Good morning, Race Fans!!!
THURSDAY NOTES:
Relaxing Morning Walk: In the morning, we visited the beach. I was very grateful for the opportunity to visit the ocean - always one of my happy places. We saw different kinds of kelp, parts of various crabs, mussel shells, feathers and drift wood. We watched the little plovers chase the water as the waves rolled in and washed back out. There was even a pod of dolphins making its way along the shoreline. Lots of wildflowers were in bloom on the dunes - so pretty!
Load-In: Then we went over to the track, but you really can’t tell that a racetrack is hiding in these hills until you are right on top of it. The main entrance is super steep uphill and then when you crest the rise, it’s all laid out in front of you. Awesome! There, we caught up with Chase Jones and made our way into the paddock to find other friends. Morgan and Chase hung out with other drivers to get the scoop on track conditions while John and I found registration. While the drivers have credentials that are good for the whole season, John and I have credentials for just a single event, so we check in each time. The credentials are kinda cool with our names and the track logo on them.
There is still quite a lot to do before we get to the race part of the weekend. Today was load in day. The trailers all come in and find their parking spaces. If you’ve ever watched a little kid play with matchbox cars, you have an idea what this looks like but on a much bigger scale. Every truck has a designated spot and everything has to be aligned just right so that there’s room for everybody. Sometimes the trucks have to swap spaces too. Paddock arrangement and logistics is its own complicated race support sub-specialty.
A couple hours after load in starts is when we can open the truck, start to unload and set up the paddock. The cars come out of the trailer and get parked to the side. Then the awning bags come out. Each strut and leg and tent panel is numbered so they all go in the right places. Lots of hands make quick work of putting up the awning and arranging the space. Struts attach to the trailer, the awning rolls down and gets buckled on, legs go in place, walls zipper on and get rolled up, tool carts go in and at last, the cars go under the tent. When it’s time, the cars roll through tech and thankfully, all looks good.
Track Walk: It’s dry and sandy here. Nice breeze most of the time. At 4:00, the track is opened to walk. Definitely taking advantage of that opportunity!! This is an astonishing racetrack with banked corners, late apexes (only some of which you can see at the turn in), and the most incredible elevation change we’ve seen at any track yet. Lots of exercise here! TV does not convey it adequately, but the Corkscrew is really staggering - it drops 6 stories all at once! You work the calves on the way up to it and the quads on the way down. But you can’t see anything of it at all before you commit to the turn. On approach as you crest the hill, you see that the banners in front of you are mounted at a weird 45 degree angle slanting down and to the left (but there’s still no road visible yet). That’s because the banners are parallel to the hillside and it’s that steep a drop. Take a deep breath and turn in, the track will be there for you. This is a super challenging and very cool track!
All is set and ready for the festivities on Friday! The first track session is at 10:25 Pacific Time. Follow along this weekend with us! It’s sure to be a great ride!!
FRIDAY NOTES:
John has spent the day dressed and ready to handle the fire extinguisher. Any time fuel goes in the car, the fire suits go on and the pin on the bottle comes out, ready to act immediately should it be needed. Fuel went in part way through Practice 1 and will again in Practice 2. After each session, the tanks are drained and reset so that when we refill, we know exactly how much fuel is in there. He’s been busy all day and loving it!
For my part, I got the lucky draw and I get to run the car through the warm up procedure! There are a lot of buttons in there but with a little coaching, I have the sequence down. Build up some oil pressure first, then actually start the car. Let it run a bit, get the water temps up and the oil warmed up some more. Then run through all the gears, up the box and back down. Lastly, shut it off and reset the fuel usage to zero so we know how much it will burn during the session.
We are so happy to be real contributors this weekend! And we are grateful to Victor and the team for their trust in us. We are hoping for another good practice this afternoon!!
Practice Results: We are really proud of our drivers!!! Morgan ran very consistent race pace times this afternoon. Both he and Chase are comfortable with the track and the car. There are always discussions about changing this or adjusting that. Just a tiny bit maybe. Always the pursuit of the perfect setup.
Both cars and all four drivers are happy. The team is pleased with the results of the day. Setups for qualifying and the race were tested today. That’s why finishing positions in each session aren’t truly indicative of what the qualifying position might be. However, both cars are fast and we are hopeful to get a good grid spot tomorrow morning.
