Well, my driver development program is coming along pretty good! You know what a driver development program is don't you? That's where your daddy pays for you to drive in races you probably shouldn't be racing in yet! Someone told me that and I thought it was sort of funny, and pretty true. On the other hand, if you don't race with the best, you will never be the best and the drivers and teams in the Goodyear Challenge Series are probably the best in the state of Florida. So, I feel pretty lucky to have my family and my sponsors behind me so I can do this... (more)

Just last year a 100 lap race was really long for me and it was all I could do to hang on to the end. I guess the car is handling a lot better so it's not quite as much work now but these races seem to be getting shorter and shorter. There was a point in the race where I started to relax a little and I think I was just as fast but maybe a little smoother. I am so glad we decided to move up to this series this year because I am learning things that I never even thought of when I was running 20 laps features at New Smyrna Speedway.

One of the big things I am learning about is qualifying. We came to this track a week ago and practiced to see what we needed to do to run here. They say the track is very sensitive to temperature and as the sun set it changes a lot. We were pretty good during the day but when the sun started to set the car got tighter and tighter. We didn't know how to keep up with that and I went from running laps in the 14:20's to the 14:40's and I had to really jerk the car down at the center to get it to turn. Then, it would snap loose and I would slide it up off the corners having to wait until the rear tires would get their grip back before I could get back to the gas.

There always seems to be someone who comes up at the last minute and tells you something that totally takes you off your game. This race was no different and, right before we went out to scuff our tires for qualifying, a friend of ours came up to see how we were doing and before he left he had us convinced we needed to change everything but the steering wheel. I know he was trying to help but it sort of took us off our game plan and we lost a valuable practice trying something that made the car a lot worse instead of getting us closer to where we needed to be. The good thing was we had a little time to put things back where they were and make the changes that we were planning on in the first place and the car wasn't bad when it was my turn to qualify.

The problem I had was that it takes me 4 or 5 laps to get going and they only give you 2 laps to qualify. My first lap was pretty slow, as usual, but I wasn't too bad in the second lap and I got the car down into the 14:40's. The pole time was 13:77 so I've got a long way to go. Out of 21 cars I qualified 16th. I've been trying to let the car roll faster through the corner but it's a very un-natural feeling. I want to hold the brake for just a second longer but I really have to pull my foot off the brake a second earlier and I just don't have the confidence yet to do that. I keep telling myself, "What's the worst that can happen?" Then, I decide I'd rather not think about that!

The race started off the way they always do with the drivers a little anxious and sure enough there was a wreck going into turn one. This time it wasn't at the front but at the back right where I was. There is a big apron where they run the Bandolero cars that transitions from banking to flat so if you get down there it will upset the car and cause you to come back up the track. I may have crowded the car underneath me a little, forcing him down off the banking and he then came up and hit the car in front of me. That crushed his right front fender and I caught it with my left front fender and ripped it off. It flew over the top of my car and bounced off my roof as I got past the spinning cars and cleared the wreck.

On the restart we split up a little and I fell in behind a car that I was really comfortable running with. This car is usually very fast I thought I would try to run with her and see if I could capitalize on the passes she would make and sneak in behind to make the passes myself. We were running pretty good together for about 3 laps and then all of a sudden she just quit coming off turn 4 and I hit her pretty hard and spun her around coming off the corner. I guess the officials must have saw that she slowed and they let me keep my spot instead of sending me to the rear of the next restart.

I was having a little trouble knowing when to go so I was getting left behind on the starts. I had about a 4 car gap between me and the cars in front of me when on the second lap after the restart, the car 2 places in front of me blew his motor. All of a sudden I was in oil and the car just looped around and slide down onto the apron on the back stretch. They red flagged the race to clean up the oil and when we restarted the race they gave me back my spot because I spun to avoid a wreck.

I still didn't get going on the start but I was a little better. We ran about 10 laps under green and I was following 2 cars that were racing close together. I would make up a little in the corners and then loose it back to them coming off the corner. I was just starting to get the handle on what I needed to do and then the caution came out for a car that spun out on the back stretch.

