Welsh Kerry Motorsports

2005-09-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon.

I survived. Nearly intact. With 46 cars in the race, the start was a bit like a demolition derby. In the end, I started 37th and finished 27th. Not bad for my first Runoff. Now, for the play-by-play:

I had a very bad start to the race. Did you ever get in the wrong line at the grocery store? You watch all the other lines move much quicker and there's nothing you can do. That's how the start felt. I ended up behind Max, the other Boxster driver, in the "slow line." The start is at the back staight at Mid-Ohio. The back straight leads to the part of the track called "Madness." For good reason. Need I say more? The track twists and turns and undulates, with many blind corners and apexes. At one of those blind turns, we found a BMW sideways in the middle of the track. We had to go off-roading in order to get by, over the concrete curb and onto the grass. This can easily cause more accidents. The other 30 cars in the area did the same. When the dust settled, I was second to last. I think.

Over the next lap, I managed to pass many cars, working my way back up to beyond my starting position. In the keyhole, the tight turn leading to the back straight, I was spun and "punted" off the track by a black Neon that I was passing. (You can see it in the picture below as the dark car in the upper right. He later took himself out at the same corner, most deservedly.) I kept the car going and got out of the gravel. Again, I was chasing to catch back up to the pack, not knowing how badly my car was damaged. It felt ok but coming down the front staight, into turn 1, when I braked, the car went sideways. So, I thought something was wrong. It felt fine the rest of the track but did it again the next time around. That's when Mike Garriga, my crew chief, told me on the radio that someone had dropped their radiator contents on the track at the point, making it slick. The next time around, the two cars in front of me hit that spot and spun into each other, finishing together on the tire wall. At that point, the race was slowed under a full-course yellow so they could try to clean up the track.

The whole field was brought back together under yellow for the next 6 laps (I think- it's hard to remember what happened). That cools the tires down. I flubbed the restart, as it went green before I knew the course was green and several cars got past me again. It took almost three laps for the heat to come back to my tires so that I had some stick. (In the meantime, Crew Chief Mike is telling me, in no uncertain terms, that I am not driving fast enough, that the car can handle more, that if I was driving faster, the tires would heat up faster, etc., etc., ect. And, you know, he was right. But he's also used to a much more experienced driver when he crewed for 5-time National Champion Freddy Baker. I'm no Fred Baker. Give me a few more years. Or the 35 or so that Fred has.) Once my tires got up to temp, I started turning better laps and catching the cars in front of me. Given a few more laps, I would have improved my position several cars. But, the checker was waived. Finished and intact.

Once we got to the pits, the Race Stewart stopped the entire field in the pit area and made all of the drivers get out. (a little unusual) We were split into two groups: the hitters and the hitties. I was a hitties. We were told that there were 27 documented incidents of contact. He also noted that there were many, many more that they didn't have time to document. In my review of the cars there, I didn't see a single one without some damage. Some were severly damaged. Mark Boden's beautiful BMW M3 did not have a single body panel that wasn't damaged. The front end of Bill Moore's Camero was completely pushed in. I got off easy, as you can see from the before and after pictures here. Many cars did not make it to the end of the race. (I don't want any calls or e-mails from you people asking me why the hell I do this. As Marcie keeps saying "And when is this supposed to be fun?")

So, in summary, I had a great week. We had beautiful weather and good competition. I learned a lot from the coaching staff at Mid-Ohio, my competitors and, mostly, from Mike Garriga (Thanks, Mike!) I went faster than I've ever gone and know that there is much more there, in the car, and in me. The drivers that Max and I normally compete against all wondered how the cars got that much faster. It was a bit of both: having Mike prep the cars and getting in lots of practice and coaching. Had I not gotten punted, I think I would have done much better. I am a rhythm driver and, with all of the "track activities," I never found my race rhythm. There's always next year.

Thanks to all that came down to watch, especially those on my staff (shown here, in the cheering section), who, for the last couple weeks, had to put up with me being stressed and agitated, and not being in the office much. And thanks to all of the people that helped make this Runoff participation possible: Eric and staff at Steinel's; Fred, Lenny and Mark at Fred Baker Porsche Audi; Morris Wheeler at Cohesant; Micki and Michelle at School One, Sean and Jason at Carrol Graphics; and that awesome principal at Process, without whom this wouldn't happen at all. Thanks, also, to my CMT, Kate Gill, who keeps my body straight enought to do this. And thanks, again, to Mike Garriga, for his experience, skill, and patience.

