RJRacing

Day two at the NASA Championships. RJ Racing planned on an uneventful day with a schedule similar to Thursday’s. Rob was set to handle driving duties for the day and the team was happy with the setup of their car.

The first warm up session was going to be a good chance for Rob to learn the track and the team to gather more data. Several laps in, however, Rob encountered a group of close to ten slower cars. Since time was of the essence Rob got a great run on them into a key passing zone and made a move only to find a smaller car obscured from view up front. Rob tried everything to avoid contact but in the end the #23 Weekend-Racer.com MX-5 made contact with a Spec Focus that turned in right in front of him. The contact caused damage to the right front.

With the car still running Rob brought it to the pits expecting the worse. Luckily, the damage was fairly limited: the fender and door were mangled and the suspension was out of alignment likely due to a bent piece. The team immediately pulled the car apart and, with liberal use of a hammer, got the body work relatively back in place. They then decided to replace all right front suspension pieces so as not to risk leaving any bent piece on the car. Shortly thereafter the car was back together and ready for qualifying.

Meanwhile, Rob’s right hand began to hurt and swell. After a consultation with the track medical staff they recommended ice and no racing but likely no serious injury. Although disappointed in not being able to race Rob was grateful to escape anything more serious.

John took over for qualifying and set the team’s fastest lap of the weekend but the effort was futile – the team would have to start from the back of the grid as a penalty for the previous on-track incident.

The green flag flew for the late afternoon qualifying race. John got a great start and was up to 4th place by turn 1, right on the tail of the 3rd place car. Just like the day before John was battling with the 3rd place car. However, unlike the day before, it was clear that the #23 was faster than it had been all weekend and had a greater performance advantage on the car ahead. John was right on his tail setting him up for a pass. An opportunity presented itself going into the turn they call Witchcraft – a fast, 4th gear corner taken at full throttle. It was a risky move but the alternative was to slow up and wait for another opportunity. John made the pass for 3rd place without incident and looked up to see the 2nd place car up ahead. After spending several laps reeling in the next competitor John noticed he was slowing down significantly. With two corners to go before the checkered flag John caught him and saw what the problem was – a flat left rear tire. Flat tires have been a relatively common occurence at Miller Motorsports Park due to the aggressive curbing on the outside of the turns. Driving up on them is typically the fastest way around the track but runs the risk of bending suspension or blowing out tires. A second place finish was something to be proud of.

Fortune smiled on RJ Racing today. Combining the 3rd place finish on Thursday and the 2nd place finish today RJ Racing will be starting 2nd in the championship race on Sunday.