I guess if you put some time and effort into it you can come up with a decent qual setup. Usually I just put in minimal gas. For this race I did some tweaking of the entire setup as well. That got me into the second row.
I’m gonna have to try that more often.
It also put me in the left lane going into the first corner. I think that helped me get safely through it. I saw problems behind me and then just concentrated on the two cars ahead; hoping to get a big buffer from the cars behind.
But then along came Mr. Brooks. He attached himself to my rear and wouldn’t go away. That lasted for 20 laps. On my pit stop lap Brette got a good run going into the Keyhole and was beside me into T-6. I saw no reason to try and hold him off (fun race while it lasted, thanks Brette
).
The pit stop went well until I pulled back on track and got a drive-through penalty notice. In my eagerness to get back on track I punched the speed limiter button slightly too soon. I did the drive through and came out in P5 about 20 seconds behind Brette and with about the same gap to Mr. Holm in the car behind.
I knew there was no catching Brette unless he made a big mistake. Instead, he got further ahead. The good news was that an engine blow up by one of the cars ahead put me in P4 on lap 27. At that point I went into Sunday drive cruise mode.
With about six laps to go I was rudely awakened
by a punch in the back that pushed me off track in a sideways slide. Somehow I managed to corral it and stay headed in the right direction. I took the checker in P4; the same position I started in.
Congrats to all intrepid drivers taking the green flag.