Lastly, I may not have been the faster driver there, in the fastest car, but I think it's fair to say, based on all the comments I got, that I had the best looking car in the race! I was told that there was a large group of burly guys behind my cheering section at the race. They kept saying that I had the "cutest" car out there. When I got hit, they said that they were going to pummel the guy that hit me. But, even damaged, they said I still had the "cutest" car. I'm manly enough to be comfortable with having the cutest racing car on the track.

Thanks!

2005-09-22T22:02:00.000-04:00

Thursday evening.

We had another beautiful day at the track today. The weather this week has been great. Hopefully, it will continue through Saturday's race. As for the last day of qualifying, I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed. I did not manage to get into the 1:41s. I actually went about 1/10 of a second slower than what I did yesterday. The track was hotter, which made for less stick. My times did improve against the direct group of competitors around me. So, it was a slower day for everyone but I went faster than they did. I left the track prior to the posting of the final qualifying results but it looks like I will be grided around 35th out of 47, with a best time of 1:42.3. Today, I was 3.4 seconds slower than the fastest car.

So, in order for me to have gotten into the 1:41s, I would have had to go a little more than 3/10 of a second faster. Think about that for a minute. Do that whole counting thing we did when we were little: one one thousand. Now, think about a third of that time. That's the small amount of time I needed to achieve my goal. And that's over a 2.4 mile track. Not a lot if time, eh? But, on the track, that last fraction of a second can be very elusive.

I'm off tomorrow, at least from a driving standpoint. I am going to head to the track to see Freddy Baker race in the T1 race. I'm spending the night in Mt. Vernon, the closest city with a hotel I could find that had rooms. Then, I'll be at the track bright and early Saturday morning to get ready for my 11 a.m. race. I hope to see you at the track.

Oh, that's my dad at the top of this blog. His name is John C. Williams, too, but everyone calls him Jake. He came to the track with my sisters, Becky and Martha, on Tuesday. They took these pictures. Not sure that they'd want them posted here, but, it's my blog. That's Becky in the car. She had a hard time getting in (It is hard to get in the car with the roll cage.). And a hard time getting out. It also bothered her that the streeting wheel did not seem attached. Martha's the one making the weird face.

2005-09-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

Wednesday evening.

Well, today was supposed to be the big day. We had perfect weather, an early morning qualifying session, new soft-compound tires, and a driver and car that were ready to go. I had hoped to run in the 1:41 range today. But, due to other drivers spending more time in the tire wall than on the track, our session was very abbreviated. We only got six laps and of those, only three were hot laps. We should have been able to run at least seven hot laps. And for two of those hot laps, I was stuck behind a Subaru that was not going as fast but was being difficult to pass. I finally got around him at the end of the back straight. But, on the next lap, the session was black flagged, meaning all cars had to pit, since someone went off. Actually, several people were off in several parts of the track. We sat in the pits for a few minutes and then they let us back out. On the first lap out, one of those big, higher horsepower, American cars went off in turn one, so they brought us all in again. This time, they stopped our session. I ended up running a 1:42.3 but could have and should have run faster.

Tomorrow is the last qualifying session. The weather is supposed to be very good again, although a bit hotter. Our session is also late morning, so the track will be warmer and not quite as fast. Hopefully, I can get a clear track and try to get into the 1:41s. The whole field is faster this year than last. The fastest guy ran in the low 1:38s today, which is faster than the previous record. Several people are running faster than the track record.

Only one picture today. Here's pic of Mike Garriga, who has been crewing this week for Max Zupon, the other Boxster S driver, and me. It's Max's fault that I am even in Freddy Baker's old Boxster (With Fred driving it, it was on the pole in the Runoffs in 2003 and finished third in the Runoffs last year. Both times, it should have been champion). At one of the last races at Nelson Ledges last year, he mentioned to me that Fred was selling his car. I called the next day and closed the deal within a week. This year has been very interesting, driving in the SCCA National series in a new car, at new tracks, with new competitors. I'm thrilled to have made the Runoffs in my first year of National competition. And, this week has been even better with Mike's help. His advice and attention to the car and detail has definitely improved my driving and lap times. Thanks, Mike.

Until tomorrow.

2005-09-20T21:05:00.000-04:00

Tuesday evening

Just got back to Cleveland from the track. So much for daily updates. Last night, I had to pick up parts at Fred Baker Porsche and did not get back until late, too. Too tired to blog. So, I'm catching up tonight.

