[WatertownNewbie]

It is very likely that I was the next car to the Uphill after Pat's adventure. Heading down No-Name, I noticed the flag person vigorously waving the yellow flag as I turned in. That caused me to proceed relatively smoothly to the apex, and by then I noticed the huge (and I mean huge), probably forty-foot high dust cloud at the top of the Uphill. So I really slowed down (not a problem with the Uphill and gravity assisting me), and as I crested the Uphill there was no way to see very far down the track. Nor could I make out a car anywhere, and I really thought that there might be a car parked in the middle of the track not far ahead of me. That is how thick the dust cloud was. Going even more slowly by now, in perhaps another second I saw a car off to the right, sitting upright, and I figured there had been a really big slide to produce all of that dust. Only then did things clear enough for me also to see stuff in the track, including the number that formerly had been on the car. (It must have been separated from the car during the barrel-roll.) I was going very slowly by this time, and I snaked my way through the debris. By the time I reached West Bend, the black flags were out.

Even though this was a lapping day and not an open practice (i.e., there was limited passing), the goal of driving is to go faster. As Pat noted, no one should be looking at any of the winter improvements to the Uphill. I kept my eyes on the apex and the track out and am only vaguely aware of what was off to my left. Nonetheless, I would like to think that if I ever need any of that new stuff off to my left at the Uphill, it will be a blessing and not something that turns an already bad situation into something worse. Perhaps the most likely place to hit the Armco on a dry day is near that orange paint. Ramming it with a rear tire is bad enough (as Pat showed), but hitting it nearly head-on could be really nasty. If there is a way to rearrange the Armco so that a gentler deflection is possible, that would be something to look into.