Thursday Day 1
We only had two on track practice sessions to get up to speed on Thursday, which really isn’t a lot of time for Austin to get reacquainted with Steffen our new crew chief and lead mechanic. Going back to last season Austin has been struggling with the handling of his race car and the set up he has been given. Most of the time he has really had to drive a car beyond what it is capable of just to be competitive, which is certainly not ideal at this level of racing. We were banking on Steffen’s years of experience to help us straighten things out. After the first session Steffen went to work reviewing the data and made several major changes to the chassis. Indy Car driver Graham Rahal even stopped by for a visit!!! In the second session, Austin’s times improved greatly as well did his consistency. With an open track near the end of the session, Austin did 6 laps in a row that were within a tenth of each other! Most professional drivers only dream of that type of consistency. When Austin is that consistent, it tells me that the car is becoming predictable and he is becoming comfortable with what he is being given. After another data and video review, Steffen made several more chassis changes in the hopes of improving the car for qualifying on Friday Morning. Here is our video update from on track day 1 at Barber.
Friday Day 2
It would be a very early start on Friday morning as we arrived at the track at 6:30 in preparation for qualifying at 9am. Austin did a brilliant job in qualifying and improved his best time from the day prior by almost a second and a half!!!! To put things in perspective, the PRO1500 class Austin is racing in this year is ultra competitive. The time Austin laid down in qualifying would have put him on pole last year by over 3 tenths!!! This year will all of the pro drivers in the series, that time would put Austin 8th. We were all super happy with the way things were progressing going into the first race of the week later in the day. Austin has an incredible following in Alabama. Our paddock spot crowded all day long with fans and families wanting to come out and meet Austin. We were incredibly thankful to have Courtney from Ady’s Big Army come out to help me make sure everyone was looked after. In race one Austin had to avoid a collision in front of him off the start and the result was that he lost a few places by turn 4 on the opening lap. It didn’t take him long to get those spots back and a few more…. by the end of the race he finished 5th in class and 12th overall in a 37 car field. Austin was even able to replicate his qualifying time from earlier in the day in race conditions. He was certainly happy with the car and it was showing. I was talking to Tom Drewer who oversees the Radical series world wide, and he said if you can finish in the top 6 in PRO 1500 class you are doing something right. After race 1, we met a familiar face, the young man that ran into the restaurant we were at earlier in the week to meet Austin paid us another visit. After chatting with him and his mum a bit, it turns out the young man named Derrick was in his last year of High School and was hoping to become a mechanic for a race team one day. Well Austin did not need any encouragement to invite Derrick to become part of team for the rest of the race of the weekend. Derrick was overwhelmed, his mum was left in tears. I can’t tell how special of a moment this was. Derrick started work right away and despite the very early start on Saturday he arrived 30 mins early. He was so, polite, respectful and hardworking. He will go a long way in motorsports and we were all extremely grateful to have him join us for the rest of the weekend. Here’s the text I received from Derrick on Sunday after we arrived home.
"I still can’t belive what has happened to me in the past day in a half. I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. Every kid who has ever gone to a race has dreamed of becoming a driver or a mechanic for a major team. On April 26 my dreams became a reality. I put on the team’s official uniform, helped prepare the car for the races, stood in the pits and watched the car that i helped work on take multiple laps around the track at top speeds, and for a day and a half a famous racecar driver became a best friend. Thank you Jermey for walking me through washing, taking care of the car and taking apart the nose and the rear of the car. Thanks to Michael for guiding me through the paddock, and introducing me to everyone. I really enjoyed watching all of Austin’s videos and you giving me a look into what a race videographer does. Thank you to Steffen for helping me understand the replay films and helping me properly take the tires on and off to clean them. You guys taught me so much more than just about cars, I got to see a good look into what my future might be.
Austin, thank you for being a friend on and off the track, thank you for driving me through the garage area and explaining all of the different types of cars and explaining the different types of classes they go with. Also thank you for trusting me to work on your car. Austin, my favorite part of the weekend was watching the race with you and just you treating me like a friend you have known for years. Mr. Riley, I could have not have asked for a better weekend. The experience that I received these past two days is more than I could ever ask. Thank you for giving me a chance to join your team for the weekend. I can’t list everything that I learned this weekend, but I want you to know I appreciate everything that everyone taught me. I will never forget this experience or the people that I worked with as long as I live.
"Thanks to the whole team. Good luck for the rest of the year. I look forward to meeting you the next time you come to Alabama."
Saturday Day 3
Again we had a very early start with Race number 2 starting at 9:05 am. Again, Austin had a tough start and again it didn’t take him long to get the spots back he lost. There were a few passes that were pretty amazing. One of which made the large crowd in attendance gasp and applaud. Even the announcer online said Austin had "huge balls” to pull that off. In the update below you will hear Austin describe that pass and what he thought about it…. We had a long time before our final race of the weekend late in the day. Austin spent the majority of the day posing for pictures and signing autographs. It was a very busy day despite the long break between races. In race #3, Austin had saved his best for last, He was flawless, he was fast, he was aggressive and incredibly consistent. On the last few laps, Austin had caught up with 4th and 5th in class and promptly joined the party passing them both in one section of the track. Applause erupted from the crowd and even some of the other teams in pit lane we were near. The battle wasn’t over, on the last lap Austin lost both spots he had gained but a turn later regained the lead going into the back section only to be drilled from behind by the 5th place car causing him to spin. Once he gathered things up he crossed the line 10th in class. We were all disappointed, but at the same time so proud of how he competed. He deserved so much better. The driver that hit him was penalized immediately after the race placing him behind Austin in the final results. Next up for us is Road America in Wisconsin at the beginning of June.
