Well it is Week 3 and the Top Madden/Easy Way Out #10 Chevy Silverado sits 4th in the points standings. After a fun race at Vegas we head to Charlotte for some night racing. In practice the car felt okay, but we struggled with getting the line down. We can go wide open in 1-2 but 3-4 we needed to get creative to figure out how to maintain speed out of the corner.
Qualifying: 1-2 is a little slick and we get sideways coming out of 2 and lose some speed. A healthy 3-4 puts us in 27th to start the race. Not where we like but we know its because of the bad turn so the confidence isn’t too shot.
Lap 1 – Trouble in turn 1 and the caution flies. We don’t have a good view of the wreck but we get through clean.
Lap 6 – In p21 we go green and fortunately it stays that way for a bit.
Lap 17 – Caution comes out, we are in the clear. We sit in P19 and head down pit road to get serviced…and i never see my pit stall. We accept our fate and try to pit again, and I can’t see it…again. Third time is the charm and i finally get serviced, pure mental lapse, but we sit in 27th on the restart.
Lap 23 – Green Green Green as we started to work our way back up the track. We are really really fast off turn 2 and starting to make it stick. Riding behind Gentry and Schroder we make moves through the field and eventually pass them for 23rd
Lap 32 – A car gets in the corner off of 2 and everyone breaks the racing line to avoid him. The 69 of Macho Carballo gets a little loose as he swings down to avoid contact, forcing his truck back up the track and into another truck. They spin to bring out the caution. The 10 is in P21.
Lap 33 – Another mistake here, we choose to stay out and the entire field pits. While being in P1 is fun and all, on old tires I fear i would cause more harm than good. This early in the race I pit for tires with the lappers and start in 30th.
Lap 37 – We go green and the 44 gets sideways in turn 2. Whether it was contact or a check up, he is able to save it and we stay green. The 10 is able to stay full throttle and we make up about 4 positions through the scuffle.
Lap 41 – The 35 and 87 hit and the 87 is sideways in turn 1. Not too close too us, but we battle through it. Caution is out we are P27
Lap 43 – We decide to stay out, and this time is pays off. We are P11 at the restart and I don’t hate our tire situation. Lets see how we do up front.
Lap 49 – Well I wrecked a guy. We get a good run into the corner and tho I lift and brake, I can’t avoid the 11’s bumper. We get into him and it moves him just up enough to spin the 58.
Lap 55 – We go green in P9 and I get real tight and hit the wall on corner exit. We are starting to drift back a bit as the car tightens up on the worn tires.
Lap 59 – The 9 spins and brings out a much needed caution, in P12 we choose to pit. We overshoot our box a bit and come out P19
Lap 64 – In P20 and a good group racing in front of us. The 7 on the high side gets loose off of 4 and collects 1 or 2 cars in the process. Caution is out.
Lap 77 – After a caution some cars pit and we ride in P13 and boy are we quick. Approaching the 97 and the 57 we take it three wide into 3-4. With so much speed out of the corner I anticipate the 07 is gonna widen his line in the trioval and I hit his left quarter panel when he doesn’t. I shouldv’e gotten out of the gas and lived to fight another turn, just got excited with our speed. Caution is out.
Green White Checkered – We sit in 10th on the restart and are behind two very fast cars in particular Kyle Westwood who led a lot of this race. Kyle and I have some great racing and I can over take him on the outside to hold the spot and finish 9th. Heres the final laps.
Summary: Man it always feels good to be fast. While some pit road blunders forced us to work from the back in dirty air all day, the car stuck around and was really solid all over the track. Being able to hold off on the outside line was a thrill. So next week, at Kansas. I need to get a big better at anticipation and finding my pit stall. But alas, another top 10 for the 10 car and we remain 4th in points.
