In the 2014 season I finished fourth in the NASCAR Super Late Model points at The Bullring at LVMS. I finished 497th out of the thousands of drivers that race at NASCAR sanctioned tracks in the United States and Canada. In addition, I received the UNOH Youth Achievement Award from NASCAR for all of the charity work that I have done throughout the year. I work with two charities; Project 150 and the Las Vegas Labrador Rescue. Project 150 is a nonprofit organization that helps all of the homeless teens in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Labrador Rescue saves Labrador Retrievers in Las Vegas and even Utah. I was personally selected by NASCAR for this award because my work with these two great charities.
Although my team and I achieved many things this past season, it was a real struggle. We did great the first few races, then the car slowly started to fall off the pace and we didn’t discover the shock problem until the second to last race of the season. It was extremely frustrating as a driver and team because it felt like all of the odds were against us. We faced this continuing problem with tenacity and once we finally figured it out it felt like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders and we could finally go back to what we needed to do; go fast.
During this time of struggle I wasn’t necessarily the best person to be around. I was extremely frustrated with myself because I was putting the blame of what was happening with the car on myself. I wasn’t happy being at the place I loved every other weekend because it wasn’t fun anymore. Ever since I started racing my dad and I agreed that we should always have fun with racing no matter what was going on, but I didn’t hold my end of the agreement up throughout those few months. I look at this time as a learning experience and I believe that it has made a new fire in me. I have never wanted to win so bad and I’m looking forward to putting that to the test in 2015.
With a new year comes new opportunities. As the 2015 season is quickly approaching we are in immense preparation. My dad and I took my motor to be rebuilt and we are expecting it to be done soon. Also, we are going through the whole car and sending parts to be rebuilt. During 2015, we are looking at running out of town a lot more (Arizona and California). This will help me gain more experience at different tracks and I also think that it will help form me into a better driver. Oddly enough, I have won all of my championships on odd years (2009, 2011, and 2013) and I am looking to continue this streak. In order to complete this goal we need to be consistent and on top of our game every single weekend. I know that this is a tough goal because I am racing against the best drivers on the west coast, but I also know that my team and I are capable of achieving it.