On the re-start I let the cars in front of me get away from me again but it was only about 5 or 6 laps before I was back up to them. For the next 6 laps or so I worked on setting myself up to pass the car ahead of me. Then, he decided to go to the outside of the car in front of him to make the pass. That gave me the bottom and I jumped in to that spot to set myself up to pass him. I got off the corner real good and we ran 2 laps side by side. I was making progress but I got a little too anxious and I drove into turn one too hard and slide up the track into the car I was trying to pass. He held onto it and didn't spin but I lost all my momentum and had to fall back in behind him and then try to work my way back up.

We ran another 4 or 5 laps but I wasn't making much progress. Then a car spun in turn 3 and that brought the caution out and bunched us back up again. On this start I figured out what I was doing wrong and this time I judged the start perfectly. A few laps later we passed the half way point and then a few laps after that the car in front of me jumped to the outside again to make a pass on the car in front of him. So, I did the same thing I did before and about 2 laps later I was under him and I was not going to make the same mistake I made before and push up into him. Unfortunately, I never got to make the pass because a car spun out behind me and brought the caution out again.

On the restart I did the same thing I did the time before and I stayed with the cars in front of me. There were 4 of us that were running pretty much bumper to bumper and then the second car in the line hit the first car in the center of the corner and knocked him up the track. It took him a little while to gather the car up and that allowed the 3 of us to get by. We ran like that for another 4 or 5 laps when the car in front of me decided it was time to make a pass but this time he went low to go under him instead of high. I was digging as hard as I could to get to the bumper of the car in front of me of hoping that I could slide by with him but I didn't make it in time and the car on the outside dropped down in front of me after he got passed.

By this time my tires were starting go away and I was getting more and more loose coming off the corners. I was up on the car in front of me for a little bit but I couldn't get by and then the car behind me was right on my bumper trying to get by me. He popped me once coming off of turn 2 and it actually helped me to catch the car in front of me going down the back stretch. A few laps later thought, just as I was getting on the gas coming off of turn 4, he tapped me again just a bit but I was so loose by then that's all it took and I turned it around and ended up stalled down on the apron in front of the flag stand.

They put us back to the end of the cars on the lead lap which cost me 3 positions so I restarted the race in 11th. I was thinking about trying to jump to the outside and pass the car in front of me on the start to quickly get a position back but I didn't make up my mind fast enough and then I didn't get going as soon as I should have so I lost a position on the start to the car that spun me earlier.

About 2 laps later we both got by the car in front of us and then we ran bumper to bumper for a few more laps after that. We were both so loose it was all we could do to keep from wrecking by ourselves. He slipped up coming off of turn 2 and I got into the back of him turning him about 1/2 way sideways. I got on the brakes and let him get straightened out and then quickly got back to the gas when he got going again. We wound up side by side going into turn 3 but I knew how loose we both were so I let out early and dropped in behind him rather than try to pass on the outside.

We ran the last 10 laps or so like we were tied together. I was driving as hard as I could to catch him and he was driving as hard as he could to get away from me. I kept hoping he would mess up and give me the inside but he didn't. When the white flag came out I drove the car into turn one as hard as I could and he seemed to slow up a little. I ran down the back stretch right on his bumper and I tried to get him loose going through turns 3 and 4. He held onto it and I was only able to get a nose under him as we passed the flag stand. I didn't lift but he did and sort of let the car come down as though he didn't know I was there. Before I knew it I had him sideways so I just turned him the rest of the way around and then got my car slowed down so we didn't crash at the entrance of turn one.

I guess the fans loved it. One guy came up to me after the race and told me that they should give us each an additional $100 because we were the best entertainment of the race. Most everybody thought that I spun him out on purpose. A couple people said he deserved it for spinning me earlier. One other guy called me every name in the book. I even got an invitation to visit with the race director after the race! To me it was just hard racing, in fact it was the most fun I have ever had. You don't always know what the guy in front of you is going to do but you think he's trying to do the same thing you are. When he doesn't, that's when things can get interesting. Sometimes you can make something out of it and sometimes it makes something out of you.