Money Race!
Boy you're not kidding! $135 for pit passes, $150 to race, $50 to park...
That's a lot of money for sure!
Welcome to Thunder Ridge in Lanett Alabama! What
a track. It get it's name from the ridge it is cut from. Pure southern
red clay. We parked just at the bottom of the ridge and during the first
night we were woke up by a thud on the front of the motor home. We looked
out the windows into the dark but we couldn't see anything so we went
back to sleep. The next morning we went out and found that the ridge
had collapsed right in front of our motor home! The thud we heard was
a big hunk of clay hitting the bumper. Sort of strange yaa think?
Thunder Ridge is really a class track. Why they
even have a Cadillac to run the track in and a Freightliner water truck!
No lie! Real nice place and an awesome track. The banking is steep and
the track is fast.
We practiced a little on Friday and figured out
the gear but the track was still pretty slick. On Saturday morning we
went out to practice for Sportsman II after the Caddy got through and
ran some pretty good times. The kart felt good and the added power of
the blue plate motor was really cool. Then it was time to qualify.
My crew chief had everything set up just right
but, as we were going to the grid, he spoke to a friend who had just
qualified and when he looked at our tires he suggested we put on a little
more rubber. So, we second guessed ourselves and went back to the trailer
and put a softer tire on the right rear. That was a mistake. It tighten
the kart up and we qualified 14th.
During the race, everybody was excited and we
had a hard time starting the race. Each time they would try, someone
would mess up and spin. On the 4th try a kart in the back spun in turn
2 but the flag man was looking at the leaders as they came around turns
3 and 4. Everything at the front was lined up good so the flagman gave
them the green flag but the kart in turn 2 was stuck in the mud. The
corner flagman pushed the kart out at the last minute but that left
him standing in the middle of the track. About that time the leaders
came around after taking the green flag and ran the corner worker over.
I thought he was dead because he just laid there but after a while he
began to move his legs. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital
but we couldn't re-start the race until the ambulance came back. That
took about an hour while the sun set and the track cooled off. Now were
were all on the wrong tires.
When the race started again it was slick city.
No one had any grip and we all slipped and slide around the track. They
must have brought out the caution 6 or 7 times for spins and wrecks.
I raced up to 8th place and was doing pretty good until 2 laps to go
when I ran out of gas finishing 18th. Still, I think I did pretty good
for my first major race in Sportsman II. Heck, most of these guys were
racing the nationals this year!
On Sunday, for Sportsman I, they got a late start
running the track in and it was really slick. The sun never really came
out so track never came in. We were working on our tires to get them
prepped up when a friend came over (does this sound familiar?) and suggested
we use his prep. So, my crew chief decided to use this guy's prep and
it worked pretty good. We were as much as a 1/2 a second faster than
the rest of the field and I was thinking pole! Well, wouldn't you know
it, the only time that the sun came out all day was right before qualifying.
That caused the track to come in just enough for this prep to grip like
glue and, even though I picked up another 1/2 second over my practice
times, I was only fast enough to qualify 9th. We were getting ready
to go to the grid for the race when the rain came and that was the end
of the day.
Money racing is a little different. You
don't think about points, or friends, just the money. Well, the money
you spent and the money you could have won anyway!
