HARRISON: Should We Laugh or Cry?

We wanted Watkins Glen to be our comeback story, and in a way, it was. We got back on that podium, on the second step instead of the top. We entered the weekend 26 points behind first, we left 46 points behind first.

We initially lacked some speed during practice, putting Mario and I in the middle of the pack on the timing charts. After the terrible weekend we had at VIR, we wanted to start off weekend at Watkins Glen in a stronger position, so we put our heads together with our engineer Jim and prepared for qualifying with a new setup.

Ideally, drivers want to have tested the car set up and know how the car is going to handle before going into qualifying, but that isn’t always the case.

Per SRO rules, the Am driver qualifies first and then the Pro. I was excited to qualify because I felt we had a good car and I was in a good headspace, but my best performance wasn’t even enough for a top 3 in class which was disheartening. We qualified 4th in class and 10th overall for the first race later that afternoon.

Mario qualified 5th in class and 8th overall. We both were disappointed with result because we’re so competitive that we’re never quite satisfied.

There’s always a tenth of a second or a tighter apex or better line to find and sometimes we just have to keep searching for the combination that locks together all those elements in a magic formula. We kept our head held high because the entire Racers Edge team, drivers and crew, are the most competitive in the paddock. So much so, that we seem to be the target for contact on track this weekend…

After qualifying, we found out that we had a BoP adjustment in our favor. Talk about a relief! The pieces all started to fall into place, and with our setup changes, we found the sweet spot we’d been searching for.

I took the green for Race 1 with a fast car underneath me. After a strong start, I charged from P4 to P2 by the exit of Turn 1. We went to FCY the next lap. I was happy for P2 on the first lap, but I wouldn’t be a racing driver or stiff competitor if I didn’t always want more.

With the next green flag, I passed the No 94 BimmerWorld BMW GT3 on the restart lap to take the lead in the Pro-Am class, a position I held on to for the rest of my stint, despite challenges from George Kurtz in his Mercedes AMG GT3 and several more safety periods.

The attrition was already a talking point in the pits, and little did we know, was foreshadowing the end of our race as well.

A super quick stop in the pit box, under the required delta time (remember that joker?), allowed Mario to rejoin the field in P1 in class and third overall. He was running nearly solo in clean air with a six second lead, and I actually started to let myself think that we’d win this race – that was a mistake!

We had the track position and the car to win, and Mario was sitting in a comfortable lead, all we had to do was finish the race and regain our lost points from VIR and we’d be back in the championship fight!

Then I hear on the radio: “something is broke!” You could probably imagine the panic on everyone’s face as the pit-box got very quiet to listen for the next radio transmission… “The left rear tire is flat.”

With 23 minutes to the checker, our six second lead had vanished along with our dreams of a comeback victory.

We can only control the controllable and I’ve written about that happening already this season. That’s racing, but we all still struggled not to feel deflated after everything was finally going our way.

Sometimes the big question isn’t “could we have done anything differently?” but “should we do something differently?” and figuring out which answer to chase is the hardest decision to make.

So, we all took a deep breath, regrouped, and Mario, Jim and I put our heads together. Then we slept on it.

We knew this track was hard on tires and Race 1 proved that to be true, for more than just our car. Based on that knowledge alone, we could potentially make some adjustments to help protect the rear tires better.

At this point, we HAD TO podium or win to stay in the championship fight. We had no other choice.

Timing was definitely the theme for Sunday. We made adjustments to help protect the rear tires, and Mario and I quickly realized the car was a bit harder to drive. That was the risk we were all willing to take to secure points and a podium finish.

Mario kept us in the hunt among the pros and protected the tires so he could run deep into the pit stop window. Our engineer, Jim Pattin, made a brilliant strategy call and we were last to dive in for a driver change with 12 seconds left on the clock as the NSX crossed the stripe.

The extra time was enough to leapfrog the spot we needed, and I came out of the pits in P2. My goal was to find a rhythm and keep my lap times consistent without any mistakes. No mistakes. None. And that’s exactly what I did.

I held my own against the Pro drivers in the Lamborghini and dialed in the performance needed to keep our class competitors at bay. We went to battled for over 10 minutes of nose-to-tail driving with the No 94 BimmerWorld BMW.

When I crossed the finished line in P2, the cheering in our box rang through the radio (& my ear drums!). The victory would have been great, admittedly, but we’d all given our best and that’s all we could ask for. We were thrilled with P2 in class and P3 overall.

Our Racers Edge team put on one heck of a show and reminded everyone to not count us out.

Redemption really was sweet after all.

P.S. The highlight of the weekend was a visit with some animal friends at The Farm Sanctuary and our new modeling careers for the series.

Check out our social media pages (@racersedgems and @ashtonharrison_) for more on those adventures.