Win or learn, crash and burn…

Posted on November 20, 2016 by plutoe — Leave a comment

I wish I were a song writer. I like that line (the title of this blog), it feels to me like a good album could be written around it.

Well, it’s over! Where to begin. Once again, been awhile since I’ve written. Much has happened. I’m currently on the plane flying back to Denver from Miami. By my figuring, the last time I will be on N601FR. Crazy.

I believe I last wrote at the end of the first round of the Chase. A brief catch up summary is in order then. Kansas and Charlotte we were alright, and in a good position to make the third round of the chase. We even qualified on the pole at Talladega, which was not only unexpected, but is a huge accomplishment. And then about 40 laps in we blew up. Race over. Chase over. Such a weird moment, and following week. Everything and nothing changed. Rather numbing. Work life mirroring personal life I guess.

The third round was Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix. We qualified on pole again at Martinsville, which was awesome to do right after Talladega. The tracks are so incredibly different, so again, huge accomplishment for the team. We ran well, finished about 7th which we were pleased with there. I’m struggling to remember Texas, but I believe we finished 3rd, after having a shot at the win. I believe the 19 and us were the two best cars, and they beat us off pit road on the last stop. Phoenix last week was a giant Charlie Foxtrot from the word go. We hit the wall first practice and had to go to the backup car. Then couldn’t get it through inspection in time and missed qualifying, so we started last (40th). By lap 60 we were up to 10th, and thought we had a shot at it. And then in the most bizarre set of circumstances I can remember, 10 real time minutes later we were 2 laps down and at the back of the pack. I can’t even begin to explain how that happened, I barely understand it myself, and it took 3 days to get there. So we went to work trying to dig out of that hole, and got to where we were battling for the lucky dog to get back on the the lead lap. And then the guy we were racing spun and took us out. Race over.

And this weekend was Homestead-Miami. Quite a different experience than last year. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already, feels like we were just here. We were quick in practice and qualifying, started P6. We had a problem with out car early that forced and extra pit stop, and dropped us from 8th to 36th or so. But we fought our way back up to about 5th, before the 4 car knocked us into the wall, and it ruined the right side of the car. And then while running about 15th, with a shot at a top 10, we got caught up in the big one. I didn’t know that was a thing at Homestead, but apparently it is. If you see pictures in the next day or two of a Nascar on fire, that was us. Fortunately Martin got out and was fine.

Last year, I spent this night in Key Largo, and then drove down to Key West the next morning for a few days. What a great way to end and forget the season that was. I was rather looking forward to doing something similar this year, but the plans that I was trying to make never worked out. So instead, I’m flying back to Detroit tomorrow (Monday) night to be home for a couple of days. There is much to do over the next couple of weeks, I’ve got some big things planned for next year!

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Winning and Learning…

Posted on October 3, 2016 by plutoe — Leave a comment

It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote. And let me tell you, it’s been a few WEEKS. The big win in Darlington was apparently just the beginning…

The next week we were in Richmond, running a red and black car which made me really happy. And it was a fast car too, we finished 3rd after leading almost half the race I think. We just got beat on a restart at the end, nothing new there. But that was the last race before the chase, and a first and third were good for momentum heading in.

And Chicago did not disappoint. Qualifying was rained out, so I believe we started 8th or 9th. And the car was really good, we drove up to the front. And then something happened, and at this moment I can’t remember what it was. But we ended up a lap down, and battled to get the lucky dog and get back on the lead lap. And then we slowly moved back towards the front. Eventually we got a late caution and came off pit road first. And then Martin just drove around the guys on old tires, for a huge chase opening win!

So that guaranteed we would get through to round 2 (each of the first 3 rounds is 3 races). So we were playing with house money for the next two weeks, which were Loudon and Dover. Loudon historically hasn’t been a good track for us, but we were good there in the spring and were optimistic. Oh, and the big new was that, for the first time in Furniture Row Racing’s history, we were first in points. Which meant we were in garage stall 1, which is rather symbolic, and huge confidence for us. And we took that and lead about 180 laps, and had a real shot at the win, until the 20 blocked us a bit and then pulled off a questionable restart that really killed our chances. We ended up 7th, which was a bit disappointing but we were still in good shape.

And then Dover. Now Dover is a place we’ve run well, lead the most laps there in the Spring of 2015, and we though we were going to win the spring race this year, until the 48 botched a restart and we ran into him. And the Dover race win trophy is a concrete monster (named Miles), in honour of the track being called the Monster Mile. And we all really wanted our own Miles. As has become traditional at Dover, it was soggy. Friday rained almost all day, we got some of practice 1 in and that was it, quali was rained out. Which was fine with us, P2 in points so we lined up P2 for the race. Saturday was more of the same, about half of second practice in before it rained, and that was it for Saturday. Sunday didn’t look much better, and when we got to the track it was at least 220% humidity, but miraculously the race went off on time and we got all the way through. And our car was good, we took the lead on lap 6, and lead about 200 laps I think the rest of the way. We battled at times with the 18, who eventually fell off, and the 48, who had a pit road penalty and ended up a lap down. For the last run of the race after a green flag stop we had an 8 second lead, and Martin just cruised from there. What a great feeling that was, a great way to end the first round! And we got our Miles! So of course we celebrated a bit last night, but back at work this morning.

This afternoon (currently) I am flying to Martinsville for a Tues/Wed test, and then we will drive to Charlotte from there for the race this weekend. No rest for the wicked…

In the meantime, I climbed my first mount a few weeks ago, at St Mary’s Glacier. And I also discovered probably the coolest Wednesday night out in Denver. There’s a yacht club on the Cherry Creek Reservoir that sets up a stage on their beach, and they have a band and a camp fire and a bar. What more could you ask for?

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