10/20/2025
Sorry for the long post-
Jeff Andrews and I were off to a good start passing ~8 cars on the first lap. My original plan was to hang with Jeff for 2 laps while bringing the GTI’s brakes up to temperature…… Allen’s GTI makes good power tempting me to deviate from the plan. I passed a few cars as we began lap 2 tucking to the right behind the eclipse into turn 1. A light trail brake positioned me where I wanted to be on the inside right of the eclipse slightly off its bumper in distances as we started through turn 1. Holding position relative to the eclipse through turn 1 would allow me to power down to pass 2/3…… Didn’t get that far.
Heard a quick tire screech and impacted hard from the passenger side sending me off track. A now pictured miata pushed the GTI through the grass nearly to the wall as I was able to clutch in and steer left to scrub speed before the wall.
In disbelief, I sat in the turn 1 grass for a split second beyond confused. I knew every car around the braking zone going into turn 1. This miata wasn’t one of them. Something to think about later.
Allen taught me more about racecraft in 2 days up to this point than i’d learned to date. Additionally, he taught me GTI specific race craft/ car details. Sitting in T I thought back to Allen telling me a story of when he got hit in this car. “GTI’s can take a hit, if you find yourself in that situation see how it feels on track before retiring the car. The damage almost never matches the noise.” Allen was right, I verified steering felt normal and safely reentered the track. Without seeing the outside, I was able to verify the steering, braking, handling and powertrain felt normal as I limped the car for the remainder of the lap. I completed the remainder of the race being conservative ~60% pace. Climbed back about 10 spots as the race finished.
Contact impact quickly determined the miata driver at fault. Luckily I had the go pro recording along with Jeff’s wild POV video (will post later this week). Keeping it civil- the miata driver thought he was braking however somehow missed the pedal. The GTI was Tboned almost full speed.
I don’t know what was worse at the time. The incident occurring after 2 years off after NHMS.. Or knowing Allen’s gti was damaged during the incident. Allen really helped change my mood when I was checked out and ready to watch the last race. I’m glad he convinced me to compete in race 3. The weekend ended on a high note and I learned more about contact than I wanted to lol.
2 things i’d change looking back over the weekend
1- Keep my truck on all night instead of waking up in the cab cold at 4 am
2- Stay tucked behind Jeff for 2 laps 😂
