August 20, 2011

Mandy’s Monthly!- Kville Recap

I believe in my husband…whether he starts last or on the pole of the race I think he can win every race, but the one race you dream of adding to your resume is the Knoxville Nationals….and it was sooo close.
After the A Main hotlaps on Saturday of the 51st Knoxville Nationals Daryn was 18th quick out of 20 cars.  When the guys asked him what to change to make the car better his response was, “I know it sounds crazy but its driveable…”  He was very calm and relaxed considering it was the biggest race of the year!  I was thinking to myself well our realistic goal in attending the Nationals was to make the show and we did that with a great qualifying effort and prelim race but I also wanted Daryn to at least get a top ten.  We were starting 5th in the big show and after falling back on the initial start Daryn started passing cars each lap.  I then grew very nervous…..I was thinking we have a chance!   He was the fastest car on the racetrack and catching that #15 car lap by lap and then the red flag for fuel….this was actually a good thing for us as we had a right rear going down.  We were all excited about the restart and Daryn  actually took the lead on lap 28….it was amazing if only he could have beat Schatz to turn one maybe just maybe we could have held on.   After a few laps of gaining ground again Daryn came out of turn 2 and hit the back straightway fence which caused us to get passed by a couple of other cars.  It was a great effort and awesome driving by my husband…if I do say so myself.  We ended the night in the 5th position which is remarkable, but to be that close and actually feel like you have a chance was unbelievable!!
The finale at Knoxville was great and I can’t wait till next year!
A Recap of the Week….
We began our Kville stay with the 360 Nationals.  Our car was super-fast all weekend but a bad qualifying lap put us in a deep hole for the entire weekend.   The boys (Sean, Daryn, and Glenno) worked long hours to get another car ready to race on Saturday for the 410 All Star show and to get the Knoxville Paint Scheme ready.  We started 9th in the 360 B main ran 2nd….actually passed for the lead and then started last in the A main and ran 9th. We were quick time in the 410 class and started 2nd but had a dnf due to a rear end  and a cross being out of the u joint…..this actually happened 3 times while in Kville.
Taylor really enjoyed her Kville as she spent time with Mimi & Poppy during the 360 Nationals.  She liked visiting Poppy’s trailer and hanging out with them.  During the 410 Nationals she spent time with Nana & Papa and enjoyed every minute.  She swam, worked on the race car, visited the tshirt tailer, rode her tricycle and got a ton of new toys from The Daytons & Meghan.  She enjoyed entertaining everyone in the suite by singing the National Anthem and obviously had a ton of people to play with.  Thanks to everyone who helped with her…I could not do that week without help.  THANKS!!   Needless to say its back to reality for Taylor which has been a wake- up call for her!
Daryn flew to PA this weekend and we stayed home …..he won the first night back at Williams Grove! Yeah!
Anyway…I wanted to share my Kville excitement with everyone and I can’t wait to watch it on SPEED !
Chat Soon!