Thanks all for the support.
We want to thank all of the race fans who cheered us on yesterday and followed us on Facebook. 7th and 19th were not exactly the finishes we hoped for, but there were a number of bright spots along the way.
First and foremost, after a lot of prep ahead of time, the cars performed flawlessly all week. The only issues being a leaking oil line on Marnie’s car Monday, and a popped off plug wire on mine on Thursday. All of those fix it again tony naysayers can go pound sand….
As for my results in the #22, I went faster at Mid-O than ever in my career, our trap and segment times were right with the leaders, and we held onto the lead pack draft the whole race, but simply couldn’t make a move. The car had plenty of power and handled well, but it was an exceptional field and everyone ahead of me ran nearly flawless races too.
A .10 second mistake here and there were the difference. The long caution dashed any hope of the FWD guys running off their tires, and single file restart did not offer any help either. In the closing laps the car started pushing on left turns, requiring another ½ turn of the wheel to muscle thru the keyhole and carousel turns. After the race we discovered the LF tire had started going down, explaining that issue.
Marnie had a solid race and picked up several spots, but gave a few of them back in the waning laps of the race with some door-to-door contact that both competitors agreed was a “racing incident” after shaking hands. At the end of the day, both cars loaded up on the trailer running, driving and straight, everyone was safe and sound, the weather was beautiful and our paddock mate and competitors a blast to hang with.
Congratulations to Gary Baucom (Fiat 124 Spider), Dave Stritmatter (Lancia Scorpion), Aldora Louw (Fiat X1/9), and Larry Svaton (Fiat X1/9) for bringing your classic Fiat cars out to play at the big show.
Thanks again for everyone’s support.
-M