I just wrapped up a fun race weekend at Virginia International Raceway for the SCCA Super Tour. It’s always nice to be at VIR, but it was especially nice to be there for an SCCA event, which brings back so many wonderful memories of the early part of my career. I got started in SCCA at VIR, so I got to see a bunch of old friends and catch up with a lot of familiar faces.
I was working with twins over the weekend! The 18-year-old brother and sister, although twins, have a very different level of driving experience. Bobby has been racing for a couple more years than his sister, Ellie, and he’s competing in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Series this season. Ellie is in her second year of car racing, and she’s doing a solid job of coming to grips with learning all the race tracks and the dynamics of a race car.
It was a lot of fun working with Bobby and Ellie throughout the weekend at VIR. They both required very different coaching specifics as the event progressed. With Ellie, we were working on things like learning the nuances of VIR. Meanwhile, with Bobby, we were much more focused on getting the final tenths out of his driving, focusing on race craft and strategy.
The challenge of coaching the twins was switching back and forth between the two, especially on the radio during the sessions, when they were on separate radio channels. My feedback was tailored differently for each of them, so I had to keep track of which twin I was talking to!
In the end, it was a successful weekend with a lot of positive takeaways as well as a lot of learning that we can put to use during future events. To make it even sweeter, Bobby and Ellie’s third teammate came away with a race win, which just showcased what this team is capable of achieving.