Woo hoo!
First of all I wanted to say we had a great time this weekend and it’s a relief to get the rookie race debuts out of the way!
SATURDAY - John Racing / Natalie “Crew Chief”
6:45 am and it’s already a HOT, HUMID sweat-fest when we hit the pit lane at Sebring. The car is unloaded and the gear moved to our pit spot, which is where Don Stevens tracks us down. We run down the normal checklist - check tire pressures/oil/fuel/etc - and have nothing to do but attend the all-hands meeting and wait until qualifying.
With no practice sessions on the NASA FL schedule, qualifying is the first time John gets to hit the track. All is going well until the session is black-flagged after only three laps. A slight miscommunication from one of the corner workers following an off results in the session being cut short. It’s enough to get a qualifying time and to confirm the transponder is working. John qualifies 27 of 31 - not last! 
Race One - 35min
Some scary-fast cars occupy the front rows of the grid. A Lotus Elan DP a pair of Panoz GTS cars and a handful of Porsche GT3 Cup cars take the green at the front of the pack, while the back of the pack takes the green in the middle of 17. John survives the dash down the front straight into 1 and the chaos of 2 to 6. Off to a good start, he starts to put some distance between himself and the cars behind him. All is well until the full course caution flags come out - I can see that the pace car is lit up and ready to leave pit lane. I radio to John and he tells me he’s just passed a white Miata on its roof in the grass. (The driver was okay and the car had amazingly little damage for being on its roof). The field bunches up and the race finishes behind the pace car under yellow. It’s off to impound as the SpecE30 class winner B)
Race Two - 45min
The clouds have rolled in and the skies open up after lunch - so it’s onto the full-tread R888s. John finished the first race in 25th, so that’s where he starts this race. It wet, it’s slippery and John radios in that he has a mechanical problem - the driver side wiper is stuck straight up while the passenger side is down. :unsure: Great for rain racing! In retrospect he decides it’s a good thing he had to slow down - cars would consistently be coming up behind him and then just disappear. These cars end up spinning off the track behind him in a rather consistent manner. Oddly enough, this is the only race of the weekend not to have a full-course caution/pace car period. Again, it’s off to impound as the SpecE30 class winner.
The day at the track winds down with mood-altering adult beverages, snacks and the trophy presentation at 5. Our day continues at a local pizza shop for dinner with Don and then to the hotel-bar at the Chateau Elan for a little bench racing with some of the other NASA folks.
SUNDAY - Natalie Racing / John “Crew Chief”
It’s another HOT & HUMID day in central Florida! At least our day doesn’t have to start as early - the first thing on the schedule is the driver meeting at 8:30. As it’s sunny and dry, we change back to the shaved R888s for the qualifying session. In the back of our minds, though, we know that we’ll probably be switching back to the rains again for the afternoon.
Don has tracked down Gary Nilsen (Sir Gary), and swings him by the pits to say hi before qualifying. Some competition! We find out that Gary finished up and got his car onto the trailer around ten pm the night before. I’m glad he made it and am looking forward to a fun day of racing.
It doesn’t take long for the schedule to go to hell after a car loses its oil pan going into 6 and leaves a LENGTHY trail of oil on track. I’m glad I don’t have to pay the bill for all of that oil dry.
We finally get to the track for qualifying. I’m a little bit nervous, but I con myself into thinking its just another DE session. 
It’s just like that - aside from keeping an eye out for the Lotus Elans, Panoz GTSs and Porsche GT3s that close on you at an insane rate. And the pass I make on a 944 on the inside of 17 right before the checker. Fun! I also manage to not qualify last - 30 of 33. Gary also survives qualifying and ends up two spots behind me on the grid.
Race One - 35 min
The schedule is still a cluster. At the racers meeting we’re informed that grid for the first race will be immediately following the meeting. Doh! We head back to torque the wheels, top off some fuel and restock the cool suit cooler with ice. I roll onto the grid to wait, and wait and wait. We get a signal to cut the engines and relax - one of the DE students has had an incident on track so we’re delayed again. Don and John are at the grid enjoying the air-conditioning of Don’s car… so Gary and I join them to get out of the heat. So we wait as the DE group resumes their session and then a student in a Cobra proceeds to put his car into the cement barrier on the inside of 17 - right where we were gridded and waiting. Front row seats to the carnage. This car managed to move the barrier and when you saw the damage there was no doubt about it.
