Summer Races = Eventful

We are unfortunately on the back half of summer and the last few weeks have been eventful. Let's start on the challenges and then move to the fun stuff. Recently I raced in a few endurance races at Raceway Park of the Midlands in Iowa. It was my first race with this team, Left Shark Racing in the #43 Tiburon, and my buddy Ben helped me with landing this ride. The weekend started off good, got out to the track, the car went through inspection and officially entered into GP3, we set up our pit box and then took a look at a track that I have not raced at. Afterwards we went to our hotel with no concerns, just talking strategy and I was getting caught up on the tendencies of these racecars.

It was race day and it was a hot one with temps in the triple digits. Ben started us off and we got to a great start with Ben leading the GP3 class but had to end his stint early due to cramping in his right leg. I took over and made up some time on the track knowing that the other teams would have to pit soon. Unfortunately what I was not prepared for was my front brakes failing going into turn 1. I locked up the rear brakes and the car spun out going off track. I nursed the car back around to the pits and we went behind the wall. We ended up having to change the right front wheel bearing, axle, air filter and brake lines. Once we got the car back together I went back out several laps down and through my run I noticed a vibration. When I came into the pits at the end of my stint we checked the wheels and believed we had another bearing going bad, unfortunately we only brought one spare for each corner. Paul decided to nurse the car to the finish to attempt to not get a DNF which he did and we completed the 9 hour race finishing 10th in class. Once he brought the car to pit road we checked the wheel bearing and it was again failing. We needed a new part or we were not racing the next day.

We located new parts to purchase but needed a press to assemble. Moss Racing offered their race shop for us to put the parts together, the catch being their shop was an hour from the track. We assembled the parts and got back to the track and decided to call it a day. At the hotel we came up with a game plan for the 7 hour race the next day with hotter temperatures but rain in the morning. Ben has the most experience racing in the rain so the plan was for him to start again. We also had a plan for getting our pit box ready and the new parts on the car.

It is race day once again but the track is soaked and we felt confident. Ben was going over a few pointers with rain driving and when he started the race he took off and was to the lead in GP3 after starting 10th. Ben was also 5th overall and was closing in on the top runners until the track started to dry up and the heat and humidity kicked in. Ben finished his stint and then Paul got into the car with no reports of concerns from Ben. Paul continued to lead the race but 40 minutes into his run he reported water temp issues and was having to run in clean air. At this time air temp was near 110 degrees F and he was having to pedal the car to keep the water temp at an appropriate level. We discussed if we wanted to run it hard and see if it holds or just conserve the car knowing this was going to take us out of contention. We decided on saving the car and watching to see if any other teams have overheating problems. Once Paul's stint was complete I hopped in the car and was told by Paul that I could get 2 hard laps in before I would have to pedal a lap to cool the water down. I did this throughout my stint and we maintained 7th. Once my stint was over Ben hopped back in to finish off the remainder of the race and I needed ice and water to cool down. Ben finished out the race coming in 7th in GP3.

However, the fun wasn't over. We just finished loading up the trailer and during the safety checks our brakes failed on the tow truck. We then had to make a trip into town to get new brake lines and complete a brake job at the racetrack before we could get home. This was not the most fun we had but we got it done and hit the road. It was a weekend that you partially want to forget but makes a great story while building character.

Now for some positive notes I have been lucky (or possibly cursed) to have a son that is getting racing in his blood and a few years ago I promised him that when he turned 5 I would take him karting. He held me to that and we went to a karting track. At the track, Ryker and I went over a couple of things including me being on track with him and then we got him fitted into driver gear. Afterwards he took to the track in a kart that would top out at 25 mph. He had a little fear, hammering the power and spinning his tires and then running for a full session starting to follow dad with the racing line. For his second session he was able to convince mom to go out with him. This wasn't my wife's first time driving a racecar, my son loved being on track with both parents and we were very proud of him. We are doing one more session before we consider making a purchase for next year and we plan to make sure he understands the financial side of the business as well.

My updated race schedule is on my website rogeregan.com and you can interact with me on social media too.

#DriverSpotlight #RogerEgan