Well, it looks like a good night for racing. After having last week off, it's time to feel the speed. Just some minor fixing of the bumper and nose piece after last weeks' adventures to get ready for tonight. The track looks like it has just about the right amount of water on the track so it looks like it will be pretty fast tonight. The only problem is that in turns 1 and 2 there are some major ruts in the bottom half of the corners that the track people just can't seem to get rid of. I guess this is a night where I will be forced to run on the top half of the track. That isn't necessarily a bad thing since on most nights the high groove is that fast way around here. This will force me to learn to drive higher and hopefully break my bad habit of always wanting to go low in the corners.

For the heat race I am starting on the inside of row 3. Not where I want to be considering what turns 1 & 2 have to offer. At the green flag, we all stay pretty much side by side going in to the first corner, but everyone is staying high enough that I am not forced to run in the whoop de doos...yet! For the first lap or two, I am running comfortably in third trying my best to keep up with the leaders. The car is a bit loose coming off the corners, so I am not able to pick back up on the throttle when I want to, but I am holding my own. For a couple laps, I have a chance to get by the points leader, Justin Selkin in the #111 by running high. I can run through 1 & 2 better than Justin and pull him a little bit down the back straight, however, my car will not hold as well in 3 & 4 and that is where I lose him again. A couple more laps go by and nothing changes. Everyone is using their heads and it looks like we may run caution free. I am still holding my own in third on the last lap, but I know that Jeff Coster in the 8J is right on my tail. As has been the habit this year, going into turn 3 on the last lap, I get a bit loose and Jeff gets by me. This habit has got to change! At the checkers I finish 4th. The last transfer spot directly into the A.

Jerry and I talk things over on how the car is handling and make some air pressure adjustments for the feature. The car turns into the corner fine, but is loose coming out. Jerry decides that he is going to lower the air on the left side and see what happens.

For the feature, I get to start on the inside of row 4. Nothing eventful happens for the first few laps. Kind of unusual for the Hobby Stocks in an A feature. I took me until about the 4th lap to be able to get up on the the high side where I want to be and where the car seems to work better. At this point, I believe that I am in about 8th place. I am not able to gain on anyone, but then again I am not losing anything either. Somewhere in the middle of the race, we get our only caution. This is the point in a race that I really don't like. I don't have enough gear in the car to be able to pull anyone on a restart so this is when I am the most vulnerable...other than when driver error takes over. This is one of the areas that I am working on the most and it seems to be paying off a bit. On the restart, I am able to go high into turn one and get by one car by the time we are out of turn 2. Shortly thereafter, my visor fogs up. Now, let me tell you, other that sneezing inside your helmet with the visor down, this is about the worst thing that can happen in the middle of the race. It was hard enough trying to avoid the ruts in 1 & 2 when I was able to see. Now that things have fogged up, I am having a hell of a time! For about 3 laps in a row, I end up entering turn one too soon and bouncing through the worst of the ruts. Thanks God for seat belts! If I didn't have them on and tight, I would have been throw out of the car! The next day I was sore from head to toe from all the bouncing. Anyway, back to the race...With about 2 laps to go, I am finally able to get my visor to clear and I am able to see again. Now that I can go thru 1 & 2 like I want, I am able to make up some ground that I lost while playing in the holes. On the last lap, I see 2 or 3 cars getting together in front of me as they head into turn 3. Here is where I don't want to think about where I want to go. I did that last week and look what happened! By the middle of 3 & 4 I have caught back up and I have a decision to make...go high around the #89 of Todd Holter who has cut down a tire, or go low. Too late for decisions...put it to the floor and go high! I get by Todd just before the start finish line while introducing myself to the concrete wall to end up 7th! That equals my best finish ever. By the time the post race tech was over, the #44D of Thomas Doeden and #51 of Mark Sanow were both DQ'ed for having illegal spring spacers. That moved me up to 5th! My best finish ever! Things are looking up!

Things that I learned tonght...

#1. Don't lock up the brakes during hot laps when the track is still very wet! I got my first opportunity to go off the track over turn 3. That was a first.

#2. Higher in the corner does work! Higher in the corner does work! Higher in the corner does work!

#3. The concrete wall at I-90 Speedway isn't so bad. You really have to try to hit the wall here to make contact. I have come close on a couple of occasions, but never had an up close introduction, until tonight.

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