Race Angel's Perris Race Report, 5-2-09

[Bobby Kimbrough]

My friend Ronnie "the Race Angel" Everhart runs a website called Racin Nation USA and she shares her race reports with all the members. Below is her latest account of last weekend's race at Perris Auto Speedway.

Sources: www.racinnationusa.com
Doug Allen Photos

Everhart Racing Race Update May 2, 2009 @ the PAS

First I want to thank my Sponsors: Luke's Transmissions, Ben Clymer's The Body Shop, Gator's Auto, Graphic Concepts, Ripka's Pump Repair, Duke's Roll Cages, RacinNationUSA.com, RacinGirlz.com and our new sponsors: Doug Allen Photos (track photos) and RAZ videos (race videos).

Thanks to my Crew Cheif: Walt Kelly (I know there are a few disadvantages to having a female driver, but always interesting heh Walt?) Also to my Crew: Willey and Kevin with guest crew: RacinAmee and Dalton's school friends Thomas (Amee calls him Tami) and Cameron. Everyone did a great job working on the cars, keeping us on the track and keeping the cars looking clean. Image courtesy of Doug Allen Photos.


The Everhart Racing Trio. Photo courtesy of Doug Allen Photos.

So, let's get right to it.

Jake and I came into the race 1st and 2nd in points. We have had great races and good luck. Remember the word "had". Funny how quickly things change. We still had a great race but not so good luck at the end thanks to a lap car. I'll cover that later in this report.

Jake was in the 2nd heat, Dalton and I was in the 3rd heat with Dalton lined up in the rear. I came in 4th in the heat (with car count everyone transfered) but the story was my son Dalton. There is a image of me on the wall in my photo gallery completely sideways and almost over. They tell me that Dalton had the same experience but was driving on the billboards higher and closer to "over" than I was. I'm sure he almost crapped his pants! Everyone thought he was going over but he kept on the gas and came back down. (lucky charm 1) He had a lot of damage to the right front which our crew worked hard to get him back out for the main. Apparently he has a new found respect for the wall because he pretty much stayed away from it in the beginning of the main, but went higher as the race went on. We are hoping that one of the photographers got a shot of that. On the "Mother" side of things, I'm not sure how my damage report would have been had he went over. I would like to think I could be professional but he is my son. I really don't want to think about that...you will find there are a few things I would rather not think about, that being one of them.

Koodos to Dalton in hot laps who kept his car on the high side. According to our crew cheif Walt he out drove both me and his dad. Maybe that was the boost of confidence that Dalton had when he decided to go high in the heat that almost put him on his lid. With little experience, I don't think he is familiar enough with the changes the track makes between hot laps, heat races and the main event. But let me say this...on one hand I feel a little bad for Dalton because he has been learning his skills with some of the toughest track conditions that we have had to face. On the other hand, he is getting a crash course in how to adjust his drivng. Some good, some bad. Mostly good I think (in the long run).

Uh oh, I have to finish this later. I have company and I'm not even out of my pajamas yet. Be back soon.

Well hello there....I'm back. O.K. where was I? Oh yeah we were in the middle of the race report. So Dalton crashes, almost flips, crew bust ass, we go to the main.

Jake lined up 4th row outside, me 4th row inside and Dalton lined up in the rear. We had some good fast cars in front of us, some good fast cars behind us, we went green. The track was a little tricky for me, entering the corners was extremely tight, exiting the corners was extremely loose. Set up was a crap shoot. If you compensated for the tightness you worsened the looseness. If you compensated for the looseness you worsened the tightness. My crew cheif made the decision to leave some stagger in my car and adjust the tire pressures to loosen me up slightly. Not bad, the errors on the track was driver errors (me) rather than set up errors. Koodos to Walt.

Jake was running in the top three. I was moving through the pack when I pushed up and hit the wall in turns 1 and 2. Not wanting to hit the wall again I adjusted my entry in turns 3 and 4 only wanting to move down 1/2 lane but moved down a full lane and coming off the corner I spun out. (driver error 1) Not a good feeling looking at the drivers full throttle looking at you. I was hoping there was enough time and distance between me and the pack to keep on the gas and rotate around without ruining someone elses' night or getting taken out by a hard hit. Luckily I only lost 4 spots and just got tagged in the rear going down the straight. (lucky charm 2)

You will notice I have numbered by luck charms. There is a reason for that. My next good luck charm came into play when I seen something fly up off the track entering turn 1 about 14 to 16 inches long, flat and about 5 inches wide and about 2 1/2 thick. I tried to react quickly as it was heading straight towards my face. I swerved to the right and it hit my side post on the left side of my window. Wow that was close. (Lucky charm 3) No time to think about that, I had to get back the spots I threw away on my spin. I seen Jake in 3rd place and I worked my way up to about sixth. We only had two laps to go and I was looking forward to interviewing Jake on the podium when all hell broke loose entering turn three. Right there in the middle line was a car that spun out. I seen Jake was there, but I also seen #13 go to the right of Jake. Having cars on the inside I was going to take the high line to (hopefully) go around when the driver decided to "move" out of the way (in the way) and Jake hit him and me sliding into Jake. Not so hard until the car behind me hit me and gave me a flat.

First time driver/lap car (FTD/LC) racing against the leaders! Are you #&*@% serious?

I was unaware of the fact that I had a right rear flat. I was stunned and amazed that a FTD/LC wouldn't have respect for the lead cars to stay (deleted cuss word) out of their way. Go figure. And if anyone out there reading this is their friend or knows them, oh well. You would feel the same if it happended to you weather you admit it or not. Let's change gears, I'm a little pissed and utterly sick to my stomach thinking about that.

