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Laura's first experience at Altamont Motorsports Park taught her how to drive an extremely loose race car on a fast 1/2mile track. Laura and her team weren't satisfied with her first finish there and they hoped to redeem themselves with a top finish.
During the first of the Friday practice sessions the Peoplefinders.com/Beast was tight; this is what Laura wanted to feel rather than the terrible oversteer she had experienced the last time at the track. The team now knew they had something to work with. After some more test runs, the team had the car working very well on old tires. At the end of the day, Laura's lap times were only a couple tenths off other drivers with new tires.
The first practice Saturday morning showed the team's practice tires to be pretty used up, so with no worthwhile tires to practice on, Laura and her team decided to skip the second practice session. In the third and last session, the team put on new tires to scrub in for qualifying. Laura turned a very fast lap immediately and the team decided to bring her in before the "magic" in the tires was used up before qualifying. Unfortunately, the tires needed a couple more laps on the track to get up to the proper temperature and weren't fully scrubbed and their size equalized. Laura found that out in qualifying when the best she could do was 10th quick. That was a lesson everyone learned and wont do again! Laura would have to start 10th in the main event, meaning she had a lot of work to do to make it to the front. After the first ten laps of the fifty-lap race, Laura found herself in 6th position, racing with some of the best drivers in the country, including Tony Hunt, Tanner and Kody Swanson, Nick Rescino and Greg Anderson. The car was working great from the start and Laura was one of the fastest on the track. On lap 24, she tried a move on the outside in turns three and four that unfortunately didn't work. She spun to avoid the car she was passing that had also moved to the high grove and would have to restart at the back of the pack. After working her way through slower cars, Laura broke free and started to run down the leaders, but the pack was already more than a straightaway ahead. Laura was making great passes and was working her way back up through the field, turning lap times that were a tenth faster than the leader. At the flag, the group of cars that was over a straightaway ahead, was now only a few car lengths ahead of Hayes. She finished 7th and turned the third fastest lap of the race. Laura had a great come back from her spin and put on the show of the race.
Although the spin probably cost Laura a top five finish, she got some excellent passing experience and seat time. The knowledge and experience she has already gained from driving her 360 sprint is beginning to show and Laura is becoming more and more comfortable in the car and in racing wheel to wheel with her competitors. She and the team are looking forward to their 5th race of the season, this time in Salt Lake City, Utah at Rocky Mountain Raceways.
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