Mazda MX-5 Cup Race #6 - VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
This past weekend at VIR, we had high hopes of having pace, good luck, and everything it takes to get the desired results. Testing a month prior, I felt ready.
In practice 1, we had our best practice results yet, ending the session in P9. Then, in practice 2, we went backwards as the track got hotter and we had opposite decisions on tires as the rest of the field, ending the session in P19.
On Saturday, we had qualifying and race 1. For qualifying, I went out with my teammates, trying to maximize the draft, but made a mistake. Fortunately, though, I was able to find another car to drive with. With a frustrating qualifying, I ended up P15.
Starting on the inside for Race 1, I knew that I could make up some positions and take a Top 10 result. Unfortunately, on the start, I took the outside lane, as the inside stacked up, and was booted off track. This off track excursion sent me to dead last.
Eager to drive back up the order, I needed a full course yellow to group back up with the pack. To my surprise, we got a full course yellow and I was able to start making moves again.
From dead last, I ended up P13. Although we had a rough start, there was definitely a lot of positives to get out of this race.
On Sunday, we had a new opportunity to maximize our potential and get some good results to end the weekend off with. Starting P16, I was starting on the outside.
After getting a good start, on lap 2, I got hit, spin around, and then hit again, damaging my front bumper and alignment.
Going to the back of the field once again, we drove up to P14. Then, on the second to last lap, developed a flat tire from contact with a car in the last corner. With no time to gauge the damage, we couldn’t get the car stopped in time going into turn 1 on the last lap. This concluded our race with another incident.
With a weekend full of unfortunate events, I still took many lessons from both races. Although we started with high hopes and ended the weekend with deflating results, I am so grateful for this opportunity. Every race weekend is a chance to learn, grow, and get better.
Huge thanks to my dad, my team Spark Performance, and my sponsors at Coble Enterprises, LMR, and Smart-Energize.com.
August 25, 2024
