Young American Jonathan Scarallo was brought in again by F1000 team & chassis manufacturer Philadelphia Motorsports with the DB-F1000 chassis. JS was brought in to do some shaking down for some of the brand new cars just recently built.
The morning started off with the usual installation laps to make sure nothing was leaking, overheating, or coming loose. As expected, with brand new race cars there were some very minor adjustments so that everything was in top running condition.
Finally JS was set loose to go out and start to dial in the new cars and see if the new updates were changes for the better of the 
car.After just 3 laps he was flirting with the track record and already knew adjustments he needed. After the changes were made 3 more laps later, Scarallo would smash the existing track record for the F1000 Class of car on the New Jersey Motorsports Park Thunderbolt course. This obviously put a big grin on everybody’s face considering it was so early, with a brand new car and on a track that had not seen any action in about 6 months.
More tuning would continue to be made to find yet more speed as the day went on. Sadly, the day would come to an early end with some very rare motor failure. This is the first ever for the HPD F1000 motor. With this track record being broken, this duo has set the track record at every track they have been to except for one, and they have never tested at a track more than one time.
“It was so nice to have Jonathan in one of my cars again.” Said Sal Donato the owner of Philadelphia Motorsports and the DB-F1000 manufacturer. “He was his usual professional self; he wasted zero time gathering feedback and setting very fast laps. The fact he went as quick as he did is really eye raising and I am glad he is under the Philadelphia Motorsports tent. Every time the car has set a track record it has been when Jonathan was behind the wheel and that’s a huge reason why I look forward to getting him back in one of my cars.”
“It certainly is a bummer to have to end a bit early, especially with a motor failure. It’s the first ever failure for the Honda F1000 power plant, which makes it even more bizarre because these things have been bullet proof. But all-in-all it was a great day. The cars came straight from the factory with that new car smell and basically ran flawlessly in terms of the prep work done to the brand new DB-F1000 car. Certainly for me, it was very nice to get back in a race car and I am very pleased with myself, how it took no time to get back into it after being out of a race car for 8 months. We were able to learn more about the car, make positive changes and go very fast, making today a very successful day even with the motor glitch. I can’t wait for more!”
As of right now JS does not have any full time racing effort. With performances like today showing he can really hustle a race car, he is hoping to put something together last minute.
For more information on Jonathan Scarallo & the Philadelphia Motorsports DB-F1000 team and car, go to www.JonathanScarallo.com or www.PhillyMotorsports.com. For Partnership/Sponsorship opportunities you can contact Jonathan@JonathanScarallo.com or Sal@PhillyMotorsports.com. Race fans can also see some in-car footage from the Jonathan driving the DBX1000 car at www.YouTube.com/JSMotorsports22
Jonathan Scarallo, together with Group-A Racing are pleased to announce their sports car program for the 2012 season in the NASA Pro Racing Series.
JS will partner with his older brother Joey in the Group-A Racing house competing in the NASA Pro Racing Series except driving a different car and in a different class. While big brother will be racing in the Super Unlimited class in the GroupAWheels.com/Toyo Tires/Race Optics In-Car Cameras/Hoosier Racing Tires Pontiac GTO, little brother will be driving in ST1 & STR1 in the GroupAWheels.com/Vredestein Tires/Race Optics In-Car Camera/TreoBenny.com Corvette Z06.
This will be Jonathan’s first season racing sports cars after many successful seasons in open wheel racing from poles, wins and track record in the F2000 Championship Series and a championship in the Bertil Roos FF2000 & FRCCA F1000 Series. Going from open wheel to sports car will bring quite a drastic change for the young American.
“Getting in the big sports cars is going to be a drastic difference from what I am used to” stated Scarallo. “These cars have much more horsepower, bigger tires, but a drastically less down force and weigh around 1,500 pounds more! The limited experience in sports cars that I have, I really enjoyed, and can’t wait for the first race!”
Jonathan will not have to figure it out all on his own though. He will have his very experienced sports car driver Joey Scarallo as a team mate to show him the ropes. Joey has done the 24 hours of Daytona, multi time AGT winner, Trans-Am winner & recently did a race series reality show in which he dominated.
