I was suited up and preparing to take over from John Hogdal (who is a madman driver, but smooth!) about Midnight. John came in, I gave the tires a once over, and prepared to climb into the car. Unfortunately I couldn't get the right angle to fit my bulk into the car and I had to try a couple of times. Once seated, I found that I was struggling to breathe. Rather than put myself into a panic situation, I decided to let someone else drive. Greg quickly suited up and hit the road. I caught my breath again pretty quickly once I had the helmet off, so I'll try again in a couple of hours.
During his night driving stint, Hogdal was turning laps around 1:01 & 1:02, right up there with the cars at the head of the pack. He even passed the lead BMW and second place Ford ZX2!
In retrospect, I think the cramped position in the seat, as well as the confining nature of the balaclava and full-face helmet, were contributing factors to my inability to catch my breath. I was ready to drive, but simply could not breathe.
