Texas 200

I pulled a big rookie move at the start of this one...

I left my qual setup installed, which just consists of some tape and added air pressure. The start of lap two the spotter comes on and says to take it easy because the engine is overheating... Tim comes on TS "Mike I think you are smoking, ya your still smoking, I think you need to take some tape off..." :)

I get it slowed down the next lap on the back straight and just getting ready to head into the pits when the yellow flag came out :)

So I just back on track and waited for the pits to open to make my changes. Hit pit road took off the tape and reduced the tire pressures. I think the damage was done at that point. The engine just did not PULL after that. I know I am not the fastest guy, but hot laps were in the 30's, and I know in practice I could do high 28's and low 29's.

I just cruised through the race not really trying to challange too many positions. I pitted at every caution to stay in the back and out of the way.

Great race all!

Congrats to David on the win and not giving up on it!

Thanks as always to Tim for spotting for us.

What a fking idiot! I had made a change late in practice to the setup to try to keep it free towards the end of a long run. It actually felt really good, but it was untested. It wasn't too long after the race started before I ended up in a pile with someone (see pic) resulting in heavy damage. After repairs, the car had just way too much oversteer. I tried to add some wedge every time I pitted. But we soon had the long green run, and I was hanging on for dear life. I had a spectacular save on the front dogleg LOL. I hit the pits and tried wedge 1 more time. Well, I don't know WTF happened because a few laps later, it pushed hard into the T4 wall, and I brought out the yellow. More damage. I tried to get going on the next retsrat and lost it in T4 again and Tim asked me to park it and fix her up right before I go back out on track. Not knowing what else I could do. I parked it in my pitstall waiting for the last few laps so I could come out and escape a DNF. Idiot me tries to race the car those last laps and crashed it hard again right in front of people. Sorry to everyone, I should have just parked it for good when Tim said to. Embarrasing.

Congrats to Dave, Mike, and Larry. Great run guys, especially with the trouble Dave and Mike had very early.

Coming down with food poisoning on Friday night was just God-awful. Dont get the chicken and pasta package at Trader Joe's. I was laid out all Friday night and all day Saturday with shall we say digestive issues. So when the race rolled around, I was a blonde cat hair away from bailing; I was concerned that I was going to be unsafe but it seemed I could safely run the track so I gave it shot. I had looked forward to this one alot because at tutoring, the setup Mark Martin gave out was just dreamy: very comfortable, good wear, and I could beat Tom's track record.

The race went well at the start. I had worked up to 5th behind Larry and the plan was to just follow him around, pit when he pitted, and wait for the end to try and make a move.
Unfortunately, my recent bad luck streak persisted. Another car got into the lawn on the front stretch and backed it up across the track at the start finish line. The problem was that I was going a 196 mph and could neither brake nor swerve. Both fronts went flat and the car was essentially a total. With my luck as well lately, I came to a rest at the end of pit road and had to limp her around a mile and half to get service, which seemed to take about an hour with the flats.

The rest of the night was just trying to get laps back after falling to dead frickin last. Funnily enough, on restarts, I could hang with the leaders and even pull away a few times but as the leaders got close, I would go high to let them through. Even after all the repairs, I still had a significant amoount of body damage. I think the leaders understood why I didnt just lift but I also hope they saw that I didnt get selfish about it. I kept sayin on TS if I slow you up, say so but no one did. Guys, the courtesy is much appreciated and I wont forget it. A few times, Tom tried to lift to let me by but the circumstances didnt work out and another time, my car got confused with another. I really appreciated the gestures fellas. Very sporting and very kind.

Great job by the field last night gang. Mike enjoy the track record, what a lap! Dave, outstanding win and you should be proud.

Thanks to Race Control for spending his Saturday evening with us.

I had an absolute blast running with you guys. This track is the closest track I have to a "home track" (I live in Okla.)so I really wanted to do well. Luck was on my side as I missed all the crashes and the longer the run the better off I was. Congrats to David on the win. Congrats to all my teammates on their solid finishes all the way around.See you at the next one.

