2022 ChampCar: "Carolina Grand Prix" 8+7 Race-cation!
- Sean Suputra
- Jun 26, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 1, 2023
This was my first Arrive & Drive experience with a different team. Going in, I was excited to see if my growth in racing would translate to other teams. In the end, it was likely my favorite race so far, including a super fun road trip, a ton of new friends, and the team's first trophies.
Open Throttle Racing #645 (A-Class)
'90 Miata NA (1.8L, no aero)
ChampCar Endurance Series: "The Carolina GP"
Carolina Motorsports Park - Kershaw, SC
June 25, 2022 - June 26, 2022
| Race 1 - Saturday | Race 2 - Sunday |
Class || Overall | 1st || 9th | 1st || 8th |
Starting Position | 29th | 4th |
Stint 1: | Kevin | Mark Brummond |
Stint 2: | Jacob Hiller | Sean Suputra |
Stint 3: | Sean Suputra | Jacob Hiller |
Stint 4: | Mark Brummond | Kevin |
TLDR (more below): | Got their first trophy with an unmodified Miata. | Got their second trophy with an unmodified Miata. |
Official Results: | (same link) |
Event Background & Overview
Up until this point, I had only raced with my friends at Love Racing. This year, Nick had made some life changes and had a few motorcycle trips planned, so there wasn't a lot of racing on the calendar. As this was going on, Jacob found a great deal with a newer team looking for drivers. This, combined with years of racing experience allowed me to consider paying for an Arrive & Drive experience. All of these factors had to align, since there is a much higher level of risk and liability driving a stranger's car, especially at that level. At the end of the day, Jacob and I were looking forward to have a proper "Race-cation".
The road trip up to Kershaw was super fun. We encountered a lot of weird things like double/triple rainbows and, somehow, found the end of rainbow.
When we got to the track on Thursday night, I couldn't believe my eyes! There was a HUGE trailer (52 ft or something), 3 lime green NA Miata's parked diagonally, and a few drivers to meet, including Kip, Mark, and Darin. Everyone we talked to so far was really cool and pumped to do some racing. It was an understatement to say that Jacob and I were optimistic for a great customer experience!
Practice Day
Of the 3 cars, 2 had full aero (air dam and wang), while their most recent acquisition had no modifications outside being race-legal. Although this was the case, we were ready to do the most with any equipment we were given.
On the practice day, we split up 20 minute sessions between two drivers and took the opportunity to practice some pit stop processes, including driver changes. Jacob and I took the lead and helped maximize everyone's track time by doing all of the driver changes. It was clear that we had the most experience doing this, having practiced many times and developing a standard process. In the end I didn't get any laps and the track staff got mad at me for going out, even though they released me.
Overall, the car felt strong, but had a lot of body roll and some understeer. There wasn't a wing, air dam, or even a splitter. From the looks of it, we were not going to be competing for an Overall podium and were unsure how we would do in A-Class.
Race 1 (1st in A-Class)
Kevin kicked us off, since he had like 10 years of SCCA experience, which would help for the race start. He handed it off to Jacob, then myself, while Mark finished the day. Throughout the day, we had an awesome time with a great crew. Everyone was ready to help, and our Crew Chief was awesome on the radio, Kevin's friend from racing. With all of that, and incredible driving from everyone, we were able to pull off the A-Class win!
All of us were so stoked, especially since we were not expecting to be in contention for any trophies ("Race-cation"). The Open Throttle Racing team was super excited to get their first hardware ever!!!!
Overall, Jacob was the fastest in both Average and Fast Lap. He was also the most consistent, maintaining pace for over 90% of the green-flag laps. If you look at the data below, we were ridiculously consistent between drivers, having <2 sec spread on our Average Lap, and even tighter on the Fast Lap spread (<1 sec).
0.5 sec off the Fast Lap from Jacob
0.6 sec off the Average Lap from Jacob
Efficiency represents the number of valid laps below the threshold times.
In this case, the data might show that Jacob was slightly better in traffic and had better raw pace.
Race 2 (1st in A-Class)
The second day, we were ready to take on the world, again. We all knew the job we had to do, along with the confidence in each other to do it. The only difference was that now, the aero car had some more experienced drivers with them. Combined with a car that Jacob and I knew was ~2-4 seconds a lap faster, our game faces were promptly put on.
Mark started the race, utilizing all his WRL skillz. We ended up going in reverse order, since we there was virtually no difference between drivers. I was next, and the day was pretty straight forward, very similar to the first race. One difference that I was excited for was the restart after the quiet hour. When I got out of the car, I was surprised to find out that the other Open Throttle Racing car was out of the race from a wreck. After an off-track adventure, the splitter was ripped off, taking radiator components with it. Luckily, Mike (team owner) expertly shuffled the drivers around and got everyone drive time.
In the end, we ended up winning A-class again! Not a bad weekend for the team with their first 2 trophies! Overall, Jacob was the fastest, again, but Mark showed great pace, considering he started the race.
1.1 sec off the Fast Lap from Jacob
0.8 sec off the Average Lap from Jacob
Efficiency represents the number of valid laps below the threshold times.
In this case, the data might show that Jacob was slightly better in traffic and had better raw pace.
Furthermore, you can see that Mark's raw pace became more consistent.
During the whole situation with the other cars, Mike was rushing to fix some components on and managed to get yelled at for driving recklessly in the paddock...it was hilarious! This was when he got a text saying something like "due to the infraction in the paddock, penalty laps will be given", which meant we wouldn't take the second win...Mike was crushed. Meanwhile, Mark is in the background laughing his face off...it was him that sent the text!!! This was the start of a great friendship and future of getting more trophies.
Finally, a huge shoutout is due to the crew of Open Throttle, including the mechanical aptitude and the attention to detail for the customer experience. The energy from everyone was so enjoyable and truly gave Jacob and I a "Race-cation"!
Photos & Media || DLC (below)
