5/31/04
So we took a look at the driver software version 1.0 and decided to upgrade to version 2.0. This version includes more patience apparently. We got to the track and man, you'd have thought we were racing in March it was so cold. Got some hot laps in and then started the heat in 8th. Fortunately I had my head screwed on straight and missed a bunch of wrecks and near wrecks and managed to get to the point before it was all over. Jimmy took a look at the track and immediately decided to go to our slick track setup, seeing that it would be about 4+ hours till we would race again. We decided to hop up to the tower and check out the 1st mod feature and the track promptly changed the order of events and we missed hot laps. The mod feature started and there was a huge wreck on the front stretch. They finally got that cleaned up and we went back across the track. They ran some other races and the 2nd mod feature and then we were up. I rolled off 11th and caught a break right away when a bunch of guys got jammed up on the top. In 3 or 4 laps I was up to 4th. I got one shot at a double file restart before the track went to single file restarts, well before halfway. It took a few laps but I got past the 55. Next I had to work on the 11 and that took a little longer. I got him with about 4 laps to go. Now I had to get the 16 and it was getting harder. Kyle was fast and my shield kept getting moisture on the outside because of the humidity and the temperature. Each time I got to the end of the straight I couldn't see. So I took my time and got a run coming off of 2 and snuck in underneath him going into 3 with 1 to go and pulled off a win. Now we just have to keep my head programmed right for the rest of the year.
5/23/04
Hmmm, if you flip back one page you'll kinda get the gist of how this week went. Good in warm ups, started 12th in the heat and got up to second. Started 12th in the feature and the car was awesome. The outside lane took off and I passed 3 or 4 cars in the first lap and a half. Then I had a strong run on the outside of the front stretch going into 1 when the guys in front of me slowed down before I was expecting them to. I ended up getting into the back of somebody and spinning into the turn 1 wall hard. We ended up wiping out the front end again and that ended our night.
5/16/04
We worked our butts off trying to fix all the damage from last week, it was far worse than I thought. And on top of that we were trying to get last years car ready to run the 358 show. We put in a bunch of extra hours and got everything done in time just to get rained out with the worst storm I've ever seen in the northeast. Bummer.
5/8/04
It's been a little on the busy side. Got to the track and went out for warm ups. The car was just unbelievable. Wicked fast. To be honest, I can't tell you where I finished in the heat race, it feels like it was month ago. We ended up making a couple of small changes for the feature and rolled off 16th. We were tied up in traffic for a little while, but by the caution on lap 6 we were up to 8th. Took the green on the restart and had a decent run on the outside of one and two until I ran into some trouble. I had a pretty good run going when the 53 checked up suddenly in front of me and I bounced off his rear bumper and shot up into the wall. I was hoping I could just drive away but the car was like a dart without feathers. The guys in the pits said the front end was wiped out. I went back out to see what I could do with it, but I was a menace to my self and everyone else on the track. So unfortunately we got a DNF.
5/1/04
Man you would have thought Summer arrived. What a beautiful, hot day. After last weeks' success I was curious to see how we'd make out this weekend. Made some slight changes to the car, and quickly found out in warm-ups that the track was completely different this week. We threw on some old tires for the heat race and lined up 7th. The car was pretty good on the old sneakers and we quickly made our way up to 2nd and started to work on Frankie for the lead. A last lap caution put the kibosh on that and we finished there. We put some new rubber on for hot laps, and the car just wasn't where I wanted it to be. Jimmie and I decided to make about 7 or 8 changes for the feature and I just kinda put it out of my mind hoping we didn't go too far. I started the feature 16th and the first 10 laps were caution free. The high side and the low side were full of cars and I don't think I moved up one position. We had a caution, and I figured it was time to get going. I left the top side and started working the bottom and started getting a few cars, still a few spots behind Artie who started next to me. About 3/4 through I was able to get Artie for 6th and kept digging. By the time the last 2 laps came around, I was 3rd and gaining on the leaders. We got a caution with one lap to go and I just wasn't able to get close enough to do anything, it was a pretty exciting finish though. Got some new pics.