This past weekend, Sarah Cornett-Ching and her team made the three-hour trek from her Summerland home to Agassiz Speedway, located in Agassiz, British Columbia. Agassiz Speedway is a fast quarter-mile bullring located east of Vancouver. This was the first ever appearance at the track for Cornett Ching, and she spent the first part of the morning getting acclimated with her surroundings and preparing for the day’s events.
At the beginning of the day, there were two 30-minute practice sessions and Sarah spent the first session feeling the car out, and getting comfortable with the track. Sarah spent most of the final session observing the faster cars and watching what lines they are utilizing on the track.
“I felt that I could learn more in that second session by watching the other cars on the track, and seeing what they are doing”, commented Cornett-Ching as she began to prepare for qualifying. “Hopefully we can get a great finish here today”.
Before qualifying, Sarah walked the track looking for her marks to hit so she can run a similar line as the fast cars that she witnessed in practice. She then buckled into her car and spent several minutes visualizing what she needed to do on her qualifying run. By skipping the final practice session, Sarah was the first car out onto the track, and quickly she proved that she is a fast learner. Her speed was a half second faster then her practice run, and only two-tenths of a second off the Agassiz Speedway track record. At the end of qualifying, Cornett-Ching was satisfied with her run, posting the seventh fastest speed.
“We are real happy with that, considering it is our first time here, and we have only had a few minutes of practice”, says Cornett-Ching. “In the feature, we are going to start from the rear of the field, and hopefully we can have a good, solid finish”.
Starting at the back of the pack in the main event, Sarah Cornett-Ching was looking to gain some valuable experience, and keep the car clean throughout the event. On such a small track like Agassiz though, slower traffic ahead can really slow up a fast car, and early in the event Cornett-Ching was passed by the race leaders. On lap 25, she lost the clutch, and also survived a late race incident that knocked the toe out. Sarah was able to keep the pace with the leaders throughout the event, and finished a very solid seventh place in her maiden run at Agassiz.
“All in all it was a great run for us considering some of the issues that we had during the race”, says Cornett-Ching. “We lost the clutch early and it made it extremely difficult to keep the car running under caution. We were able to battle through it all and brought the car home in one piece with a solid finish”.
Cornett-Ching will battle adversity again this weekend as she is currently recovering from a neck injury that she obtained at work. Cornett-Ching will push on though, and feels she has a great shot at the win this weekend at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, BC racing in the West Coast Sportsman Series race on Saturday in the Hot Summer Nights Race #2.
Since 2005, Sarah Cornett-Ching has racked up a pile of awards, including Most Aspiring driver as well as Champion in her division that year. Two years later, after moving up a class, she claimed the championship again. In 2008 she claimed her first ever top five finish in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series, and the following year she finished third overall in the series points standings. In addition to here third place in points, she also claimed awards for Most Improved driver, Most Dedicated to the Sport and West Coast Sportsman Rookie of the Year Award. Last season she claimed fifth place in points in both the Okanagen Street Stock Series and the West Coast Sportsman Series. She was also named Most Improved Driver and Most Dedicated Driver of the West Coast Sportsman Series. She plans to run the full ARCA West Regional traveling Series this season.
For more information on Sarah Cornett-Ching and to follow her racing accomplishments, please visit her newly revamped website, www.sccracing.com or visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sccracing.
| Sarah Cornett-Ching beside her NASCAR Canadian Tire Series car that she raced last month at Motoplex Speedway. (SCC Racing Photo Collection) |