Yeah, I know...wrong title ("Dog" Day Afternoon), but it was in the afternoon that the darkness loomed.
Race #3 if the Southwest Regional Cup Series was today at NTK. Everything started out well for Hunter. He qualified in 2nd position with a great NTK time of 41.04 seconds. Then for his pre-final heat, the 4th place driver pushed Hunter and himself out in the lead and they stayed there! So Hunter finished 1st and was on the pole for the final. It was an awesome race and a fight to the finish!
But the RACE was during the final heat. Hunter took off like a flash and held the lead for quite a while. But he was finally passed on a turn and fought like crazy to get the lead back. The top 3 drivers were so close together they sounded like one engine. Needless to say, I was just a little stressed out! LOL! But the checkered flag flew and we finished 2nd place! GREAT RACE!!
Then the darkness fell. Tech time. Scott and I weren't concerned about passing post-race tech inspection - we had all the proper equipment and the things we might have been concerned about were good.
But. Yes, there's a but.
The clutch drum - that is the little round covering over the clutch - was .7 or .07 of some sort of measurement too wide on the inside. This means Hunter will not be awarded 2nd place awards or points and he was disqualified for this race. Disappointed does not begin to describe the feeling we had. We were crushed. How do we tell a kid that raced his heart out, raced so smoothly, running faster times than he ever had, racing with more experienced drivers and finishes that high up, "oh yeah, about that."
Lessons for Pit Crew Parents learned, and legal clutch drum borrowed for tomorrow. But in every dark day, there comes light. On our way home, Hunter said, "I can't wait until tomorrow's race. It's going to be great!"
Wow. Thank you, God. I needed that ray of sunshine.
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