Once again, Steve steal Josh’s thunder by writing his own Weekend Update. Josh spent the week basking in the Lake Erie Islands sun, though, so it’s not like he was paying any attention anyway.
All good things must come to an end I guess. I was able to take a nice vacation for the first time in a long time. I got to visit with family, go fishing, and hob nob a little with the rich and famous in the Hamptons. But all that is over now and I’m back to the old bump and grind.
Saturday was my first day back at the track. but I don’t think I was fully recovered from my vacation bliss. I found it hard to get back to my routine starting with getting things ready to go. Like I have said in the past, everything that leads up to the race day affects how you do that day. When your head’s not in it, you’re vulnerable and that led to my early exit Saturday at Summit Motorsports Park. My car was not running consistent time runs due to wind and weather which had me guessing for 1st round. I was slightly off on my dial, which would be competitive for most runs, but as luck would have it my opponent only gave me .018 to weasel my way into . With a .029 light I was done at the start.(insert sad face here*). Hero to Zero @ the drop of a hat. LOL
Saturday was Matt’s turn to miss a race day. Unfortunately we have had to miss a couple this month due to race conflicts or social events. Matt had a wedding of a close friend and fellow racer. Even with Matt’s no show and my barely showing I believe we stayed pretty close in our points standings due to many of the racers around us having troubles of their own.
There was no points event on Sunday at Dragway 42, but there was a special event held this weekend. The Rock & Race. This is one of 42′s biggest events of the year. It is three days of old cars, racing, bands playing, and fun! As a last minute decision I decided to go to the Sunday race to try and redeem my Saturday disappointment. Matt was still in Toledo enjoying time with his wedding friends but would not be able to attend the Rock & Race anyway due to the 1976 and older restriction. (His Spirit is 1980.) He could have raced the back up car but we still need to do some suspension work to get it to be a reliable back up.
I went into Sunday’s race a little more prepared. I set everything up to my “42 Settings” and hit the track. The car picked up right where it left off; 7.25. It stayed glued to a 7.25 & 7.26 every pass. I wiggled my way through the field making it all the way to the finals against a stout competitor. He was in his street car but tough none the less. I was pretty confident I could take the race. Upon launch I had a .004 advantage. Small but still in my favor. I came on him pretty quick as I had a three second advantage over his dial. I was able to pass him then slow down not to break out but I must have been too hard on the brakes and let him back around me. I beg to differ but the computer is never wrong. It was a disappointing loss but still a runner up finish and that is nothing to be ashamed of.
This weekend will bring us to Quaker City Raceway in Salem, Ohio on Saturday for their Thunder & Lightning event, then back to Dragway 42 on Sunday for some more points racing. Come on out and spend some time at the track while we still have Summer to enjoy!
Rock & Race results @ Dragway 42
