Burkett: A breakthrough top 5 and a breakdown in St. Pete

Sunday-

Our Sunday race was warm, sunny and all of us USF2000 drivers were excited for our first taste of a dry racing in 2014. Perhaps a little bit too excited as it proved to be hazardous on our first lap. The tight right-hander that is turn one caused no issues, but going into the concrete canyon that is turn 4 cars went flying and smashing into each other. I started in 10th so I saw most of this carnage begin to happen and I was no longer focused on making the corner but just stopping before becoming a part of the carnage. I managed to do this, but others behind me didn’t. I was slammed into from behind that our two cars got stuck together for a solid 5 minutes before the Holmatro safety crew could separate us. This had put me two laps down without any hope of getting into the top 10 but I was still racing against the car had smashed into me and was also two laps down.

Leaving the crash site I felt nothing wrong with the car, but nonetheless I still brought it to pit lane for our mechanics to have a look at and check over. They found nothing to cause concern except a broken diffuser which wouldn’t cause too much of a problem. Taking the green flag knowing that I was two laps down I tried to stay out of trouble. Through the sweeping turn 3 my car suddenly broke loose in the rear and lost all forward drive. Avoiding any collisions with the wall I slowly pulled my car to a halt in the exit of turn four and had a better look as to what went wrong. Upon further inspection the bolts that connected my wheel to the suspension had been sheered completely off which caused the drive shaft to fall out and therefore, ending my race.

Not only was I out, but I had only completed 4 laps, which made me ineligible to collect any more than one point. On the bright side I escaped with minimal crash damage, unlike others.

Looking ahead to Barber I am feeling confident we will achieve at least one more Top 5 result and hopefully I score my first career podium!

Until next time

Yours Truly,

Daniel Burkett