Daytona Runoffs

We went to Daytona with sky high expectations given our record setting season and came back a little humbled, but none the less, still pleased with the outcome--2nd place.  What makes it extra rewarding is that we were really tested as a team and we came through it stronger and wiser.  We rolled out of the trailer with an immediate electrical gremlin that took 2 1/2 days to eliminate.  We finally got one good session under our belt on the last test day and prepared for the start of qualifying.  Qualifying is when you have to go out and put it all on the line and run as fast as you can to secure a good starting position.  But in order to do this properly you really want the car dialed in so you can give it your best shot.  With our lack of testing, we were behind the curve.

Our problem was a lack of top speed as we found it difficult to go over 160 mph when the top runner was hitting 182.  To go faster we needed to remove drag from our car, but still be able to drive it in the twisty infield section.  Finding a set up that would yield a reasonable compromise became our goal after one "swing for the fences" effort ended with me going off-track and coming up a foot short of contact with the Armco barrier.  The unique high speed nature of this track gave us a one-of-kind challenge that was more than we anticipated.

After four rounds of qualifying, we were locked into starting in 4th place.  We decided to make some final adjustments and race the car in what we felt would be a relatively stable condition while hitting a top speed of about 167 mph.  This turned out to be a wise decision.

The race started and we lost a couple of spots as we were feeling our way into the revised set-up.  After two laps, everything felt pretty good and we set our fastest lap of the race on lap 3 with a 1:51.48.  Then the pace car came out and bunched up the field due to a wreck by Tim Day.  He was uninjured but his car was damaged and had to be towed away.  During the double yellow laps behind the pace car, the lead car dropped a lot of oil on the track so when racing resumed, the surface was very slippery.  I restarted in 3rd and quickly passed the 2nd place car as he struggled mightily in the oil.  From there until the end I drove as hard as I dare feeling my way through each lap.  My average time over the last 5 laps was faster than anyone else, except for the winner.

The irony was the leader was the one dropping the oil creating havoc for those behind, but the rest of us driving through his oil helped clean a path for him the next time around.  It's hard for me to complain too much, though, as it played into our strategy of having a well behaving car that allowed me to adapt easily to the challenging conditions.  In any event, the winner, JP Ciancimino, drove a blistering pace and deserved the win.