2022 ChampCar: "Sebring NYE 10.5" DNF

Last minute race to close out 2022! Taking it all the way back to the track where I had my first ever race. It's crazy to think about how deep into the sport I've gotten and I was excited to take another shot at the legendary Sebring International Raceway. Too bad I crashed the car...

Open Throttle Racing #645 "Specs"

A Class: '90 Miata NA (1.8L, no aero)

ChampCar Endurance Series: "Sebring NYE 10.5"

Sebring International Raceway - Kershaw, SC

December 31, 2022

Event Preparation & Overview

Coming out of the WRL race at COTA, I was feeling pretty good about trying to tame Sebring for a 10.5 hour race. It would be 2 stints in a day, which was going to be something new for me. I've been wanting to do a race start, too, so I was going to see if this would be the event to try that out. To prepare for the race, I did a bunch of laps on the sim in iRacing using the legacy Miata NC. It's faster, but at least it's a manual, so it would be a good car to practice with. I was doing about 2:32.00 in the sim. Darin and I put in a lot of laps on iRacing and reviewed the data quite a bit.

• Braking: Based on the seat time at COTA, I could do a lot better with my braking profile. Brake harder sooner and trail brake deeper into the steering angle. Furthermore, be more intentional with braking, depending on the type of corner.

• Traffic: Prioritize the straights when planning overtakes and getting overtaken. I can also try and be more defensive through twisties and 1-line

Of the 4 cars that Mike brought, I would be having another go in "Specs", one of the two cars with no aero. We preferred the non-aero car because of the long straights at Sebring and believed that less drag would add more performance.

As far as room & board goes, Darin picked me up from the airport and drove us a couple hours to a great AirBnB he found with some body of water next to it. We were having ourselves a proper Racecation.

Practice Day

Nothing special to note here. The car felt really good.

Race 1 (DNF)

I don't remember the lineup, but this race would be my FIRST RACE START! Feeling pumped up and confident from the WRL race and smooth practice day, I was ready to take the green flag with the field. I had seen Nick and Jacob do it so many times that I was itching to experience the white knuckled chaos and excitement of a race start.

Unfortunately, there isn't any video, but I was so nervous as we went through the warm up laps. The fog was still heavy and low, so I could only see 2-3 cars ahead. The warm up laps were extened due to this, so I was starting to get impatient. All the while, I am heating my brakes and short shifting to save fuel, but finally, I could see the Flagtronics flash green and my foot hit the floor. Let's go racing!

Everything was feeling incredible. The last time I was at this track was my first race ever, where it was pouring rain and I was too worried to rev the car past 5500 rpm, versus 6800. I was very familiar with the track by now, having done numerous laps in the sim and watching many laps on YouTube. Although I was in the groove, I admit that the repeated Purple 35's were making it difficult to stay focused and get into a rythym. Of the 18 laps I completed, at least 7 laps were under Purple 35 conditions.

With about 20 minutes left in the stint, I was carrying more and more speed through the corners, especially the high speed ones. This was partially due to my comfort level and the evolving track conditions with the lifted fog. Eventually, like many times before, I was flying through T13 and lining up a move on the inside of another Miata for T14. I had a great launch out of "Hotel", so my closing speed to the guy in front was significant and our lines were very different. As we approached the braking zone of T14, our lines crossed and opened the door for my move up the inside. The move was straight forward and the guy begin overtaken was aware, so I wasn't worried. I accounted for the high closing speed and vastly different lines by giving more than a car-width between us. T14 is a high speed right-hander that only requires a light application of the brakes before getting back to wide-open-throttle in 4th gear; it's a corner that we can typically skate the car through at 80 mph. As we reach the top of T14's small crest and our line of sight around the inside wall widens, the aftermath of a recently spun car lay in the middle of the track facing directly at me. The moment I see the stopped car, which is less than 10 car lengths away, I stay in the throttle and try the bring my line even further inside to the right. I quickly realize there's no more grip to do it, so at about 4-5 car lengths away from the Integra I straighten the wheel and apply panic braking, concious of locking up the tires. I probably got the car down to 60 mph as I stayed in the pedals and steering through the impact.

The awesome photo below is courtesy of Tony from Abrom Racing! I can't believe he caught the whole thing through the impact.

As sweet as that merged panorama is, I was devastated. Not even because I made a mistake or that this was going to cost money, but because I commited one of the worst racing crimes. I BINNED IT ON THE FIRST STINT!!! None of my team would be able to drive, now. After an ambulance ride back to the paddock, I made my rounds to take accountability of the incident. I am so grateful for how all parties handled the accident. The owner of the Integra, even though his car was totalled, was extermemly understanding and took his own accoutability for the incident as well. Mike, the owner of "Specs", was even more understanding, considering I had ruined the day for a lot of people. Even moreso, I am hugely appreciative to the other drivers of all of Mike's cars. They sacrificed some of their drive time to help my teammates get a stint.

Even though this was a terrible end of 2022 for my racing journey, my appreciation and gratefulness to the people who have supported me is at an all-time high. I am ready to learn from this and get back in a racecar soon!

Driving Analysis

Focus: This race was difficult to maintain focus. There were frequent Purple 35's which allowed my mind to stray and for my body to slowly get disengaged. The lesson I learned is to set myself up for success with proper sleep, hydration, and nutrition. Furthermore, I could develop strict driving thoughts to prevent my mind from wandering.

Braking: I applied a lot of the lessons from the WRL race in the E92. This Miata gives me a lot of confidence to put lateral load, so I could really drag out the trail braking when needed. There were turns that I did not need to threshold brake, like T1, T4, Hotel, and T14. I'd give myself a 84%.

Traffic: This is the thing that got me. The first domino that led up to the accident. I have been steadily improving with traffic management with both lappers and opponents. Even still, I have a lot to learn. As described above, I was making a move on a car to the inside, but gave more room than neccessary; I was being too polite (pictured below). This put me in a spot with even less visibility, more debris, and a desire to shorten my vision. The lesson I learned is to only give as much room as needed, and even to push that limit. This will reduce limitations with my racing line, improve my awareness of the person I am overtaking, and allow me to keep my vision up and out. I would give myself a 69%.

Clips from other Cars

The few encounters that we will call "battles":

• Max Fury Motorsports #345 - Miata NA : 30 minute battle!

• Max Fury Motorsports #345 - Miata NA : My Crash!

Photos & Media