So I'm going to keep this brief, since there's not a heck of a lot of news or drama, or interesting stories for that matter! 


I showed up on Saturday, and was freezing my ass off from the get go. I scaled the car a few days before and wasn't too worried about my setup. I had the bottom end of my engine rebuilt by Engines By Andy, and everything there was working well, but we didn't have time to get a good head together because I got my motor to him late. So I was down on power to start, using the head from last year, but I knew I had something going with the handles.


I went out for the first practice and I knew I was on to something. I was confident going in, but this reaffirmed it. I said I was going to send it in at full speed the first corner, instead of easing in from having a winter off. And I can say I'm glad I did. The handles only needed small adjustments all day as the rubber wore into the track, but it's never been more spot on. I've never had a car that's handled so well. I could pick up a full car length in the corners, but down the straights, I'd get run over. It's so frustrating to do so poorly, when I know I can do so much more.


I pulled a 41 when I signed in. That set my weekend in motion pretty quickly. I knew that even with my excellent handles I'd have a hard time getting by anyone without the top end. The car was good in the heat race, but I couldn't go anywhere. Thompson is a power track, and I can't blame my engine builder for it, we ran out of time. I started 19th in the feature, and as with any feature I checked out the lineup and worked out a game plan. I wanted to get around all the riffraff and make sure I put myself into a safe position and try to stay out of trouble. I knew I was down on power and I just wanted to finish in good condition. Obviously I went full out, but I had to be real about the situation.


I picked off the cars I wanted to get in front of, and I'm glad I did, because those cars ended up wrecking a few laps later. The only problem I had with the car besides the lack of speed was the amount of cars wrecking in front of me. Luckily we were pretty well behaved and kept the race going well. I ended up finishing 15th. 


While I'm disappointed with the finish, I'm not disappointed with how the weekend went. I found the sweet spot in the setup and I don't plan on changing that any time soon. I'm glad I did because I somehow lost my setup book. At least my notes will start off with what works.


I've told people this already, but watch out for the #4 mini this year. I'm working on some really important stuff in the weeks we have off. I know it sounds ridiculous to hear someone who finished 17th in points last year to say "watch out for me", but I'm really getting my organization together. I've had a lot of help over the past year and it's all starting to come together. So I'm serious, keep an eye on me this year. I think you'll be surprised. 


See you in May,
Brent
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