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.
