Race #13 and #14 at Waycross Speedway
10-08-05

Things just don't seem to be going my way lately... You know you've had a bad couple of weeks when someone says to you that "bad luck doesn't last forever" and it actually makes you feel better!

After last week, and all the struggles we had with the car, my crew chief said that this week he was going to set the car up the way he thought it should be and I was going to have to drive it that way. There was one little problem though, we were going to a different type of track where the basic set up was probably not going to work. Still, he was pretty adamant that we were not going to change much because the car seems to be very sensitive to adjustments and we always tend to go over board. I figured that this was actually a pretty good plan because at least I would know what the car was going to do each time I got into it even if it was awful!

Waycross is a dirt track with oil down on the surface. It is hard and dry like asphalt but still develops huge bumps like any regular dirt track does. Turns 1 and 2 had huge craters in them and turns 3 and 4 were so slick that you could see the reflection of the cars on the surface as they went by. Our light weight cars were no match for this track. When we went out for our first practice the track was real slick and sandy and no one could control their car. If I got on the gas at all the car wanted to spin. 2 cars wrecked on the first lap and I eventually spun out coming off turn 2. This time it wasn't the car's fault though, it was the track. They gave us another practice after some of the bigger cars ran and blew the sand off but it was still a handful. Since the track was so different, my crew chief decided to make a change to tighten the car up anyway and, as usual, he went a little too far.

I started the first race in 4th and I sort of messed up on the shifting so I really didn't get a good start. Once we got things going I was about a half a straight away behind the 3rd place car. The 5th place car had a problem and left the track so I was assured a 4th place finish. My car was a little tight and it wanted to slide up coming off the turns so I had to really be careful and get through the corners just right or I was going wreck for sure. I think I was staying with the 3rd place car and maybe even gaining on him a little when things went bad really fast.

I was almost at the end of the front stretch on about lap 8 and all of a sudden I saw the body sort of raise up. Then, I heard a loud bang and the motor quit. Next, I felt my fire extinguisher, which is strapped to the interior panel just below my elbow, fall into my lap. After that the car spun into the corner bouncing nose first off the inside berm and then sliding backwards up towards the wall. I got it stopped just before I hit and then, after the yellow came out and everybody drove past me, I rolled the car back down the track facing in the right direction again. Once I was stopped, I looked over and saw the ground through the interior panels and noticed the end of the drive shaft sort of sticking up through the gaping hole. My car has what is called a mid shaft bearing and I guess with all the bumping around going through the turns, the bearing got knocked out and then froze up and that caused the drive shaft to snap completely in half. I was done for the night.

I didn't get to finish the race or run in the second feature but it really didn't hurt me in the points. Still, I wish I could finish one of these races and maybe even win one before the end of the year and I've still got 2 more chances to try. We are actually making a little progress on setting up and adjusting the car and I'm getting better starts and stuff so, if I can just get everything to go right for me, I still have a pretty good chance.