HARRISON: Bringing the Heat to NOLA

Racing in NOLA took us back to the track where Mario and I kicked off our first win together in our Acura NSX GT3 Pro-Am campaign of the 2022 season. My first pole, our first win – a lot of good memories. This time, we were coming into this race as the Pro class points leaders and that was a good feeling.

We started off the weekend topping the charts on the Thursday test day and official practice sessions on Friday.

The guys and gals at Racers Edge Motorsports worked incredibility hard to give us a rocket ship of a car, and they did just that. Our Harrison Contracting Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 was on rails, flying around this 16-turn flat and yet very bumpy racetrack.

And on a personal note, I was just really happy to be back behind the wheel and to get back to business.

Heading into qualifying Saturday morning, I had my own set of goals and a lap time I wanted to hit. After achieving P3 in class and fifth overall, I was happy with that starting spot because we were up front and the car was super competitive. Considering we started dead last of the entire field at Sonoma because of a botched qualifying and we still podiumed… I’ll take it!

Mario did Mario things and put it on pole, so we were all thrilled to be on the pointy end of the Pro class field for both races.

Leading into the race, everyone in the paddock was watching the radar and trying to time when the bottom was going to fall out of the sky. Can confirm – it poured rain. So much rain that it delayed our race two full hours.

I finally got out of the car so we could throw on a cover to prevent rain in the cockpit. Once we finally took the green, we started on a rain tire because the rain created so much flooding, even with the help from a parade of support trucks driving around to blow off most of the water, the track was still very, very soaked.

We knew it would dry up fast and become a game of who has the best wet tire on a dry surface before the end of the first stint.

Race 1 – the green flag dropped and I drove into T1 blind. Aside from the water on the track, the sun had come out and it was very difficult to see where everyone was braking or turning due to the heavy mist and reflection of the sun. I played it safe and broke early and I’m glad I did because others did not. Needless to say, I survived T1.

I stayed behind the leaders the first few laps, but I lost some ground due to out of class cars that weren’t so comfortable in the rain. Once I could pass, our Acura NSX made up the ground lost, and I laid down the fastest lap of the race in the first stint.

I was excited about that because I have hardly had any rain laps under my belt in my entire GT career thus far and our Acura NSX was so good in the rain.

Pit-lane opened and I pitted P3 in class and overall in our Acura NSX GT3. I handed the car over to Mario and at this point the track was dry enough for a dry tire (lucky him!), so he went out on a new tire ready to fight for the win.

Soon after the pit stop, a FCY came out and packed up the field, so we were right on the bumper of the overall leaders. At the restart, Mario overtook P2 in PRO and secures the position, eyes on the leader with 20 minutes to go.

Although everyone was on a dry tire at this point in the race, unfortunately puddles still existed on track in the high-speed sections.

We touched the water and ended up in the gravel trap. We had to be towed back to the pits to clean off the tires and we ultimately finished the race P5 in class, three laps down.

Everyone at Racers Edge Motorsports did such an amazing job preparing for the wet/dry conditions, keeping us upfront and competitive in our Acura NSX but it wasn’t meant to be on that day.

We are all human and no one is perfect. We win and lose as a team and I stand by my teammate and team no matter what.

Sunday’s weather was the complete opposite – dry and sunny, and per usual at NOLA it was super hot and humid. Thankfully, we anticipated these conditions after the intense heat last year. Our guys at Racers Edge installed a helmet blower and cool suit for this event and for that, Mario and I were so thankful!

Mario started on pole in our Acura NSX and had a great start until contact, by the same out of class car that hit us at Sonoma, jumped a curb and forced Mario off-line.

Two Pro cars passed him and we fell back to 11th. The incident was frustrating, but we still had a full race ahead of us and plenty of time to play with. Thankfully, the damage wasn’t mechanical although the body work took a beating.

Nonetheless, Mario regrouped and fought his way back to the lead before the driver change.

The pit window opened and our crew got me out of pit lane in the lead. P2 was on our bumper going into T1. I put my head down and focused forward. Our car was definitely faster and I knew I was quick around this track.

I held off P2 for the first three laps until I caught up to slower, out of class traffic. I needed to wait for the right opportunity to navigate those cars because a risky move could easily end our race. After our result in Race 1, we needed to be smart. Plus, we had over 30-mins left in the race.

The car in P2 was aggressive but I knew I had a better tire underneath me and our Acura NSX GT3 was getting off the corners much better. My plan was to manage him behind me and continue to focus on my strong exits to get around the ProAm cars ahead.

I caught up to the Pro-Am cars in T2, stayed behind them in T3 and 4 (they were racing three-wide while we were racing for class position directly behind them!) and while coming out of 5, I made it clear to the car in front I was on the move.

Before I could set up the exit of T7, the car in P2 dive-bombed me on the inside, hit our right rear and spun me off track into the gravel.

Our race was over.

The tow truck pulled me from the gravel so I could get back on track and head into pit lane. Our Racers Edge Motorsports crew checked out our Acura NSX GT3 for damage, cleared the wheels, and sent me back out.

Talk about déjà vu – we finished the race once again P5 in class and three laps down. The car who punted me off track was later penalized post-race and given a penalty equivalent to a drive-thru.

The race result wasn’t what we had hoped for but we were fast, competitive and clearly made a statement for ourselves and the performance of our Acura NSX GT3 already this season.

Thanks to the support from Harrison Contracting Company, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport and Honda/HPD our Acura NSX GT3 will be ready for our next event.

Everyone at Racers Edge Motorsports, Mario, and I love nothing more than a challenge and the added pressure to regain what we’ve lost… so bring it on.

See you soon, boys.