Challenge of the Americas - Race 6 & Series Recap

  Date
  Apr 3, 2016
  
  Track
  Simraceway, Sonoma, CA

  Configuration
  Reverse National

  Total Drivers
  15
  
  Qualify Position / Time
  P11 / :50.981
  
  Heat Race Position / Best Lap
  P11 / :50.848
  
  Main Race Position / Best Lap
  P13 / :51.074
  
  Points Earned
  33
  
  Standings Position
  15/30

Date	Apr 3, 2016
Track	Simraceway, Sonoma, CA
Configuration	Reverse National
Total Drivers	15
Qualify Position / Time	P11 / :50.981
Heat Race Position / Best Lap	P11 / :50.848
Main Race Position / Best Lap	P13 / :51.074
Points Earned	33
Standings Position	15/30

Final race of the series! Throughout the first few months of 2016, I believe that my capabilities as a driver has multiplied several times over because of all these new things that I'm trying. I am definitely looking forward to my next national level karting event, knowing that I am now just as fast as everyone else in the field.

Warm Up

This warm up session was... Well... A warm up session. I just took the time to get up to speed and physically prepare myself for another long day of racing.

Qualifying

The track was not as fast as qualifying was the day before, given the weather conditions. Nevertheless, I was able to break into the late 50's yet again, which is still a good sign of consistency on my end. I qualified in P 11 this time.

Heat Race

I'm gonna be honest with you. I. Was. Terrified. Why was I terrified, might you ask? Because I'm right in the middle of the mayhem. I thought someone was going to make contact with me and cause a pileup, but thankfully, I made it out in one piece. I had a great start and moved up to 6th place for about half a second. And then series champion, Christian Brooks, gave me a little love tap coming into Monaco, killing off all of my momentum to potentially move up another spot. In the end, I still finished P 11, but I knew I could run with those guys, looking at our times on Race Monitor.

Main Race

Starting in P 11 for the main, I was terrified. Again. I got another great start out of turn 1, making up a lot of positions, but ended up losing my momentum through the exit of Monaco after being denied passage through the pack by another driver who lost his momentum through the corner as well. There were no other dramatic events, but at the end of the race, I was running at the same pace as former Team USA member, Derek Wang. I was pretty happy about that because at the beginning of the year, Derek pulled away from me instantly whenever he gets around me. Along with Wang, I participated against 6 other former and/or current Team USA members, which empathized he fact that I was racing against the best drivers in America.