Jaygo Racing

As you'll note, the title of this post is shorter than usual. Unfortunately, the last time I crossed the finish line in this qualifying session was the last time I would cross the finish line during the weekend.

We made some adjustments to the car Saturday night to help it oversteer a little more. After reviewing Doug's video from the race, it appeared that my two brief offs during the race on Saturday were due to the understeer that the car had, rather than me taking incorrect lines through the corners. He and I appeared to take nearly the same line through the corners but my car would not turn-in like his car would. Thankfully, the handling changes at least made the car more comfortable to drive.

Sunday morning's session was somewhat uneventful until the last lap. I did spin out once trying an ambitious pass at T12 on a Formula 500 that was holding me up (despite the fact that I had slowed down and let him go ahead of me twice during the session). Given the differences between FST and F500 in cornering and straightaway speed it can be very difficult for an FST to pass an F500, even if the FST is faster, due to where the F500 has an advantage (the straightaways) over the FST. There was also an incident where an FV took to the grass in the kink to avoid a slowing FV. That happened right in front of me but I was able to bypass that excitement with no problem.

Apparently, shortly after I crossed start/finish for the last time, the checkered flag came out for that session. As I turned in for T1 I tried a little bit of a different line and hit a very large bump. That bump caused the back end of the car to step out a little bit. The car started sliding towards the inside but I had nearly straightened the car out (the wheel was pretty much straight in my hand with the car headed towards the grass) when I heard/felt a THWACK in the right-rear corner of the car. That impact knocked my head into the left side of the roll bar and jerked the car left towards the track so I steered my car to the right as best as I could, even though the steering was only connected to the LF wheel at this point. I pushed the brake and the clutch in (which was amusing in hindsight considering the impact ripped off the kill switch and shut off the engine) and the car stopped. I looked up to see the #01 Formula Vee 7-8 feet in the air. He came down on his nose and rolled a couple of times before coming to rest upside down.

Thankfully the track safety team was on the site after just a few seconds. They quickly identified the severity of the accident and set about taking care of Ryan (the driver of the #01 car) and I. They evaluated me for a concussion and other upper body injuries but proclaimed me OK (other than immense soreness and bruising). Ryan suffered a broken tibia and broken collarbone in the accident, and our thoughts and prayers are certainly with him as he recovers.

Unfortunately, my 2006 FormulaCar Magazine Formula First Challenge Cup season came to an end with my damaged car sitting in the grass after qualifying. The car could not be repaired before the race and so the Jaygo clan left the track early in search of a big lunch. Graciously, my dad paid for lunch since he felt badly about the big hit my wallet took as a result of the accident that morning.

I am somewhat pleased with my first season of racing. I finished 3rd out of 16 competitors in the championship, and the two drivers ahead of me both have national Formula Vee experience. Although, my championship placing was in part due to bad luck befalling some other drivers, I was also able to avoid some incidents this year that would have set me back in the points. As many people reminded me, luck is certainly part of racing. All things considered, it was a solid first season, but I'm definitely looking for bigger and better things in 2007.

Thanks again to everybody that supported and helped me this year. Jim, B.J., and Brandon of SR Racing prepared solid cars all season, Doug Seim and Robert Guhde were extremely helpful with in-car video, track tours, and advice, Bill Bonow worked his tail off to provide a fun series for Formula First racers to compete in, and Rob Howden ponied up the support of his magazine, FormulaCar Magazine, to sponsor the series. Go to http://www.formulacarmag.com to subscribe to the magazine and support Rob. Without FCM I would not have landed all of the sponsorship I needed this year, so many thanks to Rob.

Lastly, thanks to my wife for her support (and not freaking out when she saw me in a wrecked race car), and thanks to my Dad and brother for hanging out at the races as much as they could and offering advice as much as possible.

I'll post here periodically during the off-season to update everybody on my progress with marketing partnerships and things of that nature, but the racing updates will begin in earnest in 2007. Thanks again to everybody and I'll talk to you soon.

Saturday's first qualifying session at Nelson Ledges started under gray skies. The track was pretty much dry (though there appeared to be a few wet spots off of the racing line). Following an early morning discussion/infield tour with Doug Seim, I was prepared to tackle the fast, bumpy 2-mile circuit.

My laps on Saturday confirmed that Nelson was indeed both fast and bumpy. As I noted after the session, it sure would be a ton of fun if they paved it more often and it was in a warmer climate! That being said, it was still a very enjoyable track. I completed the full qualifying session and my fastest lap was a 1:17.879, just a shade over two seconds off the pole time set by Nelson veteran (and championship leader) Greg Rice. I was pretty pleased with that time and was greatly looking forward to the afternoon's race.

As a side note, I was called to impound after the qualifying session so the tech folks could have a look at my seating position in the car. After measuring it, they determined that I was probably sitting an inch or two too high in the car. We spent most of the afternoon repositioning the seat padding and the lead in the cockpit so that I would sit lower in the car. We determined that I was probably sitting a little over two inches lower after all of our work that afternoon. That would prove useful on Sunday.

Anyhow, back to Saturday's events. The race started on Saturday and I got a very competitive start and briefly looked at 4th headed into Turn 1. Given the intimidating nature of Turn 1 I did not try the low-percentage pass and as the field left T1 I assumed the fifth spot (my starting position). I was able to hang with the lead pack for the first several laps but a couple of brief offs coming out of the Carousel and out of the kink set me back several seconds and I rode home with a decent fifth-place finish. It was not what I needed points-wise but I was not disappointed with my finish considering it was my first time there. Also, I was able to knock nearly a second and a quarter off my fastest time in the morning, so all in all I was pleased. Bill Bonow brought home the victory in Doug Dale's Evo and that ensured that the championship chase would carry on into Sunday.

After a trip back to my little brother's place in Akron, some delicious chili prepared by Mrs. little brother, and some football on the tube, I was ready for Sunday morning prepared to hang with the lead pack on only my 2nd day at the track. Check out the next post for Sunday's details...

Good afternoon everybody. I wanted to post here quickly to let you know that I will be updating this blog tomorrow (Tuesday the 26th). As far as the reason for the delay, when I post the blog you will understand...

I'll talk to everybody tomorrow.