Paulie's Blog: First win in the Camping World Series (cont'd)

As soon as I hit the track, I felt really comfortable with the car. I would say that the car was the best we've been at the beginning of practice at any track so far this year. We spent both sessions trying to get as smooth of a ride over the bumps in Turn 2 as possible, without sacrificing the ability of the car to turn in the center of the corner. By the end of practice, I felt as though we had a very strong race car.

In qualifying, I put down what I felt was a decent lap. I didn't think it was good enough for the pole and figured it would put us about fifth. To my surprise, we ended up second. Teammate Eric Holmes, in the other NAPA car, was on the pole.

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After qualifying, I headed to NAPA's hospitality area. I've never seen such a huge group of people from one sponsor: 1,500 people. I signed autographs there and interacted with everyone before heading over to the NASCAR autograph session, which all drivers must attend for the general admission fans.

Enough rain fell right before the race to delay the event for a little while, but it cleared up pretty quickly. When the green flag finally did fall, Eric jumped into the lead and I fell into second behind him. Although there were a few cautions, Eric and I ran first and second for the entire first half of the race. I would run hard enough (about 90 percent) to open up about five car-lengths over third, then back down to about 80 percent, saving as much as I could for the end.

The field was bunched back up because of a spin at halfway and a number of our competitors moved to the high line. As the bottom began to lose grip, I fell as far back as fourth. Another caution flew on Lap 92.

It seemed like the bottom grove started to gain grip after the rest of the field moved up, so I stayed down there. It paid off as I was able to pass for the lead on Lap 109. I was able to quickly open up a 10 car-length lead. Although Jim Warn, who had worked up to second place, was able to catch me with about seven laps to go, he didn't have enough to get around me. Picking up my first win in front of 1,500 of our friends from NAPA couldn't have been any sweeter.

After the race, we did the traditional "hat dance" with hats from NAPA, Toyota, Camping World, the Drive for Diversity program, and many of the series sponsors. Celebrating with the team in Victory Lane was a blast.

Paulie and the No. 12 team celebrate in Victory Lane.

After the race, the track staff opened up the pits for fans to walk around. I stayed around until every last fan got an autograph and, if they wanted, a picture with the trophy.

This win is significant in a number of different ways. It moved us up to fourth in points, as well as into the lead in the rookie of the year standings. In addition to being my first win in the NASCAR Camping World Series, it was the first NCWS win for the Drive for Diversity program. Finally, it was the first win for Mike Curb, our car owner, in the NASCAR Camping World West Series. For anyone who doesn't know, Mike was Richard Petty's car owner for the King's 200th win.

Congratulations to Kate, this week's winner in the memorabilia giveaway on PaulieHarraka.com.

Paulie Harraka, a native of Fairlawn, N.J., is a student at Duke University. He is a member of the Drive for Diversity program and races in the Camping World West Series for Bill McAnally Racing. Harraka won the 2008 track championship at All American Speedway.