Round 10 - Darlington Daimond Hill Plywood 200

The latest round of the championship took place at Darlington home of the track known as "Too Tough To Tame".

As this was a new track for me I was fairly glad to 6th quickest in practice with a time of 32.271.

I was not as successful in qualifying, a time of 32.715 was only good enough for 34th position.

The green flag fell and straight away I realised why this track was so infamous. I could not find an easy line to run. Each been has two levels of banking! I did make it to 13th at one stage though.

Eventually on lap 31 my luck ran out and I hit the wall which destroyed my suspension. I could not continue and therefore had to post my first DNF of the season.

I was now 11th in the championship, 245 points behind the leader (a whole race behind).

My fastest lap time was 32.801

Round 9 - Richmond Virginia

The latest round of the championship took place on the high speed short track of Richmond.

As this was a new track for me I was glad to be quickest in practice with a time of 22.945.

I was just as successful in qualifying, a time of 22.749 was good enough for pole position.

I stayed up front in the race until lap 57 when I stopped for fuel. Immediately on returning to the track the new tyres kicked in and I was able to close down the pack.

As seems always to be the case the others did not have to pit. This did hamper my progress somewhat.

In the end I finished a respectable 2nd.

I was now 7th in the championship, 129 points behind the leader.

My fastest lap time was 22.581

Round 8 - Talladega Motor Speedway

The latest round of the championship took place on the high banking of the fastest super speedway of them all, Talladega.

Qualifying on a super speedway is not one of my greatest strengths so I was glad to be quickest in practice with a time of 52.733.

I wasn't so successful in qualifying though, a time of 53.350 was only good enough for 23rd on the grid.

As the race started I decided to concentrate on holding my position in the pack until the race settled down somewhat. Unlike the trucks, the cars stayed in the lead draft far longer and this stretched my concentration to the limit.

I got the mandatory 'half way on fuel' shout way before half distance so decided to pit on lap 30. For a change the stop went smoothly and to make things even better for me the others all pitted on lap 32.

In the end I finished a respectable 8th.

I was now 7th in the championship, 186 points behind the leader.

My fastest lap time was 52.333.