BF's BS
By Bill Foland
07/22/02 ...Hello
once again from Mountain View, California. I will be writing this column
about my first trip to the racetrack as a driver this year. I have gone
to over 30 races this year and watched other people enjoy the rush of strapping
into a sprint car. I have to admit that was have been jealous on occasions
that I have not been able to get out and race yet this year. Well, last
weekend changed all that with a trip to Carson City, Nevada for an unsanctioned
sprint car race, but to me it was the beginning of another year behind the
wheel of a pavement sprint car.
I have run a total of eight
races over the past two seasons, they included two at Madera, two at Carson
City, one at Stockton (ouch!!!!!!!!!), one at Tucson, and two (maybe 1 ˝
because I didn't make it through qualifying) at Irwindale. So here was my
adventure to Carson City….
We left Friday evening from
Mountain View and ventured over a few big mountains for the 5+-hour drive
and settled into the Carson City Motel in the early A.M. hours of Saturday.
With the pit gate not opening until 3:00 we decided to take a nap, shower
etc. and get ready for the big evening ahead of us. After having some lunch
we headed for the track and arrived around 3:15. We signed in and started
to unload the racecar for the hot lap action. The first time I was able
to get on the track was after 5:30 and I was kind of nervous because it
has been over 8 months since I have driven a racecar and the last time ended
in the turn one wall at Irwindale.
After getting into the ten-race
old Beast chassis that was formerly driven by Ryan Flynn, I was very
excited to finally be able to get on the track and hot lap. As I entered
the track for the first time and fired the car, it all came back to me;
it is all about footwork, hand-eye coordination and using your head. As
the green flag flew for the first time I made sure there was heat in the
motor and squeezed the throttle and took the green flag. The car felt pretty
good but I couldn't tell if I was going good or not as we went about 10
laps and pulled in. The car was handling very good, it was very neutral
as there was no push and it wasn't loose.
Using the set-up from Matt
Britt and Flynn racing, we were going ok and headed to the next session.
The 2nd session was very uneventful as I think we might have gone 2 laps
before a car went off the bank and they decided to end the session. The
final session went very well as we hadn't changed anything yet and they
let the session go on for at least 20 laps on the tight 13 second bullring.
It was a good indicator of what was going to happen next as I felt very
comfortable in the new car.
Qualifying was next as I headed
out to take my two timed laps, the first thing on my mind was to make sure
to get the dirt from the pit area off the tires and the excess rubber buildup
as soon as possible. Not an easy task sometimes as I might compare it to
trying to get dog crap off your shoes. Sometimes you get it all off and
sometimes your don't and it just might ruin your day. I made a decent first
lap with a 13.30 but I knew there was more in the car, so I pushed harder
the 2nd and timed in 2nd fast time with a 13.14, which I was very happy
with and we went on to the Trophy Dash.
As we lined up for the Dash
I had all kinds of things going through my mind, the least of which was
trying to win this race. I just wanted to be smooth and I took some advice
from my dad and used it as the green flag came out. With the previous Carson
City A-Main winner Glenn Hopper on the pole and Tony Iacobitti
on the outside I knew I had my work cut out for myself. As we headed into
turn one I got a good run and headed for the very bottom of the track, with
Hopper pushing up the track slightly I was able to get a nose under him
and YAK and headed for the back chute. I was able to nose ahead getting
into turn three and held off the challenges for the next 4 laps. To say
I was a little happy would be an understatement. I have NEVER won anything
driving a racecar and this first Trophy Dash win will always be special
to me. If I never win anything ever again, I can always look back at this
and smile.
I haven't had a euphoric feeling
like that since I hit my first home run in little league baseball. As I
exited the car you would have thought I just won the Knoxville Nationals,
but it was to me as that will always be a great memory. As I waited for
my turn to take picture with the very pretty trophy girl (didn't catch her
name but I wish I would have), I wished that my Grandma, Alice Costa
(who lives in Fresno) and my Grandpa John, Grandma Delores and Grandpa
Al (who have all passed away) could have seen me in victory lane. I
was able to call my Grandma Alice later, which was great, and tell her about
it.
As the pretty trophy girl approached
I felt like a kid going out on his first date, but it wasn't that bad as
the photos were taken, I thanked the trophy girl and headed back to the
pit area. I was greeted by my friends and parents with open arms and my
mother was fighting back tears as I gave her a hug and kiss. Then I looked
over at my dad and I saw a look that I haven't seen since baseball a very
long time ago. The look from him was pride and I haven't given him much
reason to look at me like that lately but it was worth the wait as he put
his hand out to shake. I said "put that hand away" I am getting a hug and
thanked him for everything he and my mother have done and sacrificed for
me over the past few years.
Now it was on to the heat race
as I ran around and just tried not to tear anything up before the A-Main
and I finished 4th. As we lined up for the A-Main, I was trying to think
of something calming as we circled the track, but it didn't work as the
yellow light went out and we headed for the green. As we took the green
flag I headed down the straightaway from my staring position and found myself
in 2nd going down the back chute behind Glenn Hopper. I knew Glenn was going
to be strong and I tried to stay near him.
As the laps went on, I started
to get a little loose, but I couldn't tell if it was the way I was driving
the car or the way it was set-up. I started to slow down and started to
lost track of the leader. I tried to keep my line straight and smooth and
I hadn't seen a nose or heard a motor next to me yet. As we entered lap
14 I entered turn one as I had nearly every lap and accelerated out of the
corner when I was punted from behind and sent into the infield. The ensuing
spin into the dirt caved in my belly pan and sent me to the pits for repairs.
As my dad, Dick Barshow
and a whole bunch of other guys tried to fix it the yellow light went out
and they went green without me. As I saw the field go by once, then twice
I decided to get out of the car and head back to my trailer and I was very
disappointed. The thing that I didn't like was not being able to finish
a main event again, after such a strong beginning the ending was quite the
same as it has been numerous times before. But as they say "That's Racin"
and I will not let this disappointment sway my feelings on what was a great
night of racing for me. I have to thank a whole bunch of people for helping
me along the way to get this Beast out on the track.
Thanks to Lee Bandettini
for all the welding you did on the car, Darren Powers for the great
fabrication and belly pans (I might need a six pack of those), Dick and
April Barshow for the hours you have taken out of your lives to help
me, Matt Britt for the advice on set-up and help with the painting of the
frame, Terry Poznoff with Terry's Auto Detailing for the great paint
job on the race car and my helmet, Yak and Brad Scadden for the awesome
lettering job, Brent Kaeding and Brian Matherly for your advice
and willingness to help me with anything I needed at ANY time, Brian
Sperry for helping with numerous things on this new car, but most of
all I have to thank my parents Burt and Barbara Foland for sticking
with me and putting me in a car that I have confidence in, and is very fast!!!!!!!
I am going to have to be selfish
and cut this off right here without any notes from the past couple of weeks,
I will make up for it in the near future. Thank you for reading a race day
in the life of "BF" Bill Foland. I hope to see you all very soon
at the races….
BF
