In returning to Bristol we have some fond memories of last year. We made it to the finals and really could have won the race, unfortunately we smoked the tires after changing lanes to run in the so-called "better lane." We lost to Brandon Bernstein.
The week started off with the annual golf tournament benefiting the Speedway Children's Charity. Last year my team won so I was returning as the defending champion. We had a great time for a great cause and although we didn't win we finished a respectable fourth and I once again won the "long drive." I have won every year and received a golf bag and a nice little trophy so all was not lost.
In preparing for the race we had a brand new race car to get ready. We tested it on the Monday after St. Louis and although the track was very marginal we had some positive feedback.
Qualifying started out with a tire shaker. We made the adjustments for the Friday night run and we rewarded with a 4.63. We were hoping for more but were still working out the bugs on a new car. The 4.63 left us in eighth position heading into Saturday.
On Saturday's first run the car really started to respond. We ran an improved 4.59 at only 313 mph as the car dropped cylinders down track. The fuel curve still isn't right but we ran a great 277 mph charge to half track showing we were starting to get a handle on it. That's the fastest we have run to half track in a long while and was the fastest of anybody so we were encouraged.
Our last session brought more of the same. We were going up there to improve and were in the process of doing it when the dropped cylinders returned and encouraged the blower belt to come off just past half track slowing us to a 4.77 at only 241 mph. Once again the car was charging through the middle, running 276 mph at half track. We knew if we could just get our fuel system straightened out we might have something for them on Sunday.
Our first round opponent on Sunday would be, ironically, Brandon Bernstein. There would be no repeat of last year's final for sure. We were fairly confident that we had something for him and owed him one for last year.
I awoke to the dreaded rain on Sunday. Nothing is worse than rain on race day. We sat around for awhile wondering if we were going to get to race. Some of my buddies from Richard Childress Racing had driven up to watch since they had raced Saturday night in Charlotte. Kevin Harvick and his wife Delana; Todd Berrier, the crew chief on the #29 car; his wife and son; Andy Street, an engineer for that team; and a host of others sat in limbo until the skies cleared enough for us to get started.
As luck would have it, we had an ignition malfunction which caused the car to shake and forced me to get off and on the throttle, which resulted in us losing ... but with a bright side. We have struggled getting the car to run to the finish line lately and the changes we had made worked. No dropped cylinders and a 330 mph speed meant that we are finally on the right track. I am hoping all the new car bugs have been worked out. We ran great to half track and now to the finish line so its looks promising and I am excited to get to Topeka and win some rounds!!!
Thanks for reading,