TNT - April 2nd

My first Tuesday Night Thunder at Speedway Indoor karting.

Result: 2nd place in the F Main

This was my first time driving in Tuesday night thunder. Hot laps was my first time on track so I was trying every line I could to get a good feel for the kart. The slick track is completely different from anything I've driven before, but it was a blast! I ended up 7th fastest in hot laps, only one tenth off of the fastest driver.

Next up was the heat races. I started 4th in heat #1. I got strapped in and they plugged me into the radio so I could hear the race director. This was the first time I've ever had someone in my ear on track, which took a second to get used to. We rolled off , "green next time by." I held back coming up to the line and got a good run down to the first turn. I was on the outside, which I had found to have no grip compared to the inside, and I needed all of the speed I could get going into the turn. I held my position on the outside, barely, before we all went trundling down to turns 3-4. I saw the 2nd and 3rd place karts touch, so I darted to the outside. As they collided and lost speed, I snuck by on the outside; taking 2nd place and running with it. As we pounded out laps, I was closing the gap to the leader little by little, but the checkered was out before I could catch him. Going from 4th to 2nd scored me "passing points" that would guarantee me a good spot in the qualifiers.

I got onto the front row of the first qualifier, unfortunately, I was starting on the outside. As I made my way to the grid the announcers said, "In second is Sean Birkle, he's fantastic behind the camera, let's see how he does in this qualifier" I strapped in and we rolled off, "green next time by."I got the best run I could on the outside to the first turn, but as soon as we got there, I was stuck on the outside. The inside row was nose to tail and there was nothing I could do to defend while sliding around on the high side. I wasn't able to get down to the inside until I was back in 6th and by then there was nothing I could do but put in the best laps I could. I stayed right on the heels of the pack but nobody made a mistake and I finished 6th. This lost me points going into the finals.

My performances earlier were enough to get me on the pole, but I was down in the F main. Thankfully I was starting on the inside so I was confident that I could win and take the transfer spot into the E main. However, I was not planning on having Chase Jones, one of the fastest drivers in TNT and previous A-Main winner. He had to start at the back, so I had a shot. "Front row roll off, green next time by" I covered the middle on the run to the first turn, threw it in an came out still leading. The karts behind me got brave going into the next turn which allowed Jones to slide into second only 2 karts back from me, darn. I didn't have a chance to run away and it was only a matter of time before he threw it down my inside. Sure enough, a few laps later he made his move, I made an attempt to cross him over but I didn't have enough exit speed and I had to settle for second.

You can watch it all here!

Overall, I had a great time and I loved the competition!

Stay tuned for my next race, KRA #1. This time on the real race track!