Round 7 - Phoenix International Raceway - Basha's' Supermarkets 200

The 7th round of the Championship took place in the Arizona desert at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Practice went very well as my time of 29.112 was the fastest posted during the session.

My good form carried over into qualifying as I was able to win pole position with a time of 29.355.

In the race I was always in the top 2. I led for 64 of the 92 laps. I stopped for fuel on lap 45 under yellow flag conditions.
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My best lap time in the race was 29.207, just off my fastest lap of the weekend

The win took my 173 points closer to the top of the Championship standings.

Round 6 - Texas Motor Speedway

Round 6 took place at one of the fastest tracks on the championship circuit, Texas Motor Speedway.

The race weekend started well as I was fastest straight out of the box in practice with a time of 33.702 after the mandatory 10 laps.

I was a tad slower in qualifying but still managed to claim pole position with a time of 33.757.

The race was hard going. I received two black flags before the half way point on laps 40 and 43! The fuel stop went well on lap 45 and then I settled back to move back through the pack.

My efforts were cut short on lap 59 when I was pushed into the wall which smashed my suspension resulting in only my 3rd DNF of my Nascar career.

My best lap of the race was a 33.574 which was my fastest of the race weekend.

I led 33 laps.

I was 12th in the standings 208 points behind.

Round 5 - Bristol Sharpe Mini 300

The question as the trucks rolled into Bristol was whether the recent downturn in my form continue at Nascar's toughest short track.

With a lot of cars on track at one time setting a fast time in practice proved difficult but midway through the session I managed to set the fastest time (17.208).

In qualifying I managed to get pole position with a time of 16.843.

In the race I led 62 of the 134 laps. This time I managed to stop successfully for fuel on lap 66 however driving back though the pack I received the black flag on lap 118. I managed to recover somewhat to finish 13th. 

My fastest racing lap was 16.832 which was faster than both my practice and qualifying times.

I was now 6th in the championship 117 points behind the leader.

Round 4 - Atlanta 300

Round 4 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 4th fastest with a time of 31.542.

Qualifying went not very well for me as I qualified seenth with a time of 31.567.

In the race I found myself in the top 2 after the first of the 88 laps.

Fuel consumption was the important factor in this race. On lap 27 I was informed by my pit crew that I was halfway on fuel. Now 27 is less than half of 88 so I decided to pit with 61 laps remaining. I managed in those laps to pass a few cars and get into the lead before having to pit again on lap 81 for fuel!.

I did manage to claw my way back up the field to finish 13th.

I was now in 5th place in the overall standings 84 points behind..

I led 9 of the 88 laps which got me the 5 bonus points.

Round 3 - Sam's Town 300 Las Vegas

I was on good form and feeling confident of a good result at the very fast Las Vegas Motor Speedway when the Nationwide cars arrived on 05/04/2014 for round 3 of the series.

The 10 laps practice session went very well as I was fastest after the 10 laps with a time of 32.686.

Qualifying was slightly disappointing as I could only manage a time of 32.658 which gave me an 8th place starting position.

This race could have been  a disaster for me.

It was another fuel induced set of problems for me today.

I stopped for fuel and tyres on lap 32 and then started to fisght my way back to the front of the pack.

I was on course to achieve this when I had to stop for fuel again on lap 62. With 28 laps to go I still had a chance. I threw that chance away when the dreaded black flag came out on lap 70. For the next 20 laps I managed to fight back to 10th place.

My fastest lap of the race was a 32.617.

I'd now slipped to 5th in the championship 44 points behind.

Round 2 - Stater Bro's 300 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 practice with a time 41.962 after my 10 laps.

In qualifying I was able to reproduce my form and duly qualified in pole with times of 42.028 and 41.950.

In the race I managed to be around the front until lap 21 when I stopped for fuel. I had to stop again on lap 22 because I was caught speeding in the pit lane! I then made my way back to the front only to pit again on lap 53 for fuel because I didn't take on enough the first time!

Not to worry though I still managed to fight my way to the lead and eventually win the race.

My best lap of the race was 41.915 which was faster than I qualified!

I was 3rd in the standings, 66 points behind the leader..

Round 1 - Camping World 300, Daytona, Florida

For this series I decided to leave the limit for practice as 10 laps.

I ended up fastest after practice with a best time of 51.289 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 20th. My time was 51.725.

I slowly made my way towards the front however when I went for the lead I caused the second yellow of the race. This gave me my first black flack warning of the series.

I managed to get an actual black flag when just after I had pitted for fuel I accidentally overtook a car under the yellow line.

I managed to climb back to 13th place with the help of the other cars pitting.

My luck ran out however when I lost 10 positions on the last two laps as their tire advantage started to pay dividends.

My fastest lap of the race was 51.831 somewhat slower than I'd done in practice or qualifying..