I’m in a better mood after race two at VIR. I drove a much better, smarter, more disciplined race. Naturally, I’d like to win every race, but my real goal is to be consistently good behind the wheel. I feel like I’m making progress on that goal, but after the last race, I’m kind of starting over.
I started the race Q7, which put me in a pretty good position for the obligatory first turn pile up. There was a bit of argy bargy, as Calvin Fish would say, on the first lap, but things settled down fairly quickly. (Technically, the car contact on lap one was probably a bit more than argy bargy). Although I lost two positions on the first lap, all of that before turn one, I felt like I was in a pretty good position.
I felt like my driving was pretty consistent, but because of traffic, my lap times weren’t. It wasn’t unusual for me to run a race best lap, followed by a couple of laps two seconds slower. That inconsistency bothers me, but I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about it. Being in traffic is going to cause inconsistent lap times.
I moved into second place at the beginning of the final lap, and was gaining on the first place car, but I made a mistake, going wide in a turn when I was directly behind the leader, and I never recovered. I tried to chase down the leader, but had to settle for second place
Although I’m leaving VIR with a better feeling toward the track, I’m still glad to be leaving. I’m just not as comfortable with VIR as I would like. I could stand more seat time at VIR, but it’s time to head back to Florida. Dayton and Sebring await.
After 24 races, the top five in points are:
- Lou Mindar (296 pts)
- Josh Pettibone (160 pts)
- Richard Chan (138 pts)
- Alex Ravarito (132 pts)
- Don McGowan (129 pts)
Next race: Daytona International Raceway – Race #1