My ten day Indy Runoff's experience was filled with extraordinary highs and lows. Just soaking in the history of the place was pretty cool. Jason and Chris made the cross country trek in the Bulldog Motorsport caravan without incident and right out of the trailer we were immediately the fastest P1 car there and remained so throughout the entire event.

Almost 1000 cars, an all-time Runoffs record, were entered this year and they were spread over 28 classes. Due to the large overall field, some classes were grouped together creating mixed class racing for the first time. A highlight of past Runoffs has always been getting your own run group so only your direct competitors were on-track with you in the key qualifying sessions and the race. My class, P1, was paired with the open wheeled formula 1000 aka FB cars.

This proved problematic in the first day of testing when I was hit and knocked off track into the gravel trap by an FB competitor. Fortunately, my car was undamaged but it took two hours for the crew to get all the gravel out of the car. A feared repeat of this incident would later cost me the race.

The condition of the track surface itself was unlike anything we had ever seen. It was super smooth and had lots of grip which allowed us to lower the car and create extra aero downforce and therefor faster cornering speeds. The higher g loads ultimately took their toll and after 4 years of no problems, my arthritic neck finally cried uncle and stiffened after 6 days. The last 4 days were spent trying to keep my neck from totally locking up on me and preventing me from making the race...but yet still wanting to try for the elusive fastest lap of all. Pride goeth before...the fall. Proverbs 16:18.

The famous yard of bricks at the start/finish line

After setting a blistering time of 1:30.794 in Q2, the fastest time of the day out of the entire field of 1000 cars, we concentrated on trying to better that in O3 and Q4 to capture the overall fastest time with our only competition being two formula atlantic drivers running in FA. Ultimately, we were unable to improve on that time as we could never get any clean unimpeded laps in the final two sessions due to being paired with the FB's. In hindsight, I should have let my neck rest as my Q2 time easily put me on pole for the P1 class.

In Q4, I ran flat out thinking my neck was feeling pretty good and about half way through the session, my neck popped and forced me to let my head rest, as best I could, against the head surround. I gutted it out and with adrenalin flowing soldiered on looking for the one clean lap. Finally, lap 12, the last lap, looked to be clean and off to a purple start but then I started to run out of gas and that was that. Jason makes me do my own fuel calcs so I take the blame for cutting it too close trying to keep the weight down.

Needless to say, when I got out of the car and the adrenalin stopped flowing my neck hurt immediately and was really stiff and sore. I went ahead and enjoyed, as best I could, the pole award ceremonies that took place on the big podium. It was a real honor to get called out front and see all the past winners' names engraved on the back side of the podium. And, of course, I gave a big shout out to Bulldog. But privately, Jason and I felt just a bit disappointed that we couldn't really show our stuff.

Jason, Roy, Chris and Chris, the best crew at the Runoffs

Then the unthinkable happened, our Norma was impounded and locked away, under a mechanical protest from a fellow P1 competitor asserting our car had non-conforming bodywork under the FIA CN rule book. This process then took on a life of its own. So I went to my room for the night pretty discouraged.

Then Tracey, my wonderful wife, arrived and lifted my spirits, gave me joy, and love and maybe just as important this one time...left over medications from back spasms she had earlier this year. I took them, she kissed me good night, and I prayed for relief. And I knew others were praying too.

Friday morning, I woke up feeling remarkably better and it was a day off from driving but I still had to deal with the protest. The SCCA has quite the formal process for dealing with a serious accusation like this. Statements are taken, multiple inspections are performed etc. etc. An actual deliberation is conducted and then, finally, a decision is rendered. So 24 hours after the protest was filed, it was thrown out and the car was released. However, we elected to keep it locked up as now we were uncertain as to what depths the competition might go to sabotage us.

Race day was near perfect weather, sunny and a cool 70 degrees. I got my third acupuncture treatment and this time she cupped me too. I felt good and ready for the race ahead. Check out the full race video here.

Tim Day Jr. comes around the outside from row 2 to take the lead into turn 1 at the start.

For the first 10 laps everything went according to plan and I led after an early challenge from Tim Day Jr. Then on lap 11 entering turn 12, as I'm trying to lap the #18 FB car around the outside, the driver starts running wider and wider as we enter the brake zone and pinches me a little tight to the wall. My in-car video shows my eyes looking at him and trying to make sure he doesn't hit me. When I focus back forward, I've gone too deep and missed my braking point.

Then I really make a mess of trying to get the car off the grass and running again by spinning and making multiple efforts at restarting the car. Finally, I get rolling again and the chase is on. I reel off some quick laps including the fastest lap of the race at a 1:31.499 on lap 14. Then entering turn 1 on lap 16, I catch and pass the 3rd place car and am back on the podium. I also catch the #18 FB car entering turn 6 and proceed to drive around it and then in turn 6a, the #49 losses control and starts spinning just as I'm passing it. Fortunately for me, I got around him on the outside and then the #49 gets t-boned by the #94.

I complete lap 16 and double yellows are now out for the big wreck. As I catch the pace car near the end of lap 17, red flags are flying and all cars are stopped on track. Then they checker the race 3 laps early and with over 10 minutes left on the clock and it's all over. Disappointed, but at least feeling somewhat redeemed by fighting back to make the podium, we put on a game face and celebrate on the podium and go through the post race interviews and hours long tech process.

Five cars entering turn 6 and then all hell breaks loose in 6a. I skillfully (ok maybe with some luck thrown in) navigate through it all.

This is the podium celebration that never happened according to the final results that dropped me to 4th due to a strange quirk in the rules regarding a red flag race stoppage.

The next morning I find out that we've been dropped back to 4th place in the official standings and I inquire and am told that due to the red flag situation they revert to the previously completed lap by the entire field. I know we almost completed 17 laps so it would seem lap 16 would be the one counted and I was clearly in 3rd already. Then it gets really weird in that timing and scoring say the red flag was caused not by the wreck but by the whole track communications system going down. And that normally they would not throw the red flag until they knew all cars still on the lead lap had crossed the start finish line so as to keep the race order intact. And that, in fact, the two slow cars still on the lead lap did cross start/finish completing lap 16, but the officials ruled they really should have stopped earlier. So alas, lap 15 was deemed the race finish and we were in 4th at that time just seconds from passing for 3rd.

The final irony was that the official 3rd place car #94 was involved in the big wreck and would have been out of the race had the race been scored on lap 16 or later. The driver of the #49 car, who was hit by the #94, sustained a broken leg in the crash but was otherwise unhurt. Interestingly, he was the driver that protested my bodywork.

My wife, Tracey, has a great saying, "anytime you finish the race unhurt and with your car intact, you've won." And you know, she's right. We got to go compete at the most storied race track in the world and almost pulled off the repeat. It just wasn't meant to be this year but what a story behind it all.