Spec Corvette at Sonoma Raceway with NASA 8-20-22

Today's race is at Sonoma Raceway. I'm returning to the track after having oiling problems with the silver #35 and doing an engine swap Thursday and Friday before the race. I'm also 7 weeks into a broken right wrist, so don't tell my doctor! Special thanks to Donny Yorke for for helping with the engine swap. There's absolutely no way I could have done that one-handed.
In this race, I'm starting 5th out of 8 cars. Here are some notable moments:
0:08 Got a great start but saw the squeeze coming. Chose to back off rather than hit Oli or the wall.
1:46 Side by side with John into 11, can't make it stick
2:26 Trying to capitalize on John's slight off at the exit of 3. Still can't make it stick.
3:05 Side by side into 7, same outcome.
3:25 Inspecting John's rear bumper through 9 and 10 (no contact).
3:36 Trying again at 11. Woohoo!
4:28 Working on Greg into the Carousel. Dude knows exactly how to place the car to make it as wide as possible.
6:02 Power loss and smoke out the back. I back off, thinking I blew something. After confirming pressure and temps, I reengage but have to chase down the 3 spots I lost.
7:42 Picked off 1 out of class car.
9:21 Inspecting an out of class bumper (no contact) and a little broken hand flailing during a quick correction. Picked off the other out of class car.
11:02 Getting another look at John's bumper in turn 10 and an outside pass in 11 (still no contact).
11:35 Greg makes an error and I grab the pass in 3.
11:40- 22:34 Whole lotta nothin', other than slower out of class cars. Marc was on fire and there was no chance of reeling him in this weekend.
22:35 White flag.
24:28 Checkered flag. 2nd place!
Also, check out the Spec Corvette live stream here for the announced version of the race and other camera angles. • Spec Corvette Racing L...

[@patrickhowe9166]

HA! Josh's new nickname.....The Inspector! I thought about "The Proctologist" because he's not afraid to crawl up your a** but that's not very nice. I like "The Inspector" because it has a sense of intimidation as well as professionalism. If Josh is right up behind you inspecting your bumper, A - you're already in trouble but B - you'd better not make any mistakes or he'll have no choice but to do his job, write you a "get outta my way" ticket and send you to loser jail.

[@joshc1017]

LMAO

[@colemcmeans7809]

damn man, looks like you got pissed and just let it have it. awesome, fun to watch. did you get fastest lap?

[@joshc1017]

Ha - it was a fresh engine, so I was crapping my pants. Definitely not trying to flog it. Did not get fast lap this weekend. I was a bit off my game with the broken wrist, so I dialed it back a little to play it safe. Reaction times at the wheel were a bit slower. My lap record from last year is still intact, though. Marc and Oli were both threatening to take it this weekend.

[@tedmcconaughey8438]

What was all the smoke?

[@joshc1017]

It's sucking up oil in long left hand turns. The problem goes away when the oil level drops to the full line, or close to it, on the dipstick. I've seen this happen on 3 different engines now and several other cars in the series... but not all. Greg Nester solved the problem on his car by installing a taller valve cover and increasing the size of the vent tube. Marc LaCourte doesn't have the problem and thinks it's because of the Improved Racing oil pan baffles he's running.