I lined up on the front row with the usual suspects. On the whistle, Jerry Chabot took off like he'd been shot out of a cannon. Mike Rowell was promptly into second and me into 3rd. Curtis Boivin was a day of reg, so he was in the back...but not for long. By the first set of climbs, he was on my wheel. We did the first lap in that order, with Jeff Walker (drives from Syracuse to get good racing) rounding out the top 5.
As we crossed the line the first time, Jerry pulled the rip-cord to release the parachute and Mike and I went by. Curtis passed me shortly thereafter, but seemed to lack his usual pop, so I clung to his wheel. Half way around this second lap, I'm still on his wheel and sensed that he wasn't on his game, so I passed him and gapped him. I crossed the line for the second time to see a "5" on the lap cards. Ouch.
The next 4 laps were pretty uneventful. Mike Rowell increased his lead, and I was keeping an eye on third trying to gauge whether the gap to first or the gap to third was larger. For awhile, they were the same. On lap 5, I started fading. I could see that Jeff Walker had passed Curtis, who was going backwards, so I was pretty sure I could at least hang on for third...and a 6-pack of High & Mighty.
Just before the bell, Jeff was bridging up to me and I backed off to try to save a little. He went around and I tried to cling to his wheel. That lasted for a few minutes, but he pulled away. I kept the gas on to minimize the gap, in case he made a mistake. He didn't. The podium went Mike, Jeff then me. Curtis outsprinted Jerry for 4th, despite having significant illness last week.
All in all, a really good race...and a whole lot of fun. I put in 2 good weeks of training, which seems to have paid off somewhat.
