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Travis Grabb makes it 3 wins
in a row
Travis came to the Summit Point
“Showdown” races to win it the way he wanted – beating the guys who
where trying to beat him. And, he did that 2 days in a row.
Saturday’s practice and
qualifying ended with a gaggle of cars in Thunder group with Travis
gridded 1st in the FFR series with a time of 1:25.643, Carl
was second with 1:26.816 (with about 6 other class cars between us) and
Dan Elam @ 1:27.063. The gremlins of overheating that did Dan in at VIR
seemed to be continuing with lots of smoke and some overheating.
When the flag fell in the
rolling start it was a rush for turn one with Carl going up the middle
and Travis staying in front of a bunch of CMC and Honda 1 cars. Dan had
overheating take him out and ended up out of the race. Carl continued
to try to work his way through the “in between” cars to no avail.
Travis was successful in keeping cars between us and went on to win with
a best lap of 1:26.178 and Carl with a 1:26.815. Travis was tickled
about the win and was beaming ear to ear as he was presented with the
“Race Winner” trophy, checkered flag, and big “hugs” from the “Trophy
Girls” at the evening event as his son Gunner clapped and cheered for
his dad – Gunner is a great crew member!
Sunday dawned with sunny
weather, cool temperatures, and the outlook for another good race. Dan
Elam decided that the overheating on Saturday had really done in the
engine – maybe ring problems – so it was back to the shop for an engine
tear down. Travis and Carl gridded up with about 6 cars between them
(mistake on my part – I should have been on his butt when we went out
for qualifying) and Travis seemed to have a clearer track (or more
likely better driving skills) and ended up with a qualifying time of
1:26.378 and Carl way back (with a gaggle of cars in between) at
1:27.900. So, the race began again with Travis gridded about 6 cars in
front of Carl. Once again, it was a made rush for turn 1 as the green
flag dropped and Travis jumped in front of some of the faster cars on
the grid. He held them off for awhile and finally let some of them by,
but wanting to keep “just the right amount” between the two of us. He
was very successful at doing that and during the race he turned a best
lap of 1:26.399 and Carl at 1:26.597. I was always able to keep him in
view but not able to reel him in. So, once again Travis finished 1st
in the FFRC series and I brought up the rear.
Travis is a great competitor and
it is a shame that he won’t be in Mid-Ohio for the Nationals. He has
come from finishing his HPDE requirements at the beginning of this year
– going through Comp School and getting his rookie license to pealing of
the R and going on to win three races in a row. Congratulations
Travis!! |
