Last weekend was the very popular annual SCCA event at Road Atlanta: the American Road Race of Champions, or ARRC. There’s always a great turnout of racers, and for most of them it’s their final race of the year. The team I was coaching was competing in Spec Miata, which had a great showing with a 40-car field!
While enjoying beautiful fall weather, it was really a fun weekend to work with the team’s two drivers and continue to help them achieve their goals. Both of them have big aspirations to continue moving up the motorsport ranks next year.
Although they both have the desire to move forward, each driver is on a different path. Caleb, who is going to turn 15 years old soon, has been go-karting all of his life. Even though he’s so young, he has a great deal of racing experience, and he is continuing to adapt those skills to car racing. Matt, on the other hand, is in his 30s and has just recently gotten into driving after years of being around racing alongside his family.
Both of them have different aspects to their development as drivers: one is learning all of the skillsets of racing while the other is working on adapting skillsets from one type of racing to another.
It’s always a rewarding weekend when drivers I’m coaching gain so much, turning faster lap times and improving on those times in every session! The final couple months of the year will be an exciting time with lots of fun coaching opportunities and various test events planned in preparation for next season.