2023 WRL: Road Atlanta GP Race T+9+7 GP2

Time to gear up for the second ever #racecation road trip with Gloria and George, this time to meet up with the fellow Texans of Lonestar RallyCross. This was their first entry in the World Racing League and I was pumped and lucky to get the call from Jorge. I knew that the team would be competitive and run a smooth operation, since they all work professionally in motorsports. After moving my flights to the VIR 24-hour coming up later, we started looking for trailers on Outdoorsy. Found a decent deal on an RV with a slide out and layout that seemed less cramped. As all the plans were coming together, we happened to visit San Antonio and my dad offered to use some extra points on hotels for us to stay at throughout the journey. This was perfect, since we were going to take our time to accommodate working remotely, taking care of Georgie, and resting enough. Our journey:

1. Wednesday - Drive to hotel in Baton Rouge, just outside of New Orleans.

2. Thursday - Work in the morning, pick up the RV in Atlanta, then sleep at the track.

3. Friday - Finish RV set up and start racing!

4. Saturday - Race 1.

5. Sunday - Race 2, return the RV, and stay at a hotel in Atlanta.

6. Monday - Work in the morning, then drive to hotel in New Orleans.

7. Tuesday - Work in the morning, then drive Home!

Meanwhile, Gloria has been all over creating content with a Vlog, since she can do so much better than some influencers that we see. Not only that, but she could do it in the unique environment of motorsports and endurance racing. Before making the reflex choice of GoPro for an action camera, she wanted to do some comparing, so we ended up getting attached to the DJI Osmo Action 3 camera. It seemed like a robust design/build and Gloria was really into the features that cater to vlogging. We happily went to Best Buy and found out from an oddly informed employee that there was a supply issue with DJI (DiJi). After some more research, I had no hope we would find one. It was then that I tried out the Best Buy Open-Box options...THERE WAS ONE IN NORTH AUSTIN!!! All of a sudden I was on a video call with Gloria, who was conveniently running errands up North, checking out the DiJi and convincing ourselves to buy it. This could be the last unit in the world...

Loading up the truck at the last minute felt weird, since I'm still getting used to going the Outdoorsy route. We don't have to bring nearly as much, since the RV will have most of what we need, but we did add the Purple seat cushion, Purple lumbar support, and Gloria's recent neck pillow purchase. Oh, we got a new travel bowl for the car and a cat backpack for George, so that Gloria can carry him around easier and in the front, too. I am pretty excited to use that. After the last meeting was done and the last box checked, Georgie, Gloria, and I set off around 5pm to make the 7 hour drive to our first stop in Baton Rouge. Past midnight, we finally arrived at the hotel just outside of New Orleans and all three of us were ready for a good night's rest, even though George had been taking it easy the whole way...

[waiting on Gloria to edit videos and Diji]

I walk in to check us into our rooms and...come to find out that they were over-booked and decided to cancel our room to accommodate other guests. Knowing that we had this reservation for 4 days, since Monday, we were taken aback and knew that the attendant would not have any valid explanations. With no possible solution at this place, we calmly got contact information to follow up with and left to find an Element by Wyndham, which turned out to be cool and not that expensive. We would eventually get to bed around 1:30am and compensated for our troubles, but it was still the last thing I wanted to do after a long first stint. The next day, we had our complimentary breakfast and worked at the hotel for a few hours until taking off around lunch time to pick up the trailer.

It was pretty late when we got to the trailer. This was a terrible experience and the worst part of the trip, both picking up and especially dropping off. We arrived in the dark on an alley-like road on a HUGE slope, with the RV at the end of the quarter-mile mountain. There were a couple lessons learned from picking up and dropping off the RV, including not attempting this at the end of a long day, because MAXIMUM patience is necessary. On the return, be sure to pay no mind to people that aren't your rentee. Gloria, Jacob, and I spent way too long trying to be nice to a neighbor that was ridiculous. RIDICULOUS. I am not even going to write about it because you had to be there to feel the fire that we feel from that experience.

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta...we made it! I was amazed by yet another awesome race track. The grounds were so dynamic and I could visualize what a big weekend here would be like, and then I remembered this would be a "spectator" event! People would be paying (indirectly) to watch us race...what a cool thought. In the night, we made a couple loops around the paddock looking for the Lonestar slip before we made the executive decision to just post up...close to the podium area. In the morning we found them right next to Open Throttle Racing and we set up the trailer to join the fun.

[photo gallery from getting there]

I was pretty excited about being a part of the Lonestar team for their first race in WRL. They have been dominant in Champcar and been Championship contenders. They have more time around racecars than probably anyone I know, so I knew I would get to pilot a competitive machine. With the excitement, I hit the sim in iRacing with intent. A couple hours, every few days, for a couple months gave me a chance to get into a good cycle:

1. Get into a rhythm

2. Analyze some data

3. Watch on-boards

4. Rest and Process

5. Repeat!

I figured that the Legacy Miata NC was close enough to what the Rusty Rocket would feel like, so I did laps in that, trying to replicate the gear changes, even if it meant lap time. I was able to get down into the 1:40's but could not break into the 1:39's. Based on some races in the cold months, they were able to get the car down to the 36s and 37s, so I expected us to reach 38s.

[sim racing media?]

Areas of focus from last event at Ozarks and iRacing practice at Road Atlanta:

• Focus: Don't zone out during P35's. Don't get physically tired and/or cramp.

• Ramp Up: Start to think about out-lap and in-lap times.

• Line: I want to know the track well enough to take corners in different gears when needed. Looks like I will be between gears frequently. I want to try out 4th gear through T3 and T5. I am not sure if I will use 5th gear in T1, but I will start with it, shifting down to 4th again for the corner.

• Braking: I can use more grip in all directions. This car will be able to handle it in all directions so I can see what is possible. Based on the above "Line" thoughts, I need to try the relevant braking zones in 3rd and 4th gear.

• Throttle: WAIT! These are huge straights so prioritize them.

• Traffic: Be more aggressive and deserving of the track, line, and position. There is a lot of 1-line track here.

Have a full plan for pit stop events, like tire changes.

• Race Engineer Google Sheets

Pay close attention to strategy all the way to the end of the race.Use both, computer and paper logs.

• Supplemented with Bradley papers

Measure amount of fuel that goes in.

• Updates to both logs are performed

Have place to record tire measurements through the day

• Race Engineer Google Sheets