Getting Ready for the National Championships. . .

            This week in racing saw Indycar at Sonoma and the NASCAR Series at Bristol.  I was able to listen to the NASCAR race on the radio for most of the evening; I actually was able to get home from the shop to watch the final 50 laps.  Carl Edwards really needed a win but came up really short after a badly different pit strategy left him out on the track with 150 lap old tires.  Denny Hamlin was able to snag the win, while a few tempers got hot during the evening.  I made it a point to at least listen to the race, since that’s where I came from (short track racing) and Bristol never disappoints.  Wednesday night the Modifieds raced at Bristol, and we had some friends go down to compete.  Ryan Newman indirectly took out half the field when he couldn’t hang onto his machine off of turn 4.  The ensuing wreck that resulted from people trying to miss him had the front stretch clogged shut while cars got airborne.  I’m glad Newman has the time and money to cost other teams the remainder of their season.  A few of the teams were pretty low budget, just to make a show like that was a big deal, and some of them left with junk racecars.  Indycar was out in wine country, Sonoma California.  The race was dominated by Will Power, with Ryan Briscoe ending up with the win.  The race was actually pretty boring for the first two thirds, but all of the sudden things started changing and happening to jumble everything up.  The ever quick-witted Marco Andretti had another DNF- and while being interviewed afterwards admitted he was trying to blow the engine up so the team didn’t get a penalty for changing engines heading into Baltimore- The pit reporter then informed him of the rules and let him know that an engine with a known problem could be changed without penalty- though I’m sure he already knew that.  Alex Tagliani and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a bit of a run-in in the closing laps as well, Hunter-Reay has seen himself free fall from the championship lead in the last couple of races.  

            As for me, these past couples of days have been very productive.  I spent most of the weekend putting the engine and driveline back into the car.  One of my very good friends came by the shop to give me a hand.  Adam was one of the first guys that helped me each week back when I ran the short tracks.  It was kind of like old times, except for the fact that he has a son now.  I have to give a special thank you to Adam’s boy- Noah- he was very good all day, and I hope he is a future crew member; he certainly has potential.  Anyway, the engine and driveline is back in, ready to go.  I found a couple of things that needed attention, so I was glad to able to address them.  A few things need touched up, but nothing really major.

            I look forward to being able to spend a little bit of down time over the holiday before we head out to Mid-Ohio.  In one week, I will be writing this blog from a hotel room in Lexington, Ohio.  I look forward to getting out there and getting the pits setup and then getting out on the track.  It’s only an 8 hour haul for us, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

            We have a big unveiling of sorts happening next Wednesday as well, we will be launching a new version of my website.  OC2 Interactive, one of new sponsors for the 2012 season, is currently putting the finishing touches on it as we speak.  Take a look at it next Wednesday and then give them a call for any web or mobile based work you might need done.  They specialize in high quality work with a time and cost efficient mindset- in fact that’s their motto- “When you absolutely, positively need to have it done right, on-time, and in-budget.”  Check them out- www.oc2interactive.com
            It’s going to be a busy week, and arguable the biggest race of my career- to date.  It is just another race, though.  Its going to start with the green flag and end with the checkers- it’s what’s in between is what counts.  In addition to the new website, we will be blowing up Twitter while we are out there, follow me @justinonderko.  The site will have links to Twitter and Facebook, so check us out.  Happy Labor Day to everyone, I hope it is a safe and enjoyable day for all, and I will see you out at Mid-Ohio for the NASA National Championships!  Till next week. . .

A Little Bit Of Rain. . .

So the engines were alive at Indy again this past weekend.  It was the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix.  NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray was able to put his Daytona Prototype on the pole, but it was the Starworks Motorsports duo of Sebastian Bourdias and Alex Popow who brought home the trophy.  Andy Lally and John Potter took GT honors.  The only things wrong with this event was, it was run on Friday afternoon.  I can’t imagine the ratings were very high, and that is a shame, because it was an excellent race.  It rained very hard for the moments leading up to the start, and then cleared off as the cars got on the track, but Mother Nature kept it interesting by raining about 45 minutes later.  It was a very entertaining race to watch, and I loved watching the drivers in the rain.

           I love racing in the rain, for 2 reasons I guess.  First- and this is plainly economical- the race goes on, no matter what.  Second- Rain is the great equalizer.  If you watched the Brickyard GP, you saw that in the rain; the GT cars were faster than the DP cars- Speed isn't always fast in the rain.  The rain separates the true racers from the pretenders.  When I attended Bertil Roos- it rained quite a bit.  So for me, the first time on a road course was in the rain.

            Its funny, most guys hate the rain.  I mean- it is scary as anything you’ll do.  135 mph and you can’t see 30 feet in front of you.  The brakes lock up right away, and the car pushes and twitches all the time and you can’t get on the power hard.  Its frustrating, mentally draining, physically exhausting- and that’s why I love it.

            Throw the set-ups out the window (for the most part), and all your onboard telemetry doesn’t do you any good, its just you and your racecar.  Don’t get me wrong- its you and your racecar all the time- but there is something different when it rains.  I will never forget what Dennis Machio (owner/instructor of Bertil Roos School) said to me- “Constant evaluation of the track and the conditions- the track is never the same lap to lap; even corner to corner.  Its either getting worse or its getting better- almost never does it stay the same.  A driver that can accurately assess the conditions and make the necessary changes is going to be fast.”  You know what?  He’s right.  I hope it pours at Nationals.

            As for me, I am fulfilling family obligations this week/weekend.  My sister-in-law is getting married out of town, so my wife and I are helping her get ready for that.  While I haven’t been in the shop- that doesn’t mean progress isn’t being made.  The guys have been hard at work and we think we have a good handle on what happened at Pocono- and by "we" I mean "they" because they're doing the work.  They've gone back to the drawing board and are confident that when we roll into Summit Point we will have it fixed.

            So, when I get back in town- I’m going to head over to the shop and check in with everybody; but until then I’m helping my family out.  Remember, follow me @justinonderko, and check out the website (www.justinonderko.com)- we have some new video up from Pocono.  Until next week. . .