NAGT Challenge

Sorry for scaring everyone in T1; this was my first time in NAGT and the first with rF at all in quite a while, and I just wasn't prepared for start conditions.

Somehow managed to qualify 3rd, and when I saw Tristan get squirrely off the line and open the inside while wheeling it over in front of Conor I thought I'd just gotten a huge gift, since I knew it would be very tough to pass at LB. But the instant I saw Conor braking way early next to me on the way into T1 I knew I was screwed. I slammed the brake pedal to the floor and, nothing... Cold tires, cold brakes, full tank, dumb driver. DOH.

Stuffed the nose into the tirewall, and then Mike got pushed into the back of me. We sat there for the field to clear and he got going again, but my car wouldn't refire. Sat there for a while trying to get going and to remember whether I had a starter button mapped (no), but normally clutching and hitting neutral would refire it offline. Not then though; maybe a damage model thing, who knows - but game over for me anyway.

I just need to remember to run my own pace- pushed much too hard early on trying to hang in 9th, which was several places above where I belonged. Burned the tires much too early and fell back to 13th. Was finally settled in and closing on the pack late in the race, if I had been more careful with the tires I could have picked off a few spots I think.

I've been struggling to get good finishes lately. I'm pushing hard and putting myself in compromising positions and making mistakes. In this case, I got a good launch and found Tristan coming across track shifting from 1st to 2nd. I got up along side just before brake zone because I felt Tristan hit the brakes a bit early. Then I see Steve coming up fast so I thought I may have hit the brakes early too. I released a bit and realize shortly afterwards that I got in a bit too hot. I slid wide of the apex, but I would have made the corner without hitting the wall. Conor got into my right rear corner just as the car started to bite into the turn. After watching the replay, it is clear he did not see me till it was too late. I wasn't in the right place. This was just one of those racing deals. 4 cars wide into turn 1 usually doesn't work. I should have waited.

After the car was heavily damaged, I struggled to keep the car straight. I wrecked again and called it a night.

Sorry CT Racing. I've got a lot of making up to do with numerous poor finishes as of late.

this was a tough race, I was happy with my qualifying position actually surprised with it and was ready to battle it out in the race. Got through the turn one dippin and diving around cars and at the end of the back straight I misjudged the braking point and slid into the back of one of the vette's not sure who, but sorry I figured I'd do a drive through as punishment and came out in last place. I was able to run my own pace and caught the pack pretty quickly. My goal was a top 10 and after running great battles with Tommy and Michael and then a 4 car battle between les, tommy , jim and myself for 9th-13th it was a battle right down to the end. There were some tricky moments when the leaders came up to lap us, but everyone was clam and no major incidents.

Looking forward to the next race

Speaking of apologies, I gave Les a pretty good wallop from behind on the start when he had to check up for somebody in front, sorry Les!

Good race at a good track, but what's up with the point standings? I finish 5th, but 10th in points? Teammate Les finishes 9th, but 17th in points? Teammate Dennis finishes 6th, but 11th in points? And how about Tristan who finished 2nd, but 4th in points? I don't think any explanation is going to make anyone feel better about that. If this is how it's gonna work, I'm out of this series and right now.

You guys need to read my pre-race statements before getting too emotional on this issue.

I DON'T HAVE HYPER-TENSION AND I DON'T GET EMOTIONAL DAMMIT!!! :D

I guess it's no big deal. I still enjoy the races, but what am i missing? Your pre-race doesn't explain much at how the standing work out.

EDIT: Nevrmind. I think I got it. Looks so bad on paper though.

By the way, the "11th in points" is actually "tied for 6th" if you look at it properly. Our results table just does not have anything in place to display actual "ties", that is all.

But, as I said in pre-race, if it looks like we will have to continue to divide the entries we will just create another "Novice" series and move the 5- event to that series. Looking at the Mosport entries I already see it too being divided into two groups.

After surviving a 1st laps punt on the backstraight. Enjoyed trying to drive a damaged car back to my starting position. Had a long battle with S. Berube. After 20 some laps he made a mistake. Long Beach proved to be the usual challenge. Hope 60 people sign-up for the next race.

Kevin