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The Bar Was Raised Again in 2017
2016 was a record-breaking season for us in a number of ways, and our momentum carried into the 2017 season. The goal for every year is to surpass the previous. We worked toward and expected to see improvement in a few areas, but when we left Daytona in October, we could not have been more proud of the season’s accomplishments. By nearly every metric of performance, the numbers for 2017 were more positive than in 2016.
Our 2017 PCA calendar included 11 events, and our drivers collected a staggering 55 class wins (up from 46 in 2016). The P1’s drove our podium total up by 14 to 122. Our top trophy collector was Charlie Craig with 20, followed by fellow Clubsport East competitor David Baum (16), and Jimmy Martin with 15. 12 of Jimmy’s 15 were wins, the most of any of our drivers.
Jimmy crushed track records at nearly every circuit last season, leading our 10 new records set in 2016. This was the number we anticipated being untouchable, as Jimmy was competing with his own impressive laps. In the end, Jimmy only bested one of his records, but 6 other drivers stepped up to keep the total at 10. Chris Brown knocked down 2 TR in C6, and Scott Daiger, Price Ford, Stuart Fain and David Baum claimed the top spot in the records at one track each. Cory drove a variety of cars this season and added 3 more track records to his resume.
We had a couple season points champions again in 2017. Jimmy repeated in I, Charlie won the Masters division in the GT4 series, and Cory lead points again, this time in GTA3 (though he did not meet the minimum points races requirement). In the GT4 Championship division, deja vu as David finished second like he did in 2016. Price Ford also took the runner-up position in K-class points.
PCA continues to be the focus of our track support program, but we also saw success at HSR events. Cory and Charlie narrowly missed out on an overall group win at the Classic 24, and Mac may have had to leave some luggage in Daytona to make room for all the trophies he took home that weekend.
Add all this to the Pirelli World Challenge Sprint-X Championship with 9 class wins, and the 2017 racing season was one that we will not forget and will likely not surpass without massive effort. The PCA schedule leaves us with no off-season to speak of, and we have been full-throttle with engine rebuilds and preparing cars for Sebring in just a few weeks time.
2014 PCA Season by the Numbers
The PCA calendar traditionally starts at Sebring, and around 8 months and just short of 100 podium finishes later, our 2014 PCA season ended at Daytona.
Summary:
9 Races (Sebring, Atlanta, Roebling, COTA, Watkins Glen, VIR, Summit Point, Road America, Daytona)
26 cars driven by 23 drivers – 14 drivers earned class wins, and 17 had podium finishes
3 drivers finished top-3 in the PCA national points championship (Joe Toussaint, Charles Price, Jim Leslie)
1 National Points Champion, Jim Leslie GTC3
8 New Track Records set
45 Class Wins
92 Class Podium Finishes
The 2015 Season should be similar with the only notable addition being the Charlotte Motor Speedway event to close out the year. It may be too much to ask to improve on these numbers this season, but we will be rolling into Sebring with a dozen cars. Perhaps 100-podiums in a season is achievable.
COTA Grand Am 2013 Race Summary
It’s always exciting going to a new track for the first time, and Circuit of the Americas (COTA) was no exception. COTA is the newest and arguably nicest Formula 1 circuit in the world, and the facility certainly did not disappoint. Thursday was the Promoter’s Test day and the first order of business was having our drivers David Baum and Cory Friedman get familiar with the track configuration and the best way to execute it. The #24 Hastings Fiberglass / Mac Papers Porsche Boxster was good enough that we did little set up work the first day.
After an evening to process what was learned the day before, on Friday we focused on making the car as fast as possible. Our pace was good on old tires, typically within a second of the fastest cars in class. Practice, much like the test day, was plagued with black flags, so track time and set up opportunities were compromised. The final session of the day was qualifying, and David did a good job, qualifying about halfway up a very large and competitive ST field. We closed out Friday with race prep and pit stop practice.
Everything was in good order when we arrived to race early Saturday morning. It was a good day for racing; the weather was perfect, clear, cool and dry. David took the green flag and had a strong opening stint. He maintained position and avoided multiple potential disasters, and just before the one-hour mark, he turned the car over to Cory in perfect condition. The stop was early, and we knew we needed time under caution to make it to the end, but all of the front-runners took the same gamble.
From the drop of the green flag on the first restart, Cory began to move up positions. The Boxster proved to have excellent race pace. There are no easy passes in the top-15, but with tenacious battling and inspired racecraft, #24 moved firmly into the top-10 (see highlight video). The intense racing was interrupted by a pair of short cautions, and into the last hour Cory was fighting hard with the points-leading Honda and an unusually wide VW for a spot in the top-5.
With under 10 minutes remaining, the race and weekend had gone nearly flawlessly, and a repeat of the 5th place finish we had at Daytona was looking very reasonable, though we were dangerously low on fuel. We had to hope that fuel economy during the cautions was better than expected or for a late-race caution. Regrettably, neither came to be, and fuel ran out with 2 laps remaining.
None of the other 15 cars that were on the same fuel strategy as us had this problem, exposing a huge lack of parity in the class. This is a problem we’ve known about since last season and requested a change in the regulations multiple times. We can only hope that with this undeniable evidence, our next request will not be denied.
Despite the disappointing conclusion, it was a fun, exciting and highly competitive weekend. David will be joining us again for the CTSCC event at Road Atlanta next month, where we’ll look for another top-5, or with a bit of luck, a spot on the podium.
