2007 Terrible’s Cup III Race Report

What do you get when you have Terrible weather (110º) and Terrible track conditions? What you have is the 2007 Terrible’s Cup!

I never thought that this race would live up to its name but it sure did for me. The saving grace was finishing 3rd Place in the final when it counted and having all my family and friends there to support me. Thank you to everyone who came out to bare the elements with me!

The race started out for my team on Thursday afternoon when we arrived at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to set up our pit. I had no idea that we had to be there by a certain time to be granted access to the pit area and sure enough we arrived just past the cut off for the day. After driving out from the LA basin with all the kids in the car, stopping at Primm to test the racecar along with checking into a crowed hotel this day… being turned down at the gate didn’t sit well! As in all racing there is always another way to skin a cat. We took all the rigs way out into the parking lot and the whole team jumped into the enclosed trailer. Adam Wik along with his co-rider was nice enough to smuggle us along with our rigs through the security gate with their wristbands. Problem number one solved!

Friday morning we came back out to the Speedway early to work on the car and take our first practice session on the track which included all of the Class 1’s, 10 Cars and 12’s. What a mess! There were a total of about 40 cars on the track at once and it was a mud hole. I really don’t think I learned anything in those four laps except what a mess the race was going to be. Looking back now I wish I would have concentrated more on how to drive the car in the muddy conditions. We spent the next couple hours cleaning the car and getting ready for practice session number two. This session included 10’s and 12’s only on a dry track and I got a lot better feel for how the car was handling. During this session we made a couple changes that got me close.

Friday night came quickly and it was time to go racing. Jake and I lined up in staging only to be blown away by how much water was being laid down on the track for our race, it was literally a swamp out there. They had just run three races on a semi dry track and they definitely over watered it for us. We started in 3rd place on the front row for this first of three qualifying races for the weekend. I got a decent start but had to give up the inside line and when things settled out I was in 3rd place going into the first turn. Things were going OK until just after the starting line jump, I spun the car out and lost a bunch of positions. I think I spun out a total of three times in this first race finishing in the back of the pack. This is the first time I have been rattled under racing conditions for quite a few years. I had such high hopes of just being able to run well without trying to hard. Mistake number two for the weekend! Heat number two on Friday night went better as I worked my way up to 3rd place from the back but suffered a flat tire on the last lap for a DNF. I would start on the back row again Saturday night as a result of my troubles but just having a decent race before the flat put my head back in the game.

Heat race number one on Saturday night went pretty well after a bad start by me but I managed to finish 5th. Coming into the final race that night I had myself built back up to about 95% and I was going for broke. I started the final race second to last but finally got the jump on the start I was looking for, I was right on the bumper of the leaders going into the first left hand corner. Having to make a split decision I decided to try the outside lane for the first time that weekend. Earlier in the day when I was out walking the track doing some soul searching by myself I noticed the track workers groomed this outside line for the first time. The plan went great until another car got pushed out of the inside groove and slid in front of me where we were to get tangled up briefly. I am not sure where I fell into line after this but I do know on lap two I picked off a couple cars and got really excited when I passed the second place car that had spun out on the track. Just after I passed the second place car my excitement got the best of me because I spun the car out again coming off the triple jumps. So close but so far… In the end the race finished on a very high note in 3rd Place. This is the first time that a third place finish felt like a win and I was glad I could share it with all my family and friends.

Congratulations to Adam Wik and his team for his shut out win!