View From the Driver's Seat

Week 5 - Tularosa, NM

A long 2-hr drive from El Paso, but we go for the love of the race.

Not a very good turnout tonight. Only 10 cars total showed up. Everyone else missed out because it was a nice night – no wind or rain for a change. We drew dollar bills with numbers on them to see where we started. Guess what I got? #10 of course, which put me dead last in the first heat.

As I pulled onto the track, I could see there were wet spots. I reminded myself to take it slow at first, and then go hard. The green flag waved and we went into turn one. I go high then low and, suddenly—wow!—I'm in 3^rd!! When I look over, I see that the guy next to me is my old buddy, Dave Snyder (a ClimaCab installer). All of a sudden, he spins out right in front of me, and I hit the brakes HARD. He’s so close I can his eyes, and they’re closed. I only miss him by inches and can feel my heart thumping in my chest. The yellow flag comes out now, and I am in 5^th because I went off the track to miss Dave (thanks, Dave!!). The green flag is flying, and I pass one car then two cars. All of a sudden, the race is over. I finished in 2^nd.

The next race, they have us line right back up but in inverted positions. That put me on the pole. The green flag flies, and off I go and never look back! No yellow flags come up during this race, and I end up finishing in 1^st place.

So now the racing officials base car position on the past two heat races and how you finished in them. That put me on the pole—YES! “I got this in the bag,” I say to Dave and my wife, “Just sit back and watch.”

The green flag comes up; I take off and go into the first turn. It’s not too bad, but my car will not turn in the middle of the corners. This is bad. But I hold off everyone behind me for more than half the race. When I go into turn 3, all of a sudden it’s lights out. Now, when I say ‘lights out’ I mean the lights to the whole place went out—OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can’t stop but we can’t go faster ether. Everyone makes it out okay and we sit for 20 minutes waiting for them to fix the lights. Before long, we are back on the track and ready to race. Off we go again! I roll around real smooth, but with 5 laps left I go into turn 1 a little too hard and up the hill I go. Before I know it, Don ‘the Bandito’ Reynolds passes me, leaving me in 2^nd place. We go around for a few more laps coming for the white flag and a lap car is in my way. It’s my buddy, Landis Hartraft, so I just get behind him and pass him as fast as I can and hit the brakes before the corner. I end up going under him and coming home in 2^nd. We had a really good run, but I really am tired of 2^nd place finishes. We will get a 1^st place win again soon!

So far, I am 1^st place in Tularosa 2^nd in El Paso, and 2^nd in Las Cruces. But I am also 1^st in the Nation for INEX points and 1^st for our tracks series points. I must admit, I’m really happy with that.

We race again this Friday in El Paso.

-Allen Gattis, ClimaCab Car #21