Round 7 - Dover, Delaware

The Monster Mile that is Dover played host to round 7 of the series.

As with recent rounds in practise I was fastest with a best time of 27.190.

Qualifying went well as I posted the fastest time and secured another pole position (27.088).

The raced turned out to be yet another fuel related disaster.

I kept the lead from pole for the majority of the laps. There were 2 yellow flag periods (not caused by me) before halfway so when I got the 'halfway on fuel' message just as I reached the mid point of the race I knew that I would either have to pit or if I got lucky run out as I passed the chequered flag.

Alas, for me the 'fuel almost out' message spelt the end of my race as I received it with only 5 laps to go.

To make matters worse I was caught speeding on the pit lane and had to serve a drive through penalty.

I ended up 36th and last.

 

My best lap of the race was 26.993.

I led 70 of the 80 laps.

I was now 7th in the chanpionship standings 154 points behind the leader.

Round 6 - Lowes Motor Speedway

The sixth round of series saw the trucks roll in to Lowes motorspeedway (formerly Charlotte) in North Carolina.

Another solid practise session where again I was fastest with a time of  32.555 after the 10 laps.

Qualifying almost followed the pattern of practise as I was fastest with a time of 32.465.

I led for most of the first half of this race and as it went on I began to confidently think of victory.
Just before halfway I was notified that I was halfway on fuel. I decided to pit after I had recieved my bonus points for leading the most laps.

I managed to recover to finish 4th however as has happened previously no one else stopped for fuel!

I led 28 of the 54 laps.

I was up to 5th in the standings, 106 points behind.

I set a fastest time of 32.420.

Round 5 - Kansas

Round 5 took place at the very fast Kansas Motor Speedway.

As usual it seems I had a very good practise session, topping the timing sheets with a time of 34.088.

Qualifying did not go so well as I could only manage a 33.823 which saw me on the 3rd row in 6th place.

It didn't take long fo me to move up the order in the race. I managed to hold the lead until I was informed that I didn't have enough fuel to last the race.

I stayed out front until lap 38 when I was sure that I had gained the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps. I then pitted. I came out of the pits a lap down and was making my way back to the front when all the other cars pitted as well. I was then in a good position to be able to claim another win.

I was up to 7th in the standings 108 points behind.

My fastest lap of the race was a 33.687.

I led 42 of the 67 laps.

Round 4 - Martinsville

Round 4 of the series took place on the tight 'paper clip' 0,5 mile oval that is Martinsville.

I was quckest over the 10 lap practise session with a time of 20.942.

I bettered that time in qualifying as I managed pole with a time of 20.875.

In the race, I led all 77 of the 100 laps. I didn't win the race because I got a black flag on lap 53 and another on the very last corner whilst leading.

My eventual finishing position was a sorry 17th.

I did set a best lap time of 20.508 which was my fastest of the weekend.

I was still 10th in the standings 146 points behnd the leader.

Round 3 - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Round 3 of the series took place at the very fast Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia.

I started off the race weekend with a very satisfying practise session, where after my 10 laps I was 5th fastest with a time of 31.684.

Qualifying went even better for me as I qualified on pole with a time of 31.624.

In the race I found myself in the lead after the first of the 52 laps.

Fuel consumption was the important factor in this race. On lap 23 of 52 I was informed by my pit crew that I was halfway on fuel. Now 23 is less thanhalf of 46 so I decided to pit with 15 laps remaining. I managed in the remaining laps to pass a few cars and finish 13th.

The question is why yet again did no one else have to stop for Sunoco fuel?

I ended up in 11th place in the overall standings 118 points behind the current leader.

I led 28 of the 52 laps which got me the 10 bonus points.

Round 2 - Auto Club Raceway (California)

Round 2 of the series took place at the Auto Club Speedway, previously Fontana in sunny California.

I was fastest in practise with a time 42.089 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my fom and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.155 and 42.168.

In the race I led the laps to record my first win of the season..

My best lap of the race was 42.015 which was faster than I qualified!

I was now up to 10th in the standings, 87 points adrift of the leader.

Round 1 - Daytona International Raceway

For this series I decided to leave the limit for practise as 10 laps. This seemed to be enough.

I ended up fastest after practise with a best time of 51.414 seconds.

Qualifying for this series (and all other NASCAR championships) is in a 2 lap dash format. The track is empty at this point.

I qualified in my best position for a super-speedway, 25th. My time was 51.695.

After the drop of the green flag I slowly made my way up to 12th place. At that point there was a yellow flag period. I anticipated that more fuel would be needed before the end of the race so I elected to make a pit stop. Sadly for me there were no such fuel concerns. I managed to pass 6 cars before the chequered flag. A 30th finishing position was not what I was hoping for.

My fastest lap of the race was 51.184 which was also my fastest lap of the weekend.