I think we had a pretty good race up to the last two laps. Unfortunately Jake had to go to the pits, I had a flat left rear. Even though we had several yellow laps to change my tire and start in the rear I didn't know I had a flat and I couldn't see my crew trying to wave me in. (driver error 2) Finally #98 came along side of me to tell me I had a flat and I went in the hot pits. By then we were about to go green and they waved me through without changing my tire. Not understanding why (knowing but not wanting to admit it) I lined up in the rear. I guess I was only supposed to go to the bottom and do my last two laps to get the best finish position but my lead foot got the best of me (driver error 3) and I destroyed the tire and had to pit on the last lap. So...some good, some bad.

Yeah folks here comes the "Pissy Female Attitude" part. Did you think I would forget?

First off I want to make clear that I have full respect for everyone at our track. This is not a personal offense against or toward anyone, just my honest opinion and perspective of my race day. (Damn, I always have to make a disclaimer)!

1. I didn't like the fact that I deleted the only pictures of had of our race day. (operator error)

2. I didn't like not being able to see my crew when they were trying to wave me in for my flat. Note: Will have pit flag at next race for clear identification of pit crew in work area.

3. I didn't particularly like having the #16 put not only in front of me but also in front of #61 on the restart. He clearly was not pass me and not even close to the #61 (car in front of me) when coming out of turn 4.

4. I didn't like #16 being put back in front of me (again) after having to drive my butt off passing him (see #1) on the next yellow. I was told they do the restart line-ups according to what the scorers radio down. Perhaps they are not aware of the "Revert back to the last completed lap" rule. Just checking.

5. I didn't like having a first time driver/lap car racing against the leaders resulting in a spin and taking out the top 2 points leaders (Guess who? #12, #17). A little lack of respect. I was told he got the "move over" flag and decided to "race" against the leaders. Do you have to move over? No, it's a courtesy thing. Will I be courteous? I try to be. Try.....to be.

6. After the race #22 told the officials that he wanted to stop and tell them about debris in turn 1. He was told if he had stopped and it was only "plastic" he would have been put to the back. Henry told me he seen the "object" that flew up and hit my right side post in turn 1 but did not want to stop on the track and be put to the rear. Being that he was in the lead, I totally understand. However, after you see the pictures of the damage and the realization that I could have suffered serious injury or even death....Let's see.....plastic or something potentially deadly? Damn, that's a hard decision. Plastic probably will give someone a flat, maybe break up and fly in someone's car, perhaps into the grandstands. O.K. not so bad. Or it could have been a heavier object possibly going through someone's windshield. Notice it was the roll cage (behind impact) that actually stopped it.


Race Angel's damage. Photo courtesy of www.racinnationusa.com

You decide, is this not worth checking? No blame, no offense. Couldn't we just rethink the stopping and being put to the back to report debris? That's all I'm saying.


A closer look. Photo courtesy of www.racinnationusa.com

In all fairness, and I do try to be fair believe it or not, my roll cage was not built close enough to my roof support for a good brace. Probably would not have bent, crushed so far back if it was supported better. Our bad. But still would have impacted. Note to Crew: Add roll cage closer behind roof support.

I'll be real honest with you guys. Last week I had to overcome some serious fear to run as hard as I ran with my car having so many problems. But this week beats that all to hell. These images scare me. Here is proof just how close it came to........well, you know where I'm going with that. Could have been me, could have been someone else. However, on a much lighter note:

1. I very much enjoyed the beautiful weather (no rain).

2. I did like the opportunity to race with my friends. Thanks to my husband Jake our sole financial supporter. Anyone want to sponsor our team? E-mail me at ronnie.racingirlz@msn.com

3. I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of my crew.

4. I did enjoy interviewing the drivers. Congratulation to all the main event winners. Modifieds: #4 Alan Updike, Super Streets: #3 Ed Perry, Street Stocks: #22 Henery Woslowski Sr. Factory Stocks: #50 Steven Fangmeyer, Sport Compacts: #77 Linda Denver, Lightning Sprints: #9 David Cardey (Unofficial)

With that note let me Thank my Lord for keeping me, my family and the rest of the drivers safe and my Angels for working over time protecting us from what could have been a very bad "situation". Yes people, I am spiritual. Surprised? Believe me, no one's more surprised than God.

Ronnie Everhart

[RaceAngel]

Wow Bobby, thank you for posting our race update. I try to keep fans, family and friends up to date with what is going on. But you have to remember, this is written only hours after we race and sometimes it can get a little, can we say "colorful". Trust me I get over things shortly after I air things out. I never carry bad feelings from one race to the next (try not to) and always look out for the others drivers safety. So as "pissy" as I might sound at times, it's just my nature to be blunt and to the point.

And when are we going to see you race again? I have two weeks off a month this season. I'm enjoying every weekend I get to go support my fellow drivers. Went to VV to watch the Late Models & Modifieds. The next weekend I went to watch the Sprints and Sport Mods. Hopefully one day I can be in a Modified. We'll shoot for that goal.

Hope to see you behind the wheel soon,

RaceAngel

[Bobby Kimbrough]

Angel, we love your attitude. Pissy and all. You and I have history together, and I know how you race. You put everything in it and you race everyone like they race you. I have always considered you a smart driver. I think that everyone else sees the same thing.

Don't know when I will be getting behind the wheel again. I keep trying and more and more hurdles get in the way. My family and my job are very important to me, so most of my effort goes there. Any thing that I have left goes into my personal racing. Spiritually, financially and time wise that is.

You just keep being our Race Angel. I wouldn't want to see you without that passion.

Call it like you see it!

[Dietzsch_Racing25]

Having a piece of lead flying at me would scare the crap out of me as well. I missed you guys this weekend. I will be there next time.

CD