Well. Sometimes you kick ass and sometimes you get your ass kicked. And sometimes, it all happens in the same weekend. Watkins Glen, even with the little mishap on Sunday (more on that later) was a huge confidence boost. I know we can run fast now instead of suspecting. I KNOW we can garner a podium finish this year. Confidence is a key player in the mental landscape of driving and something that for me has been somewhat lacking after a pretty bumpy rookie season as a formula car driver.

First and foremost I gotta thank Glenn Philips, GTP, Cellmark Paper, S.O.S Children's Villages, Mike Witson, my dad Rick, Phil Picard, Jose Rosado, John Schroeder, Tedd Page, my mom, the facebook community for all the support, and all the friends and family that have lent their support and encouragement to myself and the team throughout everything. The list goes on, for a long time and I'm very grateful to each of you. GTP and Mike Witson gave me a car that was fast and solid all weekend, and the team didn't miss a single beat in 4 days.

Thursday's practice was an up-and-down affair, the first practice I believe we were in the 1:56.xxx lap time range wheeling the old bat around the Glen. Not a bad start since last year's fastest time for me was in the 1:57's. The car felt pretty solid and with the tailwind down the back straight into the bus stop we were seeing speeds between 141-142mph. Pretty exciting stuff. We elected to put a different nose on the car for practice 2 and make some suspension changes just to see, and the car got really angry. I couldn't get under the 2:00 mark and it was all over the place, oversteer in the low speed corners and TONS of understeer in the high speed corners. For Friday we pretty much just reversed everything we did for practice 2.

Friday was a fairly straightforward affair, just lapping the Glen strongly in the 1:54.2xx range. The car felt fantastic, and I just kept working on being smooth and fast. I'll tell you, the last turn at the Glen takes some serious self preservation ignorance. There's more banking in there than you realize, and it's strange because the apex is IN pit lane, which goes against your instincts. The fast guys say you only do a roll off the throttle and then back on it, but I am still getting on the binders for a quick second. Just need to sack up and do it.

Saturday's qualifying saw 3/10's of a second between 7^th and 12^th place starting positions. I started 12^th. The start of the start of the race was pretty hectic and exciting. Wheel to wheel, 4 wide into turn 1, bump drafting, you name it and it was present. Every single technique of race car driving was on display in race 1. Johnathan Scarallo and I had a GREAT wheel to wheel battle with me having to go to the outside in turn 1 twice to finally get the job done. Luckily after I got around him The white #22 made a bad move to block my pass into the bus stop pinching me down to the inside and ran himself off line allowing Johnathan to follow me around him. After that, it was basically an affair of buckling down and chasing down Niki Coello. I ran my fastest laps of the weekend chasing that rabbit. He had me pushing the absolute limits of the car. So much so that at some point the right rear shock broke. At the end the car loosened up considerably, probably due to the broken shock and my progress toward 5^th halted. On the last lap Chris Livengood who was running with the front pack had engine trouble and Niki and I got around him before the final turn which put us 3^rd and 4^th. It was a fantastic, exciting drive for us and I am proud of it.

Sunday's qualifying started with a rather large miss in the motor. I ended up in pit lane for much of the early part of the session and when I got out on track I was all alone for the entire session, only being able to put together a lap of 1:54.1xx, which put us 14^th to start the race. The start again was hectic, and actually much much closer than race 1, I had wheels in between mine both left and right for turn 1, but everyone gave everyone just enough room and we all made it through without incident, at least those in my immediate proximity. It was shaping up to be an incredibly exciting race, with myself in 8^th and working with Nathan Morcom pushing him down the back straight toward the front of the pack. At least that was the plan until I lost it entering the bus stop on lap 5. Everything was just getting settled out from the start, and everyone was beginning to find their rhythm and their partners. I went into the bus stop and the car just snapped left. I don't know if I upset it with a throttle input or some other mistake but I was caught completely unaware. I couldn't save the spin and the car went around to the left. I pretty much assumed I was going to get tagged by someone in the pack behind me and unfortunately I was right. Zach Craigo caught me t-bone just ahead of the sidepod with his nose. The impact rotated the car back the other way, and impaled his nose and front wing assembly into the side of my car and into the cockpit against my left leg and snapped his nose off, like an arrow. It was pretty hard hit and for a few seconds I just waited to make sure all my bits and pieces were still attached and functional. Before I could even get the wheel off Zach was there asking anxiously if I was ok. All I could think to do was tell him yes I was fine, ask him the same and apologize for ruining his race. The emergency staff arrived and I hobbled out of the car. My left leg took a good lick and I'm pretty well bruised up and stiff today, but that's it.

So there you have it. The ups and downs. The best part of Sunday's race is probably meeting Craigo. He's a hell of a nice guy, and has been in touch pretty much every day to see how I'm fairing. You can't ask for anymore out of the competitors in a sport. We go out and lay it all out on the line, and we play as hard as we can, believe me. But at the end of the day, we are a community and we treat each other as such. After the wreck, and word spread around the paddock of the situation that had befallen me with the cockpit intrusion of the nose I'd say about a hundred people came by to check it out and express concern. I thank you all for the kindness, and the debate it has sparked regarding side impact safety in these cars.

Until next time,

-Tim, SMR #06

(P.S. I'm trying to get ahold of his onboard video of the impact. I will update if I can get it)