steveespo
@21CarProductions @NJS58 Racing @NJS58 Eurosport
So I had the weekend free because NJS58 Racing owner @Black Boss had a very important family wedding to manage.
So Torre Racing who was short a crew chief called to ask if I was available to help.
Since Mid O is relatively close and a track I have pretty good experience at, it was a no brainer to help out good friends Paolo and Michelle on the #84 Car.
We loaded in on Thursday and the team chemistry was great right away. Coach and rig driver Andreas was a great source of knowledge, but had very limited experience at Mid Ohio, and Paolo had a total of one practice and 2 laps seven years prior, until a pretty bad accident in a WRL TCR car ended that race. So there was some built in trepidation approaching this race.
So we did some video study of Sam Paley in car video of the DHR at Mid O in 2024 followed by a corner by corner approach track walk. Really focusing on where the grip is and all the places to avoid. I am not the fastest, but the knowledge is there, not the gentleman attachments. So basically my brains and Paolo’s balls could possibly make something good happen.
We had the car setup and ready to go for Practice 1 by Thursday evening. Working with Andreas and car chief Nick mad it simple. Just focus and execution and we were able to get out to a nice dinner at the Brown Derby Roadhouse by 6:00 pm. The energy and optimism was high and discussion about possible podium position was definitely had, especially since Mid O masters in the 58 and 88 cars were absent.
Friday morning dawn partly cloudy and cool, so we went out on scrubs and Paolo was just getting comfortable with the car and his turn in/brake points. By the end of the session we placed P3 in Legends with a very solid 1:32.9. David in the #37 car had a 1:32.05, with hundreds of laps at Mid O I had him pegged as the top DHL competition, so we focused on his lines and brake points throughout practice.
Post session debrief was really solid. While Andreas went over video and data, Nick and I got the car cleaned and checked. The feedback was terrific and we made some minor adjustments to the car to help compliance over the bumps in the brake zones along with trying to make the car a bit more pointy when getting back on throttle at exit. With confidence high we made the call to go on slicks for Practice 2. That decision was a game changer.
Practice 2 we went out and Paolo was on fire. Best lap was a 1:31.20, good enough for P2 a tenth behind but the story was the consistency and the radio chatter. Paolo was really happy in the car and out lap spread was just under one second for the session. We had more good data and driver confidence along with team morale was peaking.
But Mid Ohio wouldn’t be Mid Ohio without rain. And Saturday morning we got rain in buckets. But as a team we already had an action plan. The car was left on the stands Friday evening, both new slicks and new wets were mounted and the engineering group (LOL) were discussing adjustments to compensate if rain came. We had a lightning hold which pushed things back a bit and when IMSA declared the wet session we mounted the wets and got the car to the grid. The session was exciting to say the least, but we were P1 right up until the last sector of the last lap, when David in the 37 just full sent it through the carousel and beat us by 2.6 seconds!!!! Well P2 was still and awesome result setting us up for a great start of Race 1.
With more weather delay, lunch was moved up and our race start moved about 40 minutes. Luckily the rain stopped and we also had the VP Challenge race before ours. Those guys really dried the track as the sun broke out. Good omen and we were really excited to get going.
The race rolled off and on the pace lap, the 37 car had a transmission failure. Holy cow, we are elevated to P1!! But there were still some really great DHL drivers out there. Joe Dederichs, Tom Tait and Chris Clarke are all serious competition and Joe Koenig is an experienced SRO/WRL and TCR driver, new to the Mustang. But Paolo fired off well and took the lead, battling with DH driver Colin Harrison in the 21 Wheelhouse car, working to pull a gap back to Joe D, also in a Wheelhouse Dark Horse. As the race developed the 8, 9 and 70 cars all had issues keeping it on track, but Joe in the 63 was tenacious, and Jim Farley who is a Legend age driver but is restricted to DH Star status was mixing it up with us. (More on that in part 2). In the end Paolo drove his butt off, and with calm coaching by Andreas and good spotting by both of us, we did it, really did it and Victory was the result!!!! The joy and emotion on pit road and on the radio cannot be described well enough. As many may be aware Paolo and I are both Italian, and the emotions come out no matter what. Suffice it to say I may have gotten a speck of rubber dust in my eyes. 1st victory!! There is nothing like the feeling, and for me, following @Black Boss victory in Laguna Seca a month ago, the feeling was almost the same. Mission accomplished, but wait, we have to do it all again in less than 24 hours……… that story will be told in part 2.
