This past Saturday marked my first race in eight months and my sixth in more than a year and a half. I raced part time while I was in grad school and took the first third of this season off to recuperate from shoulder surgery. I hadn’t been in my car since the engine blew last June and I wasn’t sure my shoulder would hold up for a full day of racing. My dad and I have decided to share a ride (and points) this year, so I entered Saturday looking to re-familiarize myself and have a good time.
I decided to skip practice, because I didn’t want to put undue pressure on my shoulder… so it was going to be trial by fire. To have something to shoot for, I set an informal goal of qualifying in the top half of the field and finishing in the top five. I got a clean qualifying session and was pleased to see the timesheet list me as fifth. I figured a podium finish and the trophy associated with it was a long shot, but I filed it away as a “nice to have.” I was relatively relaxed for the start of the race; excited to be back in it. I got a great start and quickly moved up two spots, but relinquished one by the time we got through Turn 1. I spent the next few laps battling it out with the car in front of me and eventually grabbed third for good. The rest of the race was spent playing with a Turbo and keeping everyone else behind me.
All in all I’m very pleased with my return to racing. I think maybe there’s a lesson to learn there.
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