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Daily Blog |
May 5 - Day 3
Events 1 and 2 - Texas Water Torture
I don't have many pictures from today, but there wasn't much to be in a bright mood about so it fits.
Last year I said that this event was tough, that this event was intense. The truth is, I had no idea.
The biggest difference in pro racing and amateur racing in my experience is the pressure. Sure, there is pressure you put on yourself to do well as an amateur. The best club racers who work 9-5 jobs and race for fun will fret over results and play the what-if game for weeks when something goes wrong. In pro racing, people's jobs, livelihoods and businesses are at stake. The Tire Rack One Lap of America is an amateur event for most, but when teams like Hennessey and Mongoose come to town, it's about selling cars, and the pressure for results skyrockets.
Before the event in a blog writeup I predicted my teammate Danny Popp would either win or break, and to be honest, I didn't have much faith in the hard-charging Danny Popp's style and a car that rolled out onto the wet skidpad with about 60 total miles on it. My plan was to take it easy, collecting steady results to save my car to make sure it finished. Today, plans and strategies met with a bang.
We arrived at Texas World Speedway bright and early after the 800+ mile trip, rain was falling and the track was soaked. I made the first run being gentle on the throttle trying to keep the automatic transmission from downshifting causing a spin, the problem was that this part-throttle caused the engine to load up with fuel, sapping horsepower and limiting my front-straight speed to 110-120mph, compared to Popp's 135mph + speed. My 2007 co-driver and Car owner Steven Rankins even ran me down and passed me. I wasn't happy, but I was sticking to my game plan and wanted to stay steady and collect points.
What happened next is one of those, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" moments. The bottom line is crap went down, and it was loud.
What this event did to to me is upset the ballance of my mindset, which is a mistake I fully admit to.
In the afternoon run I fought the loading up car again, I also fought no wipers and no defrost in a downpour. Neither Danny or I could see out of our cars. I was trying to stay out of the darker areas - those areas that meant grass. I put my sence of feel and Star Wars-like force to the test, and I outran Danny for at least that session - not that it was good overall.. with so little visibility we were both in the low 40s.
The drag race was canceled, and we got an early start to No Problem raceway in Louisiana. To make matters worse, the hotel took our room away when we didn't get there by 11:00, there were no rooms available at any other hotels, and I slept in the car for the third night in a row.
My hotel room for the night before No Problem Raceway in Louisiana.
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