That was a pretty solid weekend! Currently flying over the desert towards Denver after a pretty successful last few days.
This was my first ‘proper’ 3 day NASCAR weekend, we flew in Thursday night at 6ish and spent Fri – Sun at the track (Daytona was 12 days and Atlanta was 4). Thursday night I went for a short walk up the strip to grab a quick bite to eat, and walked through the Riviera. It smelled of cigarettes and sadness, I didn’t stay long.
Friday was a long day at the track, with first practice and qualifying. We struggled in practice in qualifying trim, threw the kitchen sink at it and qualified 8th which was a pleasant surprise! Friday night we went to a ‘beer garden’ at the SLS, which was really a burger place with a few beers on tap, But the food was really tasty.
Saturday was second and third practice, and we worked on race setup. The car was really fast all day, we were a top 3 car on long runs for sure. It’s great to leave the track at 4 pm on Saturday feeling like on have a shot to win! Saturday was also pencilled on my calendar as my only chance to play some blackjack during the weekend. I got a roadie at the pool bar and wandered my way over to Caesars. I had about 30 mins before I had to leave for dinner, and only $80 in my pocket, both of which are low for my taste. But fortunately I found a really fun table that was printing money! I hurried out the door to make it to dinner with $300 in my pocket, and as much as I hated to leave there was steak to be had. We ate at the N9ne at the Palms which Cole said was great. Seafood platter (lobster tail, shrimp, crab and calamari), Caesar salad, filet mug on and truffle fries later I was exhausted. We took a limo back to the hotel and crashed, ready for what we anticipated to be a big Sunday…
And it did not disappoint. From our 8th starting spot we ran inside the top 10 all day, even led a handful of laps. We were a little too loose to really compete for the win, but a convincing second is a good result in my book!
Monday at 3 pm we fly to Charlotte for a Tues – Wed test. I am hoping to have time to pick up my car before I leave…
Plutoe Engineering 