Progress report following Seattle’s NHRA Northwest Nationals (race 10 of 18) and ahead of the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway
Western Swing wrap-up:
We had some ups and downs on the Swing. We didn’t do our best job in qualifying, but overall, we’re super happy with how the KB Racing Chevrolet Camaros are running. We still need to work on a little bit of consistency issues, but the red Summit Racing Chevy seems to be coming around and working good on Sundays. It’s certainly tunable, so we’re way excited about that.
Being so close to sweeping the Swing was really cool, and obviously we were right there and had a chance to do it, it just wasn’t our day. When we did it in 2004, those were our first three races with Summit Racing as our sponsor, and I didn’t really realize it until we were walking up for the finals in Seattle. It would have been cool to do it again this year for them, 15 years later, but to just be in a position to do it was really good.
Overall grade for the Western Swing:
I would say B. We had some great moments, but it could have been better.
Looking toward Brainerd:
The trucks went straight from Seattle to Brainerd, so we didn’t have any time at the shop working on the cars, but we went back, studied runs, looked at last year’s Brainerd, and will just try to do better. It’s a hometown race for the two Summit Racing drivers, so there is a lot going on surrounding this event. It’s good though. We have a lot of support there, that’s for sure, and we appreciate it.
Brainerd memories:
For me, it goes back to going to that race with my dad [Lorin Downing] when I was 13 or 14 years old. It’s 12 hours from where we lived. We went there to a national event in the early 80s, and I have pictures of me standing in the staging lanes with Lee Shepherd’s car. That’s a good one.
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