Well I’m back and awake after a gnarly long travel day full of airplane maintenance delays and layovers, but since none of you guys want to hear about that boring commodity these days, I will start with the race report.
I was slated to qualify our #19 BMW M3 after a short few practice sessions, but coming off of a test here prior to the race, I was confident that we would be able to make a good chassis balance for a long race. I was able to find some space, and put down 2 laps at full tilt recoding a 1.37.550, good enough for 7th of 78 cars. I was fairly confident of a good start due to the position on the grid concerning the large number of entrants and the high amount of yellows in the past.
At the drop of the green flag, I passed one of the two BMW’s directly in front from Fall Line motor sports. Around the outside of Turn 2 and exiting 3/4 complex I passed the only other BMW ahead (the 48 Fall Line M3) before entering turn 5 on the brakes, only to have the yellow flag come out from a turn one wreck that left 4-5 cars stranded. I was WELL ahead of the two Fall Line boys, now in 5th place and under full course yellow a few corners later they both decided to pass me back at the exit of the Museum corner after we all had shut down. I immediately called into pit lane to have the team bring this to Grand Am’s attention. I have learned that rules are enforced when it’s suitable for the responsible party, so I wasn’t going to take things into my own hands and then get dinged for something that was correct by taking the positions back on my own, but subject to their approval. That said, Grand Am responded to our request and did nothing which I felt was unfair, but i’m not one to dwell on things so I was just going to be a little less polite on my next run at them 
After a lengthy clean up, we lined up for a restart. As we rounded the last corner, i was on the bumper of the 45 M3 looking up at the flagger stand when someone in the front 5 did a really good job of a brake check, stacking up the now 70+ car field behind. I mean a really good job, I was quite impressed as I had to hammer the brakes quickly. I had some light contact to the back of the 45, nothing to write home about, but the Stevenson Camaro behind me was not so fortunate and trunked us quite hard. Then the CKS Camaro behind the Stevenson car hit him, so on and so forth until it was bad enough that 4 more cars were totaled on the front straight, bringing out another full course yellow by the time i turned into turn one. Naturally I was watching the vitals of the car to make sure we didn’t damage the radiator and or ducting, but it was relatively light so our car was okay. However when I came back around start finish behind the safety car, I saw the armageddon like damage that was strewn all over the pavement. This time i think it was a Turner M3, A Fall Line M3, and a Mustang of two. 20 long minutes later, before the next green came out when the pit lane opened after all the glass had been cleaned up that flew over the wall, I swallowed my pride and brought the car in for a driver change. Strategically, getting the driver change done earlier than later benefits by track position as other cars pull in to do the same, and with this event being strewn by yellows all last year, we thought we would benefit from being upfront and out of the mess.
I hopped out, helped martin in the car and belts and out we went. We fought back and ran as high as 3rd position, came in for a splash and go to get us to the end on fuel, and began sprinting to the finish. Long story short, Martin and I finished 6th of 78 cars, securing one of Insight Racing’s best finishes in their GS M3.
The weekend was pretty successful overall, yet as with anything competitive, left me with the desire to get more out of it. After all, I compete to win, and my team does the same. Positive progress is a good thing, and we will continue to make more. I am very proud of the Insight Racing boys and girl, and can’t wait for Miami!
