Well. Watkins Glen came and went, and if I had known prior what the weekend was going to bring I would have dreaded it. Front brake problems, fuel pressure issues, a run in with the turn 12 tire wall, a spin in turn 8, etc. Everyone did an amazing job, and my new team mate Stevan McAleer did a fantastic job of piloting the #14. Just making race 2 was a feat of stubborness and perseverance. Of course I went out, got paranoid about the brakes, waved everyone by, realized they were fine and spun myself in turn 8 pushing too hard to make up ground. But regardless, Crew Chief Michael, Tad and CJ did an insane job just getting the car out there. It was a trying weekend, but I think for the obstacles that were trying to grab our ankles and pull us down into a pit of fail were traversed in satisfactory style.
So, we took the weekend off from Mosport. The odds against us making it there were stacked, almost like fate had decided that Mosport wouldn't be a good place for us to go at this point. Truck and trailer gremlins, a car that is still being rehabbed from the turn 12 crash at Road Atlanta and a host of other odds and ends, details and nuances that needed to be taken care of. In a way it's good, with the weather being what it is up there, and the mayhem that was race one, the probability that we'd have been mixed up in a less-than-desirable situation are pretty high. Of course even so, I'm not exactly excited about missing a race weekend.
Maybe I'm a strange guy, but anytime I get in a new race car there's a voice in the back of my mind asking "So what do you think the first wreck will be like?" Well, at Road Atlanta I found out that wrecking formula cars is a pretty mundane affair. Sprint cars like to get upside down, and after the suspension broke putting me into the wall in turn 12, I kept waiting for the roller coaster to start. It never came. Being low and wide is a good thing!
Here we are, on the cusp of starting another season. This season is going to be a whole new ballgame for SMR and The Race House teams. Coming over from Midget racing to Formula cars is a bit of a strange transition. The differences between road racing and oval track racing is huge, and the only things I can bring with me into the cockpit this season are going to be a certain amount of car control and an understanding of the basic physics that are in play when it comes to driving in a race situation and knowing where other people are going to end up at certain points based on their braking points or turn in areas in relation to my own and putting together the right moves.
New York, NY – CellMark Paper announced today that it would sponsor the 2010 F2000 Championship Series Hard Charger Award, becoming an associate sponsor of the series. The CellMark Paper Hard Charger Award will recognize the driver that improves his or her position the most from the starting grid to the finishing order during all 14 races.
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