This race was run at a blazingly fast pace for the first 15 laps - the leaders' lap times were in the 19.10s, 20s, and 30s!  The #3 PEPSI/Mac's racecar started in 3rd position, inside row 2.  On the start, the outside cars led by #9 Adrian Ward got past the pole sitter #48USA Jake Grosswiler, so we fell back to 4th.  But #48 picked up the pace with us close on his bumper and we were able to take 3rd back from #45 Dave Kindopp by the end of lap 2.  Watch the first 2 laps - 1.7 MB.

We followed #48 for a few laps, one of which was a personal best lap time of 19.102!  When #48 twitched a bit in corner 4, we got inside of him and took 2nd position by the end of the front straight (see the video - 340 KB).

We caught right up to #9 in the next 2 laps.  He seemed to be pushing a bit in the corners so we stayed tight on his bumper, waiting for a mistake.  On lap 14 we caught lap traffic, and one lap later it was side-by-side lap traffic with nowhere to go.  After half a lap of traffic jam, we had a BIG WRECK (watch the video - 1.9 MB).  #13 broke an axle and spun in corner 3. #68 braked and swerved right to avoid it, resulting in tire-to-tire contact that launched the back end of the #3 PEPSI/Mac's racecar up into the air.  It felt like we were starting a forwards summersault, but the front bumper hit the track and the back end fell back down.  It landed hard, giving Brent a big shock of pain up his spine.  We spun one-half turn, then #48 landed on our hood (he had just launched into the air off the tire of the #9USA car).  The emergency crew was at the scene in an instant and because of Brent's back pain they took maximum precautions.