April 20, 2008

Matthews, NC

First Ever USAC Race…Something to Build On

By: Chris Butler

I’m going to write most of these stories this year in my own words, hoping that I can get to all of Josh’s races and tell you what I saw from a dad’s point of view.  Since I probably won’t make them all, some will just be stories…but let’s see how this works.

We were reminded by another team shortly after unloading at Southern National Speedway for Josh’s first ever USAC race…that some of the best talent in racing was in that pit area (as if we needed to hear that, right then).  But that is the exact reason we chose to have Josh race USAC this year…it’s the place where a lot of today’s racing stars came from and where a number of development drivers are currently racing.  We are smart enough to know that there is going to be a steep learning curve for all of us this year, but we are excited about having the opportunity to race against these teams and drivers…and we hope you will come back and check on our progress along the way. 

So, I mentioned the steep learning curve, right?  Boy did that slap us in a hurry at Southern National…we had to learn all about the ways of USAC as well as get Josh ready to turn his first laps in the National Midget with other cars on the track.  The first practice started with two cars wrecking hard right in front of Josh on lap two, and then having the push truck jump up over Josh’s right rear…after that we finally got to run and were about eight tenths of a second off of the leaders.  We all were very realistic and pretty happy with that…Josh looked smooth and said, with some changes, he was ready to start picking it up. 

After a gear & tire change, Josh knocked a little over five tenths of a second off his times in the next practice and continued to look very smooth.  We could tell that he was tight in the corners…but we could also tell he was running the car a lot harder.  About the time he came off the track from practice #2, the rain started…washing out qualifying and putting Josh at the back of the third heat. 

The heat race was uneventful and since we loosened the car up a little too much for Josh he ran with the cars in the back…but he again got faster and was now running some very competitive laps.  The learning curve got us again for the “A” main as we tightened the car up WAY too much for Josh and he had a hard time going anywhere.  At the halfway point (lap 20) Josh’s car threw a belt and shut off coming down the backstretch, ending our night. 

So, we finished 25th in our first USAC race…but we learned a ton and Josh did a great job all night telling us what he needed and getting faster.  Everyone was impressed with what we did that night, Ed Dellarco (owner of the USAC Sprint that Josh will drive this year) said, “Josh did EXCELLENT!  He didn’t do anything stupid; he was smooth and just kept getting faster all night.  I wish we could have gotten a better handling car under him…it would have been fun to see what he could have done with it”. 

Josh on his first USAC race:  “Obviously I was hoping for things to go better, but I know it is going to take some time before I can really run with these drivers.  I had a great time in the car and I can’t thank everyone enough for helping.  Ed Dellarco drove down from Ohio and took the car back with him, Blake Harris was there with us for a while even though he had to be at two tracks that night (the other an hour and a half away), my friend Jordan and my sister Lauren helped all night…and Dad did everything that he usually does.  Without all of those people I wouldn’t even have the opportunity to do this.  

We have a little time off now and then head to the Wisconsin swing on May 16th – 18th.  It will be good to get in the car three nights in a row and get some good seat time”. 

Keep checking back for updates as we travel the Country, working to make good things happen.