Prologue-I would like to introduce myself and give you a little background before you read this. My name is Laurel. I’m a mother of three and I live in Minnesota. In my elementary years, I was raised on racetracks in Northern Iowa/Southern Minnesota. My fantasy was always to stand in victory lane and not be the one handing out the trophy. Even with a detour away from the racing in my teen years, the dream persisted until, in my late 20s, the opportunity came along. I now have 2 years of dirt track endurance racing and 7 years of IMCA hobby and stockcar experience. This is my first year on asphalt and I thought I would share the ups & downs of moving out of the comfort zone that many of us develop when we become very familiar with what we are doing.

Racing has started and we’re still here working night and day trying to get this car done. I hate this time of the year because that is all we do besides work. Sometimes, I wish I could just pay someone to do all of the work and just show up to race. I figure we’re going to miss about 4 weeks of points. It absolutely drives me crazy on Saturday nights knowing the racing is happening and I’m sitting here. We had to move shops in the middle of a Minnesota winter and wait for the new place to get wired. It was over a month before we were actually able to get back to working on the car.

The first night on asphalt, we were not quite done with the car and running late, so I didn’t get any practice time. I went out for timetrials with a new car, never been on asphalt (ok, besides everyday driving), and brand new, cold tires. I didn’t timetrial last. Second to the last, but nevertheless, I wasn’t last. The guy who won points champion last year came over and gave me a compliment on how well I did, considering.

Some of the other guys came over to check things out. I couldn’t decide whether I should dance or wave or just ignore them. I chose to ignore them.

I started last and finished last in my heat but kept up with them. In the B feature, I was just coming up to pass my first car on asphalt and wouldn’t you know it, he spun out. I was just bummed; he could have let me pass him.

I timetrialed first this weekend and came in 32 out of 35. I dropped 2.1 seconds off my first week’s time. The officials had told me that rookies start the first two weeks in back but they let me start where I was suppose to. I was actually up to 4^th in the B with 2 laps to go but couldn’t hang on to it. I still finished 7^th. I almost made the A feature on my second night out.

We had several yellows in the B with side-by-side restarts and I wasn’t sure what was going on so I took outside line row 2 and no one said anything, so I started there. Afterwards, I asked some of the other guys to explain the restarts. With 2 laps left on yellow, a cone is put out on the front stretch and you decide inside or outside, as you go by the cone. The car is still real loose coming out of the turns but I was happy with my run tonight. We decided to drive home and got home at 4 a.m.

I went out for timetrials and the car wasn’t running right, missing and lacking power. The rightside valvecover had been put on upside down. That stuff happens. This is the third week in a row that it rained. We dried off the track and ran the heat races before we were rained out for good. If we had been on the dirt, the rain would have sent us home right off the bat. In the heat race, I was coming out of turn four, checked up and I spun myself out. I just ticked the wall and put a hole in the lower radiator hose. Now, I know what happens when you checkup too much on asphalt. I could hear the announcer hollering about how it was only my 3^rd night out. I’ve been asking about the scanner. I can’t hear anything. I’m going to go buy new headphones.

We found a different sway bar and put on a split valve shock on the right front. WOW! What a difference. It was too tight in practice so we took out a few turns. I dropped my qualifying time to a 23.848. There was only 7/1000 of a second difference between me and 3 places up. It is tough. I was in line and ready to go out for the heat race and the car wouldn’t stay running. We found a hole in the fuel line. I went out for 1 lap in the B and came in because I couldn’t control the car. Al had changed a tire that had been mounted for the opposite side. OOPS. Good thing I’m a rookie so we can make stupid mistakes.

We started home at 1:30 a.m. and while going through construction, we ran over something that flattened the tire. The car behind us ran over it too. After we changed ours, we pulled forward to see if we could help. We ended up changing the flat tire on a new BMW for a doctor from Mayo Clinic and a pharmaceutical representative. I guess if anything ever happens, I will have the best of care in Rochester. I told him I hoped I never had to look him up.

I finished 4^th in the heat. It was race of survival. I really like the asphalt. It is very intense. I’ve gotten good at running the outside groove because I’ve gotten stuck there. I tried a third set of headphones for the scanner after talking to a few people. Still can’t hear anything when the car is running.

I broke a tie-rod end in the B thanks to an out-of-control car that decided it would be better to use me to straighten himself out than do it by himself. The tow crew did more damage to my car than the wreck. They put the towrope on the front hoop and caught the radiator cap and ripped it off the radiator and then they jacked the car up so high that it cut my left rear tire. I’m having a blast doing this, even on the bad nights.

I qualified 31 out of 36 cars. I ran 6^th in the heat and 12^th in the B. Middle of the pack finishes. Not such a great night but, the fireworks were good.

I look at racing a little different now. It is in time. I view speed in 1/10^th of a second. Time is now my interpretation of speed.

I qualified 25^th and dropped my time another 1/10^th of a second. I finished 7^th in the B, again. I’m getting the hang of qualifying but now we have to translate that into the race and this is where the lack of horsepower hurts me. I can use momentum in qualifying but that gets pretty tough in the race. It is unbelievably hot out. Finally, I figured out that my scanner problem is not the headphones, it is a faulty scanner. Now, I’m fighting to get it fixed right.

