BOMB! ☺
Thanks Mom, Blake, Kelly, Jerry Jr, Eric, and the Cross team for their help
this weekend. |
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