2016 ST2 NASA Champion! John George in FFR#48

NASA Championships East Coast at the famed Watkins Glen sets the scene for a weekend full of hopes for all competitors, hoping to be the winner in their class, hoping for a fun and enjoyable weekend, hoping for good weather, hoping to break track records, hoping…

Arrived at the racetrack without incident, waited in line to let us into the paddock area, setup and unloaded FFR#48 ready to race.

Thursday was a scheduled test day, with me taking full advantage testing new bits and pieces installed. The class which I race in, ST2, is regulated by the power to weight ratio of 8.0:1, taking the weight of my car, then dividing it by how much horsepower the car makes. For compliance NASA brings a dyno to the racetrack. I line up first Thursday morning to roll onto the dyno, checking the power that I make on the official NASA dyno, and then can determine how heavy I must run.

After de-tuning as the dyno compared to the one in NH read high, the final numbers were 351hp putting me at 2668lb (after deductions for running skinny 245 DOT tires.) I decided to detune some more to make 100% certain  I am legal as weather predicted to be cold for Sunday’s race, possibly adding power.

On track testing was uneventful although a ton of traffic foreshadowed the rest of the weekend’s races. Who ever manages traffic better will be victorious. My run group is mixed with all different classes, some much faster and some much slower than I.

NASA Nationals weekend consists of two qualifying races, setting the grid for the main Champions Race. Qualifying race #1 Friday had me starting p2 in ST2, Adrian Wlostowski in the black #619 Corvette beat my qualifying time by .344 sec. Doug Winston 3rd, Alan Cohen 4th, and John Gatzemeyer 5th.

I got a great jump at the start of qualifying race #1 able to put traffic between Adrian and I, and was setting decent lap times.

I kept checking the mirror for Adrian, seeing him back there slowly making his way through the same traffic. Traffic slows me down allowing Adrian to catch me, now on my bumper looking for an opportunity to pass. He was driving hard, at one point grazed the wall onto the front straight. His chance came late in the race, when we caught up with 2 battling NP01 Prototypes. They were battling as hard as Adrian and I were, going side by side into the esses, me getting blocked trying to decide which to get behind to get a good run onto the back straight. Exiting the esses 3 wide – Adrian snuck outside, NP01 middle, me inside passing the first NP01, then under braking into the bus stop passing the second NP01, with Adrian next to me. We made it clean through, with me still in the lead, finishing the race in P1, Adrian P2, Doug 3rd, John Gatzemeyer 4th, and Alan broken with a bad transmission.

Quali Race #1 Won. Time for Race #2!

Saturday fellow FFR Challenge racer Wayne, and his wife Dotty came to spectate Race #2 and the Nationals race.  Also at the track FFR Challenge racer Scott McKay flew up from Florida to spectate with the SE30 crew.

Race #2’s grid was based on the fast lap set in race #1. Adrian was once again on pole, with me 2nd. This time Adrian got a great start with me hot on his trail.

The intensity of the race was shown in laptimes, we running consistently 2:00 laptimes for about 4-5 laps in a row while battling with each other and navigating through traffic. A late yellow bunched the field back up causing a ton of traffic on the later laps me looking for any opportunity to get a pass on Adrian. He drove a great race winning it, with me 2nd place.

Post race inspection had me going onto the scales then back to the dyno to check my HP numbers, which were under my max by almost 10hp, 343hp. Everything checked out and was legal. The grid was set for Sunday’s Nationals race, Adrian and I are tied for first, me winning Friday’s race, him winning Saturday’s race. The pole went to Adrian because he ran a faster lap time in the races.

Quali Race #2 P2! Time for the Chamionship Race!

The town of Watkins Glen has an actual glen, which you can visit. I have been coming to this racetrack for a while now and have always wanted to visit it, so we did Saturday afternoon.

I highly recommend visiting this state park, very neat to walk through, pictures do not do it justice.

Race day!

Sunday’s NASA Nationals race had a late, new addition to the ST2 class, DJ Fitzpatrick in a very fast GTS4 BMW, starting last at the back of the ST2.

The start of the race was insane, in front of me 2 ST1 Corvettes get together with one getting spun, hitting the wall and bouncing back in the middle of the main straightaway, mass chaos cars evading the stopped Corvette, me slamming on the brake and going slight left to avoid him, cars on my left, my right, behind, in all the mayhem I get tapped lightly in the back. DJ in the BMW being further back had adequate time to read and place his car passing both Adrian and I before turn 1. The track went double yellow to clean up the mess on the front straight. Many, many laps later, we go back to green, BMW p1, Adrian p2, me p3. DJ is really good in traffic and has a fast car, Adrian hot on his heels, me hot on Adrian’s heels.. that is how it was for 3 laps, and then we see waving yellows in turn 1, vigorous waving of yellow flag entering the esses, and Doug facing the wrong direction against the fence at the apex.

The start of the second extended double yellow laps began. The restart with a waving white flag signifying last lap of the race had AJ and Adrian nose to tail with me on the outside of turn one, evading slower traffic forcing me to the outside on the rumble strips. We join after turn one with AJ very close ahead into the esses and Adrian next to me. Adrian and I made slight contact middle of the esses me having to lift tucking behind Adrian who was behind AJ. Adrian gets a mean draft on the back straight and dives it deep into the bus stop to try to pass AJ under braking. They touch and spin off track! The seas parted, and poof I’m in the lead! As I pass the checker flag I cannot believe my luck. On the cool down lap I come upon frantic waving of yellow flags going into the NASCAR straight, and there is Adrian’s Corvette badly damaged, along with a NP01. Adrian and the NP01 driver are both ok.

Post race ceremonies had Adrian 3rd place, DJ 2nd place and me champion!

What a crazy race, only getting about 5 laps of green flag running in a 45min race, crazy start, crazy finish!

Thanks go to my family and friends for putting up with my racing for these past 11 years.

Thanks also to Factory Five Racing for designing such a great car, for helping me evolve FFR#48 into a car capable of competing with the likes of  Corvettes and BMWs. Without the help of Dave Smith – President of FFR, Jim Schenck – Director of R&D of FFR, and ‘The Traveling Builder’ Mark Dougherty – car setup guru, I could not be a two time NASA Nationals Champ!

Pictures: http://www.johngeorgeracing.com/gallery/index.php?/category/381

That is it for the 2016 race season. Look for big changes coming soon!