Phoenix… Round 3
We were excited to announce that Phoenix was back on our schedule for 2023. After missing the race back in March, we were looking to find a way back to the track this season. Although it came together a bit later than we would have liked, nevertheless we are thankful for the opportunity to show why we belong in this series. And here it goes…
Phoenix has been a tough track for me throughout the past three seasons. Last year we were able to finish 22nd out of the 42 cars that showed up that weekend. That was a huge win for us last year, but we had a long ways to go to get into that top 15 category. After switching teams during the offseason, and not showing to the March Race we were here to make our mark. Out of the 4 times we have showed up to Phoenix, one we didn’t race, this was the first time we had seen the Thursday night Practice and Qualifying… and it was for an entire hour which is unheard of at Phoenix. We took full advantage of that time to really see what we had brought to the track and sadly we were a bit off. In the corners we needed some help being loose off, but overall we had no forward drive out of the corners which is never a great spot to be in at this fast track. We took the good with the bad and did what we could with what we were dealing with… a p.26 qualifying.
Coming to the green flag the next day we knew we had a lot to make up for in the car. I was trying different technique to try to find speed through the corners, too keep our momentum up, so we could carry more speed out of the corners knowing we were lacking in that department. Throughout the race we gained a significant amount of time if i drove these corners way differently than I ever had before and this led to us securing 20th at the break on the lead lap. All things considered that was a big win. Our goal was to find that top 15 and as the race was going on I was finding more and had less tire falloff compared to my competitors which was setting us up for success in the second half.
As the green flag waived for the second half of the race, I hit the accelerator, and the pedal hit the floor and didn’t rebound back. I thought i might have a stuck throttle, so I pushed in the clutch, and looked at the RPM to see if I need to cut the engine… but it didn’t rev up… it went to idle? The throttle linkage had broken. I was able to coast it back to the pits, the crew did an awesome job getting the linkage fixed on the fly, but sadly we lost upwards of 13 laps and our day was essentially over. I am not one to not finish a race, so we went back out there, I raced my own race, gave plenty of room to my competitors, and we finished in p.24. It wasn’t the finish we wanted, but I am proud of our team and how we overcame diversity to finish the race and season on a strong note. We were in this race together as an entire team and in the end that is what I am most proud of
As you may wonder… what does 2024 look like for our organization. I am happy to say we have some things in the works and we look forward to announcing it soon. Be sure to stay tuned for the big announcement! GULDT!