We finally get the five-minute signal so it’s a rush of drivers back to their cars to strap in. Radio check. Cool suit running. Camera Recording. Off we go! The formation lap is busy! I do my best to warm up my tires and brakes, while keeping up with the field and not whacking into the 944 next to me. The back of the field is still in turn 17 when the green flies - here we go! :woohoo:
Down the front stretch everyone is behaving and leaving room going into 1… it gets interesting in turns 3 to 5 as the track narrows and it gets a lot more crowded. I settle down to drive and put a little distance on the 944s and Gary behind me. On the third or fourth lap I’m zipping down the back straight toward 17 when I see the vigorous waving yellow. A car has plowed through the braking cones on the outside and gone all the way to the wall. We go to full-course yellow and the pace car comes out. We end up with a few laps behind the pace car… and then I see Gary in my rearview. We’re back to green and it’s on! Let the fun begin! Gary sticks his nose in, but I don’t make it easy for him and we duke it out for a good lap or two. Once again I put some distance between us before I do something stupid and give him the race. It’s the white flag lap - no one in front of me, no one in my mirror and I spin the car in 5. :blink: I’ve never spun the car in the dry - a little too much right foot and around it comes. Quick to the clutch and brake - I lock it down and get a good view of Gary going by. Crap! With the coast clear I head back out in front of a couple of the 944s - not up to speed they get by me between 6 and 7. I manage to get back around one of them and a few turns later I can see Gary up ahead. But I can’t quite get my nose in to get by the 944 in front of me. The checkered comes out and my first race is in the books. Off to impound - I finish 23 of 30, second in class.
Race 2 - 45 min
The sky looks ominous and you can hear and see the lightning in the distance. I switch to the rain tires. Only 24 cars decide to take to the grid for what looks to be a damp race. It’s raining, not hard, but enough to make it really slick. I don’t like driving in drizzle - I’d rather have the downpour - it’s consistent. Sebring covers such a distance that it’s slippery in some areas, while other areas are not too bad. We head out for the formation lap and I’m happy to see that the windshield wipers are going to cooperate for me today, but not thrilled with how unhappy the car seems to be out here. Gary is two spots ahead of me on full-tread RA1s. I’m deciding as we head around for the start that I’m not loving the R888s as rain tires :dry: We get the green and I turn into a complete wussy… it was slippery and I wasn’t loving it. Gary and the 944s pull away from me and I continue to over-brake my turns and pussyfoot around. I decide that I just want to survive my rookie weekend and not end up in barrier in the rain.
A couple of laps in I suddenly see the waving yellow come out at 17. Uh-oh! I notch it back a bit and come around to see Gary’s e30 nosed into the concrete wall on the inside of 17. Damn! I radio up to John and Don and prepare to pick up the pace to see if I can get back in touch with the field. I can see the dry line in 1 - conditions are getting better. Finally I see a 944 ahead. We go green and fun begins- I start to reel him in and look at the inside in a few turns. Not quite close enough, I stay on him. I hear John over the radio - white flag next time past start/finish. Time’s running out to make the pass - and then the race leader laps us. My white flag just turned into the checker! I’m on the heels of the 944 heading onto the back straight and it’s a drag race down to 17. I go to the inside of 17 to try to make the pass - I get him, but my speed takes me a little wide heading onto the front straight and he cuts back down the inside. The drag race is on! At start/finish I have him by only 2 feet! What a blast! Off to impound. I finish 18 of 24, first in class.
What a weekend!
A special thanks to Don Stevens for all of his help in the pits! Thanks for providing the official SpecE30 FL “spec mint”, for chauffeuring around the “crew chief of the day” during the races, sharing his wisdom about the track and manning the torque wrench! B)
Gary- I hope you aren’t too sore from your run-in with the wall, and get the car up and running again soon!
The FL SpecE30 contingent:
Natalie / John / Gary / Don
I put a few more photos from the weekend on our webpage: http://web.mac.com/natblack/Black_Site/Sunburn_Racing/Sunburn_Racing.html
Some video to come!
Thanks for reading!