Brief recaps from my previous five races

July 18, 2009.  Madera Speedway.  LOP Race #13.

First practice: 7^th.  Second practice: 6^th.  Qualifying: 6^th.

Heat race: 3^rd.  Main event:  3^rd.

Notes:  In the past, Madera had been my worst track, but my dad made great adjustments all day to get my car to be very competitive.  I also learned a lot about how to drive the track by following some of the more experienced drivers.  In the main event, I started third, and drove my way to first fairly quickly.  Two cars got by me, but I hung close with them and ended up third.

July 25, 2009.  Ukiah Speedway.  King of the Hill Challenge series.

First practice: 1^st.  Second practice: 1^st.  Qualifying: 1^st.

Heat race: 2^nd.  Trophy dash: 2^nd.  Main event: 2^nd, but really 1^st (see notes below).

Notes:  In my heat race, I started last, but found myself in second with three laps to go.  The leader was protecting the inside, so on the last lap, I drove the car hard into turn three and got alongside him.  At the line, the margin was about one wheel.  In the dash, I started last again, and quickly found my way to second.  On the last lap, I had a run down the back straight, but the leader blocked and I couldn’t get alongside to challenge for the win.  In the main, I started eighth, and by lap 12 of the thirty lap race, I had made a pass for the lead.  I was pulling away from second place and the car was handling great.  There was a caution with four laps to go so I lined up with the second place car side-by-side.  We raced like this for one lap, and then, with three laps to go, a car spun out and got nailed by another car.  The red light came on, signaling the field to stop.  I slowed down and almost stopped, but then the yellow light came back on.  When I came back around to the start/finish line, the flagman was throwing the checkers.  There should have been a restart with three to go, but someone in the tower or the flagman made a big mistake and threw the checkers with three to go.

August 1, 2009.  All American Speedway.  LOP Race #14.

First practice: 5^th.  Second practice: 4^th.  Qualifying: 7^th.

Heat race: 1^st.  Main event: 5^th.

Notes:  I started eighth in the feature after a 14-car invert.  By lap eight, I was up to fourth, but I lost some spots and dropped back to eighth again.  I took my time and passed some more cars, getting up to fifth.  One car passed me, so I ended up in sixth.  After the race, the fifth place car did not want to go through tech, so we were bumped up to fifth after he was DQ’d.

August 8, 2009.  Stockton 99 Speedway.  LOP Race #15.

First practice: 20^th.  Second practice: 8^th.  Qualifying: 6^th.

Heat race: 2^nd.  Main Event: 2^nd.

Notes:  This race was the best performance of my rookie season racing Legends cars.  In first practice, I did not run any laps because my brakes were not working.  For the second practice, the brakes were working, but now they were too good.  The brakes felt like either they were not grabbing enough, or they were locking up.  In qualifying, our braking problem still had not been fixed.  My dad made a few good changes for the heat race, in which I started third and finished second.  In the main, I started eighth and was leading by lap twelve.  Jeremy Wood, a former super late model driver, and I battled side-by-side for a few laps.  Eventually, he got the lead, but I hung with him.  I was hoping that lap traffic would help me catch up, but I couldn’t get close enough to challenge for the win.

August 15, 2009.  Madera Speedway.  LOP Race #16.

First Practice: 6^th.  Second Practice: 6^th.  Qualifying: 8^th.

Heat race: 1^st.  Main event: 6^th.

Notes:  At this race, we were still having problems with the brakes locking up.  In the first practice, the brake pedal would go to the floor, and in the second session, I was locking the brakes up.  Qualifying was even worse, but I managed to get a decent lap in.  In the heat race, I started first and led the whole race.  I lined up fifth in the feature, but early in the race, I got stuck behind a slower car on the outside and was freight trained.  This put me back in ninth.  I drove my way to fifth place by lap 22 of the 35 lap race. Then, while racing side by side with a car for position, we made contact and I spun, putting me in 15^th for a restart with 12 laps to go.  By the end of the race, I got to sixth, but there a few cars in front of me that I could have gotten by.

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