Fortunes were mixed for Chris Carr and the Ford QCCPOV Racing Team. Carr won the 500cc class at Savannah, but failed to qualify for the big bike program at Volusia County Speedway on February 28. In the race that counts towards the championship, Carr recovered from a first lap bobble to take fifth place at Municipal on Thursday. Daytona is important to everyone who races it, but as Chris would say, it's only one race. Sometimes, just finishing on the super-rough Stadium track is enough.
There's a break in the schedule now, with the next event being held on a tight, indoor short track at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on May 1.
"In the 750, we got off the line fourth or fifth, moved up to third - in those little twelve lap races, you've got to get on with the program in a hurry and (Kenny) Coolbeth and (Joe) Kopp had a good run up front, I didn't have anything for them at the end, so that was a good night.
"Barberville was okay for us, I had a good race with Willie McCoy in the 500 class. Willie got out front and there was no way to get by him except to break his leg, and I didn't want to do that to my buddy. We went real close, 1-2, the whole twelve-lapper.
"In the 750, I just didn't make the main event, period, on that one. In the heat race, I had a very bad first lap, and I moved my way up to sixth, but it was over before I knew it. That race was history.
"We didn't do anything, went to the beach with the family on Sunday, went and played some golf, got a little bit of golfing in while I was down here and went to the Stadium on Wednesday and had a pretty good run at the Hotshoe National. In the fifteen lap main event, I came from fifth to second. I kind of cut into the lead of Brian Smith, but I wasn't anywhere near him when the checkered flag flew. But it was a good start to the week and we were ready for the National.
"Thursday, we take off, get a decent run in our scratch heat, ended up being the fourth-fastest, so I was on the pole for the fourth heat race, and I think we had the race of the night with J.R. Schnabel in the fourth heat. He and I swapped the lead - I think - about ten or twelve times in ten laps. It had the crowd on their feet. It was fun to a part of it- it wasn't fun to finish second - but I tell you what, it was a cool race. People have been coming up to me since then saying, "That heat race was awesome!" I have to agree with them, it was a lot of fun.
"In the main event, I got a good jump off the start, and was about fifth into turn one, and I got pushed wide or I got out into some deep dirt or something, and I ended up kind of turning right instead of left, and about took out the pit gate coming off of turn two and by the time I got to turn three, I think I was tenth or eleventh. We just started picking guys off one at a time, and got our way up to fourth and then my buddy Willie McCoy came back around the outside of me with about four or five laps to go, and we ended up fifth. One of those deal. Schnabel out front was gone, Smith and Murphree were a close second and third. We had inched up toward them, but we didn't really have a chance to do any work on them.
"So Daytona's over and we're healthy. It doesn't pay any more points than the rest of 'em. But it is nice to start your year off good. We didn't start off as well as we would have liked, but we're not overly disappointed either."
What are your thoughts about the next event at The Cow Palace?
"I think that ought to be interesting. I'm going to spend the next two months sharpening up my elbows, and getting ready for a little bump-and-shovefest out there in San Francisco, and we'll see how it goes. How to predict that one? You can't. Qualifying and time trial and staying on top of your game is more important there than any other race we've ever run, so we'll go out there and try and keep our ducks in a row, and try to have some fun."