Carson City's Mackena Bell was in town last week for a family visit, and I had the opportunity to speak with her about her experiences racing in the K&N Pro Series East with Revolution Racing.
Bell told me that racing at this level is nothing like the Saturday night racing she has been doing since she was 10 years old, moving from Outlaw karts to Legends to Late Models. She said she didn't know what to expect in her first race, which at 150 laps was much longer than she was used to.
"I'm building confidence, and the competition in the series is awesome," she said.
Although her first race at Greenville Speedway was pretty much a learning experience, the second outing at South Boston Speedway was much better, at least at the start. She qualified ninth and was running well until the car started to get tight. Falling back into the pack, Bell fell victim to a retaliation move for something that had happened in the first race, and got wrecked.
"It was the hardest hit of my career," she said.
Despite that experience, she is really enthused about the series, the venues and the fans.
"I feel like a NASCAR star," she said. "They parade us around the track in pickups before the race, and do driver introductions, just like the Cup drivers."
Bell said she is learning what a mental game racing is at her current level.
"It is so much more competitive, and I am learning to focus on my own race and not let the mind games the other drivers play get to me." she said. "Ninety-nine percent of success in this series is confidence, and driving the race car is the other one percent."
Bell's next race is May 23 at the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway, longer than any track she has run. It will be a combination race with both the K&N Pro Series East and West, and there will be enough cars that not everybody will qualify for the race. Her goal is to qualify and finish in the top 10.
Bell goes back to North Carolina today and will spend the next couple of weeks helping to build her Iowa car and also building up her stamina. Her fitness regimen consists of running more than three miles a day plus weight training.
"I'm stronger than I've ever been," she told me.
Another local racer, also a former Outlaw kart competitor, ran a Late Model double-header last Saturday night at All American Speedway in Roseville. Cameron Millard placed 15th in the first race and then came back with a 10th in the second event.
If you watched Sunday's racing at Talladega, you saw what was probably one of the 10 best races in NASCAR history. I don't know whether it was the new spoiler, or the larger restrictor plate, or a combination of both, but the race set records for most leaders (29), most official lead changes (88), three green/white/checker overtimes, and the eighth-closest finish in series history with Kevin Harvick making a perfectly timed move to nip Jamie McMurray at the line by .012 second.
The following Nationwide race was no less interesting, with Brad Keselowski taking the win. The other big story of the weekend was the escalation of the feud between Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. The latter came down three lanes to run Gordon onto the apron. Gordon fell back and was collected in a multi-car wreck. Johnson went on to make another mistake, running into Greg Biffle and taking himself out of the race. Is the four-time consecutive champion letting success go to his head?
This is another big weekend for racing with NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide at Richmond, Camping World Trucks and Indycars at Kansas, and the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis. So get your TVs and DVRs warmed up and ready to go!