WORCS 2014 Round 1: Taft, California

Just making it to the first round of WORCS was a fight in itself, I got my car back from the fabrication shop late Thursday afternoon and headed straight to Image Options to have the wrap installed. By the time I got home it was 9:45 PM and I still had a ton of work to do to make the car race legal/worthy. With much determination I got the car finished and made it to bed for a few short hours only to wake up early and head to Taft. After making it to Honolulu Hills I had a few minor adjustments to make in the pits to assure that the car was race ready.

Being as I had little drive time in my XP1000 I was looking forward to the unclassified practice, which consisted of two laps. The track was swarming with cars and unfortunately I was not able to get a clean run like I had hoped. It was nearly impossible to try out any of the jumps leaving me frustrated and nervous for the race on Saturday.

As if my nerves weren’t on edge enough I am listening to the line up at the drivers meeting and hear my name in the same line as RJ Anderson, Ryan Piplic, Beau Baron, Michael Camp, and Tyler Winbury. Luckily my Sparks racing motor got me off to a great start and when I rounded the first corner I was in third. I was able to hang on to that spot throughout most of the first lap until I decided to hit a step up. When I landed the intake hose collapse causing my car to loose power. I made it back to the pits hoping the problem could quickly be fixed and I could get back on the track. Thankfully my crew got the hose to open up somewhat, allowing the car to run better. I drove the rest of the race on half of the car’s allotted horsepower and crossed the finish line in seventh. I am looking forward to round two in Primm. Let the prepping begin!

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