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My worst qualifying ever, a kid who almost wrecked me, and a race plan that was basically "don't crash and wait for everybody else to."
Hey guys, Chad here with Midlife Classic Cars. This was round one of the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, sponsored by Cook Out. And get this — if you brought a Cook Out cup, you got in free as a spectator. Pretty cool deal.
I'll be honest. This was not my weekend. But it made for a good story, so let me tell you how it went.
I love getting to the track early and watching all the teams set up. Everybody's garage is a little different. I did most of my work the day before — cleaned the car, got it prepped, knocked out everything that needed doing. So all I had left for race day was installing my light system and checking my rear end fluid. That's it.
One thing about my class you might not know. I run a Charger, and Chargers don't have to turn in our tires every night. The other classes do. That's why you see all those guys rolling around with tire carts — they have to drop their tires off and go pick them back up in the morning. Little stuff like that is part of the fun of being out here.
There was this one team, the T2 car, running plain masking tape for their numbers. That took me right back to when I first started racing. I had masking tape on my car too. I kind of loved seeing that.
Okay. Qualifying. Let me just tell on myself.
First, I pulled way too close to the car in front of me. They stalled. Then I choked and stalled right behind them. Couldn't get going. By the time I got the car moving again, I'd missed two laps. Then I overdrove the rest of it. Some of the worst driving I've done all day.
And it got worse. I'm pulling off the track and some kid darts right in front of my car. I had to swerve and hit the brakes. So now I'm sitting there cussing to myself, mad about the kid — and I drive right past Tech without even looking. They were waving me in. I go back around, they're yelling at me, and the old man at Tech chews me out. Fair enough. I should've been paying attention instead of being in my own world.
I filmed this part before the race, so I had no idea if it would work. Here was my whole plan: when the green flag drops, don't go.
I'm serious. I figured I'd just keep it in second gear and cruise. Because I'd put money on these guys wrecking in the very first turn. Chargers, B main, first turn — somebody's going to ball it up. So instead of diving into the mess, I'd hang back, take it easy, and pick up a few free spots while everybody else sorted out the wreck.
Sometimes the smartest move in racing is just not being the guy who crashes.
Real talk — this really was not my weekend. I'm still fighting the car to get it to rotate coming out of the turns. That's the thing I've got to fix. My entry is getting better. It's the exit that keeps killing me.
Getting more exit out of the corners, and fresh rubber. I've been running on old tires — in the Charger series they don't take our tires at night, so mine already had a race weekend and a couple practice weekends on them. New set is coming, and I think it'll wake the car up.
I'll be honest, I've got a real question for anybody who knows what they're doing. Am I putting enough input into the wheel? Am I turning it far enough to the left? Sometimes I think I should be turning more, but when I do too much, the car spins. You can even see it in the video — the red stripe on the top of my wheel is caught off to the right. If you've got tips, drop them in the comments. I'm trying to learn.
I have to miss the next race. My father is having eye surgery, so I'm going to be with him instead of at the track. If you don't mind, send some positive vibes and prayers his way. Family first, always.
A few picks off our shelves — tied to what the car world is going crazy over right now.
Like the racing? This one goes way back. It's the full story of how the Grand Prix car came to be. A great racing read for the shelf.
Mopar prices are going nuts right now. A Hemi 'Cuda just sold for $3.3 million. This book shows you how to build your own small-block, step by step.
Corvettes are hot right now with all the ZR1 talk. This is the full Haynes manual, so you can work on a C7 yourself.
Thanks for hanging out, guys. Like and subscribe over on YouTube, and if you've got driving tips for me, I'll take all the help I can get — I've got to beat these kids eventually. Sign up for the Midlife Classic Cars newsletter and look us up on social, just search Midlife Classic Cars. See you at the track. — Chad
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