[Slowhands]

Thanks very much guys for all the love and support. Yes, this win was VERY long in coming (I had 2 wins in now-defunct Sportsman class but I don't count those). Some of us have harder heads than others. WAY WAY harder. Like depleted uranium. I finally got tired of going slower the harder I tried, so after Road America last summer, I decided to give racing a break. Just wasn't fun any more. Over the winter I traveled to the Himalayas and spent a month in a remote Shambhala Buddhist monastery at 14,000 feet where the monks eat a strictly vegetarian diet and meditate outside in -30F wearing nothing more than a coarse hand-woven jute smock. There I attained enlightenment. I couldn't quite get the freezing meditation thing down but I believe the lack of oxygen caused a permanent anoxic injury to the part of my brain that controls braking. Since then, despite intense physical therapy, I can only stay on the brake for a certain period of time, and then my foot falls off. And it seems to be getting worse. Really a problem on the street, where I've had to stay below 35 mph in town and use downshifts to come to a complete stop, but wow! how it has helped my lap times on the track!

I dedicate this win to the entire contingent of Skip Barber instructors on both coasts, who through their passion, commitment to teaching, careful analysis and observation (even when tired at the end of the day), friendship, and unrelenting bombardment, finally broke through my uranium skull (which yes, was forged in another galaxy and brought here on a meteorite). The list is too long to mention but you guys know who you are. Thanks so much for this incredible gift.

p.s. Gerardo, thanks for such a nice post, for taking all those pics and posting them to the gallery. You have talent with the camera, a great eye for composing a picture. But most importantly, I'm not sure that you've known how valuable your mentoring has been for me. Now you do.