Big Tex flies to New York (get a rope) and wins!
So in January Josh Schmidt, his wife Gina and I began concocting a plan for a car swap… Josh has 2 Sonics and I have a few Mazda 2’s. After hearing me and Kent Carter (and others) rave about Hallett, he wanted to come run the Super Tour. And I’ve always wanted to run Watkins Glen. The 2 are similar enough distances, a swap seemed reasonable. Plus the Glen is a place that likes a drafting partner, so its a win-win. I’ve also always wanted to drive a Big Block Sonic, so it’s a win-win-win. Also New York in June is a lot cooler than Texas. So much winning.
We rolled out for practice and I followed Josh. Bear in mind I’ve done track walks up here during pro weekends before, but other than 12-15 laps in iRacing and watching some videos I’ve never been here and clearly didn’t get to do enough prep work… considering we both got into the 26’s by the end of the day, I was super happy. 
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that its one thing to drive around a track, another to race it! Felt like we were in a good spot for a lap time but I still had an uphill battle learning passing zones etc but that we’ll have to learn on the fly. I SAID WE’LL DO IT LIVE. First up though, we gotta qualify. Q1 was the afternoon, which we know will be slower, so the goal was to get out and run fast laps nose to tail. We had some traffic the first lap, got ourselves sorted and put in what seemed like decent laps. With more traffic coming we decided to pull the plug and save tires for the AM qual. When we came in we were 1-2. By the end of the session we were 7-8! No matter, we roll off together for Q2 and thats all Q1 is anyway. Josh said something like “I did more drafting in that session than I have my entire road racing career”, and I’m the one tucked up under his tail! He’s just gotta drive clean laps! So Q1 was a win in that regard, I’m still learning a new track and a new car and was getting more comfortable staying tucked in the corners to make the most of the draft.
Saturday we roll out for Q2 and things go exceptionally well. We get up to speed quickly, into the 2:24’s so we’ll start 2&3 for the race, and run out most of the session just working on drafting and cleaning up some stuff. Another exceptional session! And now we’re getting excited for the races! I haven’t driven a sonic before and haven’t raced the Glen so I’m not sure how the starts are going to go… to top it off the pole sitter took drivers left (outside) so I was overly cautious in 1 thinking he would pinch me on exit. Thankfully he opted for the slower, wide line, so other than me giving up a good run through 1, easy and clean start for race 1. 
The best part is my cautious exit allowed Josh to slip in front, so all the way up the esses I’m thinking to myself, “it’s on, now!”. We get to the bus stop and the added speed from the tow + draft, plus a late bump from me just before the marker boards gets both of us a little off time, so the announcers said we made contact but we really just both got sideways: I got maybe 10 degrees of yaw out of the bus stop, Josh got like 40! Thankfully he kept it out of the blue bushes and we got a FCY for a stopped prod car to keep him close by. I took the lead after the restart and p2-3 spent a fair bit of the race going 2 wide so I was able to stretch a small gap and maintain it, even joining the battle for the FP/GTL podium.
Race 1 Video:
Sunday we sit around all day and finally get to our race in the afternoon! Bad news is there’s lots of unhappy campers that finished behind me the day before, so I’m a little nervous how this one will go and thankfully it’s nearly a repeat of the day before minus the FCY and tag teaming with Josh. He shook out 4th/5th the first lap, and we had a real scrap for the first several laps while the pole sitter battled no ABS and an ailing car, fighting p2/3 for a while and letting me get a gap, then a gang of about 6 of us all had a solid battle going until all hell broke loose as the mid pack FP group comes through, dive bombs Stewart (in the lead), bounces off him and almost sniffs the blue bushes in the bus stop, then Stewart spins and tagged the bushes in the toe of the boot as I figure out why my car doesn’t seem to be accelerating as well today and barely makes it up the hill as the field sails by. I cycled the key hoping it was a limp mode deal but it just wasn’t right, so I pulled in. The carnage plus either oily track or incredibly loose car (it was perfect the day before!) just wasn’t worth the risk, so I parked it. Went to impound, walked to the wall to cheer Josh on who was in P3 at that point and got to watch the finish as Josh poured the steam on, ran a fast lap for the race (at the time) and got to the lead on the last lap! Hard to say if I was more excited for Saturday’s result or Sunday’s! It was super awesome to be part of the Babyface Sweep of the Glen! Can’t thank Josh and Gina enough for the car. Had a blast hanging out in upstate NY all weekend with good friends, getting to see so many Texans up there and other friends, and having a relatively relaxing weekend not having to keep a bunch of cars on track!! The Glen is for sure in my top 5 now. Just wish it wasn’t an entire country away!