WISCASSET, Maine – Heading into the NEMA midget race last weekend at Wiscasset Speedway, I thought that if we nailed the setup that we would have a solid chance at my first NEMA podium and maybe even a win.
The chances of this were looking pretty solid after I set the second fastest lap in practice. This boosted my confidence that, with the right setup, it would be possible to have pace that could compete for a win. This was reinforced when I started fourth and finished third in my heat race.
However, this did not play out when it came race time. I started fourth and I’ve never started that close to the front before. I knew I had to capitalize on what was the best opportunity for a NEMA podium so far this year.
In my last race I started seventh and finished fourth while running down second and third, so in my mind starting fourth should make it almost impossible not to finish on the podium.
The start of the race did not go as planned. Even before we took the green flag the driver in front of me banged wheels with the polesitter. I thought this would cause everyone to hesitate and we’d get a yellow to make sure everyone was OK to continue before the race started, but instead we kept going and the green flag waved.
I was even more surprised when the same guy banged wheels with the leader almost spun me out coming out of turn two on lap one. I managed to keep the car under control, but the contact and loss of momentum dropped me to sixth at the end of the first lap. I lost another position on lap two, dropping me to seventh.
The car was fairly tight at the beginning and I struggled to adapt my driving to maximize the car. I think that’s why I dropped to seventh. I quickly used in-car car balance tool to make the car looser and easier to turn.
After that I was able to make my way up to sixth, but taking fifth proved much harder and I used up 15 laps trying to make the pass. I kept trying to pass him with an over-under maneuver, but I was failing miserably.
I finally switched to an outside pass and found it far more feasible. After a couple of outside pass attempts I got by him for fifth and then worked to catch and pass the driver in fourth, who wasn’t too far ahead of me.
In the final five laps I was noticing that the car was now too loose and I was unable to drive as hard as I had before. This time I used the adjuster to make the car as tight as possible, which helped the balance a little bit.
The adjustment probably cost me a few tenths in the moment, but ultimately helped me. I caught up to fourth on the last lap and after getting a good run in turn two I went for an inside move in turn three.
I had nearly made the pass when I had to move up a lane mid-corner to avoid a slower car on the bottom. My right rear tire made light contact with the driver I was fighting, but I crossed the finish line in fourth, exactly where I started.
It wasn’t the finish I was hoping for. I wanted more laps and a redo of the first lap, but the optimistic side of me couldn’t help but note that I had learned a lot from the race despite the rough start. It was the first time I’d ever used the in-car balance adjustment tool in any car, let alone successfully.
I passed cars on both the inside and outside, which was nice, and I did prove that we had a good car for the race as near the end I was maintaining a gap to the leader who was trying to lap me.
Bertrand Motorsports provided me with a really strong car yet again and now I’m really looking forward to my final NEMA midget race of the year at Oswego Speedway,.