05/01/2026
Our first race of the year was last weekend and it was a good one overall. Alex really started the year looking like he’s ready to be a strong competitor in his classes. He picked up a pair of 3rd place finishes on Saturday, and looked even stronger on Sunday. Though the Sunday results don’t necessarily reflect that due to a couple of small mistakes that I’m sure he’ll grow from.
For those who don’t know already, Alex and I are sharing boats this year with me running CSH and CSR, and Alex running the restrictor classes of 20ssH and 25ssR.
I personally had more of an up and down weekend where I was left feeling frustrated. In CSH I failed to make a good start all weekend, which is tough because I expect better than that out of myself. In CSR the new boat is further off the pace than I would hope. Picked up a 4th on Saturday after jumping the gun, and was well off the pace of JMK and Kyle Bahl, with a 2nd on Sunday when JMK sat the day out. I know that there’s no shame in losing to those two, and that if I can get to the point where I’m keeping up with those guys that I can hang with the best in the country. But it was still very deflating to get passed on the outside by both of them in one heat.
Alex and I learned a lot driving the new boat, and both of our confidence was much higher on Sunday. I look forward to that process continuing. As a crew chief, we are learning about the boat setup and getting better every time out.
The only pictures I took from the weekend are the first two. Otherwise credit and gratitude goes to Jason Diamond for the pit picture, and Christine Gleason/ Gleason Photography for all of the racing photos.