Normally, we don’t race on Thursdays. We did today because last week Tuesday got cancelled because of extreme heat. Today we had 13 karts, again.
We were able to make both practices tonight. I started off with about the same lap times as I ended with on Tuesday. I was bump drafting behind someone for both practices. Our second practice lap times determine where we start for qualifying.
I started qualifying in P7. My dad went a little too high on tire pressure and I wasn’t able to get very good grip. My lap times have definitely been better than what they were for qualifying. It’s okay though, because I was still able to qualify in P7.
For the first heat, there was a dice roll. It was 3, so I stayed in P7. We had to do an extra pace lap because someone's engine shut off. On the first lap, I was able to make it up to P6. The rest of the race I was just cruising. I didn’t have any battles, even though I knew people were close behind me. I ended up finishing the race in P6.
Since I finished the first heat in P6, I started the second heat in the same position. Right as we got the green flag and headed up the hill, I ended up in the grass. I lost one position. Luckily, I was able to bump draft and follow. I did a little crossover to pass him, and I got my position back. Then, the rest of the race was about working on my lap times, and trying to stay with the pack in front of me. On the last corner before the checkered flag, the chain fell off of the person who was in front of me. I ended in P5. After we had pulled into scales, the fourth place kart was given a one position penalty for avoidable contact, which gave me P4.
I started P5 for the feature because it was an average of our finishes in the heats. Quickly, I fell back to P6, which was expected. They also passed the person who was in front of me. There was a wreck in the first lap behind me, so half the track was under a caution for the rest of the race. I was able to stay on the bumper of the kart in front of me for pretty much the whole race. I did have a few chances to pass them, but there would have been more risk than reward. So I decided not to. I just followed until the end of the race. The last lap of the feature was my personal best lap ever: 35.093, along with another P6 finish.
The wreck in the feature was actually a friend of mine, whose dad owns one of our sponsors, Patriot Concrete Finishes LLC. If you are in Wisconsin and want your concrete finished, click here for their Facebook.
We finished in the same spot as on Tuesday, but with more accomplishments: a new fast lap time, a closer finish to the kart in front of me, and a closer finish to the leader.