July 29^th

In practice, we put the new tire on the right rear. The car was incredibly loose, with a new tire and 1 ¾ " stagger when we’ve been running no stagger at all. So we tightened up the car a little and with some more laps on the tire, I qualified 26^th and the car handled real well, except for being a little tight coming out of the turns. I ended up 5^th in heat and 6^th in B feature out of 18. The car is just a dog off the starts and we’re fighting it being slow off the turns. I drove that car to its limit. We need more horsepower. My oldest son and ex-husband and his girlfriend came to watch me race. (they live in Chicago)

I received lots of compliments on my run, tonight, in keeping up with the fast boys. It is still been very hot & humid out. Track conditions are so different from when we started.

I finished 4^th in heat and 5^th in B and missed the A by one spot, again. The car was really slow. We lost 100 rpm instead of gaining. We had switched the tires around and put bigger ones on the back thinking with some of the other changes we could gain time if we could just hold the rpm. NO GO. One good thing about being a rookie, if you make a mistake like that, it’s not as devastating as when you are running up top or for points. It was so incredibly hot, again. The humidity was about 80%. The moisture just hung in the air. It was too hot to sleep outside, so we started home. We stopped at a truckstop and ate. While we were eating, two ladies come in and shook my hand. They said they had been cheering for me that night and wanted to meet me. Finally, at 2 a.m. it was cool enough to sleep but we were on the road again by 7:30a.m.

My parents came to watch. I screwed up qualifying and ended up 34^th out of 45 cars. Then missed the inversion and started at the back of the fast heat. You can’t go very far on asphalt in 6 laps. I started 14^th in B and finished 11^th out of 22 cars. So, it was not a real good night. This last two weeks, I’ve started becoming tired of being slow. For the first time this season, I’m beginning to feel frustrated and thinking about going back to the dirt.

My parents booked us a hotel room and when we got there at 1:30 a.m., they checked us in and gave us a key. Someone else was in the room when we tried to open the door, so they put us in another room and tried to figure out who was in our original room. Finally, they figured out that they put the guy in 319 instead of 317 like the computer said he was suppose to be. In the morning, we all went to breakfast and then headed home.

We changed gears this weekend and put the tall tires on, again. I dropped my qualifying time another 2/10ths of a second. Ok, I was whooping & hollering in the racecar when I saw my time. I just drove a racecar faster than I ever have before. I love the feeling you get when you go past another level of speed. It is kind of like when you are going downhill on a rollercoaster, those butterflies in your stomach. I drove the car different last night and it felt great. It has been a little bit too tight in the middle of the turns the last few weekends but I was too afraid to change it. We put stagger in the rear and with a little more speed, it loosened up just enough. I need to trust my instincts and not be so timid about trying new things on the car.

So, wouldn’t you know it, a bunch of the fast cars were in my heat and the B feature, but I ran with them, right on their bumper. Overall, it was a great night for my learning curve and the car handling issues. I took the American flag around the track during the National Anthem. That was pretty neat.

(for the night of Aug. 25^th) I almost spun out in qualifying but recovered the 2^nd lap to a 23.6. Then, ran the heat race on 6 cylinders because we keep burning off spark plug boots. I started pole in the B feature and was running 4^th with 2 laps left (I was finally on my way to making an A feature) when I was spun out in turn 4. (Yea, it was the same guy as the tie-rod end deal earlier in the season.) I did a 360, the car killed and as I was reaching to restart the car, I was nailed in the back, fullthrottle, by a car from the back of the pack. It knocked the wind out of me. My chest and stomach hurt from the belts. This is the first accident that I went from the car to the ambulance. We stopped in the emergency room 2 ½ hours later before leaving LaCrosse, to get checked out, because I still didn’t feel good. Everything checked out OK. We drove straight home and reached Eagle Lake at 5 am. The ride home was quiet. I alternately slept and discussed the night’s events with Al. The car doesn’t look very good. There is no backend left and it pushed the rollcage forward and to the right. I don’t know if we are going to make it to Oktoberfest. If we have to build a whole new car, we’ll never make it. Even though we have a month, it is only the two of us. I’m going to look at a 79-cutlass frame tonight for parts or maybe a whole new chassis. I am so bummed.

It took me two days to be able to start fixing the car. We decided we could make Oktoberfest. We’re going to go to an ASA race and some dirt races and take a little time on it. I went and picked up the parts car today. The back half of the racecar is off and the motor is next. We’ve been discussing the fact of a new car for next year.

I found the back clip I needed. The ’79 was too rusty though I still took the body parts. The racecar is in pieces and almost ready to go back together. I am going to order all the new parts next week while we straighten and put the back clip on. The tranny is cracked and that is not good news at all. We’re taking this weekend off to go to the dirt races and see old friends & family. I’m getting real excited about wanting to get back into the car again. I think about it and I feel the sensations of racing.

I had no time to write while we trying to get ready to go to Oktoberfest. The car is back in one piece and faster than before. It still has some rear steer we need to take care of but I did well. We left on Thursday morning and raced Thursday night. I qualified 27^th out of about 50 cars with my fastest time yet of 23.471. I took 4^th in the heat and 5^th in the B but the 1^st place car was DQ’d so I was moved to 4^th. Yes, I made my first A main at Oktoberfest. I started 24^th and finished 18^th. The car was actually faster then where I finished, but believe it or not, I’d put in so many laps that I was having trouble holding up my head. I wear a neck brace but no pad on the side of the seat. I’m ordering one this week. This was a good way to end this year. The car is in one piece, I can eke another year out of the chassis and I had my best finishes of the year. The plans are to go and run another year in LaCrosse and keep movin’ to the front.

(I made 14 weekends out of 23 and finished 35^th in points out of 72.)