Hard. Fought. Win.

So this one was interesting.

Pocono North is the complete opposite of the Nurburgring. Sure, cars and pavement are involved, but that's it for similarities. A lap at Pocono North is around one mile and involves one corner of the famed NASCAR tri-oval, giving you that rare flying-Superman feeling just before Turn 1. There are only about 6 turns depending on your counting abilities, and you accumulate laps here faster than any other course we visit.

The advantage is that racers get comfortable with the track quickly and can focus on racing. Sean Curren and I took advantage of that comfort zone last weekend with NASA Northeast in the SpecE30 series.... MORE AFTER THE JUMP

On Saturday, thanks to nonstop preparation help (preparation H?) from Ray, Pete, and Justin, my little "murdered-out" Axis of Oversteer 325i was in its best shape in years. I captured my first pole position and got within a couple tenths of the track record held by the Evil Johnny Allen.

Saturday's race was a hoot. I led the first ten minutes or so and Sean followed closely, no doubt enjoying the spectacle as I heated my tires to the boiling point. As we encountered some lap traffic Sean put a slam dunk on me, taking full advantage of the tiny hole I left him on the inside Turn 2. He then proceeded to teach me every trick in his book about defensive driving as I made his life hell for the balance of the 25-minute sprint race. So it was 2nd for me and well-deserved congrats to Sean.

Sunday morning: I stood down for Practice to work on setup. Bad luck: I broke a swaybar link the previous day and would have to run without it today. As a result of that and a tire rotation, Qualifying was slower but I still had front-row seating for the race.

Sunday's race video is below (courtesy of Sean Curren to the Axis) and you can see what happened. Needless to say, it was a hoot to win in SpecE30 for the first time... much more of a thrill when it comes from a real battle.

(sorry about the music...)