My race report...
The first start, I was fine...but it was clear that garris was going to run similar laps as me by flying down the straights and running extremely slow through the turns. I was leaving plenty of space in hopes he would get a rhythm going and disappear.
Second start, I was again placed near garris. On the second hairpin, it must have been lag because I got hit hard in the left rear corner literally out of nowhere. dabney posted his view. Here is my view...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXkgP8sQjII It must be lag because although garris had power...his car moved way too fast for that to be a driver mistake. At the end of the straight I was afraid for my life when he came up the inside...his accidental pit was probably what saved me.
Laps 2-7, I was keeping on the tail of a group of faster cars including Cujo. Pyxen was in the group too but beached his car on the final turn. On lap 7, in his effort to catch back up, he went flying across the nose of my car in the final hairpin. It scared the crap out of me like an effing deer jumping out of the woods. Gave me significant suspension damage which slowed me down about .7 to 1.2 seconds per lap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRNA2aodFKk
Lap 34, Snoopy caught up to me after making his first pit stop. I slowed him down for a lap or 2 then I drafted him for a few laps. I might have been able to keep pace if I wasn't on bald tires with damage on 2 corners.
Lap 37, I took my only pit stop. When I came out, I was right behind Cujo and Sl3ight who were battling neck and neck.
Laps 38-50ish, Cujo eventually got around Sl3ight and pulled away enough to take the draft away from sl3ight. I was content with following sl3ight for several laps but I could tell his tires were wearing down as he drifted further and further wide through the hairpins. Once the lap times got below what I could run safely on my own I started making some moves. I made a turn 1 pass and held on until the straight but he was close enough to draft pass. A few laps later I tried it again and made sure I was precise on my entrance and exit speeds to each of the infield corners. I pulled enough gap that he couldn't complete the pass at the end of the straight. I nailed the final turn at my target speed and by turn 1 of the next lap my gap was big enough to prevent him from drafting.
Laps 50-60, Cujo was burning up his tires and I was slowly nibbling at the gap between us. I caught up but it would take a significant mistake by him for me to pull away. I think he went wide on turn 1 and that's how I pulled away from him.
Laps 60-75, I ran into some lap traffic that I thought might have been snoopy but each time it was someone else. I tried my best to put down quick laps but by about lap 75 I was just content with a 5th place finish.
Conclusion:
Tires played a huge role in my finish. I stuck it out with the damage in an effort not to lose any positions. The second part of the race, I ran consistent mid 1:10-1:11 laps and kept my tires cool. That was all I needed to get around a few faster cars.
I might have been able to run alongside snoopy had I avoided damage...but i would have been stealing his draft to do so. I think we finished around 30-40 seconds apart...which is close to the time I lost due to damage...but of course if I were on his tail he might not have gone with a 2 pit strategy which would have stretched that gap by another 30 seconds.
. No harm done on my end.
