I’m 6-foot-4, a size not exactly tailor-made for stock cars. It took me about three minutes to get inside the damn thing. Once inside, some guy told me I didn’t have to worry about shifting to fourth gear because the car already was in fourth, and a successful rolling start — lifting clutch and pressing gas when prompted, or something — would relieve me of any further clutch/shifting duties.
I felt great through two laps. I was sweating up a storm, but I was going fast and the woman on the radio was silent, which was a good sign. I got my tire replaced and went back out for a few more laps, but the trauma from my spin-out rendered me gun-shy. The bravery I had on my first two laps was replaced by a “let’s get this thing over with” mentality, and it showed on the score sheet., nearly four seconds slower than 13th-place Leroy Irvin. Timmy G, host of 105.7 WROR’s “Wicked Fast Podcast,” finished first with a lap time of 39.89 seconds. He also topped out at 95.48 mph, while I “reached” 66.06 mph. Overall, a brutal showing.