September 19th, 2009 Jeff Westphal and PR1 Motorsports headed to Tooele, Utah for the Utah 250.  The race was standard 2 hour and 45 minute Grand AM Sprint race format, with 2 drivers being the minimum.  Max Hyatt and Jeff Westphal were poised to turn their luck around from the previous event in Montreal, Quebec roughly 1 month prior, which they did with Westphal’s stellar qualifying lap putting the #32 BMW M6 on the outside of the 3rd row.  ”I’m extremely pleased with our qualifying yesterday, 6th is no pole, but the car felt the best it has all weekend, and i think it should be pretty good during the race.” quoted the talented Californian.

When the green flag dropped, so did Westphal’s right foot.  He drove a fantastic opening double stint (double the standard time due to strategic reasons, roughly 1 hr. 45 min.) staying in touch with the front running GT cars ready to hand the car over to his team mate for the last hour dash to the checkered.  ”The car was pretty good, however the track was changing rapidly and i was struggling to keep it underneath me.  I’d have a big understeer (when the car doesn’t want to turn) then I’d correct it with the adjustable sway bars inside the cockpit and the car would pick up a big oversteer (when the car turns too much and the rear slides).  It seems we were on either side of the optimal balance when the track got slick, but in any case i learned a lot about the chassis and the tires over a stint and was able to communicate that to the team before my time was up, so they made some changes to the aerodynamics of the car while max was getting in.”  explained Jeff.  That detail oriented description Jeff gave to the engineering staff at PR1 motorsports paid off, and Max Hyatt was able to finish the car in 4th position, matching the team’s best ever finish in a Grand-Am event.

Jeff Westphal will still be instructing privately and at the Jim Russell Racing School at Infineon Raceway through the off season, and preparing for 2010.  Look for him training through out the bay area either on foot or by bicycle.

Round 10 of the Rolex Grand Am series had the teams and drivers traveling abroad to the infamous Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal, Canada.  More importantly, Jeff Westphal was given the green light from sponsors to attend the event and give the GT class drivers another capable car to contend with.  It was the first time racing in a foreign land for Westphal, and he took to it like a fish in water.

“Practice was relatively busy, we were in the pit lane from 10 am until around 8 pm, trying to get up to speed on the great circuit.  This place is notorious for overheating brakes, and we were having exactly that issue, which needless to say didn’t help en stow confidence while trying to learn the place.  It’s very narrow, much more narrow than TV lends itself to be” said the Californian.  After struggling with the brake cooling issue, the PR1 Motorsports BMW M6 was behind the curve on honing in the set up for Saturday’s race, and qualified well considering the  circumstances.  With Max Hyatt at the helm for qualifying and the 1st stint of the race, the M6 started on the inside of the top 10 and made use of a pre race trip down pit lane to outfit wet tires for the forecasted and increasing rain at the pre race ceremonies.  ”We made the call to go to wets and start from pit lane which ultimately became unnecessary as Grand Am let everyone come down the lane to get wets if they needed.  However, lots of cars opted to stay on dry’s in hopes of the rain lightening up.”  elaborated Jeff.  After the first lap, the PR1 entry was in 4th position, and chipping away at the 3rd place Porsche.

With roughly 1 hour to go, the PR1 M6 needed Max to drive for roughly 5 more minutes to allow the car to enter the fuel window (being able to make it to the end without the need for more) on a full tank with Westphal  in the car while others would need to stop again.  However, the #32 car was involved in some contact, and was deemed too damaged to continue, leaving Westphal suited and prepared on the sideline.  ”Of course i was disappointed, i worked so hard to get everything in place financially, but that’s racing.  This sort of stuff happens, so you have to roll with the punches!”  exclaimed Jeff

Unfortunately Jeff was unable to compete in the race as the car was damaged, but he was able to put together another race to make up for the lost time in the spotlight.  Jeff will be contesting the race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on September 19th.  Coverage will be on speed channel, Saturday the 19th @ 2:30pm pst.