"Going home" to Seekonk didn't disappoint!
10/09/07: A note from Dave...
Sometimes it takes days for me to sort out the "good, bad and ugly" of our last race but this time it was all good in my mind. I was very positive going into the weekend, not because I thought we would do well, but because "going home" is always special and being around so many friends and good memories would get me through the worst of days. The die hard's I expected to see were there including my long time Ford friends Harry and Kathy Kourafas. Seeing "Leo the lion", George the gentleman racer", Johnny Tripp, Jimmy Wilkins, and so many other greats from that track always brings back memories of the classic battles that have taken place at "The Cement Palace".
I must really be getting "sappy", as Lenny and his wife said, because as the days pass the actual race becomes less important (as we can't do anything about the outcome) but the whole weekend's experience is reviewed in my mind. It makes me glad that I continue to race and finally learned to appreciate the whole experience and not only whether I won or not.
Now with all the "sappy stuff " out of the way (for now) I should give you an idea of how our racing went. A lucky draw by "Willis" got us a good run in our heat and put us in the redraw for the feature, saving us the grief of qualifying through the consi. The car ran good but not as good as many others so we knew adjustments would be needed to be a contender on Sunday. With a seafood platter in my tummy on the way home Saturday night and a good night's sleep, Sunday couldn't come soon enough for me. The weather looked gloomy as we drove to the track and that always bothers me because many fans seem to live by what the weather is.
The "Pit Party" was fun as you get to see old time fans along with the little kids that are experiencing most of it for the first time. All the true Ford fans stopped by to make sure that there was a real Ford engine under the hood and of course the Dion Team didn't disappoint or insult them with anything else.
The tuning point in the weekend was about to take place as I reached in the bucket at the redraw and pulled out the # 1 starting position. You've heard the expression "be careful what you ask for" I'm sure? I was pleased with my redraw performance, although a little embarrassed with Teddy Christopher jabbing me all the while. I thought a quick warm-up with the race set-up would convince my peers that my pole start was deserved and not just luck. Wow! We were in big trouble as the race set-up was so far off, due mostly to the cooler weather, that I made the comment to someone that "I might get a nose bleed backing up through the field when they throw the green".
My brothers Roger and Paul were baffled that the slight adjustments they made after the heat could cause the car to slow down that bad. I was interrogated (I use that word because Paul and I usually agree/compromise most of the time) but this time we were miles apart. I tend to have a fairly short fuse at tracks I expect to do real well at and any thought of not having one of the best handling cars brings the worst out of me. In the end we still didn't totally agree but my faith in Paul was still stronger than my gut feeling and Deanna convinced me if I did my part, the car would not let me down. Well,we didn't win but they gave me the winning car once again and I feel a little foolish for doubting them after all these successful years together. I guess my fear of doing a terrible job of driving and embarrassing my team and fans follows me to every race and "going out too late" is the risk I keep taking.
I would like to thank all the friends, fans, speedway personal, former and present competitors, media, and Mrs.Venditti for welcoming us back and proving that "you can still go home again". I'll try to put something on our site later in the week on our next race.
Yours truly,
Dave