I finally got some seat time this year at the Daytona May ECR/TES Endurance Race. Mick Robinson invited me to be his co-driver in his Gen2 Spec Racer ford #75. Since it had been a year since I had been in a racecar I signed up for the test day and got in three of the four sessions. It started raining pretty hard during my first session on dry tires, I skipped the second session because I could have towed a water skier behind me, the last two sessions on wets went well and I was back in the groove. The next day was raining really hard and Mick did the qualifying and was the first driver. He went under the yellow line at the start so we got a penalty but he avoided damages as the car was on wets and there were lots of incidents. When I took over we decided to put on dry slicks as the rain had stopped. It was a bit dicey at first but it was the right decision as the track continued to dry.

I know it sounds strange but my driving ability has improved with the absence from racing. I was able to smoothly stay at the limits without going over and never had anything close to a brown trouser event. Drove around lots of crashes, passed a bunch of cars. I did most of my passing at turn 3 and turn 5. I did manage one pass at the kink after turn 3 while the track was still a bit wet, wooo hooo! I can now say that I’ve nailed turn 1 and the bus stop.

I had a blast and didn’t realize how much I missed being in a car and racing.

A couple of weeks earlier, Marilyn and I did the Sunrise to Sunset Road Rally with the Porsche Club. We had a great time and actually finished the course successfully (for the first time). We missed 16 of the 48 questions and now feel ready to do it again.

I am doing some driving instruction at Sebring at the end of the month with Track Guys. I really enjoy working with these guys, as there is not a lot of macho BS. They are all about being safe and having fun. This is probably the best team for a completely brand new rookie who wants to experience driving the car on a real racetrack.

Mick sold his SCCA CSR franchise to Tilden and Maggie Kinlaw and they have renamed it Prism Motor Sports. I am confident that they will do well and take the business in many new directions. I will continue to share Mick’s car whenever I am invited and will race with Prism in several events through the end of the year.