Today was the last day here in Porter, TX. We had triple A mains in both classes, 10 minute buggy, 8 minute truggy.

I pulled a novice move in the morning. Got my cars all ready for the 2 minute practice, went to grab my radio to head up to the drivers stand…..crap….my radio isn’t here. I left my radio at the hotel and missed both morning practice runs. My first time doing that.

A1 Buggy
I started 2nd and had a rough start. My car seemed pretty loose on the first lap, I got a little wild in the middle double double, then cased the triple a little and hit the finish double bad and crashed. That mistake dropped me back to around 7th or 8th. After that I got back in my groove and had 10 minutes to get back up. I worked my way back up to 3rd, but I couldn’t get up to 2nd.

A2 Buggy
This time I went out on used tires hoping to have more traction at the start of the race. I got a much better start and stayed right on Dakota. A couple laps in and he made a mistake, giving me the lead. A couple laps after that, I went wide on the double before the straight, you loose a ton of speed, I tried to break check him just a little over the small roller to have him loose momentum. He made a good move and we went side by side down the straight, but he had a better run and made the pass on the outside heading into turn 1. I wanted to stay close a strike back as soon as possible. Two laps later, he went a little wide in the same spot I did, I got right on him. We came up to the back double double, he jumped far off the first one, and I jumped far off the second. I tried to hit the inside of the jump, the lip was a little lower, and I hit it almost full throttle. I jumped right over him and stuck the landing to take over the lead. He didn’t expect me to pass him and it messed up his rhythm, leading to a bunch of crashes. I cruised to an easy win.

A3 Buggy
The National Championship was up for grabs. I didn’t have any more good used sets of tires to run, so I had to go out on new tires. I tried to scrub them in as much as possible in the two lap warm up. I got a good start and stayed in striking distance for the first few laps. I just wanted to stay close to give Dakota pressure, and my plan worked. Dakota crashed off the finish double and he dropped to 4th and I took the lead. I just needed to run clean and take the title. A couple laps later, I would crash off the same jump and go from leading to 4th. I was sooooooooo disappointed to give up the lead. I worked my way back up to the battle for the lead. The too four were all close and it got pretty wild for a lap or so. We all went into the back double double together and it got ugly. I jumped the first double short, and the other 3 jumped long. I was worried to get landed on, and I was hard on the throttle off the second double and jumped way too far. 3 of the top 4 crashed off the second double, Dakota didn’t, and got the lead he needed. I was in second, but couldn’t do anything. Pretty mad at myself to give up the win. I’m happy to battle for the win, after getting totally smoked in qualifying, but to be so close to winning is tough to swallow.

A1 Truggy
I crashed again at the start of this race too. My cars seemed really loose at the beginning of the mains. I dropped back, but battled up to 3rd pretty quick. I got up to Cody and we battled for a while, but then he had a steering link break and I took 2nd.

A2 Truggy
I ran used tires just like I did in buggy. I had better grip at the start this main. I got a good start, but there was zero chance to stay close to Dakota. He pulled away, but I wanted to just focus on my laps and keep second. It was a boring race and I took 2nd, with Dakota taking the Championship.

A3 Truggy
I had second mostly locked up, but I wanted to win the final main. I went out on used tires again and my truck felt pretty good. I got a clean start and started to pull away. It was a pretty boring race and I took an easy win to lock up 2nd overall.

2nd was just my spot this weekend. Qualified and finished 2nd in both classes. It’s good, but I’ve finished 2nd a lot this year, I’m ready for a big win!!!! All I can do is keep working hard and do all I can do. Thanks to everyone and all my sponsors. See you guys at the next race. God Bless