The interesting thing about this event is not that it was my first National Championship in three years, but that I had some of the most fun I’ve ever had despite finishing 9th and 10th. I used to take the whole thing so damn seriously that whenever I didn’t do as well as I thought I should, I was miserable. I realized this past weekend that I did not care enough to actually work towards winning, so I shouldn’t just expect to do well. I decided I was going to focus on enjoying myself and wherever I finished is where I finished. That attitude, combined with some VERY wide open track ( because we had our own run group), made for a great time.
It had been 2.5 years since I raced at VIR, or anywhere other than Summit Point for that matter. It was going to be a hot one, but it was the first weekend I could re-visit one of my favorite tracks… so I figured it worthwhile. It turns out Mother Nature would really throw a nasty one at us, with heat indexes pushing well into triple digits for most of the weekend. The weather was downright unpleasant, with most people hiding in the coolest place they could find.
The racing itself was fairly non-eventful. A short race on Saturday meant not much fatigue and not much attrition. A much longer race on Sunday was still relatively clean, but the temperature definitely did something to the drivers. From what I could tell of both my and others’ driving, things were sloppy. People were over-braking, missing apexes and just generally not on their game. People were clean with respect to one another and everything shook out well, but it was clear we were all impacted.
Even if the racing wasn’t the memorable, I can at least say I was there. It was a personal test to complete those races and and I did it. I don’t think it would have been something I could have done were I in the shape I was in three years ago.
Well, my latest foray into the world of racing wasn’t nearly as successful as my last.
Things didn’t start well when a strange quirk in schedule inconsistencies, announcements and timing afforded me a very short qualifying session. Some of my competitors got six laps, some four but a few of us only got two. I probably could have gotten the full session had I been willing to bake on grid wearing my three layer nomex suit in 90° weather, but I was trying to maximize my “freshness” while on track. With only two laps, I never really got up to speed and the end result was a qualifying time seven seconds off my usual pace. Needless to say, I was going to start the race at the back of the field.
I actually like starting at the back and was looking forward to picking off cars at the start. Unfortunately, I was far enough back that I couldn’t see the green flag and several of us back there kinda got left in the dust. I did manage to overtake a few cars during the course of the race, but what ended up being a leak in one of my break lines (from police tape wrapping around the wheel) kept me from really trusting my car. Throw a bunch of traffic in the mix and you had all the makings of a relatively low finish. It was one of the more intense races I’ve had in a long time, but it wasn’t always for the right reasons.
Given I was leaking a noticeable amount of brake fluid, things could have been a lot worse. I still got to race and bring both myself and the car back in one piece. Maybe I’m just growing older (more boring?), but I’m willing to take that as a measure of success.
