Hi, this is Nic Jonsson, and if you haven't seen my weekly blog by now - welcome! I have been getting lots of great feedback from fans, other drivers, etc. so thanks for staying tuned!
For this week, as much as I don't want to talk about our very disappointing weekend at VIR as a team (Krohn Racing), I still want to share my experience with you. Everything started out well with practice, where we had to do some tuning to the chassis as always. We had two practice sessions and felt we were in good shape going into qualifying. Unfortunately, during qualifying, one of the other cars spun in the middle of Turn 14a, so by the time I came around for my first (flyer) to set a time, I had to go off track to avoid contact with him. I pick up a lot of dirt on the tires and also grass on the radiator screens. I tried to continue for another lap but got the "hot engine" alarm and had to bring the car into pit so we could clean all the grass and dirt off the front of the car. I got back on track and could only manage a sixth place qualifying. That was a big disappointment for me; I really had high hopes, but maybe it should have been a sign of what was to come!
On with the story. Now we had to get our focus on the race and figure out our strategy of how to work our way to the front. Race day was very warm, 97 degrees Fahrenheit - hot - so I figured there would be issues with brake cooling and tires. I knew I had to take care of them from the beginning of the race. I got off to a good start and moved up to fourth place on the first lap. My tires were not even up to full operating temperature coming into the front straight away. The No. 61 car got a good run on me and made a nice, clean pass going into Turn 1. I was not going to fight him too hard this early on in the race so I decided to tuck in behind him.
Right after I got in-line with his gearbox, all of a sudden I felt a hard hit in the right rear of my car. The No. 58 car ran straight into my right rear tire, bent the rear toe link and broke the wheel. I had to come into the pits so we could try to repair it. After sitting in the pits for six laps working away on the issues, the team decided to park the car since we were not going to be able to score any good points and we didn't want to run the risk of incurring more damage to the car. In addition to putting a lot of miles on the engine, it just wasn't worth taking our chances going back out there.
I guess that is the way it goes sometimes; I don't like it but that's racing. The entire Krohn Racing team is comprised of very experienced guys and we all know that these things happen in our sport, unfortunately. So, the best thing we can do is put this past weekend behind us and look forward to the next race, which is this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. We need come back stronger and better than ever. If you're ever looking for a way to build character, and don't know how to do it, start racing. You'll learn fast (sometimes not by choice) on how to bounce back and become a stronger person through some of the racing adversities.
The New Jersey weekend will be very exciting and a busy weekend for me. I'll be pulling double duty racing both the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford powered ProtoAuto Lola, as well as the No. 79 Kinetic Motorsports/DempseyChallenge.org, BMW M3 E92 V8 in the KONI Sports Car Challenge. We are so excited at Kinetic Motorsports since this is the first time we will be running five cars in the same race: two BMW E 92's and three BMW E46's. We had a very strong run in New Jersey last year with our BMWs and hope to come back and have a great showing again this weekend.
On a personal note, my son Max seems to learn new things every day. I think that's great, however, there are some times I wish he would not learn so fast. When I came home from VIR this past Sunday, I was in the backyard cleaning and scrubbing my patio with my pressure washer. After using it, I put it down on the ground to scrub a part of the floor and Max snuck up behind me, grabbed the handle and somehow figured out how to push the release button and proceeded to spray, hitting me with the water in the middle of my back! Now, if you have ever been sprayed with one of those things, there is quite a bit of water pressure that comes out; not to mention I was soaking wet and was just plain surprised by the whole thing! But really, what can you do other than just laugh your head off. My wife certainly got a big kick out of it! I'll tell you, don't ever underestimate the thought process of these little guys/girls; they may look all cute and innocent but they'll get you! All in good fun of course!
Until next week...be safe and enjoy life!
Your friend,
Nic
