US Runoffs Review 2004

A disappointing fourth place finish at the Runoffs in Ohio was the result achieved this year.

Following development earlier in the year, and improved lap times and races entering the finals, we had been more confident that we would have a better final race. The car was vastly improved, and Nik was much happier with the overall drivability and handling. With the battle at the front likely to be between Steve Johnson, last years winner and John Fergus, multi-runoffs champion, the dog fights were going to be found further down the grid. Last years Pole time was beaten by Steve Johnson by a staggering 1.4 secs, moving the goal posts a whole lot further in to the distance, Fergus was only a 1/10 sec behind, then 4 other drivers including Nik were all inside last years Pole time. It seemed that after the hype from last year, everybody at the front end of the grid had upped their game considerably.

Our qualifying sessions did not go to plan as we had a number of troubling issues along the way. Engine problems, we were down on last years straight line speed by quite a margin, and a bodywork work problem in another session, meant that we did not qualify as far up the grid as we had hoped and only a sixth place on the grid had been secured, not good enough for a realistic shot at the podium. The race was very competitive with Nik running hard in sixth place behind a train of three cars all fighting for position. A mistake by the 3 rd place driver, Mark Hardymon after extended pressure from Mark Walker meant Nik moving up to fifth behind Marc Mercer. As this pack began to encounter back markers, the order changed again between 3 rd and 4 th, the Marc(k)’s changing place. It was a few laps before Nik managed to pass Mark Walker on the inside into the fast turn 1.