The points series is over, and attendance dropped considerably. I think we had twenty people in the start grid. No real motors there, either, but several people who would contest the sprint. I wondered who would spend a lot of time at the front….

After my positional mistakes last week, I started at the front of the grid, and gladly took the lead for the first lap. I think I managed to take the first lap, too, planting the pie-in-the-sky dream of MAR in my head. I managed to slip back into the group only a few wheels back, which was good and bad. The good: I didn’t have to the drift to back. The bad: I was pulling again about half a lap later. This promptly turned into another long pull–when I slid right and signaled for the next to pull through, I looked back and noticed there was no one there to pull. And where was everyone? On my wheel, of course! Being obstinate/stupid (is that redundant?) I just kept pulling, instead of just sitting up. Finally, someone pulled through, likely to take the lap as we approached the start/finish line.

This continued throughout the race, as I alternated between sitting in near the back and jumping to the front when the pace in back straight dipped close to 22 MPH. With under ten laps go, I told myself to sit in, but then I got tired of the touring pace and would jump to the front and pull more. With two laps to go, three guys took a flyer at the start/finish line, and I went, thinking maybe, just maybe, it would stick. It lasted about 3/4 of a lap, and I didn’t have the legs to burn the wick during the bell lap just to be the lead out for the group. Of course, since nobody wanted to actually be at the front, the pace was inconsistent–fast heading out of turn two, then very slow on the straight, then fast into the final corners. I managed to stick in the middle of the group (which was shocking given the efforts of the previous few laps), but I couldn’t get outside, and was blocked in enough that sprinting seemed pretty useless. I did manage to pip that Aussie wheel sucker at the line, though.

Posted on 2 September 2008