Well I am all back home now and trying to recover from the week. Here is a recap of the final.

I started in 3rd and had a different mindset than in Truggy. Truggy I was too excited and not patient enough. My plan was to just try to stay up front and close for the first half, then race for it in the second half. I got a good start and was feeling good. My car felt great and I chose the right tires for me and the conditions. A couple laps in we are all really close and I got out of shape on the downhill section coming into the drivers stand, only loosing a coiple spots. I quickly got them back and made my way into second. David was leading, and I felt like both of us had better pace than Tessman. It was time for the first pit stops; everyone seemed to not get too good of mileage as most came in between 7:30 and 8:30. David came in a lap or two before I did, and he flamed out while refueling. In my mind he was my biggest threat, so I felt that I had some extra room now. I led a couple laps and then made my stop at 8:30. Everything sounded great while getting fueled up and off I went, still holding the lead. On that lap, I hit the big double in the back, over jumped it a little, and my engine flamed out as soon as it hit the ground. That is the worst feeling as a driver when your engine dies, you are just completely helpless, and watching all your hard work dissapear. I had done over half a lap, and it took quite a lond time to get back to the pits, so my chance of a good finish were over. I lost a lap and a half. Joe, my pit guy turned up my idle a little, I really don’t think that had anything to do with the flame out though, and I was back out there. I really struggled to even drive around the track for a while, I was pretty mad inside. I was finally driving good and making the right decisions, but it wasn’t meant to be for some reason. My car still felt great, but the whole pack of cars were all pretty tight. Its tough to try to race with guys and pass them when they are a lap up on you and racing for positions. The race was boring and I just drove around for 38 minutes. Everyone was pretty close on speed and not too many issues. I finished in 12th, two laps off the leader.

My engine ran the entire rest of the final. After the race I didn’t find anything that looked bad or a reason for the flame out, then I started to clean my car, and there was a pretty big dirt clod in where the flywheel and rear brakes are. Not sure if that is what caused it, but it could have. I can practice, do mock mains, qualify, do the amain practice, and have no issues, but in the finals I am not having good luck with flame outs. I need to keep positive and just keep working hard, but it is hard to find that motivation sometimes.

I will just try to be prepared for Silver State now. I’m not going to give up, I have a major goal this year, and this is all just prep work for that ultimate goal. Thanks for all the support, checking in, and I will see you all again very soon. God Bless