Race day had arrived! I was very excited to see my project finally take to the oval. This was the day I would decide which, if either, was more fun; driving or building. I would also decide if I like racing enough to stick with it or just sell the car, at least being able to say "I tried racing."

Colby's Auto Center hauled the car for me, as I did not yet have a trailer. As I pulled in to the pit gate road, I stared at my car and thought, "Wow! I'm actually going to do this!"

"Initiation" time came pretty quick, as a few of the regulars came over to check out my ride.
"Jeez, this IS stock!" said one.
"Look at the tires" another said as he laughed.
I soon came to realize that these guys were good people, and the ribbing was just their way of getting to know me. Soon they were offering some tips to "the new guy."
**Tech note: I ran with no performance modifications... totally stock! No camber on the right front tire, etc. I even had "less than stock" tires (stock for this car is P185/60R14, and I ran P155/80R13 !)

After signing in at the pit tower, it was back to the car to wait. I was a little nervous, but not nearly as much as I had anticipated.

"Mini-stocks, your first practice will be in five minutes," the loudspeaker trumpeted. The moment had come. After taking an eternity to belt up and get situated, I pulled out and drove to the backstretch road where cars line up. Again, the loudspeaker: "Mini-stocks, the track is yours." I followed with "Here I go," heard only by myself.

I had never even walked on the track before, let alone driven a race car on it. My priority was to get a feel for the track, without causing anyone else to wreck. I drove the car over the hump and out onto the track. It looked like about 5 or 6 others out there for the first practice run. It seemed like they were already up to speed, but the flagman was waving the yellow. How fast would they be when the green flag waved?! After a couple more laps under caution, the green was thrown and we were off. Immediately I knew this was something I wanted to do more than once.

Looking from mirror to mirror and side to front frantically, I ripped around the track watching for others and pointing my car into a nearly constant left turn. In reality I was quite slow, due to running VERY stock (80 series tires, no camber tilt, catalytic converter, lower octane fuel, etc.) A swarm of bees approached from the rear. I couldn't yet see them, but I heard the menacing sound as it grew closer and closer. Then they appeared in my mirrors, and before I realized, they were past. I had held my line, even slowed a little, and survived my first time of being passed.

The practice session had gone well, as did the following two practices. I had taken the edge off and my nerves were well in check. Chuck and Charlie Colby were very helpful, offering advice as well as use of their tools. They also dispensed some much appreciated words of wisdom, which further eased my mind.

Heat races were next. I was excited to find out some of my co-workers had shown up to see me race. Eric walked up to my car while I was lined up for the heat. I was still a little nervous, and I probably sounded like a fruitcake to him. He was as excited as I was! Scott and Missy were in the regular stands, and Scott brought his video camera to capture the event.

Starting at the rear (rookie rule), I took the green for the heat. Already I was falling behind the pack! I did start to put the hammer down a little more this time, but these guys were blowing my doors off. They have their cars set up so much better. It will be fun trying to tune mine in to be competitive with them.

I finished the heat without incident. But I was also either one or two laps down on a 10 or 15 lap race! Going around the turns felt like I had no tires, just bare metal rims. The only reason I knew I had tires was from hearing the intense howling while cornering. I wasn't able to describe to the Colby's how I was handling, as I was too busy driving to remember how it felt.

After watching some of the other races, my division was called to line up for our feature race. One thing I did not like was having to wait so long lined up on the backstretch road. Ah, finally, here we go.

Having survived three practice sessions and the heat race, I decided to go all out on the feature. I have never pushed a car as much as I did in the feature. I did still back off and hold to the inside when "the swarm" came up behind me. Once they were by I got back on the throttle hard.

After being put two laps down, the feature race ended and my racing debut was finished. Strangely, I later found out I had not finished last! I do remember seeing a couple of other cars tangle and stop in the infield; I'm not sure if they went back racing or not. I also remember another car breaking down and stopping on turn 4. These factors led to me finishing 11th out of 14 in my first race! I didn't do well enough for a trophy, but I did earn my first $15 in racing. I also earned 32 points (sadly, they don't count because I was not a member.)

My job was not finished. I walked up to the tech shack to congratulate the top 3 finishers. That is the type of competitor I want to be- a good sportsman and friend with my fellow racers. This night was definitely a success for me. Thank you to all my family, friends, and helpers for making it all happen!