Road America is about as close to a “local track” as I have, although the last 3 years I’ve race mostly on the karting track. I did go watch an FRP weekend a couple of years ago to check in out. And last year did a Mazda Miata school that utilized part of the track. So I’ve been looking forward to this race on the calendar.
When looking at the calendar, we picked June Sprints as a good warm-up for the FRP race two weeks later. After watching the USF and Indy races last weekend, it looked like a great call. The new track surface was challenging even experienced drivers.
The weekend started with two test days. The first day, Wednesday, was practically a private practice! With at most 3 cars, including mine on the 4 mile track, I don’t think I even saw another car on track. Thursday had a few more cars, including some in my class, so it was good to see what some of the competition looked like.
Friday had 2 qualifying sessions. Lots more cars on track. My class ran in the same group with F600 and Formula V. The traffic made it challenging to get a good lap, but I finished 4th in class and 8th in the group. Second qualifying was faster, and I was able to improve my time. I finished 2nd in class but still 8th in the group as a couple more F600s snuck in front of me.
On the starting grid, I ended up starting P7. Zach Rivard and I managed to pull away from the rest of the FFs and traded the lead several times before I was able to open a gap on the last couple of laps, finishing about 0.8 seconds ahead to win the class and finish 6th in the group for my first SCCA win. I’ve had 3 3rds and 3 2nds in Hoosier Super Tour events but this was my first SCCA win!
Sunday’s race was challenging before it ever got underway. Rain was expected all morning but ended up holding off until after lunch. The group before us went out on wet tires and it was clearly wet. But with 50+ cars on the track, the dry line started to develop. Most of my class went out on slicks tires with only one on rain tires. Starting P8 overall and P2 in class, I got off to a good start. Through the first 2 laps, I was able to open a 2.8 second gap on the next closest FF. And then it started to rain again. The dry line started to disappear, and handling of the slick tires got tricky. A four car wreck brought out the red flag, stopping everyone where they were on the track. I stopped just before turn 14 and had to sit in the rain. Eventually they flew the checkered flag without restarting the race. When that happens, they revert back to the most recent completed lap. So I finished 3rd in the group, but 1st in my class, sweeping the June Sprints FF class and winning my 3rd straight race!
But the most important thing I’m taking away from the weekend is 5 days of experience on a track I hadn’t previously raced on a new surface. Thank you to Ares Elite Sports Vision for their continued support!
