2024 Season Recap
As 2024 comes to a close, we thought a season recap was in order. It was a solid year for us. Coming off the 2023 season where we missed two podiums by just a few tenths of a second, we decided it was time to make some big changes. In February, we swapped the FA20 engine for the FA24 to get a little more power out of the car.
The first event of the season for us was GridLife South Carolina. It was the first time on track with the FA24 and it did not disappoint. After two solid days of competition, we walked away with a RWD track record and our first podium finishing in 3rd place for the weekend in ClubTR.
Our next event saw us driving north for GridLife’s flagship event, Midwest Festival. The ClubTR class was absolutely stacked and we were confident going into the weekend that we would have a strong performance, but the reality of racing and competing hit us pretty hard. Multiple qualifying sessions saw the yellow flag come out, really limiting hot laps and chances for competitive lap times. There were also issues with several drivers in class being 15+ seconds off the lead pace, creating issues with lap traffic and slowing down faster drivers. The frustration grew even more after narrowly missing the podium sprint, watching three of the five drivers head out on track, not complete a hot lap, and receive a DNF. The car ran great but we did have trouble with how the car handled when exiting turns, especially turn 2 at Gingerman. Through all the weekend’s frustrations, we still managed a 6th place finish.
After Midwest Festival, we had a few weeks until Mid-Ohio. In order to improve the handling issue we had at Midwest Fest, we installed an OS Giken rear differential, and also had an alignment and corner balance. We were excited to get on track to see how much improvement we could get. After a couple of practice sessions we went into qualifying impressed with the marked improvement in handling with the new rear diff, but something was still off with the alignment. Even though we fell short this weekend, we were still able to secure a top 10 finish in another stacked ClubTR field by finishing in 8th place.
We took some time off in July to address how the car handled and had another alignment and corner balance done. We got back on track in August with the SCCA Southeast Region event at Barber Motorsports Park. It was our first time at this event and we were both amazed at how beautiful Barber Motorsports Park is. When we got on track we had some issues with the ABS, and we struggled to get a lap time that we were happy with. In spite of the ABS issues, we were able to get another track record as well as a 1st place finish in the UL2 class.
September saw us heading to Chicago to compete at Autobahn Country Club with GridLife. The first 3-4 sessions were spent learning the track and trying to dial the car in and times steadily improved over the weekend, but in the end we fell short. We were able to secure another top 10 in ClubTR with an 8th place finish on the weekend.
In October we headed to Pitt Race for the GridLife finals. This was another new track for us so we signed up for the ASM track day the day before to get some seat time and to work on dialing the car in. We had a mechanical issue on Friday and by Saturday we had a failed wheel bearing that needed to be replaced. Tire wear was also a problem this weekend as we struggled to close the time gap between us and the top 4 drivers. All in all it was a good weekend and we were able to score a fifth place finish at GridLife finals.
A last minute decision saw us heading to NCM in Bowling Green, KY to compete at the SCCA Time Trial Nationals and the Ultimate Track Car Challenge at the end of October. It was a challenging weekend. Every track session for us on Thursday and Friday was black flagged, cutting our track time significantly. The weather reared its ugly head and we had weather delays on Saturday morning. Once the rained moved out, we took advantage of the parade drying laps by getting some seat time and trying to get familiar with the track. By early afternoon we were back and excited to compete. We had trouble all weekend with the same ABS problems we had earlier this year and we were never really able to resolve the issue. In spite of all the challenges the weekend brought, we were able to secure a 2nd place finish in UL2 at our first TT national event.
Consistency paid off for us this season. We were able to finish top 10 in season points for the second consecutive year with GridLife by finishing in 7th place. We also placed second in the small 200TW class for the North American Time Attack Championship.
We had a solid 2024 season. Overall we had 1 class win, 3 podiums, and four top ten finishes. We also had a seventh place overall finish with GridLife in ClubTR and a second place overall finish in the NATA Championship small 200TW class.
As we close out 2024, we wanted to recognize our partners. Their support has helped make 2024 a memorable year for us. So thank you to EBC Brakes, IAG Performance, Boosted Performance Tuning, Verus Engineering, and Motul USA.
Can’t wait to see everyone in 2025!
