The Author on track and at speed (sort of). (Photo: Jason Tripp)

After topping off my tank and returning to the pit area, my heart sank as I realized I was a lap too late. The pack as already gridded up in the inverted position and I was stuck starting from pit lane! @#$% My second chance at the pole was spoiled! Blasted fuel system anyway.

On the bright side, I went out to a wide open track. The remainder of the field was in front of me, and the inverted, standing start made for a lot of jockeying for position in the first few laps, which slowed them down just enough so I could latch on and hang with the tail-end of the group. Several cars spun on the first few laps after the restart, giving me hope that I might just finish a notch or two up the deck. Those hopes were quickly dashed though when the spinners caught up and re-passed me. Though my car was back to running well now and I was determined to pick up the pace, I was just lacking the oomph in my drawers and under the hood to do much about it.

Laps wore away until, low and behold a few cars started looming larger in my windshield. I couldn’t believe it but I was actually catching a few of them! How many laps were left? “Can I catch them, let alone pass them?” I wondered as I tried to push the accelerator through the floorboard. I set my sites on the weaker of the small group in front of me. I closed in on him with each lap, and gritted my teeth as my little BMW buffeted in the wake of his draft just as we crossed under the white flag at the start-finish line. I was determined to pass this one one car - he was mine!

I had one lap to go.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make a mistake and my car started starving for fuel again, so it was over before I could even make an attempt. Nonetheless, I waved at the start tower and all the flag stands as I rounded the turns of the cool down lap.

My first race, the IFU-2, was over. The car was still in one piece and I’d managed to stay on the track. Although I missed out on the inverted restart and suffered mechanical issues that exacerbated my lack of talent, it was still a thrill. In just a short 40 minutes on the track, I had gotten more door-to-door action than all of the track days and driving schools combined. I had “passed” my first test. With the steward’s signature in my rookie book, I had officially become a racer.

But I never did get the damn video camera turned on!



Next Month: The Mad Bull Debuts (or...”My Racing Widow Has a Cow”) Stay tuned to see how it unfolds...


Many thanks to my sponsors, supporters, and mentors:

NASA Southeast Region
Jim & Julie Pantas
RacingJunk.com
BimmerWorld
Palmetto Motorsports Club/Carolina Motorsports Park
TraqMate
AlpineStars
Skip Barber Racing Schools
VelocityVille.com

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