4th
Blog for July 26
Saturday night it was on to Lanier National Speedway where we have been racing in preparation for the national qualifier there in a few weeks. I changed my previous setup there from my last big accident in hopes that I would find something that would work. When we unloaded for practice I honestly wasn’t too sure how the car was going to feel so I just went out and ran. To my surprise the car was awesome. I was running laps in the 15.9 second range: the fastest I have ever run there. So as you could probably imagine I was very, very pleased. I did not draw very good at all for my heat race but I knew I had a good car so I wasn’t worried about it. All of the competitive cars were in my heat race… four of them to be exact. I started last in my heat race which was only fifth, but I was quickly running with the top three cars and running them down to be exact. I was so happy with the car that I cannot even explain it. I just knew this was going to be my race this weekend. On about lap three I had caught the top three cars who were running in a little pack right together. Little did I know my bad luck was about to strike again. I was just behind the second and third place cars on the front stretch when they went racing off into turn one. It was a normal entry into the corner when somebody is trying to make a pass but it didn’t stay normal for long. I was making the normal entry into the corner as was the second place car, but the third place guy ducked way down low to try and out brake the second place car. Let’s just say that wasn’t a good idea. I was about a half a car length or so off of them when the third place car locked up his left front brake, sending him into the guy on the outside. The next sequence of events happened real fast but I do know what happened. I already had my car pivited towards the bottom of the track in the entry of the corner and when they bumped wheels it sent the third place guy right into my line. Once I knew he was coming up the track it was too late to make the right move. In racing you only get one chance to make a split second decision. Sometimes it’s the right one and sometimes it’s the wrong one. It’s a fifty-fifty chance most of the time. But Saturday night at Lanier my conscience made the wrong split second decision. If I had stayed on my entry line instead of trying to move up the track I probably would have drove into the back of the third place guy and been okay, but instead I tried to go high real quick and I hit his right rear like a launching pad. It sent me over his car and my car hit the pavment on it’s left side tires. From there they dug into the track and rolled the car over. Before the first revolutiion was complete the wall was there to stop me and the belly of the car hit the wall. The car slid back down the track on it right side and I just sat there thinking “Wow… I cannot believe my luck.” Then I suddenly saw gas pouring out of the carbuerator and decided it was time to get out. I had to climb out of the window the regretably the second time in my Legends racing career, but I’ve learned and hear from the best that it happens in big time auto racing. Regardless of how mu night ended the Aaron’s Dream Machine was blistering fast and I know I would have brought home the victory that night. All I knew I could do was remember my setup and put it in for next weeks race to show just how good the car was going to be.
