Welcome back, Race Fans!
THURSDAY NOTES:
Weekend Schedule:
Friday - Practice 1 - 10:25 - 11:25 Practice 2 - 3:50 - 4:50
Saturday -Qualifying - 8:00 - 8:15 Grid Walk - 1:20 - 2:05 Race - 2:15 - 4:15
Catch the action on the Live Timing page and the race will be broadcast on Peacock TV.
FRIDAY NOTES:
The first group up today brought the iconic muscle car sounds. The ground pounding throaty roar of the cars in the NASCAR Historic group really gets you in the mood for racing.
Practice 1 was challenging this morning. A wiring issue affecting the brakes was found and fixed, but it took a while. Overall, they are happy with the pace and handling even though they didn’t get a whole lot of laps. Naturally, they are making some adjustments to tweak it before Practice 2. There is almost always some little thing to do that improves the performance or the long term pace.
Right now, we are relaxing a bit before suiting up for the final session of the day. Practice 2 goes out at 3:50 for an hour.
Several members of Morgan’s fan club are here in person this weekend to support the team and it’s wonderful to have that extra energy. Hopefully we will give everyone more laps to watch today.
What a long afternoon!
Practice 2 went well. They are happy with the adjustments and feel that the car will be very good in the race tomorrow. If I could but peek into the future to see when the perfect time for our pit stop will be… I suppose I will just have to wait until tomorrow and figure it out as we go.
A fellow racer had the brilliant idea to get a bunch of pizzas for dinner and hang out at the track enjoying a pleasant evening and good company. (The Nicholson’s are a very smart and practical bunch!) Many stories were told and ideas shared. This is one of the things that makes racing so much fun!
Qualifying is at 8:00 so it’s a very early start for us. For now, it’s time to wash off the grit from the day and put the feet up for a short bit.
Good night and rest easy!
SATURDAY NOTES:
Qualifying: Morgan handles the less grippy conditions very well. Early in the session he was setting fastest sector times regularly. That felt Really Good to see his times in purple so often.
Of course 15 minutes seems short, but somehow it also takes forever. Just when we’d really like the session to be over, and Morgan is front row, there are still 6 or 7 minutes left. That is an eternity when the track just gets better and better with every lap laid down.
Going into the last three minutes, with only 1-2 chances left, that is when everyone tries to put down their best efforts. Morgan did too, but was balked a bit by other cars. At the end of it, we are qualified in 7th.
No worries really. This is a 2-hour race so there is a lot of time for all kinds of things to happen. We have a very good and very sustainable race pace. That and the unknowns like yellows will determine final results.
Morgan will be back out there to start the race (on these same tires) at 2:15 eastern today. Catch that on Peacock TV. Ahead of the race, we always enjoy the grid walk. It’s always fun, but will be extra special today at our “home” track.
To be continued…
RACE REPORT:
Fair warning - this is the long bit. It’s easy to write about good results and it’s so much fun too! Buckle up and hold on.
Saturday was beyond amazing!! The Michelin Pilot Challenge at Virginia International Raceway was good to us this weekend! The day was sooo long - it began by arriving at the track a couple hours ahead of 8:00 qualifying and we didn’t find our pillows until well after 11:00.
Qualifying Recap: You saw that qualifying gave us both ends of the spectrum - purple in all sectors and P1, before ending up with a P7 grid spot. We got elevated to 6th when another car had to start at the back after an engine change. With a light field this weekend (only 10 cars in the TCR class), the spread of qualifying times across the field wasn’t very big. We learned some more stuff about the approach to qualifying to keep in the pocket for next time. In the next 4-5 hours there followed multiple and lengthy discussions about set up and strategy for the race.
Race Set-up Prep: There are differences in set up between what is needed to qualify well and to race well. For qualifying, when you only need to get that one best lap, the set up might be one that is very fast, but it’s probably not one that you want to have to drive for a long time. For that, you want something a bit easier to manage over the hour or so in the stint. There are always adjustments after every session to help best fit the current track conditions and give the two drivers what they need.
Race strategy prep involves trying to imagine every possible scenario and how to manage each one. Because so much is unknown until it actually happens, we get prepared for a lot of different things. We ask questions like if we get a yellow in this time frame, what will we do? Will we pit or stay out? If we pit, do we change tires, how much fuel might we add, do we change drivers? If we don’t get a yellow for a long time, how long do we think the tires and fuel will last before we really have to pit? We make our best estimates for all those things, work out a bunch of options and adjust on the fly once things get going. Since Morgan set the grid spot, he also started the race and he had a full tank of gas and the same tires he used in qualifying.
