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Written by:
James Hunt
11/20/2008 - 09:21 AM
Charlotte, North Carolina
Hunt gives two thumbs up en route to a solid driving performance and a 2nd place finish at VIR. (Photo: Darren Schilberg) ยป More Photos
Ahhh the taste of champagne in 40 degree weather after a long race, you can't beat it. Man it feels good to be back on the podium! The past few weeks have been action packed without any sign of letting up. This truly was a HAPPY HALLOWEEN. It's not every year you get to dress up like a race car driver and mean it.
Over the Halloween weekend I flew back to Virginia International Raceway for the "Charge of the Headlights Brigade 13 Hour at VIR", an SCCA club race. It holds a strong place in my heart since this race marked my first win in a sports car a few years back and continues to be a high point with friends and family. This year I was co-driving the No. 81 West Philly Racing ITA Acura Integra with Driver-gear.com team owner Andrew Zimmerman, John Kofod, my brother Will Fox and my driving coach Ian Carpenter. We had a total blast! Not only did we take 2nd place in class, but we won a case of Yuengling off a good friend's team for finishing higher overall. Several other Grand-Am regulars could be spotted enjoying a 13 hour dose of VIR into the moonlight hours.
This race had a number of highlights above and beyond the strong finish for our team. One is that this was the first time my brother Will and I raced together. My maiden voyage to the race track that I remember from growing up was at Summit Point Raceway. I was about 8 years old and my big brother Will was racing in a three hour night enduro with Tony B. in a Datsun 510. I remember standing on the bridge and hearing my dad say, "Get ready here he comes, here he comes!" jumping up and down cheering as the car whizzed by entering turn 10 onto the front straight. Another highlight of the weekend was that I not only had the fastest lap in our class, but in our car. That means I was faster than my coach. Ian will most likely kill me for pointing this out, but if you had a coach as experienced and talented as mine you would understand why this excites me.
Another weekend bonus and probably the biggest breakthrough in the last two months, I regained something that had waned during my first professional season as a driver. I had lost the ability to just race and not get overly stressed. I put so much pressure on myself to perform as a driver that I wasn't doing what I do best, driving the car. You are probably saying, "What
I arrived late on Friday night having never driven the car before. Ian did a terrific job qualifying the car 1st in class and 15th overall out of 68 cars. I was trusted with the starting and finishing duties for the weekend. I sat in the car for the first time the morning of the race. I had one pace lap to get familiar with the car and then it was "Green, Green, Green" as I settled in for the long haul. During my first stint I was able to get up to 8th overall and to lap traffic to put a 4 lap cushion between us and the rest of our class. My brother hopped in next and really did a rocking job--way to go Will. From there Ian and John went to work behind the wheel and posted fast, consistent lap times. Great job guys!
Just when you think you have P1 in the bag our friend "That's Racing" makes an appearance like Mr. Hankey on South Park. You try to manage the visit, but it's never pleasant. Around hour six we had a drive axle fail, a rear control arm bushing fail and the brake fluid boiled as a front brake pad disintegrated. Good bye eight lap lead, hello hot hands. Being a mechanic as well as a driver, I was over the wall hands on, helping change the drive axle and bleed the brakes (not bad for a "driver"). The parts were so hot coming off the car that they burned through our gloves, but the work got done on pit lane in record time. After the melee had settled even the crew guys were like, where did you come from?!?! I smiled and remembered the countless hours in the driveway at home with my dad working on cars growing up.
View Photos from the Weekend Here!
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