My first June Sprints were in 2003 for Showroom Stock. This used to be my street car in high school!
This past weekend I was at Road Atlanta for NASA’s June Jam, working again with Spec Miata drivers Ashton Harrison and Ben Rooke. Neither of them had been back to Road Atlanta since the beginning of the season, even though it’s their home track.
We brushed up on the nuances of the circuit and got ready for Saturday qualifying. Both Ashton and Ben continued to improve their lap times by focusing on the areas that we determined were key to get them the best qualifying laps. Ben and Ashton both got great results in their race on Saturday, with a top-three and a top-five, respectively. To make their finishes even more impressive, they were in a 20-car Spec Miata field with more than 50 total cars on track. It was busy out there!
On Sunday, the excitement of continuing to improve on lap times and results was high. Ben finished second and Ashton laid down the third-fastest lap of the race, even though she didn’t get the finish she wanted.
After Sunday’s event, I stuck around for a Monday track day with some good friends, ironically also with the last name Harrison! It was a fun and unique situation because Chuck, who I’ve worked with before, and his brother Scott also brought their dad along. All three of them had their own cars to drive on track, so I was extra busy hopping between the three cars, but we had a great day with a lot of fun and camaraderie. They decided they didn’t get enough, so they’re sticking around for the Chin Motorsports event at Road Atlanta this weekend.
As for me, I’ll be heading to Road America for the SCCA June Sprints. I’m excited to attend because not only have I not been there to coach in a few years, but my first time competing at the Sprints was in my Showroom Stock days in 2003. I’ll be coaching the Advanced Autosports Spec Miata team. Dave Wheeler, who runs the team, has a group of over 15 drivers for the weekend. It will be a busy weekend for me, especially since I’ll be getting on track, too: I’ll be testing the new 2016 Global MX-5 Cup car during some of the Spec Miata sessions.
Working with a big group like Advanced Autosports is really interesting. Everyone has a different set of goals, so I have to tailor a coaching program for each person. And of course, it’s very rewarding to see people make progress. Come back next week to find out how the Advanced Autosports drivers and the new Global MX-5 did at Road America!