The next driver change was at 11:35 p.m. Robbie got out and helped his Dad, Rowdy #2 (Mike Poupart) get strapped in. The tires were checked and the truck was re-fueled. As Mike was going out, the team apologized that they would be busy for a little while because they were going to watch the car chosed as the People's Curse get crushed. I only got a pic of the crowd. The car selected was the #68 Mazda Miata - the cow car and it was pretty uneventful, or so I was told. Robbie took the headset and communicated with Mike throughout his stint. He looked really fast and was racing closely with the #04 white RX7. In fact, he even bumped him in the right rear at the wheel after making a pass on him as they both launched going over the "hump" together.
Mike was shown the "meatball" flag to him to come in because the bumper was hanging a bit on the driver's side. His stint was over at this point anyway. He got out of the truck in our paddock and the jack went underneath to get it up in the air to check stuff. An official came over the made them stop and put the truck back on the ground and bring it to impound. Mike was also required to go with the truck as he was speeding in the pit. Impound would be for 30 minutes from 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. At 12:42, we were released and told in a clear, firm tone to "go fix your bumper." Whoo-hoo, only a 12 minute penalty. I think maybe they like us!
The team took the truck to the fueling station first and then went to the paddock to fix the bumper and get Rowdy #1 (Chris Wilken) in the driver's seat. We only lost about 20 minutes between the time Mike came in to when Chris went back out. The next set of timing sheets came out at 12:37 p.m. We were up to 12th place with 277 laps and a total race time of 8:44:24.158. Mike had the new fastest lap for the team with a 1:19.535!
We couldn't figure out how the Cajun Rice Burners (our friends from Baton Rouge) were increasing their lead over us when they were in the penalty box so many times today. We still trailed them by 5 laps and the leaders were 38 laps ahead of us. Rowdy #3 (Phil LaHaye) was up next at 1:50 p.m. Phil ran clean. He had been a "lonely goat" for about 24 hours from the time of his fender bender yesterday to Mike's bump-n-go today.
The latest timing sheets came out at 2:00 p.m. showing us in 13th place with 317 laps. Our total race time was 10:13:41.009 and Mike still had the fastest lap time for our team. Phil was due to come in about 2:50 p.m. and the rest of the team was ready in the re-fueling station. Yellow flags came out everywhere and it was a full course yellow. Standing on top of the motor home to signal Phil at the appointed time, I let him go by me once and on the 2nd time by I gave him the sign to come in. The radios weren't working by this time (batteries dead) and I had to scramble down the ladder from the top of the motor home and run through the pits to make sure someone was waiting to direct Phil to the refueling area. Our team was on the ball! Dennis was already there waiting.
The last driver swap of the day took place and it was time for Rowdy #4 (Mark Summers) to drive. Another set of timing sheets came out at 3:16 p.m. and we were scored in 9th place with 365 laps. Our total race time was 11:30:39.446. We were now ahead of the Cajun Rice Burners by 3 laps, but the leaders were now 50 laps ahead of us. The checkered flag finally waved at 4:20 p.m. signaling the end of the race. Our total race time was 12:30:43.770 for 403 laps and we finished in 9th place!
Time to go to the awards ceremony before we finish packing up and loading the truck and golf cart on the trailer.
~Patty
Mike was shown the "meatball" flag to him to come in because the bumper was hanging a bit on the driver's side. His stint was over at this point anyway. He got out of the truck in our paddock and the jack went underneath to get it up in the air to check stuff. An official came over the made them stop and put the truck back on the ground and bring it to impound. Mike was also required to go with the truck as he was speeding in the pit. Impound would be for 30 minutes from 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. At 12:42, we were released and told in a clear, firm tone to "go fix your bumper." Whoo-hoo, only a 12 minute penalty. I think maybe they like us!The team took the truck to the fueling station first and then went to the paddock to fix the bumper and get Rowdy #1 (Chris Wilken) in the driver's seat. We only lost about 20 minutes between the time Mike came in to when Chris went back out. The next set of timing sheets came out at 12:37 p.m. We were up to 12th place with 277 laps and a total race time of 8:44:24.158. Mike had the new fastest lap for the team with a 1:19.535!
We couldn't figure out how the Cajun Rice Burners (our friends from Baton Rouge) were increasing their lead over us when they were in the penalty box so many times today. We still trailed them by 5 laps and the leaders were 38 laps ahead of us. Rowdy #3 (Phil LaHaye) was up next at 1:50 p.m. Phil ran clean. He had been a "lonely goat" for about 24 hours from the time of his fender bender yesterday to Mike's bump-n-go today.
The latest timing sheets came out at 2:00 p.m. showing us in 13th place with 317 laps. Our total race time was 10:13:41.009 and Mike still had the fastest lap time for our team. Phil was due to come in about 2:50 p.m. and the rest of the team was ready in the re-fueling station. Yellow flags came out everywhere and it was a full course yellow. Standing on top of the motor home to signal Phil at the appointed time, I let him go by me once and on the 2nd time by I gave him the sign to come in. The radios weren't working by this time (batteries dead) and I had to scramble down the ladder from the top of the motor home and run through the pits to make sure someone was waiting to direct Phil to the refueling area. Our team was on the ball! Dennis was already there waiting.
The last driver swap of the day took place and it was time for Rowdy #4 (Mark Summers) to drive. Another set of timing sheets came out at 3:16 p.m. and we were scored in 9th place with 365 laps. Our total race time was 11:30:39.446. We were now ahead of the Cajun Rice Burners by 3 laps, but the leaders were now 50 laps ahead of us. The checkered flag finally waved at 4:20 p.m. signaling the end of the race. Our total race time was 12:30:43.770 for 403 laps and we finished in 9th place!
Time to go to the awards ceremony before we finish packing up and loading the truck and golf cart on the trailer.
~Patty
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