The Maiden Voyage

And the start of the Season is here.

With the decision to build a new car for the 2023 season, we had a lot of excitement but a ton of nerves going into this race weekend. There were a lot of unknowns going into the first time a car hits the track, let alone a car that is hitting the way for the first time.

With final details needing to be done to both the car and the trailer, we were unable to attend the Friday practice. This put all the pressure on Saturday. The goal was to run as many laps as possible, learn the car, and come home in one piece. With limited practice time - just one 20-minute round- we could get out for one run. We were able to lay down four solid laps to shake the car down and start getting me comfortable. Right out of the box for the first run, I felt comfortable in the car overall. We did have a slight skip in the motor, but overall, everything felt really good. We hoped to get back out after going over the car to ensure everything was tight, but we just missed getting back out.

On to the heat race - we elected to stay in our 5th starting spot. Though I had little fast laps under my belt we all felt comfortable starting there with who was around us. I had a little mess up at the start with my shifting (I thought I missed the shift but didn’t). Luckily the guys behind me just got in line, pushed me, and off we went into turn 1. We felt really good. On lap 2, I started to get racey and was looking to start push the outside line (2nd place) into the lead. Unfortunately, I lost the nose in turns 3 and 4 and had to check up hard. I lost the front pack and rode for the rest of the heat. The car felt really comfortable but was a little off on the handling. Plus, we unfortunately still had the skip, and I didn’t wanna push too hard and wreck it. Once you lose the draft at Loudon, it can be tough to get the pack back. The draft plays a big part there.

After the heat finish, it put us starting 15th. We made some changes to the car to help try and get more feeling in the nose. With so few laps on the car, though, we only wanted to make one significant change. We want to continue to learn this car and not keep swinging by changes. We want to see how it reacts to changes. Right at the start, we settled in with the draft and felt really good. I just wanted to ride and take cars as they came back. On lap 2 we got our first caution, and I elected to pit as the nose was a lot better, but I felt like the rear was a little loose now. I elected to get a little wedge now, so I hopefully didn’t need to pit again. The little wedge really helped. I got back in line and started logging laps. The skip was still there, but with the draft, I was overcoming it and staying right there. As laps rolled off, we felt good. The car was handling a 7 out of 10. It was really solid, but I could tell we had some adjustments to make. As a few cautions dropped, I kept electing to stay on the track. The changes I needed would not be done on pit road, and I just had to ride it out. I knew if I stayed in the draft, we would overcome the skip and could roll the top and stay with the guys. Overall, I was happy with how the car was for its third-ever run, and just one adjustment. With cautions, cars pitting, and passing some cars we found ourselves up to 8th just 15 laps in. We just kept rolling the outside, and we stayed there. Unfortunately, an impatient driver drove straight in turn 3 around lap 16 and put us in the last grove, and I had to back way out of the throttle. This put us in the back of the pack, and just couldn’t catch the draft. All good, it was time to ride and see if I could catch back up. For a few laps I was starting to close in on a car and was ready to push them and log laps. But as the run went on, the skip became more apparent. If I could keep the momentum up, I was ok, but the car was becoming very unstable, and snappy. This was keeping it hard to keep the momentum up. Each lap it progressively got worse, and I felt the skip was bad. I decided after almost taking the wall down 3 laps in a row that it was time to park it. We never got the caution I was hoping for. As we returned to the pits, we saw the right rear tire was into the right rear quarter panel. After further investigation, we found the pan hard bracket moved on the rear end, which put the RR into the body panel and really upset the car. It also meant that if I had kept running it, I might have cut a tire.

Though we didn’t finish every lap we got a lot of laps, I felt really comfortable in the car overall and learned a ton. We still need to figure out the skip, and I know we will. We also have good notes to tweak the setup moving forward and how to fix the pan hard bar from moving. Everything we wanted to accomplish yesterday happened. You must have goals with a new car and know you will have bugs to work out. We will be good for the next race!

I must give a big shootout to Willie and the Milton Cat Modified racing series for a great event! Also, ACT and Pass for putting the event on. The future for Milton Modified Racing Series is bright. 22 cars attempted to make the race this weekend. Up 8 cars from last year! I have to thank my dad and mom for the chance to race! Dad - thank you for believing in us and building this car. I know the good finishes will come. Thank you, Timmy, for being the eyes in the sky. Nick, and Steven for wrenching all day on the car, and Ian did a great job on the tires for your first time with us! I know I may be picky about my tires, but you did great with our system, and I am excited to have you doing tires this year and helping us.

I have to give a big shoutout to my sponsors. Thank you, NHOU Protective Coatings, Miranda Contracting, and Shibles Family Mattress, for the support each race weekend. The good finishes are coming!

Our next race is May 6th with the Dave Wheeler V6 pro four modified! Then it’ll be May 27th back in the V6! Then June 3rd for the second race with the new modified. Then a race on June 10th that I am excited to announce soon! We may have a few weeks of downtime right now, but Dad and I have a busy few weeks preparing the Pro 4, the tour mod with all the changes I want, and fixing her up and for the tba car ;)!
Race season is here!