MOORESVILLE, N.C. — After a weekend off for Easter, it was time to hit the road and return to racing.
Last weekend, we visited Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Jennings, Okla., for more Pro Mazda racing with Arrive Drive Motorsports.
It was more eventful than I anticipated, but those are the best learning experiences.
Test day was learning the track, because there is no simulator that features the Hallett circuit. I helped learn the track from YouTube videos, but nothing beats real-life experience, which made Friday’s test important.
By design, I drove behind a slower Formula Mazda car to help learn the track. I picked a driver that seemed to know the track very well. That was important because to me, all the turns looked the same, making it difficult to figure out the track layout.
After working up to speed in the corners and figuring the proper braking zones, I felt familiar with the track by the end of the second test session. That meant it was time to start pushing.
I ended up flat-spotting my front left tire down to the cords after a lengthy lockup into the hard-braking zone of turn two. That caused a vibration in the car.
The third and fourth test session went well after we put on newer tires. That allowed me to push a little harder and feel the setup changes that were made.
Overall, it was a good day, but we needed to make more progress on the setup. I wasn’t concise in my post-session track maps in my debrief with the engineer and that created confusion for all.
My engineer and crew chief tried to decipher my lengthy and convoluted thoughts and translate them into something simple — something I should have been doing from the beginning.
Just before qualifying, it rained for about 30 minutes. That was long enough for the oils in the track to rise up to the surface and make it very slick.
We used rain tires for the session because some sections were still damp. That strategy worked because I won the pole by five seconds and had a blast while doing it.
I was too busy dodging spinning cars on track and almost wrecked myself and my main competitor for the weekend, Paul Ravaris.
That one was a close call, by the way.
In race one, I wanted to hold onto the lead and run away with the victory. But after leading the field through turn one, Ravaris outbraked me going entering turn two to take the lead.
A few laps later when my tires had finally reached optimal grip, I caught and passed Ravaris for the lead. I drove away to a 28-second lead before mechanical issues started.
The engine was bogging down and cutting out and it got progressively worse over the last few laps. It began in turns five and six and eventually spread to more and more corners.
Still, I won the race by 22 seconds.
For the second race on Sunday, the qualification session included rain, but this time I used the racing slick tires because the track was dryer than on Saturday.
The track was still slick though and that created a fun and challenging experience. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a great read on the car’s setup, though. It felt better than it did on Saturday, so I decided not to make any changes.
I started on the pole because I had the fastest lap in race one. But race two was more eventful than the first contest, despite the fact I led every lap.
The same mechanical issue we experienced in the first race returned in the second race, but this time much earlier in the battle.
Because race two was longer, I had to fight with the engine bogging down in the same corners for much longer. And the longer that happened, the worse it became.
Also, the used tires on the car were used up by the halfway point of the race.
Juggling these different variables and dealing with all that adversity forced me to drive more determined. Ravaris had worked himself to within a few seconds behind me.
When the checkered flag waved, I was first to the line and Ravaris was only a few car lengths behind.
It was good to deal with adversity throughout the weekend. It made me a better driver for it, providing useful experiences I otherwise wouldn’t have had.
Dry and wet conditions, mechanical issues, and a challenging and technical low-grip race track all came together to give me a weekend that ended up being much more valuable than I thought it would be.
After that weekend, I feel even more confident in tackling Hallett’s older brother, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Pro Mazda, F1000 and F2000 cars.