So there I was, hanging upside-down, looking at the grass through a shattered windshield. Held in only by my harness, and clearly out of communication with the crew, all I could think of was the points.

Yup, Driver's Championship Points. As in those Travis and I would be losing, since it was pretty clear that our shiny new Civic wouldn't be getting any on account of it sitting on its lid at the far reaches of Lime Rock's Big Bend.

We'd tested our new matte-black Honda Civic Si the two Fridays prior at Mosport, and although it's not got as much power as some of the other cars in the Street Tuner class, (Crew Chief) Ray Lee and the boys had clearly built a well-balanced and nicely drivable car. Given that Lime Rock's a momentum track, we had high hopes of a good finish that would keep Travis and I up front in the Driver's Championship.

The Memorial Day schedule doesn't allow for a ton of track time, and with nearly 50 cars on track, there was very little time for setting clean laps. Qualifying was shortened due to a competitor off-track, and like a lot of the usual front-running teams, we found ourselves mid-pack at the start.

I was able to make up some places at the start of the race, and started to move through traffic. It was a large field, no doubt, as team-mate Trevor Hopwood was experiencing. He was doing a great job, using his local track knowledge to best advantage having started at the back of the pack. When he got behind me, I let him by and we worked the traffic together for a while. Kevin York, who'd started a couple of places ahead of me, was also in the mix, just a few spots back. Jeremy Willard, meanwhile, was doing well before sustaining some damage which necessitated a quick trip to the pits.

A couple of cars got between Trevor and me, and I ended up in a good battle with one of APR's GTIs. Unfortunately, we came upon a lapped car as I was passing for position going into Big Bend. Now, those GTIs are pretty impressive pieces of kit, as you'll know if you've seen one up close. Beautifully prepared, they definitely had the measure of our Civic on the straights. So, when the VeeDub got caught out (on the downhill turn coming onto the front straight) by the car that was about to be lapped, there was a good opportunity to pass.

Unfortunately, the lapped car felt it would be good to be a part of our battle, and closed the door as I completed the pass down the inside of corner one. The contact sent the Civic into a pretty lurid barrel roll, flipping five times before coming to rest not far from the tire wall.


(photo credit: kptyson)

Time slows down when something like that happens. I remember realizing that the car was going to flip over, taking my hands off the wheel and crossing them across my chest, relaxing my legs and neck, and counting the rolls: one (bang!), two (bang!), three (I wonder how far that tire wall is, now; it'd be kind of bad to hit it -- bang!), four (stop). Apparently, I'd missed the first roll while I pulled my arms in. Three seconds of action felt like 30, and I got on the radio to let the guys know I was okay but the car was not. Unfortunately, the radio was out, and I was babbling into the ether.

The corner workers and emergency crew were amazing. By the time I'd decided how to balance myself on the steering wheel and roll bar so as not to fall into the ample windscreen area when I unbuckled, they were there. They calmly unplugged my radio as I crawled out of the turtled Civic, and took me back to the medical center. I was glad that we drove down the pit lane so that I could wave to our guys and let them know I was okay. My dad's a member of the crew, and it was important to make sure he saw me!

I'm really, really fortunate to have come through a crash so violent unscathed. I was able to get out of the car, go to medical, and be back on the pit wall calling strategy in less than thirty minutes. I would have liked to calling strategy for Travis, doing his stint in the Civic, but not this time. So thanks to our amazing crew, especially Ivan and Petr, who built the Civic from the ground up, and to King Motorsports for their work on the cage (which obviously did its job).

Lime Rock is a challenging track to pass on, and I think it's important (especially when the cars are a bit out of order at the start) for us drivers to realize when it's worth protecting a position and when to allow a pass so you can tuck in behind. This is especially true for the first-stint guys. It seems foolhardy to slow each other down, with the leader not far behind, when you would likely be faster if you swapped positions. This isn't a thought that would work if you were in a sprint race, but we're not. KONI Challenge is endurance racing, and I think that's worth remembering, especially for the guys getting lapped.



The wreck means that Travis and I have our work cut out for us if we're to challenge for the Driver's Championship, as we've fallen out of the top ten. Last year I had similar ups and downs, and still managed to finish second, so we know we're not out yet, by a long shot!

Our team-mates Christian Miller and Kevin York finished sixth (again), which puts them second in the Championship, and Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood jumped to third place with their seventh-position finish. I'm thrilled for all four guys, and have to throw out kudos to Christian, who drove an inspired second stint.



There's no way that we'll be able to build a new Civic in time for Mosport on Father's Day weekend (June 14th), so Travis and I will be driving last year's RSX (which had been sold, but not paid for, which has turned out to be pretty fortunate!). The team knows this car, and although I'm saddened to see our first Civic meeting its demise so soon, I think the RSX may be just the ticket to get Travis and I back in the hunt with our team-mates.

We'll see if I'm right in just a few weeks.

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