So that was an interesting race.  We ended up 4th, which is a good result.  We have been in need of a good run and result the last few weeks.  And 4th iis probably about where we should have finished.

However, it was not a straight forward race by any stretch of the imagination.  We started 13th,  and made our way forward into the top 10 the first stint.  The car was good, and we could actually make passes, which was a concern with this rules package.  We made a good green flag stop (I was catching the first can today, it wasn’t my best performance) mixed with short pitting by a lap or 2 jumped us up to 6th I think.  

Pit strategy is interesting at Indy, since you can pit without losing a lap, you tend to run it backwards like a road course.  But there is still the potential for more cautions, so it seems to be a bit of a catch 22.  Anyway, I think it was the end of the second run (or maybe third?) we made another green flag stop, and got caught by the perfectly timed caution to be a lap down again, just like last week.  Literally if the caution came  out 5 seconds earlier or 5 seconds later we would have been golden, but instead we were 24th or so.

And then somehow, we’re not quite sure yet, we climbed all the way back to 4th.  It seems we out strategized a bit, taking 2 tires a couple of times instead of 4.  And there was a fuel scare for everyone in the top 5 towards the end, we were all right at runnning out, so the green white checkers made it that much more tense.  

A win at Indy would have been great, but 4th is solid, something to build off of.  On the way back to Denver now, heading to Bristol on Tuesday night for a Wednesday test.  I think we are driving to Pocono via NYC from Bristol, which should be fun.  Means I will be missing both frisbee and softball this week as a result, drat. 

Hopefully pocono is good though, we have good momentum there.  I remember it fondly…

Flying back to Denver from Loudon, NH.  It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, and I won’t try and catch up, there’s been to much.

The race today went well, we started 15th and given the nature of the track and the race we new it was going to be tough from there.  Plus today was much hotter than yesterday (track temp up 40F) and so lots of stuff on the car had to change.  But it was pretty good, we were fast on long runs and worked out way up to 4th I believe.  

Late in the race we took a bit of a chance and short pitted a few laps, hoping to make up some more ground.  Sadly about 2 laps after we pitted they threw a debris or oil caution, which trapped us a lap down.  It’s frustrating because Martin never saw any reason for the caution.  But what can you do?  We were trapped a lap down, were able to get the wave around and restarted in 23rd.  He drove a great last stint and got us back up to 12th.  We really could have used a caution, real or imaginary then…

Loudon is a nice area, driving to the track reminded me of the area north of Manitoulin Island.  I have my first Chicago style pizza Friday night at a place called Uno’s, it was quite tasty.  And we had a great team dinner last night at Onion’s, an unassuming restaurant in an old house right beside the town hall.  Best fish and chips I have had for quite awhile, and we were ‘that table’ in the back room disrupting the rest of the restaurant.

I actually have a few days in Denver this week which will be nice.  Last week we tested in Chicago most of the week.  My softball and frisbee leagues are in full swing now, softball is fun though we aren’t very good.  Frisbee is frustrating (they’re all so serious, zone d in a rec league?!?) but there are a few good people on the team and it’s a good workout.  So easy to throw a frisbee at altitude!

On Thursday we will head to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400.  Everyone is pretty excited for this weekend, it’ one of the more prestigious races and since several of the guys worked on Indy Car teams it’s extra special.  And personally, this was the first Nascar race I ever went to, dad and I went a few times with the Fergusons many moons ago.  Hopefully they’ll  give us some help with this new aero package we’ve got to run, should make for an interesting weekend.