Fast
Track While It Lasted
08/19/01
They don't call it the Summer Heat Sprints for nothing. You should never let cool evenings
and seventy-three degree mornings in Oklahoma fool you. We decided not to race on
Saturday, but did feel the heat of the race on Sunday. In fact we qualified on the pole
just three-tenths off of the lap record for the Atlantics. We were looking to set the
record in the race, but high temperatures and a deteriorating track made it interesting.
Prior to the weekend, new asphalt was laid down on turns four through six. This made for
fast laps in qualifying, however toward the end of the weekend the asphalt had started to
deteriorate. There were even portions of the track that could not be driven on due to the
conditions. After two pace laps to familiarize the drivers with the bad portions of the
track the green flag dropped. I still had rocks on my tires from the dirty side of the
track when I crossed the starting line and was forced to tiptoe through the first lap.
This allowed a couple of Formula Continentals to pass on the first lap. I let them go
because I knew this would be a race of attrition. Indeed it was. I finished the race
several seconds in front of the closest Continental due to all of the carnage. All I can
remember thinking was, "bring Dad's car home in one piece", and thank goodness I
did.
Heading to the last race at Heartland, we will be in a three-way battle for first in the
division with Dave Vande Berg and Bernie Sunier. Jim Wright is not far behind. It should
be a really close fight for the Championship.
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