[Zeke]

I like T9 at Willow. T8 scared me and I could not flat it but I think my car could. I would ease the gas but not lift, of course, in 8. Once I came out of the throttle just a little too much and started a tank slapper. After 2 corrections I knew I was a dead duck so I just let go of the wheel and I'm guessing the gas. It's not all clear to me but the car straightened out and once I realized I wasn't eating dirt, I proceeded into 9 doing about the correct speed to enjoy that corner.

There was a Pelican/R Gruppe guy in front of me, Dan Byers, and later in the pits he said he saw me in his mirror. He said he had never seen the side o someone's car that didn't go off. He asked how I did that. I said I gave up almost immediately and things sorted on their own. No credit due whatsoever.

I always liked the T9 corner as it was flat out in a kart. My kart would barely touch 100 coming into 8 but at the slightest input on the wheel it lost speed. Lost just enough to keep the foot buried and do 9 at 90. Funny, the 911 was happy at 90 too, but I could not have maintained my approx 120 coming into 8. Or was chicken. I never looked at my speed while figuring out where the hell I was in 8, it is a very wide part of the track. Most drove right down the middle, straightened out looking at a structure of some sort off track some distance away as a mark. Once the car was straight and stable if was time for a little braking if you got through 8 at speed.

I never made a mistake in 9 so maybe that's why I liked it. I made mistakes in 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8 and went off in the first 4 at one time or another. Thankfully I did not actually spin or go off in 8. 8 and 9 are where people get hurt. You don't want to overcook 9 because you could either hit the wall at pit entrance or spin to the inside of the track which was soft and flipped many cars.

There's a dip in 9 right at the apex so if you aren't already starting to unwind the wheel, you became a victim of the car unloading just after the apex. A late apex was the safe way to negotiate the turn. Doesn't make sense saying it that way but that's the line.