Mazda MX-5 Cup Race #4 - MID-OHIO
What a weekend at Mid-Ohio! With two Top Finishing Females, I had my best drives in qualifying and both races. We’re making progress!
On Friday, we had two practice sessions. In the first practice session, we focused on driving and setup.
In the second practice session, we focused on driving with other cars and getting our setup dialed for qualifying.
On Saturday, we had qualifying in the morning and Race 1 in the afternoon. For qualifying, we had a Spark Performance train.
It worked out perfectly, as I got to qualify with all of my Spark Performance teammates. Alex Bachoura, Grant West, and I were able to use each others draft to qualify P11, P12, and P13. I ended up P12, my best qualifying yet!
Going into Race 1, I set my sights on getting a good start, not having any contact, and driving the best that I could.
With that, I was able to finish the race in P13! It was a battle, as I lost a few positions on the start, but I was able to put my elbows out and work my way back up to 13th.
After watching my race footage and going over data, I took as much as I could from Race 1 so that I could go into Race 2 with better judgment and race craft!
On Sunday, in Race 2, I started 13th. I got a good start and stuck to the back of a group, really learning how to exercise my patience. Learning when to make a move and when to pass is such huge skill in this series, especially if I want to make it to the top.
I’m happy to say that after 45 minutes of strategizing and driving a smart race, I was able to bring home another P13! My best drives yet.
Racing has taught me so much, whether I’m winning or losing. It teaches you how to have a neutral mindset when you do good and when you do bad. It’s humbling.
When you have a bad weekend, you have to learn to take as many lessons as you can, so that you learn as much as possible for the next race. When you have a good weekend, you still have to take what you can to get better for the next weekend, but most importantly, you have to learn to stay humble and not adopt the “I got this” mentality. Because in racing, you never “got this.”
With this weekend, I think I learned the most about how my mindset should be on race weekend. It’s easy to discount something so small, but it’s one of the most important factors in the equation of having a good race weekend.
It’s also good motivation and a good reminder to keep doing my off track homework. Driving on the sim, working out, visualizing, connecting with potential sponsors, and working the business side of racing. It’s starting to pay off, but that doesn’t mean that I should slow down, I should go harder.
I can’t thank my dad, my mom, my sponsors, my crew chief (Brad Little), my driving coaches (Bryce Cornet & Tom Long), my team (Spark Performance), and my amazing support system that encourages me to better myself and my driving each weekend.
Let’s carry this forward momentum into Canada in a little over a months time! See y’all there!
June 9, 2024
