Well this weekend we raced at Gingerman Raceway, a 2.2 mile long road course, and had a blast. Saturday was for the championship, however, and Sunday was for fun. Saturday started off well until we realized we were geared to high and had to start making adjustments. After we figured out our gearing, we broke our exhaust pipe and missed qualifying because of that. After missing qualifying, I started last in the 25 minute long race and had a lot of time to work my way up through the field. Throughout the course of the race, I was able to run the fastest lap time of the race but unfortunately could not catch the 13 car of Jamie Domski. So I finished Saturday with a solid second place finish. Unfortunately, I need to win the race to win the championship which I did not pull off. Congratulations to Jamie Domski on the win and on the championship! As far as Sunday goes, we had nothing but problems with the race car. We struggled with clutch problems all day and missed qualifying again because of it. During the race, we were faster yet again but as the race prolonged, our rear axle bearings started to cease up. As the bearings ceased up, not only did the performance of the car decreased, the teeth on our rear gear started to wear away. After that occurred, we had no teeth left on our gear, which meant the axle wouldn’t turn with the motor as it was essentially not connected to the motor anymore. So I was not able to finish that race. However, Congrats to the 27 of Alex Ertmann on a hard earned win Sunday and good luck on whatever endeavors you take on next year!
Again, a huge congratulations goes out to Jamie Domski. Unfortunately, this is his last season racing. Jamie and I battled all year in attempt for a championship. We were back and forth in the points standings and both of us picked up an abundance of wins. Jamie and his dad were a great resource to have throughout my racing career. They have been a significant factor in us finding speed with our race car over the last two years. Neither of them ever hesitated to help us when problems arose for our team in the pits. In addition to finding speed in our car, Jamie was also a huge mentor in teaching me the fast lines around the track and gave me the confidence to give the race car everything it was capable of doing on the racetrack. We will all miss having Jamie and his dad around at the track and I will surely miss battling on the racetrack with him. Congratulations again on your successful season!!
Lastly, thank you to Steve Naples and Patricia Gremo for making our racing season possible the last two years Without the help of them, my racing career may not have been possible. We appreciate all the work Steve and his brother, Mike Naples, had put into our race car especially after our wreck a few weeks back. We would also like to thank everyone in the Central States Region Super Cups who have helped us along the way. Thank you everyone for a great season!! Looking forward to next year!!