A simple plan was, however, foiled by a missed setup on this day at the DuQuoin Mile. A second row start in the main, precipitated by a red-flagged heat race that left Chris a lap or two short of his strategy, was just the beginning of a mediocre day, and although he charged at the end of the shortened race, eighth was all Carr could manage. In his own words below, Chris bluntly admits that a bad day couldn't have come at a better time.
The team travels to San Diego for the mile at Del Mar, a Clear Channel Motorsports event, and a chance for big bucks if Chris can win it. The Grand Slam event will pay $20K in addition to winnings if Carr stands on top of the podium.
"But it was about the eighth lap, and that particular lap I had been third, so I was relegated to a second row start for the main event.
"I didn't get a very good start, and I lost touch with the leaders early on, and was struggling at the same time, so I didn't really get a chance to mix it up with the front runners and run with their pace early in the race. I was struggling, ran twelfth most of the time, and then I started picking a few guys off at the end, but the race was twenty laps, and I just ran out of time.
"I picked a good weekend to suck. We were struggling with chassis mostly, a combination of that - and we couldn't get any power to the ground. We were just sideways, it seemed like, through the corners, and we couldn't move forward. It was tough. Things got better toward the end of the race, and our bike - it got better as the race went on - but, like I said it was too late to do anything with it.
"We got eighth - worst finish of the year, and it couldn't have come at a better time, I guess."
Are you looking forward to Del Mar?
"I'm looking forward to chasing potentially the biggest paycheck of the year. I'm looking forward to the challenge of beating Rich King and Bryan Smith and Johnny Murphree, and hopefully take the lion's share of the money. That's the goal for the weekend."