Motorsports action abounds at Indy and IMSA

 CORE autosport put on a brilliant display of teamwork at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to win the latest round of the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Remarkable fuel savings and quick pit stops got the team its very first win at the central Ohio road course.

Starting from fifth on the grid Jon Bennett had his hands full with the No. 54 CrowdStrike/Flex-Box Ligier JS P320. The tires were not performing the way the team had anticipated and he dropped a position to sixth.  Still, he was able to hit his target lap times and keep the team on its strategy.

Bennett pitted from sixth and handed the car over to Colin Braun. The stop was the quickest of all the LMP3 teams and jumped the No. 54 a position to fifth.

Not long after the first stop, a full course caution was issued for an LMP3 car stopped on track. This bumped Braun up another position before he came into the pits and another ultra-fast stop from the crew allowed Braun to pick up another position in the pits. When the race restarted, he was third.

Braun made the pass for second and then the class leader pit, putting Braun into the lead. At this point, the team knew it would be fuel mileage race to the end.

No further yellows were issued so it was on Braun to manage fuel for the remaining hour of the race. It was no issue for the him and he cruised to the checkered flag for the win. It is the first win of the 2022 season for CORE and the team’s first ever win at Mid-Ohio.

Next up for CORE is the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, June 23 – 26. For this third endurance race of the season, George Kurtz will return to the driver lineup.

Driver Jon Bennett post-race said, “I really worked hard to improve my qualifying and I think I probably hurt the tires trying too hard and they sit overnight and they’re never happy the next day.”

“Winning never gets old. I’m so proud of our team. I think my favorite victories are when everyone gets to participate; we had great pit stops, great strategy, great drive from Colin who was magic inside the race car. I’m really happy for the team.”

Speaking of Braun, he remarked post-race that, “Jon did a great job hanging on at the start. It wasn’t so good and it wasn’t super confidence-inspiring for me. I was happy the car came back to life when we changed tires. My dad (race engineer Jeff Braun) called a great strategy.  We were able to hit the fuel number he needed to make it work. We put our heads down and tried to manage the gap as best we could. The guys had great pit stops. We were able to jump a couple cars in the pits. Everyone contributed to get this win.”

Formula SAE at Michigan in the record books

After two years of virtual competition the Formula SAE Design competition was once again able to compete in-person at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Van Buren native Philip LaPointe, research and development engineer for Honda, has served as a judge for the FSAE for many years.

LaPointe was overall pleased with this edition of the FSAE competition. He did have some suggestions for improving the event most related to the two-year layoff from in-person participation. Feedback from seasoned veterans is crucial to event as it is also typical of real-world situations that many of these students will face…soon for some.

Judges were glad to see the students face to face and to help the engineering students Judges found most students had not been to an actual design review due to the Covid pandemic Most all students had not made a technical presentation in their course work, and need more practice and experience to be better engineers

Thank you once again to Phil for precious insight into what I consider a premier event in college motorsports not only in the United States but world-wide.

Racing at Spud Speedway in Caribou is back for 2022

The Aroostook Federal Savings and Loan Feed the County 150 is on for 2022. This premier fundraiser race day is dedicated to help the 28 food pantries in Aroostook County put food on their shelves. A portion of race lap sponsorships goes toward that effort as will a portion of the race gate admissions.

County native Austin Theriault will be at the race as will Wyatt Alexander Racing, Evan Beaulieu, Frenchville native Shawn Martin, and many of the regulars on the PASS Tour. Fan favorite Spencer Morse will make his appearance in a PASS Modified.

The Sleep Well Street Stocks are making a return engagement to the Caribou track as will the always popular Maine Enduro Series class. Racing begins at 1 pm June 19, 2022.

Some of what I will be following Memorial weekend

Indy 500 Sunday afternoon 12:45 pm NASCAR Coca Cola 600 at 6 pm Sunday evening. Wyatt Alexander Racing (WAR) at Speedway 660, Geary Woods, New Brunswick for doubleheader weekend. Ryan Messer, Harvey, New Brunswick competes in the Speedway 660 doubleheader Kody Swanson will be competing at Lucas Oil Raceway Park’s Carb Nite Classic in USAC Midget and Silver Crown. His brother Tanner will be competing as well. I would love to be at that track! The next day the Swanson brothers will be at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Indiana, for the 74th Annual Little 500 held the night before the Indy 500. Thirty-three non-wing sprint cars will race head-to-head five-hundred laps around the 1/4-mile track with over $136,000 in prize money.

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Ezekiel 36:26)