Ground control to major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Ground control to major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you
This song was running through my head as we headed to the start line. Two by two the other drivers took the course. At the tenth starting spot, we were sitting patiently and Megan was providing great support. Revving the motor, I contemplated if I should let the gal to my right take off ahead of me. Then suddenly, all I saw was green flag and was our time. Adrenaline took over and we did a bit of a wheelie and sped away leaving her in my dust. What a rush!!!!!
We proceeded through the course with what seemed like ease. I remembered from the previous day's practice that it was a straight ahead, sharp right, straight away, sharp left, little bump then full speed ahead. They modified the course slightly as we came to the three hills. The first hill was gone, thankfully. That was the spot where the previous day we hit a bottleneck and got a couple rear bumps crunching the muffler. But without that first hill, this was going to be nice.
As we wound around the course, through the hills, up and down, up and over, through the wash, and back towards the stadium, I felt myself relax. We both realized our belts needed to be tightened. Were we so excited that we didn't tighten them down enough? Were we settling into our seats? Either way, a quick pull on the new belts and all was well as we rounded the hard right into the stadium.
At 7:55am there weren't a lot of people in the grandstand but those that were there were in pink. We hit the stadium part of the course with a thrill. Time for the "money shot" jumps. First one ... landed great ... second one ... no problem ... third ... perfect. With Bill Markel at the parapet in his fuschia dress and hot pink wig waving the green flag, things couldn't get any better. A few more sharp turns, some bumps and we'd we out of the stadium and back towards the start/finish line.
Was our first lap over? Could we have really made it through that fast?
As we powered through the start/finish section and onto the wash behind the hot pits I could see a ton of pink shirts, arms waving and hands clapping as we motored along. I spotted Josh waving and encouraging us from the pit road. Then over the radio "looking great girls ... keep it up!".
So we continued on, pushing each lap just a bit more. Some laps were slower than others due to stalled cars or course workers stopping us to move a breakdown off the course. Funny how when women pass each other ..."Sorry" and "Have fun!" and "Be safe!" can be heard through window nets. I don't think that same courtesy is extended when men are racing. Just sayin'.
Updates came over the radio about how we looked as we passed by. Occasionally we were told about any traffic coming up behind us but for the most part we were running the race at a great pace.
We laughed and chatted the entire way. Each bump, each jump, each turn was burned into my memory and all the while I was thinking "this is the coolest, most awesome thing I have ever done!".
