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Daunting Daytona ... | More >> | 2004 Recap Archive | 2003 Race Archive

Start - 10th | Competitors - 28| High - 5th | Low - 23rd | Finish - 14th

Daytona is the biggest race of the year and there's no better place to start off the season. This is the best opportunity to kick off the season with a bang or go out with a bang. No other place is so energized yet so fraught with peril. This years kickoff race met all those expectations as tight racing, drafting, getting hung out to dry and all the elements of a restrictor plate race culminated in a spine tingling experience. Unfortunately for the ECI Express AMSOIL team, a methodical race strategy was dashed in a single swipe off turn three.

Starting 10th on the grid, Kevin's strategy was to hang out back, wait for the attrition to happen, and then let the race come to him. The strategy looked flawed for a while as the 'big one' didn't come early as usual as near the halfway point only one or two cars were in the garage. Just past midway there was a caution and all cars ducked in for fuel and tires. The AMSOIL team made the call to duck in just prior to the green and top off in hopes that we could stretch the fuel mileage to the finish. Easing off the accelerator and conserving fuel on ever corner, the AMSOIL team was poised to get to the finish without stopping. Every other competitor stopped early and running in the pack, it was doubtful that they would have had enough to make it to the checkers with out topping off. Kevin masterfully used the draft to conserve but the strategy wouldn't work this year as a late stage caution allowed everyone to duck in and top off which negated the fuel strategy.

Finding himself in the third pack at the latter stage of the race required Kevin to methodically charge through the field. The second half of the race saw some cautions and this tightened the field up and allowed those who saved their cars to come to the front. At about the three quarter mark the AMSOIL Chevy was solidly attached to the tail end of the lead draft.

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Daunting Daytona ... | << back | 2004 Race Archive | 2003 Race Archive

Kevin hung on to the lead draft with a plan to go to the front with six to go. Finding himself a drafting partner in Grant Farrow, Kevin and Grant were poised to go forward but fate would dampen the chances for a run to the checkers. Kevin had a run on the car in front of him going down the backstretch with 10 to go and let the car roll on the outside of a fellow competitor in turn three. That competitors car warped up and punted Kevin hard into the wall. The car was smashed on the whole right side and had engine damage. Kevin limped home to the finish and ended up 14th, the last car on the lead lap.

Kevin Inglin

"I have a love hate relationship with restrictor plate racing. On the one hand I like the cerebral part of it. I enjoy the strategy part but it sure is never wracking in the middle of the pack. Once again our connection bit us as we'd have come away with a top ten finish in this one if we didn't get warped into. The warp factor has been my biggest concern all year and it's the only thing I don't have control over. There is a light at the end of the tunnel however as I know our cable company is upgrading our system and we should have a better connection by the end of summer. It can't come soon enough.

I've got to take a minute to thank ECI again for sponsoring our efforts this year. They are a small organization out of Frenchtown NJ and they have come on board again to help us out. They are a premier distributor of AMSOIL products and if you're in the need for some top quality lubricants then you should give them a shout. I'd also like to give a shout out to Grant Farrow. Grant and I were connected like velcro this week and our strategies brought us to the front in the end. At least for Grant the strategy paid off as he landed in the top ten at the end. We'll move on and see what we can do at the Rock. It's not one of my favorite tracks and I'm just going to see if we can get out of there with a top ten."