“Having Joey around will certainly be a lot of help. He knows exactly what it’s like to do the transition from open wheel cars to 
sports cars, so he knows exactly what I need to expect. Plus, he has so much experience and race wins. In my opinion, there is no better person to have as a mentor and coach than somebody who is still driving and getting the job done. I will have access to his data along with his Race Optics In-Car Camera videos to compare to mine which will be a big help as well. I probably will not get any testing before the first race so it makes it that much more important to take advantage of this.” Said Jonathan Scarallo
This will probably be one of the busiest race seasons ever for Scarallo. There are still some open wheel opportunities being worked out along with a lot of events with GroupAWheels.com.
“I am really looking forward to all the GroupAWheels.com events! They just really understand the B2B scenarios which is what makes the investment in motorsports so valuable. I am looking forward to being a part of the events along with meeting a bunch of the customer base.”
JS will compete in the North East division in both the STR1 & ST1 class to try and earn him and his team an invitation to the NASA National Championship race at Mid-Ohio in September. This is the super bowl for all the NASA Pro Racing teams and drivers. NASA invites the best from each division in their class for a one race shoot out to show who is the best of the best!
The first race will take place April 20-22 at New Jersey Motorsports Park Lightning track which is a track that Jonathan has a 100% winning rate at and has set the track record every time as well. The first time was opening weekend of the track for the Bertil Roos FF2000 Championship, and more recently, August 2010 when he set the all-time F1000 track record and swept the FRCCA F1000 races.
Jonathan Scarallo has been selected and used for new promotional purposes of one his racing partners Race Optics In-Car Cameras. The partnership started with a simple Business to Business program put together between Group-A Wheels (another partner of Scarallo) and Race Optics which then transferred over to support his racing career.
JS has been used for new promotions of both of their 1080P HD In-Car/Helmet/Action cameras the T.A.C.K CAM and the EVO HD. The EVO HD is a ‘lipstick’ style camera that comes with all mounts needed, batteries, chargers and also a wireless remote. The T.A.C.K. CAM is an ‘all-in-one’ unit that also comes with batteries, chargers, all mounted needed etc. Both of them shoot in a beautiful crystal clear 1080P HD and have zero wind noise making it the best system on the market.
Race Optics used Jonathan to help promote the EVO at his USF2000 debut with Accele Race Motorsports. The camera was set up as a visor cam to really give race fans the exact view of what it’s like to drive a race car. Giving the closest angle possible to what he was seeing during that session, along with getting to see him wrestle around the USF2000 National Class Van Diemen around the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. Showing race fans just how difficult it is to drive a race car. More importantly then that show the diversity use of this camera and just how fantastic the quality is. Race Fans can see the Visor Cam Footage at www.Youtube.com/RaceOptics or by clicking here
The second promotion purposed is an advertisement still for the T.A.C.K. CAM. The picture uses a freeze frame from JS Visor Cam and then T.A.C.K CAM information placed on it. The ad is used for Race Optics website and other promo purposes.
“For me as a race car driver it’s great to be working with a partner in the depth like how I am with Race Optics and there for GroupAWheels.com. This is just one of the many things that I as race car driver do with my supporters to give them the ROI (Return On Investment) needed to validate their involvement in motorsports but more importantly with me. Plus its that’s much better when you get to work with companies such as Race Optics that really does have the best product in their particular field of sales” said Scarallo
“I have been working with Jonathan Scarallo for almost a year now and it’s been smooth sailing. He is very motivated and smart young guy that is getting an early jump on learning the world of auto racing and business. I would expect to see great things to come from him in the future. “Commented the President of Race Optics Kyle Phillips
The work for putting together a 2012 program for JS is more than well under way. Seeking new opportunities with potential new partners to place B2B (Business to Business) programs together. Giving them the same type of ROI as his current supporters. For more information contact him via Jonathan@JonathanScarallo.com or (631) 974-4379.
