[thstone]

Saturday racing update:

The new alignment felt great - the car was stable and had a lot more grip so I was able to go out in the first practice session and do a lap within 0.5 sec of my personal best.

I messed up twice during qualifying and spoiled what could have been very good qualifying laps. Both times I got the car sliding, caught it, and drove it away but the slide cost me about a second each time. I ended up qualifying 6th of 10 or 11. Drifting might look cool but its definitely not the fast way around a road course!

In race #1, I started 6th and got a good start but got hung up behind a couple of cars and lost a few places. Got one of those back and finished 7th. After the first few laps, not much passing - there were four of us and no one could get a very good run at the others so we looked like a freight train going around and around.

In race #2, I started 7th and got another great start and moved up to 5th. Then I got around another car for 4th and hooked up with the Top 3 and I was able to stay with the front group for 3-4 laps. This was a HUGE improvement for me because usually I get dropped from the front group and end up further back.

Then I spun at about 100 mph coming out of Turn 9 and had a huge off road drive through the desert! Its amazing how far you go when spinning around in the sand and dirt. Seemed like an eternity. I remember actually thinking: wow, this is a long spin. Dust, sand, dirt, everywhere.

The car started and I drove it slowly back into the pits. We did a good inspection and found that both driver's side tires had gotten gravel in the tire bead while I was off roading. We pulled the wheels and had the tire service at the track break the bead, clean out the gravel, re-mount the tires and re-balance. Otherwise, the car was fine (except for the 5 lbs of dust and dirt on and inside the car.

Tomorrow, we have practice in the morning and one race in the afternoon. Should be home in time for the Super Bowl!