NASA Nationals at Mid-Ohio

NASA Nationals with Factory Five & 944 Cup

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Well, this wasn't what we hoped. The NASA National Championships rolled around and we had put a lot of effort into being able to have a strong showing. With the repairs complete from Summit Point on the Cobra and Bobbie's Porsche sporting a new engine, we felt cautiously optimistic. Dan was also running the red Cobra in the Performance Touring-A class where the car wouldn't have much of a chance, but it was getting some extra track time.

In the red Cobra we ended up with 6th place and were lucky to get that. It was 8th place for the very fast white Cobra but that was after two wrecks. Meanwhile, Bobbie qualified for a career best 9th, but was unable to start when her engine blew a head-gasket just minutes before the start of the race.

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The #0 Cobra (sponsored by eVisory, Judge, and TGB Powersports) ran really well all weekend. We were one of the fastest cars and a strong threat to win overall, but a few things didn't go our way. The qualifying format featured a time qualifying which set for the field for two short qualifying races, similar to the Daytona 500. On Friday, we ended up with a fuel pump that died on the first lap. That meant the white car would start at the back of the field. Dan worked his way up to a top 10 finish and would be ok if the Saturday race resulted in a top 5. Unfortunately, in the timed qualifying the computer died on the second lap which meant Dan would start mid-pack for that qualifying race. Once again it was a case of working back to the front. When all was said and done it was Dan qualifying 6th, but with the third fastest time of the weekend. Since the actual National Championship race was long, it wasn't ideal, but there was enough time to make it to the front. Unfortunately during the race, he was hit not once, but twice, with the second time putting him into the wall. He finished the race in 8th place. Under the circumstances a top 10 finish isn't that bad, but we certainly hoped for more. Even worse, the two competitors who hit Dan were disqualified and that is something you never want to have happen to your friends.

Bobbie didn't fare any better. Despite a steep learning curve, she steadily learned the track and was rewarded with a top 10 qualifying spot and looked to be in pretty good shape. Some minor engine troubles on Saturday made for some semi-frantic repairs, but it all came together. On Sunday, there was a short 10 minute practice window before the race and that proved to be Bobbie's undoing when the car popped. With the race only minutes away, repairs were impossible.

Nationals took a lot of help from a lot of people. Harry Elam shouldered the load by planning strategy and maintenance for three cars. He did a *lot* of work during the weekend and any success we had was largely due to him and the help he got from Dave Lewis and Della. As seems to be common, Mike Morris, who was racing in CMC, bailed us out on a couple of things and kept the cars running. For the third year in a row, Mike Morris has been our mechanical "rock" in keeping us on track.

NASA did a really nice job with this event at Mid-Ohio. Despite not getting the results we wanted, the event was enjoyable and NASA was a big part of that. We're looking forward to participating again in the future.

Many of these pictures are courtesy of our friends at Finish Line Productions