A Rollercoaster of Emotions at Mid-Ohio Sports Course

Kaylee headed straight to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course a day after her race weekend at Road America. She was excited to be back on this circuit. The Lucas Oil race schedule on Day one would consist of three practice sessions, qualifying, and one race. Day two would be two more races.

Day One: A Short Race Day

The three practice sessions went well. Kaylee was adjusting things in the car to make it fit for her, consistently running P3/P4. Shortly after lunch, qualifying came around.

Qualifying, once again had a crazy turn of events. She had a good starting position on grid, but the car failed to start. She immediately missed the first three laps. Once the mechanics push start her out, she completes her out-lap, then goes to her flying lap. However, during her second lap on track, another driver is stranded in the sand, and the session is black flagged temporarily. The track is soon clear, and Kaylee tries to start her engine once again. Not starting. She looses two more laps while they attempt many things to get her started. At last, her engine starts and she heads out. Yet again on her flyer, one of the corner workers throws a black flag (meaning to be a yellow) and Kaylee and many others come into the pits, following the rules. She did not turn the car off, but they immediately send them back out, only to get the checkered flag. She did not get a fast lap throughout the session, qualified P9.

Finally, it was race time. She gets an amazing start and goes from P9 to P5 by the third turn. Then, red flag, due to a collision with some other drivers at the start. As they clear the track, the blue skies turn dark and the drivers are told to get out of their cars and head back to the garage. The race would therefore be scheduled to restart tomorrow.

Day Two: A Challenging Day

Due to the schedule changes, the second day would now have two, thirty minute long races, and one slightly shorter one to represent the restart for yesterday.

The first race starts immediately, Kaylee is running P4, trying to defend from P5. On the last lap, P1 and P2 collide. Both cars make it out, but due to the contact rules, they would both be penalized. Kaylee is now running P2. Early in the lap, the driver in now P3, attempts to make a move into a long right-hand turn. Both drivers were not wheel to wheel, therefore she did not see him, as she was already turned. Both drivers are sent different directions. The race finishes under caution.

The second race of the day comes around. She starts P5. She quickly moved into P4 at the start, and P1-P4 draft away. A few laps past the half-way mark, P3 starts to slow down, but just barely. Kaylee has the speed, but he is just fast enough where if she were to pass, it would be very risky. A few laps later, P3 get completely sideways in one of the high speed corners. Kaylee sees this and quickly dives to the inside. However, she glances over to P3, who seems to look like he lost the back end. Kaylee unfortunately looses her backend in what looks like to be an imminent crash. She was about to continue, but another driver, hits her head on, concluding race two.

Due to the amount of damage the second crash did to her car, she had to use another one for race three. This car was not carbonated right for her. It was low on power, and seemed to be pulling to the left. Kaylee was getting passed by the slower group on track, which was out of her control.

An upsetting way to conclude her two days at Mid-Ohio, but she was learning to be more aggressive and assertive, which has been the overall goal. Kaylee now has her eyes on NCM in three weeks, back in the Lucas Oil car.