So not only did our Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup series make the move from the Western US to the East, but so did I. The teams
had to cover quite a bit of ground from our last race in Monterey, CA to our next race in Millville, NJ and I moved from sunny
Santa Barbara back home to Chicago. I am now an official college graduate and have moved back to good ol' Illinois.
However, back to what anyone really cares about: the racing!
So I arrived in New Jersey with a different attitude,
one of conservative aggression as I thought this to be a potential turning point in my season. A good result in both
of the races held here could really bolster my overall championship standings and a poor one could potentially break my season.
Well I had both!
Race 1: In race one I made a mistake on my fast lap in qualifying that cost me about
8/10 of a second (which is huge in these MX5 Cup cars) so I had to start from 12th. However, I am usually pretty good
on the starts so I was not too worried. On the formation lap, my "buddy" from the Mazda Raceway incident managed
to spin on the formation lap so he had to go start from the back of the field. So I made what was possibly the most
conservative start I have ever made (afterall I needed points!) and only gained a few positions and was nicely tucked in behind
the car in front of me preparing to follow him through Turn 1 and race later and then BAM! The same driver who ruined
my race at Mazda Raceway managed to come flying up through the field and used me as a brake. The hit was hard enough
to pick my rear wheels up off the ground, but I thought that I might be able to continue. However, as I soon noticed
after a few corners the car was simply undriveable. There was not very much mechanical damage, but the rear bumper was
so crushed in that the rear tires had very little room to travel and the spring rates would essentially go to infinity every
time I would turn into a corner. Watch the video footage of the first lap and keep an eye on my car and you will see
what it is like to drive an ill-handling car. Unfortunately this meant that I had to come into the pits and bust out
the least elegant tools in the pit-crews arsenal: the hammer and crow bar. Team MER did a great job and managed to pound
out the fenders and pry the wheel wells out and got me out on the lead lap. However, in a racing series where a missed
shift usually costs you a few positions a minute long pit stop does not do you any favors. I went out and the car was
OK, but not great so I just put my head down and ran as fast as the car would go. I think I ran 8-10 laps within a few
hundreths of a second of eachother and that was all I could do. Unfortunately for me there was not as much attrition
as I had hoped for and I ended up finishing 19th...
Race 2:
The earlier race in NJ effectively ended me having any hope for a good overall position in the year-end
championship standings, so for the rest of the season I really have very little to lose. This time I hit the setup right
for qualifying and made no mistakes on my good lap. I may have been a touch overly cautious, but I qualified 4th so
it could have been worse! It was a tight field though, I think the 5-7 place cars were only a few hundreths of a second
of my qualifying time. I made a decent start and worked my way into 3rd place for the first part of the race.
The two leaders had managed to pull a gap and check out so me and the 4th place driver Justin Piscitel worked together for
the majority of the race to try and catch up. I missed a shift going into the back section of the track and
lost my momentum allowing Justin to pass me on the front straight. We traded positions for the last podium spot a few
times, but spent the majority of the race drafting eachother in an effort to catch the leaders. I have to give credit
to Justin for a great clean race and I just didn't have enough to get around him for 3rd without him making a mistake.
I really wanted that podium but a 4th place result is alright.
Now my goal for the rest of the year is at least
to get a podium and to try and win one of these darn races. And luckily for me there are two races coming up at my "home"
tracks so it should be interesting....
PS I finally updated my website so have a look around.
Thanks,
Nick