Drivers, teams and fans can get Race Optics 1080P HD In-Car/Helmet/Action cameras from GroupAWheels.com and if you mention this release you get a discount along with free priority mail shipping! To take advantage of this go to www.GroupAWheels.com call at 1-800-WHEEL-99 or E-Mail GroupARacing@aol.com .
Also found at and pictures supplied by Open Paddock
Hey Everybody,
So last week I made my USF2000 debut in the National class driving the No. 29 GroupAWheels.com/Vredestein Tires/Race Optics/TreoBenny.com Van Diemen for Accele Race Motorsports. The event itself was a fantastic event from the first day. I could not believe just how many people were there even for Friday, which was only practice. All the fans were very enthusiastic and into every class. The amount of autographs I signed and pictures taken was quite substantial for what we are used to in the support series races. But, that’s certainly cool to see the fans that ecstatic about us as well.
Indy Car randomly selects 3 drivers and various amounts of crew and officials for each for drug testing from series it sanctions, such as the USF2000 Series. I was one of the lucky three for this race and had to go to the medical center. I sat in the chair in the room where they were doing it and had my head down while filling out the paper work. While doing that, a man in a black shirt sits next to me and starts to do the same. When I finished, I picked up my head and looked at the man and who was it? None other then Michael Andretti who is one of my child hood heros from when he raced Indy Cars. He was also randomly selected to take one and we sat next to each other and took ours together. A fun little note from the weekend.
But now to the racing! The weekend started off really great during the practice sessions. The USF2000 package with the Cooper Tires and more horsepower, is a bit different to what I am used to, but is a ton of fun! My engineer and I clicked from the first time I pulled my car into my pit box. He understood exactly what I was saying, making great changes to help the balance of the car. This really helped me to gain confidence in this new package to maximize it on track.
Qualifying was a fun session and a great job by the team to have the proper strategy to get the pole position for the National Class. With qualifying being at 8AM and us having practice sessions at that time earlier in the weekend we had a good idea what the track was going to be like. We had a really strong feeling that the track would be quite slick and would gain grip as the session went on. With that we came up with the strategy to go out and do about 5 flying laps, to put in a lap and get everything up to temperature. Then to come in the pits, sit for a while, save the tires and go out again at the end when the track would be faster.
We did just that and it worked perfectly! I did 5 laps to start the session and the track was quite slick, but at the time, I put in a lap time good enough for pole. I came in and sat in my pit box until 10 minutes to go. While sitting there, my team was keeping me up to speed with what was the current pole time as my competitors were going faster as the track gained grip. I felt confident because the track would be the fastest on the last lap and my tires would be relatively fresh. So, with 10 minutes remaining, it came time to go out and try and put the AcceleRace Motorsports car on the pole! Instantly on my out lap I knew the track was faster and I just sucked it up and put in two flying laps. My first flying lap was good enough for pole and then we piled on our lead, resetting the pole lap again on my second flyer! The strategy worked perfectly and we had pole for race one!
Race one I put in some really good cold tire laps to build a gap over the competition. I then had a minor set back that put me back into 2nd place. Quickly, I took the lead back but had Luca Forgeouis still lurking. Coming to the white flag we caught his team mate about 10 seconds to put him a lap down! Sadly, JR decided to ignore the blue flags and not do anything for me to get past. This allowed Luca half a chance, and he put in a dive bomb move into the keyhole. He got all crossed up and I had to go to the right to avoid hitting him in the gearbox. We still made contact which ruined both our races. Sadly, I had to settle for 2nd. It was extremely unfortunate to have a lap car ruin the race, especially while leading on the last lap, but ”thats the way the cookie crumbles”!
