Well, I have to admit that up until recently, you could count on me to be the one to discount any reference to good or bad luck at a race as something one has to prepare for. After looking at our long streak of poor finishes due to wrecks, injuries to Terry, and a variety of just plain weird circumstances, I gave in. Basically if karma is real, I was going to “borrow” some good luck where possible. The first thing we decided to change was the car number. As the Hillegeer clan was experiencing a variety of victories and accomplishments we changed the #05 to #18. I’d say the car also looks sharp with the yellow and blue numbers.

 So with a little hop in our step we set up our pit box in the infield and prepared for practice. As the time passed for Terry’s first laps I noticed that our pit area was getting crowded. Terry, Doug and I all shared a smile as we noticed that our pit was complete with our most recent friends and crew members and several of Terry’s old crew had come out for the night (thank you Jeff & Billy). I’ll admit the good feelings were becoming infectious. Then the announcement was made to fire the cars up for practice.

Practice wasn’t an instant success but we weren’t running bad either. With a decent starting position in heat #2, Terry ran a good race until our radio communication failed, costing Terry a redraw spot and put him starting in another mid-pack position (14^th) for the main event. After fixing the radios, we put our heads together as the car needed an adjustment to be more competitive. With everything in place it was time for Terry to tighten the belts and get his game on.

The outside racing lane was a little slick so everyone with an outer row starting spot lost positions on each start/restart. Luckily, others misfortune allowed Terry to move to the inside lane were he gained a few spots. Terry was able to avoid other people’s spins and wrecks but after his own slip, lost the positions that were gained. As another caution flew, several cars pitted. We elected to keep Terry out and try to go the whole race in without a tire change. This turned out to be good for Terry as the #18 ran consistent laps and only a couple of the elite teams with fresh rubber passed us. As the race wore on, cars previously in front of us began to fade. Having moved up to 7^th, several late race cautions potentially could have helped Terry gain more spots but it wasn’t meant to be. As the checkered flag flew, we were quite pleased with that 7^th place finish and an intact car AND driver for a change. It was all very good.

Later in the shop we found evidence of some more good karma. A check of the fuel cell revealed that we only had at most, 5 laps of race fuel. We commented on our good fortune as fellow racing friend Doug Reaume #14 fell victim to a fuelshortage with about 10 laps to go. The night ended well as several fans came down to the infield to congratulate us and share in our good fortune. We thank you all very much for your continued words of encouragement.

For a general race recap, go to Lakeside Racing News - 06/19/2010 ROC Recap

In closing, I had to make an announcement that we would be changing our race plans and running a more limited number of shows. With our team philosophy of always showing up to battle for the win, we had to look at our resources carefully and concluded that the ROC Mods needed to sit until September where we could then give our all to the three most important year end specials – Spencer, US Open and the ROC 200. You will see us at Spencer and other venues working on the other Epic Venture cars. To stay on top of those results, visit us on Facebook as well as this web site. We hope you are having a great summer and a fun racing season.