Fan Club at the Track! Before the race, we had time to spend with friends who had come to watch the race in person. It was awesome to have our peeps here to see it live! In a couple turns where Morgan’s Fan Club members were sitting, their enthusiasm spread to those around them until the whole area was cheering for our car! But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.
Race Roles: It’s important to know ahead of the race what each person on the crew will be doing. IMSA has limits on how many people can service the car in a pit stop. Obviously, the drivers help each other get out of and into the car, change seat pads and hook up radio, belts and window nets. We have two tire changers, one of whom also plugs in the air jack hose. One person (not going over the wall) holds the lollipop - the sign waved over the pit box to help the driver find us and stop precisely on the marks. We have three managing fuel - one plugs in the fuel nozzle, one is the deadman (also not going over the wall) who pulls and holds the lever to release fuel from the overhead rig into the hoses, and the one with the fire extinguisher (John) watches everything very carefully, ready at a moment’s notice to act if something goes awry. Earlier in the season, I had been the deadman. Now that I have moved into a strategy role, we have needed to beg favors of others to help with the deadman job. Sometimes, it’s another racer (like Nathan Nicholson from MX5 Cup), but he had another commitment this weekend during our race. Instead, we relied on our long time friend who has supported us in our long racing career, Roger Troxell. We gave him a heads up and he was prepared to step in with all his gear.
Other necessary folks include (new for this event) a data engineer (Joncarlo Schooler), a strategist to devise and implement the right scenario (me and Jackson Gardner remotely), a communicator to keep the driver and crew informed (also me mostly), someone to call the green flag (trickier at VIR where we couldn’t see the starters from our pit box - Victor Gonzalez and Ruben Iglesias), and a crew chief who oversees all the operations and makes sure all runs smoothly (Victor Gonzalez).
Fan Walk on the Grid: 1:20 PM. The fan walk this time was really awesome! For once, our pit stall was close enough to the grid spot that we could stand there in the shade and watch the throng swarm between us and the car. There were so many people that sometimes we couldn’t even see the car! We went through a lot of hero cards. It’s a nice memento for the fans and Morgan makes sure to autograph them, especially for the kids who come by.
Racing Action!
2:15 PM Green Flag. The first couple of laps after the green flag are always pretty tense. There is so much that can happen, both good and bad, but we can only wait and see what transpires. It’s all in the driver’s hands alone. We keep quiet on the radio and just watch all the cameras for a glimpse of our car, hoping opportunities come. They do, and Morgan makes a couple of good passes, moving up to 4th. He stayed there comfortably, for a while at least.
Tire degradation is a big factor in racing, especially in a front wheel drive car. Those front tires have to do a lot! They pull the car along, steer through the turns (and some are high load turns), and they handle a lot of the braking. They have plenty of grip early on, but there comes a time when they start to lose the grip. Quickly. Like falling off a cliff quickly. This is the time when the driver lets us know (complains strongly?) about how the tires feel. Then they reach a point of stability where they aren’t continuing to lose more grip. By Lap 13, we were 7th.
At the same time, from lap 2 on, we asked Morgan to hit a pretty aggressive fuel save target. He was doing that consistently and maintaining pretty good lap times too - around 1 minute 58 seconds per lap. He did ask whether pitting to change tires might be possible, but his instructions were clear: hang on and do the best you can to stretch the stint as long as you can. Don't worry about the position, stopping now could put us a lap down. There was not another peep about the tires or pitting.
3:10 PM. Lap 28. We are approaching a full hour of green flag racing. We are also near our planned maximum fuel use target (as are all other teams). Sometime in the next 15 minutes we absolutely will have to pit to change drivers so that Tyler will get his minimum required drive time. Word goes to the crew: Get ready - any moment now we will make the pit stop. They all take their positions on the wall, tools in hands, anxious for the car to appear in the pit lane.
3:12 PM. Lap 29. We get a full course yellow at the very best possible time! This will allow all teams to pit under yellow, avoiding green flag stops that cost a lot of track position. When the yellow comes, the cars slow down and it takes a couple laps for the field to gather up behind the pace car. Then the pits open, but only for the GS class. TCR has to stay out one more lap before we can come in.
3:14 PM. I use my phone to talk to Jackson and we monitor times, fuel and strategy options together. It is also my connection to get the calculation spreadsheets and timing information. Suddenly, I can’t hear Jackson and the computer is frozen. The phone has overheated and shut off.