Race two I had to start in 2nd based upon the races fastest lap from race one. I got a great jump on the start and took the lead right from the green flag. As I did in race one, I was able to build a gap on cold tires over the rest of the National Class competitors. Around lap 2 or 3 I felt that I was in trouble because I had really bad understeer. The track was very green from the rain the day before, and my gaps were still staying the same. So, I was hoping everybody else had the same scenario. Around lap 10 I could see Colassaco in the distance from my rear vision mirrors. As soon as I saw him, even though I had a gap, I knew I was in trouble. He closed the gap within one or two laps and he was now starting to terrorize me, looking for a way past. He put in some efforts to outbrake me in the keyhole and turn 4. I was a good bit stronger than him on the brakes and able to hold him off for about 2 or 3 laps. Eventually, he got past and I had to settle for second place again. Found out after that he managed to save a set of tires for the second race which explains the amount of front grip he had compared to me.
Certainly it is frustrating to lead so many laps during the week, take the pole and have two second place finishes. But that’s just the way it went. If it was easy, everybody would do it, and that’s just racing. The Accele Race guys did a great job all weekend. The car ran flawlessly the entire weekend and my engineer, Glen, was making great changes as well. I really wanted to reward their efforts with some wins but we will just have to do some more races to do that! Certainly the team and I were the people to beat most of the weekend in the National Class and even though we didn’t get the results we hoped for, I think we proved alot.
Jonathan Scarallo and the AcceleRace Motorsports team had an impressive debut in the Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 Series Powered by Mazda. They showed very impressive speed, capturing the pole position in the National class, setting the track record at the same time. Sadly, the luck would not fall there way in the races.
At the start of the first race, Jonathan Scarallo took off putting in some great laps on cold tires to build a gap over the rest of the National class. After about 4 laps a small driver error would cause him to fall behind to second place behind local driver Colassaco. Jonathan would retake the lead a few laps later with a great out braking maneuver. The few laps they did battle though, put current National Championship Class leader Forgeois now on their tails. Scarallo put his head down putting in very fast and consistent lap times. He never put a foot wrong, to give Forgeois the chance to try and pass him.
But on the second to last lap, they gained approximately 10 seconds on Forgeois team mate coming to the white flag. Even with constant blue flags the lap car would not do anything to let Scarallo who is leading the race by. Scarallo tried to pass the lap car going into turn 1 on the last lap yet again, but he was chopped across his nose, making him lose all his momentum. This put Forgeois in perfect position now to put in a pass. Forgeois got into the corner very deep and sideways which in the end would cause contact between him and Scarallo. Colassaco would pick up the pieces and inherit the win with Jonathan finishing second.
“To say I am quite disappointed and angry right now is definitely an understatement.” stated the teenage driver “I basically had the race won and to have a lap car consistently ignore the blue flags and chop me on the last lap is really just unbelievable. The AcceleRace guys put together a great car and I was really looking forward to rewarding their efforts with a win, so to have it taken away like this is just sickening.”
The race two grid was set based upon fastest race laps from race one. Scarallo would start second in class with Foreois on pole for the National Class. Jonathan wasted no time though to take the lead, grabbing it in turn one on the start. Just as he did the day before, he put in brilliant cold tire laps to build a gap. Then around lap 5 Colassaco who managed to save a set of tires for the last race started making his way to the gearbox of the AcceleRace car. Scarallo held him off many times in the brake zones holding the outside to maintain the lead as long as he could. Eventually Colassaco would get past Jonathan with his fresh set of Cooper Tires. Scarallo kept pushing not letting him get away but would have to settle for another second place finish.
“I had under-steer basically from the first lap and from then I thought I was in trouble. But I was still building a gap so I was hoping that maybe it was just the track condition and I would still be able to hold them off. But as soon as I saw Colassaco I knew I was in trouble. I was a good bit better then him in the brake zones so I was able to hold him off for a bit, but eventually he got past with his new tires. I really wanted to win especially after having one robbed from me, yesterday but just was not meant to be. I need to give a huge thank you to everybody at AcceleRace Motorsports. They put in a great effort all weekend long. I wish I could have rewarded them with a win but just did not work out. That’s racing sometimes!” said Scarallo
“I need to give a big thank you to everybody who made this possible; Accele Race Motorsports, GroupAWheels.com TreoBenny.com, Race Optics and Vredestein Tires. This was a great experience even with the disappointments in the races and it has only increased my hunger to win that much more!”