Yesterday was a practice day. We were hoping to "bed-in" my race day tires but they arrived at the track from the Hoosier factory too late. So, I went out on old tires and felt it. The car was sliding around a lot and not very predictably. My Dad and two sisters, Becky and Martha, came down and all I could think of as I slid around was that they were going to get to see me go off-roading. But, I didn't lose it that badly. My times were over a second slower than they had been on Friday, though. Afterwards, they said that I looked the slowest (I wasn't) but that I had the best looking car there. Since I know I can't be the fastest out there, I can at least try to look good doing it.

Today was the first day of qualifying. Since I was not able to bed-in the tires yesterday, I had to basically waste one of my qualifying days to do it. Today. When I went to pick up the tires from the Hoosier tent, they had mounted four front tires on my rims, rather than two fronts and two rears. Not really the prime setup for going fast. The situation was quickly corrected, as I was due to be on the track in less than an hour. These Hoosier folks work long hours, doing very hard work. But they are always a pleasure to deal with. They had seven semi-tractor trailers full of tires. This picture shows one that already had many tires removed.

The actual qualifying today went fine. Even though I was bedding-in my race-day tires, I still managed to run times as fast as I was on Friday. I only did five laps before Mike (Garriga, the crew chief) called me in so that I didn't heat up the tires too much. (I coulda' gone faster, Mike! I coulda' been a contenda.) The goal tomorrow, with new, soft compound tires, is to go really fast. (Wouldn't that always be the goal?) The weather is supposed to be great and we are on the track in the morning. Hopefully, that will produce ideal conditions. And, just maybe, I could go really fast. Keep your fingers crossed.

Finally, here are some pics of the paddock area. Please note the other rigs that are at the track as compared to the Welsh Kerry rig. Less is more, eh? It is exciting to see all of these big budget racers out there.

Thanks for reading.

2005-09-18T17:42:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning.

Greetings.

Things are moving along quite well with preparations for the Runoffs. I went down to Mid-Ohio raceway late Thursday afternoon to attend a classroom coaching session specifically for Runoffs competitors. Even though I have driven at Mid-Ohio many times over the past nine years, I was hoping to pick up some pointers from Mid-Ohio's stellar coaching staff. Much to my delight, I was the only driver to show up for this session. My coach for the evening was Scott Herrington, an Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year and 1992 Can Am champion. Scott and I spent two hours walking the track, reviewing race lines and techniques. I learned new approaches to several corners that I was able to put to good use on Friday's practice day.

On Friday, I was at the track at 7 a.m. to register, meet my "crew," Mike Garriga, who, until recently, was Fred Baker's race technician. We needed to get the car preped and put on the rain tires for the very wet first session at 8 a.m. This first session was pretty slow, as I focused primarily on remembering the track and reviewing the lines that Scott had taught me the night before. My coaching staff for the day was Scott, Anthony Lazzaro, an IRL racer and multiple class winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, Tommy Byrne, a former Formula 1 racer, and one other young, but helpful, coach whose name I can't remember. Sorry. They all seemed fairly underwhelmed by my performance in the rain and appeared somewhat sceptical that I should even be there. That thought had crossed my mind too, after arriving the night before and seeing the rows and rows of huge team transporters with color coordinated crews. And, here I was, with a little BMW tow vehicle and open trailer. I was feeling a bit out of my league. But, still excited to be here.

Shortly after I got off the track from the first session, the sky actually cleared of all clouds. My next three sessions were in the dry and I can enthusiastically say that I have never felt better on the track. I think this was the best track day I've ever had. The car was balanced, controllable and predictable. And I felt great driving it. My laps times reflected this, coming down significantly from the last race at Mid-Ohio. I received great, constructive feedback from the coaching staff and spent the rest of the day working on refining my line and increasing speed. Between sessions, I put the new sponsor stickers on the car and planned my qualifying sessions with Mike.

This next week will involve one practice day on Monday, when we will simply "bed-in" my tires for the race day. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are all 25 minute qualifying sessions. I'll be updating daily, as possible. Feel free to e-mail any questions.

John

2005-09-13T08:57:00.000-04:00

All:

Welcome to the Welsh Kerry Motorsports blog. I will be posting updates on my particpation in the Runoffs, the SCCA National Championships, over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, take a look at the updated graphics on the Porsche Boxster S. Just think, there is plenty of room for your logo on the car. Feel free to e-mail me with questions at jwilliams@welshkerry.com. I'll try to respond to them. Thanks for the support! John