Sarah Cornett-Ching and her team made the three-hour trek from her Summerland home to Agassiz Speedway on Aug. 6 and 7.
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 Cornett-Ching spent the first session feeling the car out, and getting comfortable with the track. Cornett-Ching 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,” she said.
Starting at the back of the pack in the main event, 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. She finished in 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”, said 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”.