Ok here it is, my 2011 Daytona Supercross track design. A few big changes this year I’m sure you will notice. First off the new starting location. I wanted to change it up a bit but still give the fans the best view of the start so we will be bringing it straight to you! The rest of the track has lots of obstacles, I tried to add some elements I thought would be fun but more importantly I wanted it to be tough!
We worked really hard and put ourselves in position for a decent finish and we ended up on the hook because another guy drove into Turn 1 way over his head. We struggled with the handling of our Monster Energy Chevy in practice and qualifying but Mark and the guys worked their tails off to make it better. We should have finished somewhere inside or close to the top 10 but it is what it is. We’ll go to Darlington in two weeks and try and get some of our points back.
I can’t believe how fast Speedweeks went by and here I am already talking about going back to Daytona in a couple weeks but this time for 2 wheels. I was lucky enough to have Daytona invite me to design their Supercross track again. My first year designing the track was in 2008 and it is something I really enjoy doing. Daytona is special and I felt it was important to get back to the old school Daytona, the grueling track was what always set Daytona apart from all the other SX races.
So after a great start with our 4th place in the ARCA race I couldn’t wait to get back to the track and into my truck. The team had worked so hard in the off season and our testing went really well so I had high expectations for the start of the season. Our practices started off strong and we qualified right where we needed to be. My teammates also qualified well and that was going to be important for us to work together in the race. We started out strong and I was able to lead a lap which is going to be important this year with the new points system. In the end I feel like we had a truck that could win the race so I was disappointed with our 8th place finish but in the big picture we had a great points night and we are off to a way better start than we were last year!
A 4th for the first race of the 2011 season. We’ll take it and build on it going forward. It was good to get out there and knock the rust off and see the new track surface. It was also good to get a chance to work with my new crew chief and team members and it was our first race with our new Hendrick engines. We had a car that could win but came up a little short. All in all I am really happy with the way the weekend went and am looking forward to next weeks truck race.
