Wine Country

Hey everyone!

We went into Sonoma as rookies and left as winners! Let me tell you the story of the weekend.

Before the weekend, we had a quick 2-day test to ensure the cars got run in after the long winter, and for all drivers to shake the rust off. Despite having never been to the circuit, Sam and I were straight to the pace. We left that test as the cars to beat, with a whole lot learned on the setup and many valuable laps clocked.

We went into the race weekend with confidence in our team, and in the two practice sessions we were right up the front as expected, even leading a heavy wet session early in the weekend. A large portion of Sam’s and my work has been focused on dealing with the pressure of a race weekend, specifically qualifying. Sam did a masterful job in his session, qualifying on pole of the amateur cars and just a hair behind the leading pros. The whole team was impressed, and it’s always fantastic to see the fruits of our labor in the offseason. I jumped in and qualified right with my teammate Kenton in the 97 car, fastest of the BMWs, and 3rd in Pro-Am.

For the first race of the season, Sam would bring the car to the green, and he did a fantastic job of avoiding what was a fairly exciting start. Retaining his lead into the first safety car period, they puttered around for 3-4 laps before going green again. This time, Sam again avoided a crash that took out just about every Silver car in the top 5 and found himself in P2 overall, just behind our teammates in the 97! Unfortunately, he sustained a fair amount of damage across the front right after a car swerved into him.

Now, here was the low point in the weekend. There’s a much larger story overall, but in the end, we missed the pit window and accidentally relegated ourselves to the back. As a team, we made an error and unfortunately had to deal with the consequences, subsequently giving up a potential win for all 3 cars. After I jumped in, I quickly made progress through the field, but as we approached the front pack, the damage began to rear its head. The majority of the field stayed in position for the last 4-5 laps, ending in a P6 finish. Could it have been worse? Absolutely. But we also threw away a good day, which is always tough in the context of the championship.

For the second race, I started the car, and it was in the full wet! As we went green, an all-out war began throughout the top 6, with positions changing lap on lap. As the wind and temperature picked up throughout the circuit, it began to dry, and the tire pressures began to balloon. This is when, as drivers, it’s our job to not drive past the limit of the tire and to search for water wherever we can to help bring down tire temps. Just before the pit window opened, a safety car came out for a crash, and I handed the car to Sam in 2nd, just behind the leader. I suggested a big tire pressure bleed across the car, especially the rear, as we were beginning to struggle in relation to the other cars around us.

Sam jumped in and ran a calm and consistent stint. The entire time I was in his ear, making sure he drove at 90%. We got the lead almost immediately, and by keeping the tire cool and not overdriving, his pace gap only got bigger throughout the stint. By the end, he was almost as fast as the pros, just due to tire conservation! It’s wild how much tire temperature matters with a wet tire on a dry track.

As a team, we jumped across the pit wall, cheering our 3 cars across the line. All three on the podium and 2 winners; not a bad day to be a raccoon. It was super emotional and such a sensational time; I felt and still feel so privileged to be a part of this program for the whole season. With that win, we also left the weekend as championship leaders, tied with the ACI Dynamics duo. We proved we were the strongest pairing out there, and we plan to continue our momentum into COTA in two weeks!

I want to add that leaving the circuit this weekend was my first time in just about 2 years knowing that there was a team and a racecar to come back to for another race sometime soon. I felt no pressure heading home; I felt relief and hunger to get after it in COTA. This is only possible thanks to every single one of my investors and the awesome people at Zimperium for getting this program together for 2025.

See you all soon, and I hope you join us (virtually or in real life) for COTA on April 27th

Josh Green