Catching up on events: Part I

The 2011 Delaware National Tour ended up providing a few interesting challenges. The first was attendance, as Street Modified was pretty slim at only 3 cars. Because of this, Hoosier contingency only pays out for 1st place, so in order to have a shot at a 2nd contingency win, we needed to swap one driver to another class. Having come off a good drive at a local event, Dave opted to run in SSM. Unfortunately, so did ASP overdog Mike "Junior" Johnson in a "600hp Land Rocket". The second challenge was the course itself. The course was divided by an island separating 2 parking lots. One lot had excellent traction, while the other was a larger aggregate that was also breaking up (much less traction + bumps). Handling each in a single run required a lot of concentration, and presence of mind to change driving style halfway through a run.


600hp ASP Vette of doom


If you look closely, you can see the debris picking up from crappier surface

I started off in SM, with Dave in SSM running the heat after. On my first run, I made the transfer from crap surface to good surface, and was putting down a good safe run when I bit off a bit more than I could chew through the finish and tagged a cone. Despite the cone, I had the lead in SM going into 2nd runs, where I put down the clean run (probably being a bit safe). With a 1 second lead, I went full bore into run 3 and tagged a cone halfway through. Knowing I hit a cone, I tried forcing my way through a tight offset slalom and DNF'ed when I couldn't get the front to bite. Knowing how fast I couldn't go through a section would provide some feedback for Dave in the next heat....

Dave ran SSM flawlessly, despite being at a disadvantage in power. He was still able to outrun Jake Namer's RX-7, and Jason Becker's powerful M-coupe. Ultimately, he would end up in 2nd place.