05/24/2026
Coastal 200
Sometimes its your day, sometimes its not.
Unloaded for practice Friday, didn't get a ton of practice due to some issues, but made good strides and felt like we had great speed. The news of the race being pushed forward a day made for a long night doing maintenance. Found a couple things not quite right but got them either fixed or patched up for the weekend.
Finally got a couple hours of sleep before Saturday. Our crew was slightly lightened as people had made plans around being at the track Sunday and couldn't break those prior commitments they had for Saturday. 100% completely understandable and we thank both them and the guys who were able to make it for their support.
Went out and scuffed round 1 of practice. No real data. Went out round 2, car was a smidge off but not bad. Went out round three and was quite loose and really getting into the bumps hard on the track. Made some adjustments, but nothing to series for the heat.
Started 5th of 7 in the heat and immediately had an issue with the RF fender being ripped half off on lap 1 entering turn 3. Didn't make a huge difference but the car was SUPER tight all heat. We managed to finish 4th in our heat after dodging a late race wreck.
Reset the car back to what we had in practice and the day before in the front end plus a small bit of extra packer to compensate for cooler temps and fuel burn-off in the 200 lap feature.
Lined up p11 of 21 for the feature but took the races back to the front challenge, giving up the starting spot for some extra cash and a chance at more. Opening 15 or so laps we made GREAT progress forward. Car felt slightly loose on exit but not bad. We caught a quick caution and decided to come in and make a quick track bar adjustment to make it tighter. Went back out and the car decided to act different then it EVER has before. Darty and snappy loose on exit. Made a little forward movement, but the car got worse and worse. Coming off turn 2, the car got completely sideways and as I gathered it back up, another car made HARD contact with the RF wheel, spinning up to the infield and over the curb to sit sideways at the bottom of turn 3. Driving away, I ducted down to pitroad to check damage, everything looked OK to the crew, though the steering wheel was a little off compared to what it had been. Made a BIG swing with the track bar to try and remedy the loose off. Went back out to continue on and make the best of the feature. As we went back to green, the car was incredibly erratic and unpredictable tight/loose. A few laps in to the run, the car almost spun out its self for the 6th or 7th time. We pitted to see if there was anything that looked out of place under green, found nothing visually wrong with suspension components, or atleast anything external or capable to be fixed down in the infield pitroad.
With that, we decided to retire, 44 laps into the race, giving us a p21 finish for the weekend. Upon deeper inspection, we found multiple things wrong from the incident, as well as a few things that moved and changed during normal laps and we believe an internal shock component made had prematurely failed as the car wasn't staying down as long as it had before the feature.
All things considered, it was an enjoyable weekend and day. With the friends that came together to pit crew, the family in the stands to support and cheer me on, it definitely could be a whole lot worse. We will regroup, rebuild, repair, and be better for the next Wiscasset 40 lapper in a couple weeks. As for now, I'm going to sleep and the car can sit for a couple nights.
Continue to follow along for all the adventures, fun, and mishaps along the way!
Happy memorial day yall.
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And all of my friends and family for the help and support today and every day!
