Weekend Goals Achieved

Back In The Driver's Seat

It had been 2 months since I was behind the wheel of a race car last, which was in my Spec MX-5 car at Road America. And it had been 4 months since I drove the Spec Miata last. Not only was I eager to get behind the wheel again, but I needed to make sure I could adapt seamlessly between the two cars over a long period of time.

Spec Miata vs Spec MX-5

The first thing that surprised me when I jumped back into the Spec Miata was just how much smaller the car was compared to the Spec MX-5 car. I felt cramped sitting behind the wheel, but luckily I could get reacquainted fast. On track everything felt normal, I instantly felt comfortable going back to a car without ABS and power steering. And much to my surprise, the car didn’t feel all that slower compared to the Spec MX-5 despite having 50HP less.

Feeling Confident

My pace during Friday’s practice sessions was super strong and the car felt great straight out the gate. Most importantly our long-run pace was strong which would allow us to be competitive during the races.

Trusting My Instincts

Even though I felt confident with the car and qualified P2 for Race 1, I felt there was still a bit of lap time in the car I wasn’t maximizing and the car setup was not 100% dialed in. Being four and a half tenths off of pole position was an alarming wake-up call.

I decided to make a setup change on the car to help the rear end with sliding between Qualifying and Race 1. While this was inherently risky, I had a good feeling it could be the right call.

Strategy

Starting the race from the front row of the grid, my goal was to get a clean start and focus on traffic management with so many cars from different classes sharing the track. Exiting Turn 1, I managed to hold onto 2nd and stay right with the leader. The car felt better than it had been all weekend, my setup change worked!

Back to Winning Ways

Halfway through the end of Lap 1 traffic began to form from other classes, I knew this was going to be the moment where the race could be decided. Going down the back straight as I was following my teammate Sam who was in the lead I saw a Spec 944 who was going very slow. I decided to back off of Sam and focus on my exit on the Phil Hill turn. I nailed the exit and was faster than both of them, but now I needed to find a way around. A gap opened up and we were able to split the 944 with me having the inside for the upcoming Sweeper turn. The 944 misjudged his turn in point and I took the lead. The safety car came out a lap later and would stay out for the remainder of the race. A strange way to get a victory, but a win is a win and I’ll take it!

Survival

Sunday was a bit more challenging as I was slowly losing pace throughout the day and couldn’t quite figure out why in time. I started the Qualifying Race from pole but quickly fell to second and had to defend intensely to keep the spot.

A Real Problem

Race 2 was even more difficult as I fell back to P3. I managed to hold a consistent gap to the cars ahead of me but halfway through the race my pace began to drop off significantly. At partial or zero throttle the car would not turn at all. Dealing with such understeer was a massive challenge as I had my championship rival Christian Hoagland right behind ready to take advantage of the opportunity. I found a way to drive around the issue by inducing a slide to rotate the car, but it was still far from optimal. I managed to finish 3rd and most importantly extend my championship lead even further.

While I wish Race 2 had gone better, I was still able to achieve my weekend goal of extending the championship lead in both races. Ultimately, I would say the penultimate round was a success.

One Round To Go, Plus A Huge Opportunity

In 3 weeks I’ll be heading to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway for the final round of the season with the goal of clinching the championship! But in the meantime, I am excited to share that I have been selected as a finalist for the Mazda Spec MX-5 Shootout. November 10-12 I’ll be competing at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the opportunity to join the Mazda Factory Club Racing Team!