After a day of on and off rain, it was in great hopes that we would get a full day of activity today. Using what the team had learned from the end of yesterday, Bryan was eager to get back into the car. Right as the session started we were on track. Bryan was building on his comfort level and was starting to use some of his tools in the car to make adjustments. Right away he put a lap down of 218.821 mph. Bryan then came into the pits to make some changes and was set back out. As he entered the track at the exit of turn 2 he knew something was wrong right away. “The car won’t turn”, he said on the radio. Slowly nursing the car in, he rolls into the pit box. Right away the team noticed the wheel nut was missing on the left rear.
After bringing the car back to the garage, the team confirms that it was a broken wheel hub. This fix set us back for a little over two hours. As soon as we got back out it felt like a whole new car for Bryan. Working through spring changes, ride heights, and in car adjustments, Bryan spent the rest of the afternoon finding a stable setup. The main issue was finding rear grip, especially in the right rear. The car just didn’t want to stick for him. Just as Bryan thought he wasn’t liking the setup, he tried a different line into 1 and found grip.
Ending the day on a positive note after a mid afternoon setback was a great confidence booster for all of us leading into tomorrow. We are taking a very cautious approach in practice for the first few days and will be in full force the later half of the week. Once Bryan and the team perfect the feeling of the setup we will start working in traffic. By the end of the day Bryan completed 47 laps with a best speed of 218.821 mph.
It was great to see so many fans wearing sprint car and midget t-shirts today. From the only team in the field with an active full time sprint car driver, it was very cool to see so many fans cross over as Bryan has. Hopefully this will be a normality in the future to come.
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