July 9th, Mansfield Motorsports Speedway-USAC
Results
Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, Mansfield, OH (1/2 mile paved)
Qualified: 36th (17.217 sec)
Heat: Started-9th, Finished-9th
B Main: Started-19th, Finished-19th
Well, our first venture in the "big time" professional ranks of autoracing didn't go too badly this
week-end. We at least got the car home in one piece and learned a WHOLE LOT of stuff. Anyway, on to
the details. Saturday the weather forecast was much better, and we were able to get two practice
sessions before qualifying. We didn't have much time between sessions, but every change we made
helped the car. For qualifying though, we weren't able to get the gear changed and were way under
power for our laps. That was ok though because we started on the tail of the heat which is the best
way to learn. Unfortunately though, I didn't have time to change my vision from my dark to clear, and
by the time we ran, it was sunset. That made the groove and track really hard to see. The first
couple laps, I totally missed my entrance and getting back on the throttle made the car very twitchy.
I was able to bring the car home in one piece though. We made a couple more changes for the B Main
where we started on the tail as well. I thought we had a great car and could move up a little because
we had the car totally adjusted out. When we came down for the green though, the car jumped out of
gear again, and I had to pull it in. I do have to thank my sister and her family for coming out and
supporting us, and a couple of guys I went to college with, Ed Rohn and Matt Mays, for coming out and
cheering us on as well! Unfortunately we couldn't show them too much of our car, but they got to see
the highest level of open-wheel racing out there. We learned more in two days running without the
wing, and I think it'll make us better in our normal series.
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