This is one of those where my finish spot was better than I ran. Car too free all night, and the culprit was something I couldn't really fix on pit stops. Killed the RR on the long green run, and had my hands full just trying to hang on till the pit stop. Near the end, I lifted too quickly when Tim called out a spin and spun myself: I hope I didn't collect anybody. Took advantage of TimL and TomM's late race misfortunes to finish a non-deserved 4th...oh well, even a blind (well, in this case, sick) hog finds an acorn now and then.

One thing that really struck me was the professionalism demonstrated around the track tonight. I thought folks did a good job giving room, picking their spots, and really trying to keep the car under good control. You all are to be commended for the progress and maturity this group demonstrates on a weekly basis.

Congratz to the survivors. ;)

I felt I had a pretty good car thanks to Greg's setup, though a bit loose, but was too smart for my own good, I guess.
Should have pitted with everybody else on lap 19, even though 3/4 of the laps were under yellow & the tires looked fine.
But nooo...I stayed out to get the lead & at the restart found out why everybody pitted.
They passed me like I was stuck in second gear. Doh!
The car was wallowing around like a pig on grease & a few laps later I lost it in turn four, mowed some grass on the front straight & slid back up on the track in turn one.
That would have been ok, but someone happened to need that spot a second later...
Sorry for ending both our races Randy. :(

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for a fun race tonight. I'd also like to thank the entire DBF/CTD team for helping me get my first win. Your help was what put me in the position to even have a chance of winning. This Buffalo Wild Wing's Chevrolet Monte Carlo ran great, and with a little bit of luck I was able to bring her home.

As for the race, it began with disaster. I was right behind the leader Mike L, w/ Tom right behind me and closing fast. Coming of corner #4, I must have gotten a huge run, b/c before I knew it, I was heading on a collision course w/ Mike's rear end. Too late to react I hit him sending him into the outside wall, and sending myself through the infield. This was my worst fear, having not only nearly taken out not just myself, but also someone who has been a big help to me. It was just a horrible feeling. Frustrated with myself, I ended up losing a lap trying to drive off with a flat RR.

It took me 2 cautions later to finally get my lap back, Tom drove off the first time and I never got close to him, I guess he secretly knew I was trouble. A second caution put Jim in the lead with older tires giving me the perfect opportunity.

Back on the lead lap, I thought I had avoided disaster, but my race got worse. One of the cars had spun through the infield, and had hit the inside wall coming into turn #1. They came flying back onto the track in front of mine and Bob's way, resulting in that truly spectacular crash shown in the screenshot. I just remembered seeing a flaming car smash into me and then go flying over my roof, and from reports, I here he went over the wall. Hope he's okay. =P I thought my race was over, no way could my car have survived that. But it did, and somehow I stayed on the lead lap to boot.

Having survived that, I slowly started to gain ground in the pits and on the track. On that long run, I had made it up to second and was pressuring Tom for the lead, but slid my tires a couple times, heated them up, and shuffled myself back to let them cool, eventually sliding back to 7th. Once cooled, I just kept a good pace until I could get some fresh rubber. I made a clean, fast pit stop and had quickly made it back up to 5th and was making up ground on 4th. After all I went through, a 5th would have felt like a win to me. But as luck would have it, that final caution came out. I knew that was my chance, as I was fast on new rubber.

In the pits, I made up another spot, pulling out in front of Larry, which was huge in trying to get a win. Restarting 4th, the leader Tim got shuffled back after having made contact with the wall, a bit of a tough brake for him. My car was definitely, too fast at times, when Tom ran wide in 3 and 4, he came back down to block Mike making him and myself to have to slow up to avoid hitting each other. The following corner a charged around Mike on the outside. Even getting a run on Tom who blocked me from getting under him. I stayed right with him through 3 and 4, and then charged around him on the outside just like Mike, in the next turn. After that, I cruised to the finish, though given another lap, Larry might have had something to say about it.

All this just goes to show that with a little perseverance and a lot of luck, what nearly ended in disaster, ended with what will be one of my most memorable races. Great racing guys. This stock car group has some of the best competition around, and its always a pleasure racing with you guys.

Sorry, Double Post

Hey guys, great racing with you all. I race on the nawscar site and this was really awesome. I appoligize for ruining the race for a few guys, I caused a wreck or two like a bone head, I am still getting used to this car and setup. Hope to run with you all again and get my setup a little more driver friendly. Thanks you guys put on an awesome show.