RJRacing

Willows, CA – The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is over and although it was only a fog-reduced 18 hours, RJ Racing performed admirably in only its first running of the infamous event. There was a lot on the line this weekend. Not the least of which was that the first 6 hours of the 25 hour race would determine the Western Endurance Racing Championship. All year long, RJ Racing had been battling with DivaSpeed in a hotly contested championship. The points lead had shifted back and forth throughout the year. Going into the last round, RJ Racing trailed DivaSpeed by 14 points. With 20 points separating the 1st and 2nd place finishers, and only 10 points between 2nd and 3rd, RJ Racing effectively needed a win to clinch. But RJ Racing was a serious underdog, going against the rocketship Integra. DivaSpeed earned the pole in the race, while RJ Racing started mid-pack with a respectable 7th. This was going to be a serious uphill climb.

For such an epic race, RJ Racing added crew and extra drivers to their lineup. Crew Chief Tim was assisted by Norm Sandstrom, John Mueller and Bob Rinck. Mueller would be pulling double duty, adding driving to his resume over last year’s crew duties. And two more drivers were added: Bay Area hotshoe Dion Johnson, and four-time 25 Hour competitor Mark Powell from Oregon. The entire team met each other for the first time Friday afternoon. Despite the limited time together, there was an immediate and palpable sense of focus, determination, and drive which was sustained for the entire weekend, right through the checkered flag.

The team started the race Saturday morning with Rob Gibson behind the wheel. He immediately started laying down his fastest laps at Thunderhill Raceway Park–the performance tweaks to the car had certainly paid dividends. Starting from pole, DivaSpeed began stretching out its lead, but then fate reared its head and forced them to pit early for an oil leak. The old endurance racing axiom “To finish first you must first finish” was never more accurate. RJ Racing passed DivaSpeed and built a comfortable lead of two laps. The team could breathe a little easier but could not let up –- in endurance racing even a two lap advantage can be wiped away in a blink of an eye.

After Rob’s stint, Dion Johnson got in the car and also put down impressive times, but the competition was closing in on us after their repairs. All RJ Racing could do was keep pushing and hope for the best. John Gibson got in the car to close out the first six hours with a double stint. At this point Rob and Dion had gotten RJ Racing up to first in class in the six hour race, and third in the 25 Hour race. With the championship in the balance John pushed as hard as possible while saving fuel (yes, those are contradictory). As the laps drew near the team knew that fuel would be tight, but with DivaSpeed closing, RJ Racing went for broke. As the minutes ticked down in the 6 hour race, so did the needle on the fuel gauge. Right at the 6 hour mark, while leading the race, the car sputtered — starving for fuel — maybe it had two laps left, maybe only two turns. But the checkered flag still hadn’t come out. Do you pit for a splash of fuel and hope to keep first place? Or stay out and cross your fingers? In the last few turns before the pit entrance, a flag began to wave in the distance at the start/finish line. But in the darkness we couldn’t see which flag. Was it checkered? Yellow? Black? All team members strained to see and it was finally confirmed. The radio call from Rob to John was: “Checkered is out. Checkered is out. Stay out!” RJ Racing crossed the finished line in first, clinching the championship.

After a short celebration and 6 hours under their belt, the team hunkered down for the final 19. The next lap, John crawled back to the pits for fuel and a fresh set of tires. This stop went the same as all others during the race–like clockwork. Led by Crew Chief Tim Gibson, the pit stops were all fast, efficient, and without incident. John Mueller took the wheel for his first ever race laps at night. He turned good, consistent times for over an hour, only to be met by a wall of fog rolling in. The Race Director eventually red-flagged the race for safety reasons, parking all cars on the front straight. After hours of racing, the silence on the track was deafening. Periodically the radios crackled to life with an announcement from the Race Director on whether the race would resume, each time stirring excitement back into the hearts of the racers, only to be disappointed upon hearing that the race would not restart for at least another hour. Finally, at 5 a.m., the anticipation ended and everyone went back to work.

Mark Powell had been patiently waiting for his first stint behind the wheel, and he finally got to turn some hot laps. DivaSpeed had fallen many laps behind, spewing oil across the track–they eventually retired from the race. But now RJ Racing had new opponents to battle for 25 Hour glory. Out of the 16 car class, the contenders were the 3-car juggernaut from Evil Genius Racing/Miller Motorsports (EGR/MM), along with BiggsB, Miatacage, and Autoville. We were all within laps of each other, and with the race being shortened by the fog, the event became a 10-hour “sprint”.

First BiggsB was leading, but they had a close encounter with another racer, resulting in suspension damage and a few laps in the pits for repair. Then EGR/MM’s A-team blew its valvetrain, requiring an engine change. Then Miatacage had throttle body issues. This left EGR/MM’s B-team, Autoville, and RJ Racing to fight it out, with BiggsB charging back from its repairs.

All drivers took another stint, each one keeping us in the hunt for at least a podium finish. With 2 hours to go, John Gibson took the wheel for the final stints. John maintained 2nd position until a caution came out only 90 minutes from the end, with 3rd place BiggsB and 4th place Autoville right behind us. RJ Racing pitted for its final fuel stop, a stellar performance by the pit crew that put the car back on track in 4th, but more importantly keeping us on the same lap as BiggsB and Autoville. John pushed all out, closing in on the Autoville car for the last step on the podium. John finally reeled it in and passed for 3rd with only 20 minutes to go in the race.

After 18 hours, 11 pit stops, 120 gallons of fuel, 16 tires, 2 sets of brake pads, 34 pieces of steak, chicken and sausage, 3 cases of water, and 7 boxes of Rice-a-Roni, the order crossing the finish line was Evil Genius Racing/Miller Motorsports B-Team (aka Team Scrappy) in 1st, BiggsB in 2nd, and RJ Racing in 3rd–a solid podium finish for the team.

The team put in a huge effort. The budget and team resources were very limited (especially compared to other teams) and yet RJ Racing was still able to finish 3rd on track (out of 16 cars in class). But it still wasn’t over. After the race, the 2nd place finisher was penalized one position (one of that team’s drivers indicated that the penalty was for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”) This elevated RJ Racing to 2nd place in class in its first ever campaign for the 25 Hour race.

RJ Racing’s small but dedicated crew was phenomenal. Norm and Bob were jumping from cooking food to wrenching the car to getting more gas to telling us some great stories – sometimes all at once. Tim seemed to be everywhere. On the radio, taking splits, organizing the next pit stop, coordinating strategy with Rob, dumping every can of fuel in record time, etc. We had some of the smoothest and most professional pit stops on the grid. Tire changes and brake pad changes were done with ease. Amazing stuff.

The drivers (John Gibson, Rob Gibson, John Mueller, Mark Powell, Dion Johnson) were fantastic as well. Everybody put in very consistent times and all were within a respectable range. It was like going to the gun range and having all your shots covered by a quarter. Fast, consistent, and clean racing was the order of the day. The car literally had only three scratches on it after the race and none of these were the fault of the team’s drivers. We could wash it, change fluids, and put it back on track for the next race.

The Sophomore Slump is talked about all the time in sports, but RJ Racing proved to be the exception to this rule. The team raised their game in every aspect of the sport this year. Next year cannot come soon enough.