When #17 led the polls, there was no way anyone was going to catch him on the racetrack unless he made a mistake. Which was exactly what happened in today's Points Race #14 at the Briggs and Straton Raceway. #17 was leading, as usual, when he spun by himself on the second lap. #23 and #21(Connor) were behind him respectively. Now, the first place spot was up for grabs and #23 and #21 were in the best position to take it. Connor inched his way to take the second place from #23 on the third lap but he did not make it. He did finally, though, on the next lap. I held my breath and prayed that he would not make a mistake or turn loose at the corners so that he could keep his lead. "Be safe. Don't make a mistake," I kept repeating to myself during the entire race. I knew how much a win would mean to him.
Just earlier, after the second heat, Connor was crying for finishing last. The driver in front of him spun taking Connor with him. I knew for sure being in the lead now, he was going to do everything he could to finish that way to make up for how he finished on the second heat. (Race day consists of two rounds of practice, two rounds of racing called heats but there are no points accumulation for such races and they don't officially go down on the books, and the features, also known as the final race where drivers are given points and their standings at the end of the year is determined by how many points they've accumulated throughout the year like in NASCAR.)
#23 fought to regain his position and got as close as .20 of a second behind Connor but Connor held him off and increased his lead to .40 of a second and that's how the race ended.
A big smile greeted me when I came to meet Connor at the gate. Earlier today, he had said, "I will win today," but I did not respond afraid I would jinx it.
#17 ended up finishing fourth after being at the end of the pack after he spun. Had there been ten more laps or so, he probably would have caught up to Connor. But that was not the case and that would be a totally different story.
Connor's win couldn't have come at a better time--just two days after he turned twelve, racing against #17 and bouncing back after finishing last on the second heat.
Congratulations, Connor! We're very proud of you! Way to show patience, perseverance and bouncing back from a fall!