Race fans can see some very entertaining in-car and visor cam footage from JS Youtube account at www.YouTube.com/JSMotorsports22.
Reigning Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda National class champions AcceleRace Motorsports, is pleased to announce it will resume its USF2000 campaign beginning with rounds 7 & 8 at Mid Ohio Sports car course. American Jonathan Scarallo will be making his debut in the series and with AcceleRace driving the No. 29 GroupAWheels.com/Vredestein Tires/TreoBenny.com/Race Optics Cameras Van Diemen in the National Class.
In 2010 AcceleRace Motorsports dominated the National class winning 7 out of the 10 races they entered en route to the championship. This year with a limited schedule, the team won at Sebring and lead the race at the St. Petersburg GP. After an oval race hiatus they are returning stronger, and hungrier than ever, for wins with the young American Jonathan Scarallo.
In a short amount of time the young New Yorker has created a bit of a name for himself in open wheel racing. Scarallo is the youngest Bertil Roos FF2000 Championship Series Champion and race winner. Along with that he has pro wins and poles in other pro F2000 Series and is the factory driver for Philly Motorsports F1000 program setting a handful of track records with that program as well. Now, the latest addition, yet to be added to his resume is experience in the 2011 Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda with AcceleRace.
The AcceleRace Team Director, Ardie Greenamyer, was enthusiastic explaining the details. ” We have been watching Jonathan for awhile, and we are proud to have built a program that suits everyone’s goals. We have been talking to Jonathan often since last season and we are confident to have him in our car. He is a great addition to our Driver Lineup.”
“I am really excited to be making my debut in the in the USF2000 Series. To be making my debut at Mid Ohio as well is pretty cool. This is very much a drivers track and I have had some good success here in the past. Plus to be doing it with the AcceleRace Team is really awesome as well. I have been really impressed both by the team at the track, and away from the track, and am looking forward to putting in a strong effort with them. I really think these guys are the ‘sleeping giant’ in the paddock.” said Scarallo
Both AcceleRace and Scarallo are prepared to put in a strong effort that will create opportunities to compete in the last 4 races of the season. AcceleRace Motorsports has seats available for the National Class, Championship Class and testing for drivers interested. Drivers can get more information at www.accelerace.com. Or contact by email accelerace1@gmail.com or by phone at 1-708-DRIVE-F2 (1-708-374-8332).
END—-
Jonathan Scarallo showed tremendous speed this past weekend in the F2000 Championship Series at Road Atlanta. Some 
misfortunate things would hold him and his team back from a great effort.
The weekend started off with a Thursday test day. With it being just testing, there was no official timing, just the hundreds of stop watches carried by the teams. All day long JS was unofficially 1st-3rd place unofficially as his team tested various set-up packages.
“Today was pretty good, and great start of a rebound from VIR” stated the young American. “We experimented with a bunch of things and were very quick out of the box so I am looking forward to tomorrow.”
The following day hosted a practice session, qualifying session and the race. Jonathan continued to show great pace in his Primus Van Diemen. In qualifying later that morning Jonathan put in a stellar lap to capture his first pole of the season by .008!
“This is really awesome to get pole especially after the way VIR was. We have been working hard to rebound and so far so good. But now its time to do it when it counts, in the race!”
JS did not get the best of starts causing him to go 3 wide into turn 1 with Connery and Livengood. He would manage to hold off Livengood, but not Connery to remain in 2nd. While starting to chase down the leader with 3 laps to go Jonathan would have a sudden front nose failure causing him to lose all his front downforce. He would manage to nurse his wounded car home to finish 6th.
“Certainly this is a bit frustrating, but that’s racing sometimes. This is absolutely nothing but a complete fluke and there is nothing that anybody could have really done to avoid this. It’s the way it goes, and we will rebound tomorrow.” Said Scarallo
The following morning Jonathan did just that in practice, only running half the session. He was fastest at that 
time and was until the final lap when Livengood would nip him by 3 hundreths! In qualifying Jonathan laid down some great laps early to put him on pole position yet again, but more misfortune would come his way when a small mechanical issue caused him to miss the reaming 15 minutes. Due to him missing the last half of the session he was bumped down to 7th.
