The #20 car was plagued with handling problems all day. They didn't really show in the first practice session, because it was a short session. But in the second session, the car was really loose and on the fourth or fifth lap, something really upset the balance going into turn 3, and Mark went spinning through turn 4 and ended up hitting the tires with the backend. Most of the damage was cosmetic, with a bent rear bumper, and a bunch of cracked fiberglass. After resetting the toe, making some adjustments to try and tighten up the car, and a lot of duct tape, Mark went out for the heat race.
In the heat race, the #20 was a little better, but still quite jumpy entering into turn 3, and quite loose overall. It was definitely a handful, but Mark held on to it, and managed to garnish a 4th place finish, keeping it on the track and in one piece.
Before the feature, the #20 crew worked to try and sort out the handling problems and tighten the car back up. For the feature, Mark started outside on the front row, which was mixed blessings. The car was more controlable on the outside, but faster cars were all stacked up behind him. On the fourth lap or so, Mark was holding onto 5th place, but then he was bumped from behind going into turn three. With the handling problems, there was no saving it. He went spinning through turn 4, collecting several other cars, and ended up back in the tires, this time front end first. Talk about deja-vu! The damage was again mostly cosmetic (more body work!), so the officials pushed him back out on the track to restart at the rear of the field.
Mark took a few laps to feel the car out, and let the front runners race a bit, and saw several other incidents unfold in front of him. He managed to stay out of trouble, and even passed a few cars, ending up with a 12th place finish. Not bad, considering the handling woes they had to deal with. Lots of work to do before the next race...