I was excited to be back with the TCB Racing team for the penultimate round of the WRL endurance championship at Sebring International Raceway. This was an exciting event for TCB because they were fielding three cars.
My two teammates, Garrett and Kyle, had never been to Sebring before. The previous round at Road Atlanta was similar in that neither one of them had been to that famed circuit, either. We took a similar approach to preparation for Sebring, and I was excited to get started with them in conquering the unique 3.7-mile layout of that track.
One advantage to the WRL series is that there’s no shortage of track time. This allowed Garrett and Kyle to learn the track, and it allowed us to dial in the cars for the upcoming race weekend.
We had a very calculated approach in our process to learning the circuit, which not only broke the layout down into similar corner types but also built confidence and competence as the first day progressed.
As day two—which included qualifying—unfolded, both drivers were feeling sure of themselves as they worked to fine-tune things, shaving tenths off their lap times. It was a huge boost to their confidence going into the twin eight-hour races on Saturday and Sunday.
Kyle took the green flag for race one, which got off to an exciting start as he settled in during the opening hour. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, a spinning car collected him, which sidelined the car for the afternoon.
Despite everyone’s disappointment about that, it was great to see our teammates’ car fight for the win and eventually cross the finish line in first.
For race two on Sunday, Garrett gave us an excellent start, racing lots of cars in our class, including our other team cars. After a great opening stint for him, I jumped in to get us through to the mid-point of the race.
Lots of excitement unfolded throughout the afternoon, as Kyle set his best lap times of the event. Garrett also set his best lap times of the weekend during the race, proving just how much they had learned during the week.
With the final hours of the race in hand, I was happy to bring the car home for the team. Our car had some of the quickest outright pace, but as luck would have it, we were never able to put the car in a position to battle for the lead. However, we were able to bring home a top-five finish thanks to flawless execution from the team during all the pit stops.
Although we didn’t get the results that we had the potential for, it was still exciting to see the team car grab a win and to know that our driving lineup is capable of taking a win, too. This just speaks to how quick of a study Kyle and Garrett are: they both drove Sebring for the first time and were so competitive!
I’m looking forward to joining TCB one last time this year, when the WRL season wraps up at Circuit of the Americas in December.