Good afternoon, Race Fans!
I know you haven’t had time to miss me yet, but I warned you before that June is a super busy month! After only a few days at home, we are back again at Watkins Glen for SCCA’s final Hoosier Super Tour event this year. This is Morgan’s 3rd of the minimum three Majors-level events needed to qualify for the National Championship Runoffs held in October at Road America.
FRIDAY NOTES:
Morgan is running the red/black #02 Apple Motorsports SRF3 with Mike Amy and Dog Gone Racing. In sharp contrast to the warm sunshine and puffy clouds last week, today it is quite cool and heavily overcast with a stiff tailwind down the front straight. With quite a low cloud ceiling and steady 10-12 mph winds all day, we delight in the respite from the recent heat with highs only in the 60’s even if we are missing the spectacular views common at Watkins Glen.
Practice 1 is already in the books this morning. Times are not as quick as might be expected with the kind of air that engines tend to like, largely because the rubber from the Michelin tires laid down at last weekend's IMSA event isn’t compatible with the Hoosier rubber we are using this weekend. Most groups are 1-4 seconds slower than they were last year when IMSA and SCCA were on the opposite weekends.
Over the 20-minute practice session, the drivers took their time to warm up and get a feel for the cars and the surface. Morgan found himself a good gap in traffic and largely kept away from other cars, running solo. Gradually, his times started to fall. By the checkered flag, he was 6th.
This practice session only sets the grid for the qualifying session coming up this afternoon. Before then, Morgan grabs some lunch and does his data and video review. He also makes a round of the paddock, checking in with group mates and other drivers he is coaching this weekend.
Qualifying 1: The afternoon qualifying session goes rather well. Morgan starts in the front pack of quick drivers. Drafting partners shift around over the 25 minute session. For a short while, Morgan even has the top spot. By the end of it, he is in 6th, with all of them within 3 tenths of a second. He will start the 2nd qualifying session tomorrow morning in that position. SRF3 runs in Group 4 with an approximate green flag time around 9:15 am.
SATURDAY NOTES:
Qualifying 2: Conditions this morning are very like yesterday, but with more sun, no more than a few tiny raindrops and less wind. SRF3 qualifying is most successful if you can find cooperative partners. But since everyone would rather get than give the advantage of the draft, only some will actually get it. Obviously, not everybody can pull faster times today.
The best time from either qualifying session sets the grid spot for the afternoon race. They only have 15 minutes today to attempt to go faster than they did yesterday. They run well for a while, and only a couple cars at the front do set better times. Unfortunately, there is some drama late in the session that brings it to an early end with a multi-car incident coming out of the Inner Loop (aka bus stop chicane, aka Turn 5). When the lead in an 8-car train has an issue, it's very easy for everyone following to become involved. There is lots of bumping nose-to-tail, a spin, and two with heavy contact. No one is injured thankfully and they will all race later today, but at least one needs a little extra time and repair to get ready. As always, Morgan's car will get a close look at the car before he starts this afternoon’s race from 6th, outside in the 3rd row.
Race 1: The 25-minute race is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm. The guys at the front of the field have become friends over the past many years of racing together and Morgan fits very nicely into the group. It should be quite a good race.
Morgan is feeling pretty good about the race. He’s very comfortable with the car and its set up. Racing is somewhat similar to qualifying in terms of using the draft. Often, groups will form early after the green and just run together for a while. The real battling gets going in the last few laps. It’s getting warmer by the minute, so we don’t expect any laps faster than the earlier sessions.
In this first race of the weekend Morgan starts 6th and the field is clean through that first lap. They quickly settle down and start the measured running through the middle part of the race.
On about lap 5, he gets a chance to feel how soft the blue-painted tire wall backed by guardrail at the exit of the final turn really is. Obviously, it isn’t soft at all. He manages to hold onto the car and make it more of a brush of the guardrail rather than a hard slap, coming away with a bit of blue rash down the left side of the car. It puts the toe out pretty badly, affecting the handling. He wisely decides not to push hard or fight any more. He keeps it going for another couple of laps to just get the finish. Fortunately for him, a full course yellow comes out and the race is checkered early. We will take the 11th place today.
Evening Relaxing: Now here we are on a very pleasant Saturday evening. The sky is clear and the air has cooled down. We bring some delicious pizza up from town to enjoy for dinner in the paddock after the day is done. People come and hang out a while or come and go as they walk they paddock tonight. Conversations range widely, often coming back to racing of course, and there are plenty of stories told among the friends. With the sunset now fading, the pizza slowly disappearing, and the repairs all done, the laughter rings out. This is the part that makes every weekend so good, no matter the results on track. It’s a relaxing evening and we look forward to tomorrow’s race.
SUNDAY NOTES:
Pre-Race: The Sunday race is scheduled for 11:15 am. That gives us a little luxury in the morning to take our time getting packed up and back up to the race track. It eases the pressure on the household cycling through in the morning and no one has to be up desperately early. It is quite lovely this morning, with lower humidity and probably a bit cooler than yesterday. The busy clouds will be off doing other things by sometime this afternoon, but they may tease us a bit first with a little sprinkle if they feel under appreciated.
When we arrive at the track, the paddock breakdown process is already underway. We do as much as we can before the race so that there can be an earlier start to the ride back home afterward. Mostly, that means the awning comes down and gets stowed away. The cars are all ready for their performance later as the drivers arrive and get themselves ready too.
Race 2: Today's grid is the same as yesterday with Morgan starting 6th. The approach to the green flag is beautiful, a starter's dream, neatly 2-by-2 at the speed the Pace Car gave them. When the green flag pops out, they jump on the gas, all hoping to make up a spot or two as they stream through the first few turns. They have 14 laps to play this game and they really do today! Even after the top 3 break away, they still rotate who will lead within the smaller packs. Morgan dropped back one spot on the first lap, and then another on lap 4, to 8th. Over the remaining laps, his strategic passing decisions moved him steadily up the order, ultimately landing him a 5th place finish today. It was a good clean run with good moves and no drama to disrupt the flow. It's a good day.
After podium ceremonies, we finish packing up everything. We visit all the people we can find to bench race a bit and look forward to the next event together. Get a little lunch and make our final personal pit stops, and we are on our way south again. This time we are towing a trailer with Morgan's car in it and we'll drop that at Dog Gone on the way home. The futher south we go, the hotter it gets. We are all tired and we aren't really hungry so it's PBJ for a late dinner for Mom and Dad. Morgan drove himself this time, so he heads straight home, and he is hungry of course. He swings by the grocery store for taco supplies and handles his own dinner tonight. Can't go wrong there!
WHAT'S NEXT?
After 9 whole days at home, we will head north yet again. This time it's to Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race in the Porsche at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120, a 2-hour race starting at 1:25 pm on Saturday, July 12. See you there!