Jimmy Kouba - Journal Archive

The Wissota season is now on the home stretch. The good news for us is that we seem to be hitting our stride for the last dash to the finish. Although we are now one of the long-shot bets, we can still make a run for a good points finish.

Before I get to the update, first, please take a moment to reflect on the past year…

For me and my family our reflections show how fortunate we are and have been in our lives and how easily that good fortune might be stripped away. Thank you to my family, friends and fans for my continued opportunity to do something as frivolous and exhilarating as racing. For as long as it lasts, it is a great ride. I sincerely hope that you have something, whatever it may be, as powerful in your lives as racing is in mine. Best Wishes!

On a much, much lighter note… A friend of mine is looking for a caring person and a good home for a beautiful Vette. It has low mileage (60k) and is in top condition. She's an '87 coupe, 4+3 manual transmission, white with red interior and great sound system, but he is only asking $10,000. Selling only because of a jealousy issue between this beauty and the '99 Vette he newly acquired. It seems the garage (and bank account) isn't big enough for both of them. If you know of anyone able to rescue this situation, just drop me a note.

Back to Watertown… It’s a fair drive over to Watertown, SD from Byron, MN so we left early in the morning to assure ourselves a relaxed trip. The trip was pleasant, and we arrived at Casino Speedway with plenty of time to spare, even with a stop in Brookings to settle into our lodging for the evening. Kaitie pulled our draw for the evening. It was a good one, landing us a 2nd row outside spot in the last heat. By the time our heat rolled around, the track surface was odd; heavy in spots, slick and dusty in others. Track officials decided to water the top groves just before we pushed off for our event. While this helped the slick and dusty stuff, it also left a wide greasy streak along the outside grove. This was right where I was on the start. It wasn’t enough to cause major problems, but it was enough to leave me hanging out to dry on the start. After a solid but uninspiring run, we finished 4th.

We started 12th in the feature. A long road ahead, but we did have 30 laps to do it in. Jamie and I both agreed on the setup to run: same as for Grand Rapids (the site of our last win). We weren’t sure if the track would agree with it, but heck, it seemed like the right thing to do. On the first start, I shot down low past my nephew Joseph. It didn’t hold and neither did the start. Justin Sathoff had a problem in turn 2, while Chuck Swenson rolled to a stop in turn 3. On the complete restart, I tried a higher line in an attempt to avoid the traffic on the bottom. It worked, sort of. Whatever Joseph did was better though, he ended up 2-3 spots in front of me! The car felt good, but we had cars everywhere around us-- front, sides, and behind. Eventually, I got a good line worked out and began moving up. The car was fast, very fast. At one early yellow, we were 10th. A few laps later, at the next yellow, we were 4th. On the restart, I dove under Roger Rager in turn 1 to take 3rd. A lap and half later and we were by Brad Pake for 2nd. We quickly closed in on leader Loren Langerud. I worked Loren hard for a couple of laps. Two things happened at once; I finally got a run under Loren in turn 3 and Loren over committed, getting very sideways. He saved the car from a spin, but we had the lead. We stretched our lead out in front of the pack, but quickly moved into lapped traffic. The first few lapped cars went well, but then I was stuck in heavy traffic. The lapped cars were thick across the track while racing each other for position. I eventually got hung up. This let Brad Pake hunt me down. As I slipped too high in turn 4, Brad took the lead. I challenged back hard, almost getting back by him a couple of times. But Brad made a hole in the traffic and slipped away. Traffic cleared and we shot through to give pursuit, but too late. The white came out, then the checkered. We were 2nd, behind Pake by 3 car lengths. Micah Shleimann was close third. It was a disappointment to have it in my hands then lose out on the win, but it was a fantastic night of racing.

Next up, more of South Dakota… We are off to Aberdeen, SD for the Wissota Western 100 at Brown County Speedway.