Heat Race

Saturday, October 17, 2009 10:01AM

Behind The Wheel With Brett Smrz

Today was the day that Connor and I had to step up our game. It was qualifying and the heat race today. The weather was fairly well in the morning, so we were looking to have some pretty decent times in the qualifying session.

My setup came in a little slow in qualifying, and I was P7 for quite a while. Sure enough though, the setup came in, and I dropped 5 tenths of a second to put it on the pole. I held that lap for about 3-4 laps or so, and then Scott Malvern took the top spot from me by 3 hundredths of a second.

I was happy with that, and was ready for the heat race. I got a very good start, but got held on the outside of turn 1, so I came out of turn 1 in 3rd place. I was having some massive trouble getting around Fischer, as he was taking a defensive line in every corner. I was much quicker than he was, but couldn’t find a way around.

I finally thought I had a shot at passing him on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend, and he turned to the left at me right when I was entering the corner. I almost drove off the track, but held my position, and stayed behind him. Next time we crossed start finish line, Fischer got a black and white flag (a warning flag), and he started calming down after that. I got by him the next lap, and held second for the rest of the race. There was actually a pretty big wreck behind me. 3rd and 4th place got together, and one of them flipped!

I am happy with my 2nd place finish, and will be starting my semi final in 2nd place tomorrow morning. Connor De Phillippi, my other Team USA team mate, is starting right behind me in 3rd place. Hopefully we can team up on Butcher and take the lead from him in the beginning of the race.

Connor and I are both quicker than the others at the moment, but we have been getting held up by traffic. If we work together, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to get a bit of a lead in the semi final, which should put us in a good position for the final.

I want to thank the entire Dempsey racing team for all of their help and support today. Dave has been doing a fantastic job in keeping my car in check all weekend. Also, all of the sponsors and supporters of the Team USA Scholarship. Thanks for making this all happen everyone.

Brett Smrz