LOOSE RACE CARS SLOW JOANIDES AT PHOENIX
Nick Joanides headed to Phoenix to compete in both races of the double header
at Phoenix International Raceway running in the Southwest Series and West
Series. Nick's day was very hectic on Saturday as practices for both series ran
consecutively, therefore he had to run from garage to garage after each session.
In all, Nick spent a total of three and a half hours in race cars on Saturday
alone.
In the Southwest Series, Nick posted solid practice times within 2/10th's of
the top cars, however as has been the case virtually all season, once the
qualifying tires were put on, the handling drastically changed and caused the
car to be very loose and resulted in a very disappointing qualifying run toward
the rear of the field. The team made changes to try and tighten up the car
before the start of the race, however it was not enough as Nick was very loose
from the drop of the green flag. A caution flew at lap 3 and Nick headed down
pit road to make an adjustment. While the adjustment helped, the car was still
too loose. Nick planned to come back in at the next caution to try and tighten
up the car even more, however that caution never came as the race ran the final
93 laps under the green flag. Nick restarted the race in the last position and
struggled to keep the car straight, but still managed to pass several cars and
come home in the 15th position. He then immediately got out of the car and
hopped into the West Series car for another 150 lap race. "It's not the
finish we thought we could have, but for as loose as it was and without the
benefit of any cautions to get caught up, to pass that many cars and come home
with a top 15 isn't horrible" comment Joanides.
On the West Series side, Nick missed the first practice session and a good
portion of the second due to a faulty clutch, giving Nick very little time to
adapt to the much heavier West Series car as he has never driven a West Series
car at Pho
enix prior to this weekend. Nick qualified in the 21st position,
however the car was way too tight. In happy hour practice, the team made several
changes to try to free up the car, but just could not get the car to turn as the
car kept washing up the track in the corners. The team basically started over
and put a completely different setup in the car for the race and just crossed
their fingers. Well, it worked! Unfortunately it worked way too good as the car
was now extremely loose. At lap 37, Nick came down pit road for an adjustment,
which did not help. Just as in the Southwest Series race, Nick was waiting for
another caution to come in and make more adjustments, however, a long green flag
run forced Nick to stop under green as he could not drive the car the way it was,
unfortunately the yellow came out two laps later. The team made more adjustments
in which the car finally did respond, unfortunately it was too little, too late
as the team lost laps in the pits. Nick did finish the race in the 16th
position.
Nick was the only driver to take the checkered flag in both events,
completing more laps than any other driver on the day. It was a long, hot
weekend with temperatures near 100 degrees and both races had very few cautions.
"That's the most miles I've ever raced in a single day and surprisingly I
feel pretty good physically, just disappointed that we couldn't get a few more
cautions in both races to come in and get the cars better" commented
Joanides. "Both cars were adjustable and I know we could have gotten them
better, but we just never got the caution flags we needed to make the changes.
The one day I needed cautions, everyone decided to drive with their heads on
straight and ran great races" "With seven more races in the next
month, I've got plenty of chances for better runs, beginning with this weekend's
West Series Race at Colorado".
enix prior to this weekend. Nick qualified in the 21st position,
however the car was way too tight. In happy hour practice, the team made several
changes to try to free up the car, but just could not get the car to turn as the
car kept washing up the track in the corners. The team basically started over
and put a completely different setup in the car for the race and just crossed
their fingers. Well, it worked! Unfortunately it worked way too good as the car
was now extremely loose. At lap 37, Nick came down pit road for an adjustment,
which did not help. Just as in the Southwest Series race, Nick was waiting for
another caution to come in and make more adjustments, however, a long green flag
run forced Nick to stop under green as he could not drive the car the way it was,
unfortunately the yellow came out two laps later. The team made more adjustments
in which the car finally did respond, unfortunately it was too little, too late
as the team lost laps in the pits. Nick did finish the race in the 16th
position.