Squeaking Through

What a night at the races!
The forecast was for rain throughout the day, and the morning radar sure  made one think it was true. The lightning flashed, the thunder rolled, and the rain drops fell. But, it all stayed a few miles south of the track. It turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Taco Dave had a 4th place start in the first of three modified heat races. Dave and the crew had the car’s setup pretty close, and Dave was able to win his heat race with room to spare. However, when things look easy, they aren’t always what they appear to be.

When Dave came in from his heat race, he noted that the rear brakes seemed to be hanging up. So, up went the car onto the jack stands, rear wheels pulled off, and the problem was investigated. The brakes were re-bled, and the brake calipers were hammered on, just in case they were hanging up. Hammering on stuff is almost always a good thing.

 

 

 

The brake work was completed, the excess mud was scrapped off of the places where excess mud from the track accumulates, lug nuts checked to be sure they were tight, fuel topped off, latest ever-changing track conditions checked, and we were ready for the A-Main Feature to begin.

The call for the A-Main feature came over the pit side loud-speaker, as it does for all of the races. “Modified you are due in staging. Modified you are due in staging.”

 

The 16s car started the Feature in the 7 place, which is 4th row on the inside. I was hoping that would be a good place to start, because we were thinking there would be a lot of drivers going to the top of the track, and maybe we would miss some of the carnage that seems to pile up until the drivers can get their pace going on the track. Being a patient person isn’t something I’m very good at, but a good race car driver can actually come out ahead if they wait until the cars spread out a bit, and then make their move.

In lap 12 there was a caution for a spin out, and Dave was in 11th place. It was a timely caution for Dave, and on the restart, it was time for him to make his move. And moving up is what he did. By lap 18 he was 6th place and working on 5th.

Obviously every race car driver wants to win the race. And next to that, is to place as well as one can. So, often, the last couple of laps see some intense racing. Some may have been biding their time for a final move, and everyone is going to give it just a little more. As the race continues, the track warms up, dries out, or pulls moisture to the top, it just depends on a lot of stuff. Fuel is burned off as the drivers race, and the cars become lighter. It’s the last lap, and here’s my chance.

One of the two other cars the 16s car was racing with got a little high on the track, where it was burned off. The skill of these drivers is amazing. At the speed they are going, they can still, a lot of times, miss each other by inches and keep going. Anyway, one of the cars spun out, went cross-ways sending the car to the bottom of the track. Dave went under the car and the other of the three drivers went around on the top side. None of the cars touched each other, and the race was able to complete.

Here’s the shot sequence of the control these drivers have of their cars, even when things aren’t going as best as they had hoped for.