The final race at the outdoor SRS track is finally over. Kinda sad that the track will be gone soon, but I sure won’t miss the sugared track. Especially this year, the track was not on my top 50 fun tracks list. There was a lot of complaints all week about how bumpy and rough the surface was. Then the sugar seemed to be added different than I’ve seen before. Normally you don’t really see the sugar on the track that much. We were pretty much racing on a dirt cupcake. Ok….enough whining.

Main Day
Truck was the first main up. The track was re sugared over night for some reason, and it seemed much different. The track looked polished and it was still wet. I was confident going in A1 still.
A1: I started 1st and had a great start, leading the first lap. Lap 2, going up the uphill I got on the first pipe a little, and thought I had room to stay in front of Jorn. I tried blocking the line, but he went for the pass, not dirty at all, but we got tangled and I went to 3rd. I was then trying up pass Cav and he crashed coming onto the back straight right in front of me. I marshaled him, and ended up crashing myself. That put me in 4th, pretty far back. That’s where I ended up. I was not pumped on my first main of the day.

A2: I wasn’t feeling too excited as all my A1’s were pretty crappy. I called Megan and she cheered me back up and got me back in fighting shape. The track felt way different, allot less grip, and I didn’t have as much speed as I had in qualifying. I got another great start and was just focused on my lines. Jorn was good on the right side, but I was better on the left side. It was a pretty safe final I was able to have a little gap and cruise to the win. That win felt good, and it kept the overall alive.

A3: Another good start and I was feeling good. Jorn was going really fast and wanting the win for sure. He was really trying to push me into a mistake on the uphill section, but I was keeping it together. I pulled a little gap after a minute and a half or so, but then I was slow up the hill and he was right there again. It was going to be a very long 5 minutes and a close race. With about 2 minutes to go I think, we crossed the finish and Jorns truck rolled to a stop. Mid motor truck is really tough on the transmissions and he stripped something out. I was able to take a breath and cruise it home to take the win. It felt good to come to the race with mid motor for the first time and get the setup good, take the TQ and the win.

4wd was the next class. I really wanted a strong finish, mostly because of how the worlds went and to show everyone that our new car is really awesome. The worlds was just bad racing luck. I started 2nd on the grid.
A1: I was warming up and my car felt amazing. I really thought I had a great chance to fight for the overall win. The track was looser and I was wanting to get my tires more scrubbed in. I did probably 3 warm up laps, and almost stopped, but I wanted just 1 more. After the back straight, I just blasted in the inside knuckle heading into the switchback. It exploded my car. I sprinted back to my pit and was scrambling for parts. I got my front arm replaced in about 1.5 minutes and thought I was gonna make the race. I grabbed my car to put the front wheel back on and then realized my rear end was exploded as well. My A1 was over. To say I was mad at myself was a large understatement.

A2: I was really wanting to win this main and fight for the overall. Again in warm up my car felt amazing. I was a little timid in the switch backs, but I wasn’t thinking about what happened before. The tone went off and I was charging. I was all over Jorn and he went wide after a double and went for the pass. He tried to block, much like the truck main where I tried to block to keep the lead, he got the worst end of the deal. Lap one and I was leading, but then I went a little wide on the uphill and Maifield came charging to the inside. I just gave up the spot, so I could stay in 2nd. A few laps later he made a small mistake and I got it back. I felt great leading and my car was awesome. Maifield was all over me, but I felt confident and comfortable leading the race. With about 1.5 minutes left, Maifield pulled his typical move and went way too deep at the end of back straight and stuck my wing, spinning me out and sending me back to 3rd. I would expect for him to give up the lead and get back in behind me, but I would also expect to not get totally ran over while leading the race. Both my expectations were wrong. With two laps to go, the top 4 cars were all pretty close. Maifield would crash on the uphill and Tessman, me, and Phend would all go by. We were all super close now and it was the final lap. I was crazy close to Ty, and I went to go inside after the triple, but I got on two wheels and went off track, dropping to 4th. Then Maifield would fly off the track right after that and I would finish 3rd. Maifield and I had a few words after the race, but saying sorry after taking away my shot at the win doesn’t really mean much when it happens all the time.

A3: I was really fired up to fight for the win. I had an outside chance at the overall, but I was just focused on winning this main. Car again felt awesome. Got a good start and we were all really close. I was right behind Jorn the first two laps, but then on the 3rd lap I think, my car started to lose all drive. I was able to get out of the way of the pack behind me and not cause a huge pileup. My race was over before it even really started. My slipper shaft broke and I lost my rear drive. Pretty crappy way to finish the mains after fighting for TQ’s and main wins, but that is racing. I’ll be coming out swinging at the next race. I’m going after a 4wd national win this year!!!!!

2wd was the final class and I was starting 4th.
A1: My car felt good, but the track is really tough to pass. I was hoping for the top three to make some mistakes. I got a good start and was all over Cav. The top two were getting away a little and I was really trying to pressure Cav. I ended up crashing and lost all my ground. I ended up 4th.

A2 was much the same. No spots to pass and I was pushing too hard behind Cav. Finished 4th again.

A3 I made some changes to my car. My car felt more racy and I was really pumped to try to win the last main. Maifield started first as Dakota was already the overall winner. I was all over Cav and Maifield was pulling away. I was impatient and trying to pressure too much. I made a mistake and lost a spot. Cav ended up catching Maifield and I felt faster than both of them. I got back up to 3rd at the end. Ended up 4th overall.

Happy to win truck, but bummed with 2wd and 4wd. Positive is my cars were great and I was really fast. I made good setup choices, and I was happy with my driving. The race was ran very well and Scotty did a great job. I wish other US races would pay attention to how Scotty does things. It is a good change to actually go to dinner at night. The lower entry count helped as well, but when the day starts exactly on time and no extra time is wasted, the race is much more enjoyable. It was a fun trip and I really enjoyed the mtb ride and spending the week with my buddy Peter from Switzerland. I’m ready to get back home and regroup to go to 1/8 mode and get ready for Silver State. Thanks to all my sponsors, all my fans, and my amazing family. God Bless.

Is this was dirt is supposed to look like? Haha