V8 Supercars - Event 5 - Circuit of the Americas (3/5/14)

[F1Fan07]

Well, that was unexpected. My focus this weekend was on efnet's season finale and then I ran out of time to practice for V8s. Race 1 was pretty meh so for Race 2 you guys know that when I'm against the ropes I'm gonna roll the dice on a long tire strategy Chris was better than me on the worn tires and I wasn't going to catch him no matter what but... I should have pitted when he did. I thought if I stayed out I'd benefit from slightly fresher tires at the end of the race but that extra lap cost me a bunch of time (like 3-4 seconds).

Points will be up tomorrow night. I have some work stuff to do tonight before bed.

[Dan W.]

Really hated to miss this, but the Wife and I had a good evening with out the kids and grand kids.

[helios16v]

Holy crap! What a night!

Race 1 had a hellacious scrap w/ Hawks for the last half dozen laps. It was everything I could do to keep him behind me. The scrap would've been for 4th, but John appeared to have an unfortunate off late in the race which promoted the battle to 3rd. Truthfully, I would've been thrilled with the way the night ended there. Getting onto the podium is huge for me.

Race 2 was actually fairly uneventful. Things settled in after the first lap. Was bummed to see Stinky wreck out on lap 2. That was brutal. I did have nice scrap with Dale about midway through the first stint. Kept an eye on tire wear through the first half dozen laps and decided to roll the dice on a one stop strategy. I was expecting to start seeing cars diving in around laps 8-9...and sure enough they all started peeling away, leaving Zeke, Dale and myself out front. I was a little surprised to see Zeke peel off to the pits at the end of lap 10. I pitted at the end of lap 12, and Dale followed a lap later. It didn't even cross my mind that I had a shot at the win until I saw Zeke drop to the pits for a second stop late in the race. I kept an eye on the gap back to Dale...waiting to see the name change to Zeke. But in the end it never happened as he got tied up in a battle with Hawks that cost him a lot of time. In the end, I was physically & mentally exhausted, as I'm still trying to recover from a nasty cold that left me laying on the couch for 3 days. And in proper tribute, I burned off the tires, all the way to the rims, at T1 after the end of the race.

First official V8 win...finally got one in the big show. Still a little giddy, even a day later.

Thanks for hosting Hawks. Thanks to Hooper Designs for the Dyson paint, glad I could get your work to the pointy end. Congrats Zeke on the Sprint win. And thanks to everyone else for coming out.

[helios16v]

Mar 5, 2014 21:41:57 GMT -8 Seahawks1Fan said:

On a side note, most of you know Chris, Dale and myself went to COTA last year to watch the V8's. I think they had some inside info on the track which led them to their one stop strategy. I didn't get that memo apparently!

It's a Ford trade secret.

[neverender158]

Congrats Chris! You guys doing 1 stop races on softs are insane.

[zedarchitect]

I was lucky to make the 1-stop pay off a little for me. I was off pace so that was my only chance. I raced a tad too hard in the first stint even though I was letting most guys by. I didn't race hard enough in the second stint and had more tire than needed at the end. I MAY have been able to fight for one more position at the end but it would have been close. I'll take a 7th place in this series all day long.

[Deleted]

Great racing guys, i enjoyed my self. did pack racing with the guys always a lot of fun!!!!

[F1Fan07]