It’s Bristol Baby!

I wasn’t going to share this but this was my first time ever seeing a high bank track on asphalt. I can’t believe I didn’t start racing these sooner! It was an absolute blast. Practice was all about getting used to running a track like this; Bristol Baby. We took our time during that Practice session, made some minor adjustments, made some gains, and at the end of practice we were sitting 23rd overall. During the break before we qualified we made some adjustments to free up the car in the center of the corner, and we discussed a different technique on how to attack the entries into turn 1 and 3 on these types of tracks. The gain made on the track was significant and those minor adjustments to the car and how I drove into the corner resulted in qualifying 21 out of 34. My best qualifying session to date.

The most effective way to race is to analyze each section of the track; from the straightaway, entry, mid, Apex, exit, roll-ins and offs, and everything between. Small tweaks to the car always help but so does small tweaks to what the driver is doing. I’m Always learning and working to perfect my craft.

The first 100 laps of the race we did very well keeping pace, gained a few spots, made some solid passes, tapped the wall coming out of turn 4, was hit from behind a time or two, and unfortunately had a bit of a engine overheating issue to address. During the break we made some solid adjustments to keep the temperature down for the second 100 laps but it also resulted in the front end losing a bit of downforce that affected our drive out of the corners. With about 75 laps in the race another car tried to dive under me on exit of turn 2, he slid up the track into me, and thankfully we were both able to handle/gather up the cars and the hit did not cause a big mess. We spoke afterwards and it was one of those racing incidents that we both learned from. Later, we were in position to make a solid pass for 17th, had the car in front of us set up to take the spot on the exit of the next corners when the caution came out… he got the Lucky Dog and we were stuck chasing from too far back now. I think overall we had pace on that car who ended up finishing 16th, but we couldn’t come back on him after he took the Lucky Dog and gained that lap on us. After that the race was all about maintaining what we had, holding our position, and bringing the car home in one piece. I was still learning along the way those last few laps, but I also knew where I stood and what needed to happen.

In the end we brought the car home in one piece in 18th place and are ready to get after the next one! GULDT!