Saturday morning, another points event. Ran in the first group. Car felt ok, but still is a Jekyl and Hyde machine. Sometimes I think it has a personality. Simi said she was fighting the car, but it started to get better with tire pressure adjustments. I ended up liking the car, but hating the course. Come to find everyone hated the course. Never fast, never flowing, just string after string of very slow speed, super tight corners. I was patient in the corners, allowing the car to rotate and blew out a huge 1.2 second lead over my class. They were baffled. Blazing heat the afternoon, followed by final results. I was first in class, 4th overall.

Saturday afternoon we were home by 4, and we found it a good time to nap. Slept until 6, then dinner at 7, and I found myself still quite tired, and was back asleep by 9. Simi got a 2nd wind and stayed up a little later.

Sunday arrived, and it was a normal quick event in the morning, and then a single elimination round in the afternoon. The course was backwards of Sunday, and modified to be much more flowing and fast. Sunday morning, my car was the exact same as Saturday, but it was impossible to drive. It just didn't want to do anything. I fell back and was 2nd in class, loosing by a few tenths.

Sunday afternoon, the field of 64 cars were all sent out. Simi was in the group, and she drove great. The fastest 32 of the field moved on, and that was paired down to the sweet 16. My run to make it into the sweet 16 the car came alive. It blasted the course 8/10ths faster than any run, and felt PERFECT. I was the #1 seed, having a 7/10ths lead overall. At the sweet 16, instead of having #1 go against #16, names are drawn from a hat. I was #4, so I was placed in the #4 spot. So much for that reward. I had a clean, decent run, but was slower, and just scraped into the great 8. My next opponent was a very fast Ford Shelby Mustang, who was actually first overall on Saturday.

He did his run, I did mine. He told me he had his fastest run of the day against me, and we heard his name announced on the loud speaker. I thought it was over, a valiant effort, but alas, I actually won that round. His name was announced as NOT moving on to the final four. In the final four, I was matched up against another Subaru in the same class. My times were quicker, but approaching the fastest part of the course, the car pushed wide on greasy tires, and I had to let off and brake. Hit a cone for a 2 second penalty, or let off and hope the coasting around didn't destroy me too much. I let off, and my time faulted. The other Subaru advanced on a clean run. It was in the final round, where it lost to a very quick Honda, giving the Honda guy the overall victory.

I lost not because I was beaten, but because I screwed up. Final four was a great effort, but at the wrong time the car acted up and tossed me a curve ball. It really is just this thing that you never know how it's going to react. I'd like to think it was just me, but my wife drives it too, and she is in the same boat. Sometimes it punishes you, sometimes it rewards you. Predictability needs worked on, and hopefully in time I can get it there.

Thanks for reading.