Daytona. There's 20 of us, sorta like IROC. Started with a provisional,
since I wrecked my race car during practice.
I come in on lap 20, earlier than the rest, to get a splash of gas. All is
well. I hop on off and get up to speed. About 3 laps later, everyone else
pits. At the end of the cycle, I'm shuffled up to 5th. Not bad, really. I'm
checking my fuel usage, and the prediction is one lap above. I've won this
thing before. 'No problemo' I'm thinking as I assess the situation.
Skip forward, with three laps to go. I make my move from 3rd to 1st. I
should be able to hold 'em off. Shortly, I notice that my fuel prediction
number is going down. Great, this is just perfect. Maybe the guess is off,
and I'll have enough to get me to the checkered flag.
Finally, the white flag. My crew chief is confiding in me, the crowd is on
their feet. I'm chomping on my gum nervously. Victory is not far off.
[Now, with my gear setup and AI setting, we hit 207MPH down the back
stretch.]
Anyways, there we are barrelling down the backstretch. I start losing speed
slowly. Uh oh. This isn't a good sign. Please god, NOT now. Going into turn
three, I see the tach drop to zero. As you can imagine, I'm thinking 'oh
sh*t'.
I drop my ride onto the apron while my temper is getting the best of me. I
cruise past the finish line in 17th. From 1st to 17th!!
Conclusion: I tell ya, /someone/ is getting fired. Right now, I'm blaming my
fuel can man. That's right, if the pecker would've put just a little more
in, we could've won. Or, maybe I'll blame the engine dept. After all, their
lack of fuel mileage could've been the problem. Either way, come Monday, one
person on my team is getting booted. Yep, I'm just a little pissed. :-)
-Will