Things are moving fast. I flat wore myself out this weekend. Driving late into Montana from Idaho (2am), racing late Friday night (2am), sponsor autograph session + car preparation and late racing Saturday (3AM) before driving home Sunday. I was so busy I must not have ate enough because I lost 3 pounds over the weekend. I think I might have taken a little hit because I have felt like a cold is coming on for the last few days. But that didn't stop me from running in the foothills Monday night and lifting weights yesterday. My preparation for the season paid off as I never got tired or winded during racing. Plus I can't let go of that elusive 165lbs goal. . Only three more pounds.

This weekend was full of drama. Even though I went into it trying to focus on my own stuff, I got caught up in the friendly rivaly with the 39c car right away. We both started in the back of a stacked heat race and after working my way to second I was trapped behind a lapped car. There was a restart when Jason Solwold wheeled Brock Lemely, destroying Lemely's brand new J&J chassis. On the restart I went under the lapper and as I slid high off turn two I see Solwold coming under both cars wheeling me at the same place he had just sent Brock over the backstretch wall. I jammed the brakes and he only got my left front wheel, bending the new Keizer rim. I guess that is what being a professional is all about, you don't give a crap about anything but results, even if it is just for a position in a heat race and it cost a couple amateurs some hard earned equipment. The pass made me so mad I could barely control myself, but I gathered it up after a little cool off in the pits. We ended up having an uneventful main event with a sixth place car which ended up third after three cars dropped out in front of us.

Saturday started as mediocre as Friday. In our heat race the car picked up a big vibration and I could swear the motor wasn't running right. It was painful to watch car after car drive by us on the straightaways when early in the race we were closing on the leader. We looked the car over and found one of the brakes to be very hot, so we took it off thinking it was hanging up. Then we found some large mud clumps in the wheels which we figured caused the vibration I was feeling. But when it came time for the main event I was the first guy onto the track just in case we hadn't found the problem. We hadn't. I pulled back into the pits. As I rolled to a stop one of the crew guys spotted a spark plug making sparks on the outside of the engine. Something in the heat race must have cracked it and it was arcing in a strange way. We never would have found it had it not been dark. So the guys changed it and I pushed off again, being forced to start dead last because of my stop. But at least the engine was running right, but we only had two brakes on the car which cost us some speed on the slickening track.

On the initial start I took a flying run on the outside and by the back stretch had went from 18th to 7th, but a yellow flag caused me to go back. I figured, well there that goes, surely someone saw me go by on the outside and they will go up there now which will block my way. But when I got to the first turn no one was there and this time I got to sixth before the yellow sent me back. The third and fourth time I got similar results. Finally there was a red. The crew came out and told me they heard at least four crews telling their driver to get up top because, "Ramaker is coming up high and really making it work!" At this point we had burned 6 gallons of methanol and never got in a lap. But the track was drying rapidly and my high line was getting more and more hairly loose. We turned some weight and changed a shock to try to compensate but I could see we were set up too loose to last the whole main. Finally the race got started on the 6th or seventh try and I found myself in 5th after the first lap. Eventually I worked my way to third having great battles with the 37 of Kirkland and the 12 of Casey Adams to get the position. Going under the white flag it was Solwold, Lemely (in a XXX chassis the crew had spent all night building), me and Daniel Huson's #73 charging hard as she had just passed Adams. On the last corner I altered my line on entry because I could see Brock Lemely's #4 was slowing. As I went high the 73 charged under me. I didn't give her any extra room and we banged nerf bars as we both closed on the 4 car. With the lapped car of Stuart Selby on the outside of the #4, Daniel turned her car low to pass at the line and I stood on the gas going high to split Lemely and Selby. At the line we were four wide and it took two hours for the official finishing order to be determined via video and photos. I was sure I got second because Daniel had to turn down the track which cost her some momentum. But her dad disagreed. Her mom even told officials that I had said she beat me. I was standing in the pits signing autographs when I heard an official's radio blare out: "The video shows the finishing order to be Ramaker, Lemely, Huson." Then another voice comes on, "Ramaker has said that Huson beat him so that can't be right." "WHAT? I never said that!" I think the confusion might have come from me saying that Daniel had me coming off turn four, but definately not at the line. So I chase down the Big Sky Sprint Director to tell him the truth. When they finally announced the official order at the payout window I guess Husons felt shorted and they let off some steam at the officials, and on me. Daniel's dad, Marc, pointed at me as they stomped off and said, "You guys know who won." I guess it is just one of those instances where people see what they want to see because it is too close to tell otherwise. Even most of the people in the crowd had no idea who got second.

This picture was taken from the video with Huson on the inside, Lemely is the yellow car next to her. I am the yellow car in the middle and right under the flag stand is the white car of Stuart Selby's #33 on the outside.

Basically, the whole weekend we were way too loose without good forward bite. The car just always wanted to kick the rear end out. It fooled us because we were using a standard setup which has given us a lot of success at Great Falls. Somehow we all forgot about some of the subtle differences we have built in to this chassis and halfway home as I crossed into Idaho it finally dawned on me. The way we have the chassis built there is no way our standard setup would work. We had about two inches too much stagger. But we are going to change things for this weekend in Billings and we should be way faster. At the payout window Richard (the owner of Jason Solwold's #39) walked by and I congratulated him on his win. I said something like, "maybe next time we will have something for you guys." He replied that I could be winning if I just had stayed in his car and that I will never beat him with the equipment I have. We each favor different engine builders and chassis builders so I wasn't surprized. I was insulted at first, but when I thought about it I realized that the #39 is in trouble. Their stuff is running right and they are a little faster than us. But our stuff is not even close to its potential and we have so many experiemental pieces on our car that once we get things right we will be way faster. This might be just wishful thinking, but it makes me excited for the next time we run into those guys. You can't be a racer without optimism and the ability to see your future as bright, and I am a racer. But maybe I am just seeing things the way I want to see them. :)