3:16 PM. Lap 30. Frantic calls and texts from Jackson don’t get through. He’s freaking out. I’m freaking out in my head. I tell Morgan and the crew on the radio what will happen with the pit stop and when and desperately try to cool the phone enough so that it will work and reconnect again. The team is mobilizing for the stop we know is coming. I keep a calm, measured tone despite the extra stress and no one hearing me on the radio has a clue that there is a problem because that wouldn’t be helpful.
3:17 PM. Connections reestablished! Jackson and I can converse again!
3:20 PM. On lap 31, Morgan brings the #99 into the pits. The crew leaps into action, fills the tank to the brim, puts new front tires on, and the drivers change over. Everything was perfect and we are gone in about 42 seconds.
3:21 PM. Lap 32. Tyler roars out of the pit box, hurtling down the pit lane - on the pit limiter of course - no speeding here! High fives all around among the crew! On the broadcast, you see Tyler slip sweetly by other TCR cars standing still and getting their service done.
We exit the pits in the TCR lead!!! Our stop was 14 seconds faster than anyone else - all thanks to masterful fuel saving that Morgan did during the 1st hour. We didn’t have to put as much in the tank to fill it as others did.
3:26 PM. Green Flag. Lap 34. Tyler leads the last laps under yellow, but gets jumped at the start by Filippi in the #98. We drop to 2nd. The #93 Honda with Wittmer at the wheel and two more Hyundais are close behind.
3:29 PM. Lap 35. Full Course Yellow again after only one green lap. This one is short and the pits stay closed.
3:38 PM. Green Flag. It’s lap 38. This time, Tyler gets a better start and manages to retake the lead from the #98 during Lap 42. A huge cheer erupts from the crew!! We know we have enough fuel to get to the end without having to save so he can run full tilt.
Now we watch the gaps to the cars behind. Are they closing on us, how quickly, who are they? We know the Honda is straight-line fast - can we hold on to the lead all the way to the checker flag?
Watch Alert: If nothing else, you should really watch the last 30 minutes of the race. Our car gets quite a lot of screen time as the lead car in the best battle on the track. Once the Honda inevitably caught up, Tyler did a beautiful job holding him off for a long time. The battle was a hot one and the cameras were busy jumping between the cars and insets showing the crews.
4:13 PM. Lap 55. The Honda squeaked inside into Turn 1, Tyler couldn’t hold onto the outside line, and the #99 dropped back into 2nd. At this point, time was nearly gone and so were the tires. Without an error by Wittmer, we can’t take it back.
4:17 PM. Lap 57. Checker Flag. We hold onto 2nd spot behind the Honda with the #33 Hyundai of Wickens/Gottsacker in 3rd. This is a tremendous finishing result and we are all cheering and screaming our heads off! Next stop - Victory Circle for the podium celebration.
Podium Celebrations: What an amazing thrill to see our incredible son up there on the podium, taking our best finish of the season! All the peeps flood in to join the crowd and the smiles are so big that they don’t fit on the faces.
Drivers of the top three cars are called to the podium and the hard-earned trophies are presented. They are big and beautifully made of oak (to honor the majestic Oak Tree that stood inside Turn 12 before being struck by lightning) and they have a carved metal capstone of the track showing all the topography. Pictures are taken and the champagne sprays. Hats are thrown into the crowd giving some lucky spectators very special souvenirs. Hugs and congratulations are everywhere we turn.
THANK YOU!! This was the most amazing day indeed! Special thanks go to Morgan’s Fan Club in person for their extra support, encouragement and all around good vibes: Sheila Cockey (Morgan's Abuelita and my Mom), Roger & Sarah Troxell, Leah and Jim Epting, Scot, Dylan & Sean French, Gregg Ginsburg, Joncarlo Schooler, Deacon Greenfield, Jamison Huffman, Evan Troxel, and Ryan Lawrence.
More thanks go to all of you who watched from where ever in the world you were, set aside other tasks, and pulled together with us. We rode that wave of awesomeness all the way to the podium! I'm sure many will watch again when the IMSA feed hits YouTube.
Extra super thanks go to VGRT. These guys put their whole hearts into this result! Awesome work by all!!
There's one extra special note to share too! We led 17 of 57 laps - 30% of the race! Every lap lead by a Hyundai adds to the Hyundai Hope on Wheels fund, supporting families, researchers, doctors, and children affected by childhood cancer.
WHAT'S NEXT?
We are home for two whole weeks! Of course, we do have a 3-day event over Labor Day, but at least it's at home this time. We will have a house full of racer friends and lots to share with everyone at Summit Point. No driving though - Morgan coaches and we work on the Start bridge. After that, we head out to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the next IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race. Fun times!!