JS put his head down in the race and instantly moved up to 5th chasing down the leaders, setting fastest lap of the race at that time. He would then move up into 4th around half way until the car went away. Even with the car fading he never gave up and kept pushing to hold on to finish 5th.
“It is a bit disappointing leaving the race weekend without at least one win, considering how fast we have been all weekend long. But at the same time this a humungous improvement after VIR. I did not have much confidence coming into this weekend and my confidence is definitely back after this weekend. Jon and everybody at Primus Racing is doing a fantastic job and everybody knows we are a threat to win now. Just need some luck and we are there. I can not wait until Watkins Glen!”
“I also need to give a humoungous thank you to everybody who makes this happen such as; GroupAWheels.com, Vredestein Tires, Gamerfly, Primus Parts, Jon Baytos, TreoBenny.com and VIO POV.”
Race fans can see some of his racing from his point of view at JS Youtube account at www.YouTube.com/JSMotorsports22
Mar 11
19
Scarallo Partners with V.I.O POV
V.I.O is a point of view (POV) camera system sold world wide and used in many different arenas such as; auto racing, moto cross, ATV racing, snow boarding, skiing, boat racing etc. The system has a “bullet” style camera head with a wire that runs from the camera head to the base recorder. The kits come with a carrying case, mounts, memory cards, batteries and everything else you need to start recording videos instantly!
The new partnership consist of Jonathan becoming a new dealer for the V.I.O cameras, along with a new marketing plan between V.I.O and JS racing plans. The new dealer opportunity works out to perfect timing for him, because of the release of the brand new POV HD camera. The new camera shoots in 1080P, is very user friendly, and by far the best camera on the market.
The partnership between Jonathan and POV does not just end there. POV has also become the official in-car camera supplier of the F2000 Championship Series and the F1600 Championship Series with cameras supplied by JS. After each race Jonathan will be making highlight videos of the races from the footage captured by the V.I.O POV HD cameras. Creating action packed videos showcasing the excitment these two series provide. He has also become the official POV dealer for Philly Motorsports with there F1000 cars.
You can place your order of a new V.I.O POV camera with Jonathan via phone (631) 957-3901 or EMail at Jonathan@JonathanScarallo.com. You can also get more information on him doing some video editing for you such as what he does for himself, F2000 and F1600.
JS has not announced any official plans yet but stay tuned for his 2011 racing program to be announced shortly.
Jan 11
10
First Post of 2011
Happy New Year everybody! Hope you all had a great Holiday season, a time of relaxing, catching up with family and rest. I know for me I had a great Holiday season, but I am definitely ready for it to be Spring and race season!
It has been about two months since my last blog entry. Some people have been calling this time of the year the ”off season” but I basically know nothing about this. I have been really busy getting everything put together for the 2011 season, working with my new web partner TreoBenny.com, and stepping up my fitness yet again.
For this blog I can not really say much when it comes to 2011. I have been working hard to put everything together since the checkered flag fell at the season finale. Some exciting things are going on, but for now there is not much I can say. And this is not a tease to get everybody to keep coming back to my web site either.
I have also been working on a new side business of mine. My Dad has been joking with me that even though racing is my first passion and what I love, the entrepreneur spirit from him is still in me! This business is a video business and selling in-car cameras. As most of you know from my Youtube videos or now this web site, I had an in-car camera on my car all year. Then after all the races I would cut and edit them into highlight videos. I have started doing other drivers/teams videos for them and selling in-car videos as well. This has been keeping me busy trying to get this off the ground and working with my new customers. If any of you are interested in getting an in-car camera or having me edit some videos for you, let me know, I will be happy to work with you!
