May 21-22nd NASA Socal Event

This past weekend was round 3 of the NASA Socal series and I was back to compete again in the TT-E class.  The weekend also hosted the first Global Time Attack event with association of NASA.

Willow Springs International Raceway was the first track that I took the 2011 Crawford Performance Scion Racing tC on, so I was excited to have a chance to improve my personal best lap time.  With some changes to the car since then, I set my own goal of a 1:40, about 4 seconds faster than my previous time.

Saturday consisted of the usual first practice session and followed with the time trial sessions.  I used the practice to remind myself of how the tC handled on this track and to get a good feeling of its new set up.  This track has a lot to do with maintaining your momentum through the turns, and it is very important to use the brake as little as possible to do so.  Our R1R Toyo tires provided great grip through the long sweepers like 2, 8, and 9.  The car felt really solid and I was excited to find myself shifting into 5^th gear just before turn 1 and 8.  By the end of the day on Saturday I set my fastest lap of a 1:42.1 which placed me 2^nd for the day’s TT-E class results.

On Sunday, I was still eager to shave off quite a bit more time.  I knew I needed to improve my exit speed off of turn 9 to gain the extra mph on the straight away.  In addition, I really focused on pushing the slight braking zone before turn 1 a little further each time.  This allowed me to not have so much time to stay on the brakes as I continued through the turn with my straightaway speed.

As the afternoon rolled in the expected Willow Springs wind started to dominate the track.  I posted my fastest lap of the weekend on the 3^rd session which was a 1:41.2!  Just a little shy of my goal, but still left me satisfied for the weekend.  I placed 3^rd in TT-E and received my two podium medals for the finishes over the weekend.

This was a really great weekend because my teammate Ariel Crawford had moved up through the HPDE ranks and was given the approval to be signed off to compete in Time Trials with me on Sunday.  I am excited to have her to compete with and really look forward to what the next events have to bring.  I feel we achieved a great goal as a team while still continuing our streak on the podium.  I’d like to say thank you to NASA Socal for putting on another great event for its teams and drivers; as well as thank you to all of our sponsors for supporting the Crawford Performance team: Scion Racing, Motul, Toyo Tires, K&N,  TRD, NGK, Advan, and Tein!

Lastly, but of course not least, I’d like to thank my parents and Anthony Philleo for taking a road trip out just to watch me race.  Support is something I can never say thank you enough and I am very fortunate to have so much in my life.