Well, it was an interesting night at the track. Temps were the highest we've seen all season and the sun shone bright as we took to the track for practice. We had hoped to make another run at trying to break the track record, but realized early on that conditions were not going to be favorable to accomplish it. At one point I measured the air temp at a toasty 89 degrees and the track temp was 107!
The car was good, but not great, so we spent quite a bit of time adjusting in the dark as since the new resurfacing of the track, our copious notes from years of running the old worn out asphalt were no longer completely applicable.
Qualifying: We went out in the 3rd group. While we were able to set the pole speed for a few laps, it was surpassed later in the session and we ended up 3rd quick. More adjustments were made and we looked forward to trying some super secret new tricks to make the car a little better in the middle of the corners, which was where we thought we could make up some ground.
Heat Race: The changes made definitely were in the right direction and we were able to finish 2nd. As Scott and I discussed some changes on the radio, he hustled back to the pits, as our main event was coming up shortly and we had little time to get things adjusted. Unfortunately, as I was taking tire measurements I noticed a shiny silver rivet sticking out of the left rear tire. I hoped it was just something superficial, but I could hear air hissing out and when I touched it, the sound got louder. We scrambled to pick one of our practice tires to put on to run the race when our buddy Travis noticed that there was water under the car.
We popped the hood and much to our disappointment, the new radiator that we had installed Friday was damaged and had decided to piddle much of its water out of the engine. As the cars began to line up for our race, Bill, JZ and I were quickly replacing the radiator and fan assembly with spares we brought. We got everything buttoned up filled with water and burped as Scott was climbing in the car. Mission accomplished, but we were unable to make any set up changes.
Main event: As usual, we started towards the rear of the inverted 16 car field and with the race scheduled for only 25 laps, Scott knew he was going to have to press the issue and get through traffic with a larger sense of urgency than we normally do when we have longer races. He did this masterfully and when the first caution flew on lap 19, he had worked his way up to 3rd. A problem had reared up though as the car developed a severe push and vibration in the front end. Scott tried very hard to get around the 1st and 2nd place cars, digging down deep and working both the high and low sides, but the car just didn't have the grip to complete the passes.
In the end, we were able to finish 3rd, which considering the problems that cropped up during the day is not a bad result. We of course had hoped to win, but this race marks the 11th time in the 12 races this season that we have finished on the podium. With only 3 races to go, we need to go out, qualify at the top of the board and keep finishing well to complete an awesome season. 3 more races means 3 more chances to win more races and we would like to win them all!
Next race is September 3rd, which is a fair race. Come out early and purchase a fair/race combo ticket, cruise around the fair during the day and watch us race in the evening! We love our fans and will be out there doing our best for all of you and we'd love to see you there, sign an autograph, let the kids sit in the car, take a few photos and say thank you to each and every one of you! Speaking of fans, we took this picture of a couple of Team LaCross Super fans Saturday night. Scott of course, felt the spirit and posed with them in the pits after the race...
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| Super fans Tori and Eric with LaCrash |
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