Well it was a long, hot, fun and successful weekend of autocross. I went hoping that I could run a bit closer to the Babbs (Karen and Ron from Seattle) but didn’t think that I could threaten them for the win. They have each won national championships in the past and to run with them is an honor and a privilege. I drove as well as I ever have on Saturday and much to my surprise I came out on top at the end of the day on Saturday. I held the lead by a scant .2 seconds but it was a lead and I knew I’d have to drive very well to protect it on Sunday.
The event combines the times from Saturday and Sunday to pick the overall winner in each class so while it felt good to “win” on Saturday I was only 1/2 of the way there. I feel I drove at about 90% on Sunday and could never quite get into the groove or have the same level of focus as I did on Saturday. I lost some time on Sunday but held onto enough to hold onto second place and I couldn’t be happier. It was good close racing as I was about .8 seconds out of the lead after two days and a scant .8 seconds in front of Karin Babb in 3rd. My overall time for the two days was 195.678 seconds so you can see that winning or losing by .8 seconds is tight racing.
This is my third year of racing the Babbs at this event and the first time I did so it was humbling to say the last as I was more than 3 seconds behind each day. Last year I cut that to about 1 1/2 seconds and this year I was right in the running so I’m headed in the right direction.
Thanks for the good wishes and support. Every little bit helps.
Dave
