On this lazy summer day but instead, I am stuck in my office daydreaming back to a few weekends ago when a large group of us from GTM ventured north to watch the IMSA Sahlen’s 6 Hours race at Watkins Glen. As that was my bachelor party weekend I am not going recap that part of the adventure, because what happens at the Glen, stays at the Glen. I will say however, that there were: unicorns, mustaches, pizza, steaks, beer, JAGER, iRacing, Neverwinter, football, breweries, distilleries, and several hundred Wal-Mart runs. If you want any more than that, well, you should’ve been there (AHEM… Andrew B.) — but you can always catch up via instagram. With that being said, one of my bachelor party surprises was an opportunity to hang out behind the pit wall during the Tioga Downs GT4 race on Saturday.
It all started Friday afternoon as we were walking around the track looking for things to do. After having just set the first place lap time (Eric M.) and the 4th place lap time (Brad N.) on the iRacing simulator at the Mazda Motorsports booth, a small group from “the Unicorn Squad” were looking at all the cars in their respective makeshift garages when we suddenly spotted GTM sponsors and friends Mike and Mona Arrigo from HOD.
During our chat I found out that they had “arranged” for me to meet up with their pal, and mechanic for the Automatic Racing team, Capt. Slow (let’s keep the innocent, innocent), and he would take me behind the scenes during the Tioga Downs GT4 race the following day.
As you can imagine, I was shocked, excited, and a bit nervous. By a stroke of pure coincidence, Capt. Slow and other members of the team were staying in the airBnB suite next to us at “the animal house” – small world, right?. So, later that evening Capt. Slow came over for some grub and while we talked he explained “the arrangement” — which was nothing short of a sitcom bank heist. The devised “plan” was to meet up and “sneak me” – a 6’4″ viking – behind the pit wall. Easier said than done… during the grid walk but before the race we were to walk down to the Acura pit stall that Automatic Racing was sharing with other teams, meet up with Capt. Slow, and as security started clearing out spectators I was to be handed credentials and allowed to stay with the team. What could possibly go wrong?
As the Saturday festivities ensued, we finally made our way down to the pre-race grid. Here we ran into our first problem, we saw the car (Invisible Glass Aston Martin #97) surrounded by a few team members, we also saw the Acura pit stall, but we didn’t see Capt. Slow. It turns out, there was more than one Acura pit stall (I mean, of course there was) and we went to the wrong one. Oops! GTM member John C did some investigating (aka “talking to people standing by the car”) and we found out the actual pit stall was further down the lane. However, as we started walking, security started turning people away to clear the grid… they did have a race to start after all.
It was at this point that we thought our plan was ruined. “This is never going to happen,” I said to myself. As we started leaving the grid we had a little rebellious idea, while security was busy clearing the actual grid, there wasn’t anyone watching the lane behind the pit stalls. Eric M, John C, and I mustered up some courage and walked down the road behind the pit stalls with a level of confidence that screamed “we really have no business being here but, fake it ’til you make it!” We quickly found Capt. Slow, and Eric M. and John C. exited stage right to enjoy the race from various areas of the track.
About 20 minutes before the race, Capt. Slow found me a spot just behind the team managers. There were numerous television screens and computer monitors showing all kinds of data! Ooo-Aaah… Everyone was focused on one screen in particular, the weather.
There was a nasty storm rolling in and the officials were trying to figure out whether to start the race or hold off. Listening to the teams bicker about the racing officials was quite comical. The officials weren’t being very forthcoming with information and the teams were trying to figure out whether to pull the drivers from the cars, stock up on their rain tires or their slicks, etc. Eventually the call came down, “We got lightning, race delayed, 30 minutes”. The drivers exited their cars, returned to their pits and we all waited out the storm. While they waited, the team walked around, joking and talking with each other, having a quick snack and loading up on water. It was like hanging out in the stands with my friends, except once the race started they had a job to do.
Fast forward 30 minutes and the race was back on. The drivers were in their cars, the teams were all back together in the pits and we were ready to go. The national anthem was sung, the cars were on track for their formation laps, and the pace car was ready to release them.
Once the race started, things got way more interesting. As I mentioned earlier, my seat for the race was situated behind the team managers. I was up high and close enough that I could actually see all the activity with the neighboring team as well (it’s good to be tall). During the first part of the race, it was mostly chatter with the driver: checking in to see how he was doing, how the car was handling, getting updates on how the tires felt and then giving updates on his lap and sector times compared to the drivers around him. Plans were already brewing for the first pit stop.
If you have ever been to Watkins Glen, you know that a section of the track can be completely dry and fast and it could also be storming and soaked on the other. As important as the conditions are, I also realized that an added wrinkle in the whole race strategy is caution flags. It seemed like every time the team managers decided it was time to bring the driver in or they had a set lap they were going to ask him to pit, there was a caution flag and the pits would close.
The team manually tracked fuel consumption based on a spreadsheet with historical data such as time between fills, lap times, tire wear, etc. Being a numbers guy, I thought it was cool watching them perform the calculations and trying to figure out when they could bring him in for a fuel stop. All the while, trying to predict the weather.
Within the first hour, the Automatic Racing Aston Martin found itself in first place at one point. Woot! – However, this was short lived because as they were heading into turn 1, the 3rd place car attempted to overtake the 2nd place car (both Mercedes AMG GTs) on the inside of the corner, overshot it, and plowed directly into the Aston. The Aston spun around and was pushed off track… and the Mercedes? – just kept on going! I couldn’t hear exactly what was being said by the driver, but it sounded something like %$@$^! – needless to say, he wasn’t pleased. For the next 5 minutes the team managers focused on calming the driver down and getting him back into the race. The Aston was now back near it’s original starting position.
Back at the ranch… the crew probably switched tires at the wall about 3-4 times between “slicks” and “rains” trying to figure out what to put on the car for the upcoming stop. Eventually they were able to pit, twice actually, once for a fuel top off and once for a full stop (tires, driver, fuel).
During the race they had to refill the fuel canister from a larger fuel cart (below). Any time they touched the fuel assembly/system there was a person near by with a fire extinguisher, serious business. Racing is high tech, right? And, their scientific way of measuring how much fuel was in the filling tank? A large stick with measurement markings, LOL, sometimes the simplest idea is the best and quickest!
I not only witnessed the Automatic Racing car’s pit stops but I also saw the neighboring team do a stop with a tire change as well. This one wasn’t quite as smooth as the right front tire tech grabbed a wheel that didn’t have any nuts and when he went to put the wheel on he frantically searched around and yelled “Where are my nuts!?!” – LOL. (below).
Eventually he grabbed the ones that had just come off the car and the stop was done. To make it even more entertaining, the driver stalled the car and had to restart it. I know it wasn’t the stop they wanted but it was exciting to see from my vantage point. And still faster than I could fuel and swap tires on my car 😉 But after the second pit stop which was well into the race, I had to leave as I needed a pit stop!
Overall my experience behind the wall was very exciting and interesting. I recommend it to anyone that gets a chance, don’t be shy, jump in there and get a whole new vantage point of racing. It helped me appreciate the teams and staff and the amount of work that goes into this sport. I would like to thank Capt. Slow for his hospitality, Mike and Mona from HOD for giving up their spot behind the wall, and Eric M, John C, John R, Sam H, Kerwin W, Matt Y, Andrew M, Harry B, Doug T, for the best damn “Softest Bachelor Party Ever!” #letterkenny – You all are the best and I can’t think of a better way to close out the single chapter of my life.
And to member Andrew B., you missed it brah!
