I’m looking forward to the upcoming SRO World Challenge event this weekend because it takes me back to Barber Motorsports Park. This will be the first time the series has ever visited Barber, and many of the drivers that I’ll be working with as well as others in the series have never been there before, but I have a lot of personal nostalgia for that track.
My favorite Barber memories date back to the Grand-Am days, when the track was a staple on the calendar for many years of my young professional career. I have such amazing memories of race wins and good experiences there. It was also exciting to race there on the same weekend as IndyCar many times.
I raced at Barber a lot during the heyday of Freedom Autosport, which campaigned Mazda MX-5s in the Street Tuner category of Michelin Pilot Challenge. That platform was built for the rolling hills and curves of the Barber landscape, and racing there landed us in the winner’s circle twice, with many incredible finishes and podiums, too.
Barber Motorsports Park also hosts a memory of the hottest I’ve ever been in a race car! Grand-Am had a July race there, and I was racing in the GS class in a BMW. My cool shirt stopped working, and it turned into more of a hot tub instead of a cool shirt! It was all I could do to finish the race, and during the cooldown lap, I was seeing stars. I could barely remember which end was up at that point.
Barber is an illustrious setting, with its manicured landscape, incredible motorsports museum and quirky-but-cool artwork hidden around each curve. There is something for everybody, fans included, at that track. And you can’t forget to sample some incredible barbeque while you’re in Birmingham!