So Torre Racing who was short a crew chief called to ask if I was available to help.
Since Mid O is relatively close and a track I have pretty good experience at, it was a no brainer to help out good friends Paolo and Michelle on the #84 Car.
We loaded in on Thursday and the team chemistry was great right away. Coach and rig driver Andreas was a great source of knowledge, but had very limited experience at Mid Ohio, and Paolo had a total of one practice and 2 laps seven years prior, until a pretty bad accident in a WRL TCR car ended that race. So there was some built in trepidation approaching this race.
So we did some video study of Sam Paley in car video of the DHR at Mid O in 2024 followed by a corner by corner approach track walk. Really focusing on where the grip is and all the places to avoid. I am not the fastest, but the knowledge is there, not the gentleman attachments. So basically my brains and Paolo’s balls could possibly make something good happen.
We had the car setup and ready to go for Practice 1 by Thursday evening. Working with Andreas and car chief Nick mad it simple. Just focus and execution and we were able to get out to a nice dinner at the Brown Derby Roadhouse by 6:00 pm. The energy and optimism was high and discussion about possible podium position was definitely had, especially since Mid O masters in the 58 and 88 cars were absent.
Friday morning dawn partly cloudy and cool, so we went out on scrubs and Paolo was just getting comfortable with the car and his turn in/brake points. By the end of the session we placed P3 in Legends with a very solid 1:32.9. David in the #37 car had a 1:32.05, with hundreds of laps at Mid O I had him pegged as the top DHL competition, so we focused on his lines and brake points throughout practice.
Post session debrief was really solid. While Andreas went over video and data, Nick and I got the car cleaned and checked. The feedback was terrific and we made some minor adjustments to the car to help compliance over the bumps in the brake zones along with trying to make the car a bit more pointy when getting back on throttle at exit. With confidence high we made the call to go on slicks for Practice 2. That decision was a game changer.
Practice 2 we went out and Paolo was on fire. Best lap was a 1:31.20, good enough for P2 a tenth behind but the story was the consistency and the radio chatter. Paolo was really happy in the car and out lap spread was just under one second for the session. We had more good data and driver confidence along with team morale was peaking.
But Mid Ohio wouldn’t be Mid Ohio without rain. And Saturday morning we got rain in buckets. But as a team we already had an action plan. The car was left on the stands Friday evening, both new slicks and new wets were mounted and the engineering group (LOL) were discussing adjustments to compensate if rain came. We had a lightning hold which pushed things back a bit and when IMSA declared the wet session we mounted the wets and got the car to the grid. The session was exciting to say the least, but we were P1 right up until the last sector of the last lap, when David in the 37 just full sent it through the carousel and beat us by 2.6 seconds!!!! Well P2 was still and awesome result setting us up for a great start of Race 1.
With more weather delay, lunch was moved up and our race start moved about 40 minutes. Luckily the rain stopped and we also had the VP Challenge race before ours. Those guys really dried the track as the sun broke out. Good omen and we were really excited to get going.
The race rolled off and on the pace lap, the 37 car had a transmission failure. Holy cow, we are elevated to P1!! But there were still some really great DHL drivers out there. Joe Dederichs, Tom Tait and Chris Clarke are all serious competition and Joe Koenig is an experienced SRO/WRL and TCR driver, new to the Mustang. But Paolo fired off well and took the lead, battling with DH driver Colin Harrison in the 21 Wheelhouse car, working to pull a gap back to Joe D, also in a Wheelhouse Dark Horse. As the race developed the 8, 9 and 70 cars all had issues keeping it on track, but Joe in the 63 was tenacious, and Jim Farley who is a Legend age driver but is restricted to DH Star status was mixing it up with us. (More on that in part 2). In the end Paolo drove his butt off, and with calm coaching by Andreas and good spotting by both of us, we did it, really did it and Victory was the result!!!! The joy and emotion on pit road and on the radio cannot be described well enough. As many may be aware Paolo and I are both Italian, and the emotions come out no matter what. Suffice it to say I may have gotten a speck of rubber dust in my eyes. 1st victory!! There is nothing like the feeling, and for me, following @Black Boss victory in Laguna Seca a month ago, the feeling was almost the same. Mission accomplished, but wait, we have to do it all again in less than 24 hours……… that story will be told in part 2.
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