We are all looking forward to a wonderful qualifying and race tomorrow. We go out at 8:20 AM Pacific Time for 15 minutes. Then we get the totally awesome fan walk starting at 1:00, with the race from 2:00-4:00. That will be broadcast live on Peacock TV.
SATURDAY NOTES:
Time to warm up the cars. Racer costumes are donned and the pilots climb into their cars. It’s nearly time to go to grid!
Once the interminable 5-minute wait on the grid is finally over, the cars are released to take the track at last. Several of them, including ours, waste not even a second getting out there. Others wait a bit longer to go out. It helps to be a little spread out but also to have partners where you need them and not where it doesn’t help.
The next 15 minutes fly by for us. We dance from foot to foot intently watching the screens full of data and video. We clap when we see fast sector times pop up. We cheer when both cars are at the top early in the session.
When it is finished, we are satisfied with the grid positions. We know we will have good race pace this afternoon. Morgan and Chase in the #80 will start in 5th with Chase at the wheel to start. Victor and Tyler have the #99 in 8th in Victor’s hands.
Before the fan walk at 1:00, the guys will practice driver changes. We need those to be smooth and automatic during the race. They also discuss the handling and will consider possible set up changes and various strategies.
The team is psyched for today and the vibe in the paddock is cheerful, hopeful, confident. This is the best place to be!!!
Waiting for the Race: All the things are done. The pit stalls with the fuel rigs are all set up. Lunch has come and gone. With all the waiting today, some of us are ready to take a nap. Instead, we are wearing our fire suits in anticipation of moving the whole circus up to the pit lane.
The grid walk is still a really amazing experience. People flood the pit lane and get the chance to talk to the drivers, get pictures taken and get an autograph. Morgan and Chase are smiling and talking, loving the chance to connect with the fans personally.
John and I get to talk to the fans too and sometimes we get special surprises. While Morgan was talking with a young man who shared the Burkhard name, John and I were talking with yet another Burkhard. Naturally, they had to come visit the driver who shared their name and get some special pictures. There’s a more-likely-than-not chance that they are part of John’s extended family (his father had 54 first cousins). They were very excited to have someone special to root for.
Race Time: Eventually, it’s time to clear the lane, have the prayer and anthem. The energy shifts from bouncy and chipper to a more serious and focused attitude as Chase gets buckled in. The call comes and he starts the car. We leave him to his final mental preparations while we walk down the lane to our pit stall.
A couple laps behind the pace car and the the green flag flies! It’s a good start and the crew cheers! There is a yellow very quickly, only a couple laps in. It’s much too early to stop for anything so we carry on back to the green flag.
Things were feeling pretty good there for a while. Chase was running 5th and in touch with the lead pack of four. And then, all the sudden it wasn’t so good. The #80 lost the engine without warning only 8 laps in. Chase pulled over and he’s fine, but the car is done. It’s a pretty devastating blow.
But racing does that sometimes. The team will assess the damage and our fast pilots will come back to try again at the next race. In the meantime, we root for Victor and Tyler, hoping they bring home a good finish. You can watch the #99 sister car race on YouTube.
Thanks for the support and we will all carry on!
SUNDAY NOTES:
- Neither Morgan nor Chase had ever seen the racetrack at Laguna Seca outside the sim until the track walk Thursday evening. That was an eye opening experience with the huge elevation changes.
- It obviously follows that neither had turned a wheel until Practice 1 early Friday morning when they had the 4h quickest time.
- Morgan’s very first timed lap was a reasonably quick one in the spread of the field.
- The next few laps were within a tenth of each other, and better than expected race pace.
- In the afternoon session, both Morgan and Chase showed a pretty good pace too (especially considering the older tires).
- In essentially no time at all, these co-drivers learned the track and established themselves as legitimate contenders.
- Both would have been able to sustain the set pace for the full 2-hour race.
- They’d have been extremely hard to beat.
Just thought that truth should be out there!
A very cool thing happened in the airport on the way home. As we were getting into an elevator, Morgan was recognized! A Dutch family who had been at the race and had visited the paddock noticed Morgan and recognized him as their "favorite Hyundai driver!" He had spent time with their younger son who got to sit in the racecar. The Dad used to be a bike racer so they had lots to talk about. Morgan has made another awesome step towards the realm of professional race drivers.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We fly back home only to leave again on Wednesday for the next event: SCCA Hoosier Super Tour at Mid-Ohio Raceway in Lexington, Ohio. There, Morgan is back in the Spec Racer Ford 3.