In between my new business and putting together the 2011 program I have been in the gym, trying to be more fit then ever. Even with the Holidays I have been able to drop 5 out of my 10 pound goal. I am running my miles faster and I am doing 5 mile runs instead of 4. Also I am able to lift heavier weights for more reps then ever also. Its really important to be working out during the winter to keep my body fit, but it also keeps my brain sharp as well. Pushing myself in the gym helps my prepare mentally in the race car as well. In the gym I have to mentally discipline myself to do it everyday but also mentally discipline to push myself harder every day as well. This really translates over to when I am driving the race car. It helps me discipline myself and not drive sloppy and to maximize the most of the car that given session. Its really important to work hard during the winter because its easy to slack during the season due to traveling, race schedule etc. Another good tool for this which I have been using a a racing simulation called IRacing.com. This is great to practice tool to simulate all the skills I use in the real race car. It also has a lot of the tracks I will be at in 2011 to help give me a sneak peak at the place before I go there for the race weekend.
Stay tuned and visit the site again for testing updates, 2011 announcement and other things going on with my racing career!
JS
Nov 10
8
Post Season
It has been two months, since the 2010 F2000 Championship Series came to a close at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. On one hand it has felt like an eternity and on the other hand it has gone by very quickly.
For me, Mid Ohio was up and down, like most of the race weekends this year. Due to the Team USA Scholarship Shootout I did not arrive until Saturday morning, just in time for qualifying for race one. I came up to speed quickly and was in the top five the entire session which was great, since it was my first time on the track in 13 months.
On my last lap I was on a flying lap that would have maybe been good enough for pole, and then got held up in the last two corners to ruin the lap. To make it worse, I got bumped down to seventh. Certainly it was frustrating, but to only be four tenths off pole in my first session was not bad, especially, since everybody else had about four hours of practice and I didn’t.
In the race I was in trouble from lap one. We had a tire problem that made them wear down to the chords about three quarters through the race, forcing me into survival mode.
The next morning, we had qualifying for race two. Sadly this did not go to plan either. On my second or third flying lap I made a mistake in turn eight, causing me to spin and kiss the barrier. The contact did enough damage to end my session. I felt horrible about it, for the team and everybody. It not only ended qualifying for me basically before I put in a lap, but put us in a bad position for the race and now my team had to fix the car in a thrash. I did my part to help with them to get it ready, which we did in a comfortable amount of time.
Going into the race I did not know what to expect starting last in the very competitive field the F2000 series has and at Mid Ohio! All I ever hear about Mid Ohio is that it’s a very technical track, and very difficult to pass.
During the race I was “patiently aggressive,” being aggressive with my passes, but being positive it would work before I did it. Lucky for me I would always watch every single SCCA Runoffs race on TV when it was at Mid Ohio, so I have seen just about every type of pass you can do. The R-Sport guys did a great job with the car making it so that I went from last to 4th in about 17 or 18 green flag laps! It was certainly exciting passing in all the different ways that I did and coming back to fourth. But at the same time was frustrating because I knew that if I did not make that mistake in qualifying, I would have had a strong chance of winning. But, you live and learn!
Since then I have been working on trying to put a program together for 2011. I have been looking into just about every series of road racing, from open wheel and sports car. Certainly there are some exciting possibilities, but everything is definitely still way up in the air. Only time will tell.
I also started my freshman year of college right after Mid Ohio. So far it has really been a great experience and I am enjoying it more then I expected. My parents think it’s because my professors basically cancel class more often then they host it, but that’s another story.
I would like to thank everybody who made everything possible this year. First of all, the entire R-Sport team, especially Paul, for making everything happen in the winter, even at the last minute stages so we could race together. He put his faith in me to perform for the team. Don and Rob worked on my car and Keith’s car and did a fantastic job as well. We did not have one mechanical failure all year that was their fault, which is a true testament. Also I cannot forget Tricia, Paul’s wife, who came to every race this year. She was great to have around because of her knowledge of the mental side of the sport, plus she baked some incredible sweets to eat as well!
Finally, I can not forget the people who put the money in the bank! GroupAWheels.com, Vredestein Tyres, Cell Mark Paper Products, Bertil Roos Racing School & Auto Trend Tire and Wheel! If it was not for them absolutely none of this is even a thought!
Stay tuned for 2011 announcements and Happy Holidays!
~JS
