<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/p_burkart06.jpg" alt="p_burkart06" align="right"borders="0"/>
Sonoma, Calif. (July 30) -- Phil Burkart, his team, and his special edition chevron Techron Monte Carlo, were primed and ready to have a big Sunday. They'd enjoyed the stunning weather and terrific conditions for two solid days in Sonoma, had secured a berth in the top half of the field, and were looking forward to a long day of fast turn-arounds and repeat laps. It was
all laid out perfectly, like the plates and silverware before a fine meal.
Unfortunately, Burkart's seat at the table mysteriously disappeared just as the thought of digging into the sumptuous meal seemed real. In less than five seconds, his promising weekend had come to a screaching halt.
"We approached the weekend with a good plan, and we did a great job of executing that plan," Burkart said. "We wanted to qualify in the top half, but we didn't want to do it on one lucky shot. We wanted a car that would go down the track in the daytime and under the lights, and we did that. We accomplished everything we set out to do, but round one is so tough it puts your heart and soul into a shredder."
Burkart's Friday night run, under the lights, was his best of the weekend, and one of the most thrilling of his career. Running almost directly into a setting sun, his vision was obscured almost completely. Literally driving "by the seat of his pants" he held on and crossed the finish line with a strong 4.833, which eventually held on for the No. 8 spot in a tough race field.
"I'm still wondering why they had us run with the sun about to set," Burkart said, on Sunday. "About ten minutes later, the sun went behind the hills and it was nearly perfect out there. I don't make the rules, though, I just have to go when they tell me to go. I'm glad my car likes to go straight, though, because if it started getting squirrelly down there I would've had to lift. As long as it felt like it was going straight, I could stay with it."
Burkart followed that lap up with a strong effort during Saturday afternoon's final session, putting a 4.896 on the board when many other teams were struggling to make full pulls. It all added up to a confidence boost, and a first round date with former teammate Mike Ashley.
"For all we've been through this year, we've kept our confidence pretty well," Burkart said. "But when we finished up on Saturday, I think we all knew we had a car that could win. We just needed to go back out there and do what we did on Saturday. If the car cooperated, and the driver did his job, we could win. It was pretty simple."
Simple enough, but for the plan to be successful it required the part about the car cooperating. Burkart did, indeed, do his part, but that's where the story took a turn for the worse.
In that first-round match-up, Burkart used his standard cat-like reflexes to jump out of the gate first. His sterling .057 reaction time was literally twice as good as Ashley's .115, but the lead was nearly eaten up by the 60-foot timer. Burkart's Techron machine simply did not repeat its Saturday performance, even though the tune-ups were nearly identical.
"It didn't snap off the line very well, but then it went on out there," he said. "At best, it was going to run something like a low 4.90 of some sort, which would have been enough with the starting line advantage we had. But then it got out there on the top end and started to spin the tires just a little. That tire haze was all it took and, boom, lap over. He shot around me and we were cooked.
"Yeah, I know that a couple of guys went out there and won their laps running slower than 5.0, but that doesn't matter. We were racing Mike Ashley, and we needed to run 4.94 to beat his 4.88. Instead, we ran 4.99, and we lost. Right now, it's like a nightmare where, no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to get where you want to be. We're doing our best, and somehow we just cannot get to the finish line first. Week in, and week out, the hits just keep on coming and I don't know why."
All laid out so perfectly. But the gag ends when the host yanks the chair away just as you prepare to sit down and you find yourself on the floor, wondering how you got there.
BURKART'S EDGE VAPORIZES INTO FIRST ROUND LOSS
Sonoma, Calif. (July 30) -- Phil Burkart, his team, and his special edition chevron Techron Monte Carlo, were primed and ready to have a big Sunday. They'd enjoyed the stunning weather and terrific conditions for two solid days in Sonoma, had secured a berth in the top half of the field, and were looking forward to a long day of fast turn-arounds and repeat laps. It was
all laid out perfectly, like the plates and silverware before a fine meal.
Unfortunately, Burkart's seat at the table mysteriously disappeared just as the thought of digging into the sumptuous meal seemed real. In less than five seconds, his promising weekend had come to a screaching halt.
"We approached the weekend with a good plan, and we did a great job of executing that plan," Burkart said. "We wanted to qualify in the top half, but we didn't want to do it on one lucky shot. We wanted a car that would go down the track in the daytime and under the lights, and we did that. We accomplished everything we set out to do, but round one is so tough it puts your heart and soul into a shredder."
Burkart's Friday night run, under the lights, was his best of the weekend, and one of the most thrilling of his career. Running almost directly into a setting sun, his vision was obscured almost completely. Literally driving "by the seat of his pants" he held on and crossed the finish line with a strong 4.833, which eventually held on for the No. 8 spot in a tough race field.
"I'm still wondering why they had us run with the sun about to set," Burkart said, on Sunday. "About ten minutes later, the sun went behind the hills and it was nearly perfect out there. I don't make the rules, though, I just have to go when they tell me to go. I'm glad my car likes to go straight, though, because if it started getting squirrelly down there I would've had to lift. As long as it felt like it was going straight, I could stay with it."
Burkart followed that lap up with a strong effort during Saturday afternoon's final session, putting a 4.896 on the board when many other teams were struggling to make full pulls. It all added up to a confidence boost, and a first round date with former teammate Mike Ashley.
"For all we've been through this year, we've kept our confidence pretty well," Burkart said. "But when we finished up on Saturday, I think we all knew we had a car that could win. We just needed to go back out there and do what we did on Saturday. If the car cooperated, and the driver did his job, we could win. It was pretty simple."
Simple enough, but for the plan to be successful it required the part about the car cooperating. Burkart did, indeed, do his part, but that's where the story took a turn for the worse.
In that first-round match-up, Burkart used his standard cat-like reflexes to jump out of the gate first. His sterling .057 reaction time was literally twice as good as Ashley's .115, but the lead was nearly eaten up by the 60-foot timer. Burkart's Techron machine simply did not repeat its Saturday performance, even though the tune-ups were nearly identical.
"It didn't snap off the line very well, but then it went on out there," he said. "At best, it was going to run something like a low 4.90 of some sort, which would have been enough with the starting line advantage we had. But then it got out there on the top end and started to spin the tires just a little. That tire haze was all it took and, boom, lap over. He shot around me and we were cooked.
"Yeah, I know that a couple of guys went out there and won their laps running slower than 5.0, but that doesn't matter. We were racing Mike Ashley, and we needed to run 4.94 to beat his 4.88. Instead, we ran 4.99, and we lost. Right now, it's like a nightmare where, no matter how hard you try, you can't seem to get where you want to be. We're doing our best, and somehow we just cannot get to the finish line first. Week in, and week out, the hits just keep on coming and I don't know why."
All laid out so perfectly. But the gag ends when the host yanks the chair away just as you prepare to sit down and you find yourself on the floor, wondering how you got there.
