Man, oh man, have I got a story from my adventures in NASCAR simracing tonight. To paraphrase the Eagles, "It's gonna be a heartache tonight."
Evergreen Speedway and I have a tangled history. Mostly me sucking at the track. Tonight though, I nailed a setup that fixed most of the issues my car had been having, thus enabling me to actually make three laps without spinning out on my own. Running the K&N Pro Series East division, which is basically a driver-development series, in which the young-guns get to show their stuff. All the cars you see, even the #31 I'm driving, are actual cars in the series.
Qualified 25 out of 30. Not great, but I suck at qualifying so it's something.
Nice crowd on hand today, along with a look at my companion in 25/26th place, Sarah Cornett-Ching. I've actually got her autograph in real life.
Justin Haley brings the field to the green flag!
Meanwhile, I have to slam on the brakes to avoid taking myself and the #14 out. Damn rookies!
Couple laps later, we're making up ground, and then, this happens when I try to take it three wide in the corner. That's a no-no, and Todd Gilliland in the #16 ain't having it.
No damage really, and I was able to get it rolling again. Had to start at the back of the pack however. It was still early, so no sense in panicking. We've got time.
In the K&N Series, there is no pitting for tires if something like this happens. You get one set, and that's it. You don't take care of them, a bad day is ahead of you. Luckily, mine weren't too flat-spotted, and I actually think they helped the handling on the car.
Meanwhile, under caution, the car ahead of me, the #6, blows an engine. One less car to pass.
The green flag flies again, and after a good start, trouble threatens to rear its head once again. Like with the #14 on the start, I had to slam the brakes to avoid hitting Sarah Cornett-Ching heading into Turn 4. Still time yet.
After this, it was about staying consistent and hitting my marks. I worked my back into the Top 20, and quickly set my eyes on the Top 15. Most of the cars around that target were wadded up, and heading onto the front stretch, I saw my chance. Gutsy? Oh yeah. Stupid? Probably. I threw the car to the bottom lane on the front-stretch, hoping the thing would stick.
Never have I ever been happier to hear my spotter tell me "Clear all around, hit your marks!" With that, I picked my way up into the Top 10, until I was in 3rd, with the leaders in my sights.
With 23 laps to go, however, the illusion of a possible win came crashing down, as the engine died on me coming to halfway. Once I got in the pits, I found out the clutch broke, tearing apart a piece of the engine. The day was done. A disappointing end to my first start in the K&N Series. We'll get 'em next week though. The team brought a great car this week, just wasn't in our cards
I might snag one of those for an avatar at some point