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Back to the Nationals! I tell you there is nothing like it. Another awesome track, another awesome race.
We pulled in on Thursday afternoon and right away I went to look at the track. It didn't really look that big or wide but something was different about it. Even though it's over 1200 feet long, Margarettsville has big sweeping turns so the straights aren't that long at all. The turns are deeply banked but what's really unique about this track is that you sort of go down into the turn and then have to drive back up hill as you come out.
On Friday we got ready for practice and were set up for a long track. We put on a great big gear and went out for the first practice. Something funny happened though. The motor was acting like it was on short track dropping about 800 rpm in the turns. We finally realized that the uphill turns caused the motor to bough down so we changed to a smaller driver and went back out. That was the answer and we really got fast.
On Saturday morning they really wet down the track and then put on tons of calcium. We went through 3 rounds of practice and even though the track got faster the extra calcium keep the track pretty slick. In qualifying we tried to anticipate that the track would come in a little more and went to harder tires and a lower gear. Well, we were wrong and wound up qualifying 21st. In the race I got a good start and raced up to 8th but a kart spun in front of me and I had to get on the brakes hard to get out of the way. That broke my momentum and 2 karts got past me before I could get back up to speed. I finished 10th.
On Sunday the track was pretty much the same. They watered it heavily on Saturday night and put more calcium on it before practice. We went out for practice and ran a little better than we did on Saturday but the track was still slick. In qualifying we were fast but so was everybody else. I qualified 8th. When the race started I quickly got down in line and got a great start but the caution came out because of a spin in the back of the pack and we had to re-start the race in single file. I got another great start and settled in at 5th and ran with the leaders for most of the race. On lap 12 I passed 2 karts that got up high in turn 1 and was heading for the front but a kart spun in turn 4 on the same lap so they threw the caution again. When they lined us up for the re-start they put me back in 5th. Darn! We got going again and then one of the karts a few positions in front of me slammed on his brakes causing the karts behind him (including me) to get bunched up and lose momentum again. Sure enough a kart got past me before I could get back up to speed and I just didn't have enough time to get my positions back before the end of the race. I finished in 6th.
Well, the National Series is over. Gee this was fun! I wish there were 5 more races to go. I really wanted to get up on that podium and get my picture in the WKA magazine, and I almost did. Still, this was the most exciting thing I have ever done and I think I really learned a lot about racing so over all I'll consider it a big success!
The National are just the coolest thing. Any kid who gets to race the Nationals is very fortunate regardless of where they finish. I know I am!
