Following Skeen Part 2

Sunday, August 8th- World Challenge Race #2 at Mid-Ohio

I got a late start to the day and got a little sleep.  Chris got to town Saturday evening so he could see the Sunday race.  Chris and I missed practice, but Mike and the CRP crew were enthusiastic about the changes they made in the morning practice.  The Friday qualifying positions set the grid for the Sunday race as well, so Mike was starting in P2 behind Sofronas (pole). 

Best Move Award

The Sunday race started at 11AM, so it was just starting to get hot.  Everyone was on sticker tires, so it was shaping up to be a good race. Once again, the Volvo's got a huge jump on Mike, and he also got passed by Lindsey in the Porsche (Video Below).  Skeen was able to get by Lindsey on lap four, and began to nip at the heels of the Volvo's in 2nd and 3rd.  On lap 11, Mike made a miraculous pass on the outside of the keyhole where he got by both Volvo's.  He was awarded the heaviest watch I have ever seen for making that pass, also known as the MTM Special Ops Best Move of the Race. (picture to left)

VIDEO OF SUNDAY RACE START:

Skeen began to close the gap on Sofronas, but lost ground when they started getting into lapped traffic.  I thought we had win #2 in the bag when the second full-course-yellow came out with about five laps to go.  This put Skeen right on Sofronas' rear bumper for the restart.  As they came under the bridge, cars started to pass Skeen like he was standing still... what a terrible feeling.  I later learned that it was an issue with the sequential gearbox.  Despite the issues with the gear slection, Skeen was still only a couple seconds off the pace in the last few laps, which is pretty impressive.

Gap to Sofronas

A depressing end, but all-in-all it was a very successful weekend.  Anytime you can dominate Randy Pobst in a very well-funded car you are probably doing pretty well.  It was sad to know that 2nd place was in the bag with first place being likely, but I guess it wasn't too bad for a "rookie".  I gotta throw in one more podium pic to show off the WC girl on Mike's left...enjoy.

WC girls

It was good to know that Mike had the fastest laps in both races (1:27.4 Sunday / 1:27.29 Saturday).

We started to pack up and thank the CRP/Cragar crew for showing us a good time.  I'm hopeful that we will be doing the same thing at VIR in about a month.  See you there.

Following Skeen Part 1

Saturday, August 7th- World Challenge Race #1 at Mid-Ohio

I was not able to make qualifying on Friday because I had to be at work.  Skeen qualified 2nd only .003 seconds behind Sofronas on pole.  Pumped about being on the front row.  I left work at 5PM and got to enjoy the absolutely terrible roads on the way to Mid-Ohio... I'm glad I pay taxes and tolls for such quality paving jobs.  I rolled into the Days Inn at around 10:30.

It was an early start to the morning with a lot of "hurry up and wait" after we got to the track.  The car was pretty much ready, so the team did a quick warm-up before taking the car across the paddock (We are in the grass so Danica can have her personal RV right next to the track...)

We borrowed a hot flag girl from K-Pax (Volvo competition), but unfortunately she had a ring on her finger.  The Cragar/CRP crew was top notch, and I really enjoyed meeting them. 

Mike got suited up and headed over with the crew.  I headed across the bridge to get a prime spot to watch the race. After a few painfully slow formation laps the race started.  Video of the start is included below.  Mike said the traction control wasn't working quite right, and he had a lot of wheelspin at the start.  The Volvo's went flying by, so he had to get by them in the first laps.

Volvo Competition

Skeen got by Pilgrim (Volvo) pretty quickly with a nice pass going into T2. Once he was in P2 he began to put pressure on Sofronas (Porsche).  Skeen was clearly faster than Sofronas.  It was only a matter of time before he got by Sofronas: coming out of T1 Sofronas got balked by traffic and downshifted at the exit of T1 so Mike blew by.  Mike put a big gap on Sofronas in no time, and absolutely destroyed him in traffic.  There was a full course caution that brought Sofronas back to the rear bumper, but Mike stayed ahead of him with no trouble.

Back Straight

Gap on Sofronas

After 50 minutes, the checkered flag flew and Skeen got the win.  It was an awesome race- straight up domination.  Sofronas finished second and Lindsey was in third (both in Porsches).

Top of Podium

Poppin' Bottles

 The podium finishers were interviewed for quite a while before they went to the podium.  It was fun to watch them play the hat game, and I enjoyed with scenery of the World Challenge girls facing the podium.  I said AWW SKEEN SKEEN when they sprayed the champagne, but I don't think anyone in my immediate area listened to Lil John.

I walked back to the rig (flipflops were a terrible choice).  The top cars were going through tech.  Sofronas' car was on the scales and the Vette was next.  Pictures of impound.

The Cragar/CRP car passed impound with no issues.  Time to celebrate!  Everybody was posing with the trophy, so I figured, what the hell...

Next up was the autograph session.  I wasn't going to go, but I got bored with the activities around the paddock, so I ran through the line to talk some smack to Saini... and get some pictures of my favorite flag girl.

I told Mike to pose with the "scenery" --- Look over his right shoulder.







There you go.  A day in the life of a race winner.  Let's do it all over again tomorrow.