After the first race weekend struggles at Brainerd International Raceway, there were three short weeks to repair both Jenkins Racing Spec Miatas. The team went straight to work swapping out a broken differential and a wiring failure. Getting these items fixed and tested was a top priority because the mid-summer events included three races in a short four week span.
The three race span started at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. Car number 21 finished in the very competitive mid-field. Sam in car 47 was slightly farther back as it was his first visit to this race track. We spent much of the weekend getting Sam up to speed by comparing data and adjusting car setup. Unfortunately towards the end of the second race Sam had slight contact when going wheel to wheel which resulted in a bent tie rod. Overall the event was a success and Sam made good progress learning the track.
The next two races were both at Brainerd International Raceway. The SCCA Divisional race was mostly uneventful with both cars completing weekend running towards the front of the Spec Miata field.
The third race, which was also at Brainerd was with a different organization, SVRA. The SVRA Spec Miata Heritage Cup race was held along side multiple professional level racing programs. This included F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda, Formula Regional Americas Championship Powered by Honda, and the classic Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli . Car 21 and Car 47 both finished near the front; the team earned two 2nd place podiums for the weekend. This event was live streamed with a full production crew on the Trans Am / SVRA mobile app. For a small fee the races can be replayed on demand.
The final SCCA race before the Runoffs Championship at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was again at Brainerd. The event had three cars racing under the Jenkins Racing tent, as Mike Jenkins entered the Spec Miata field for his first ever wheel to wheel race. The weekend included rapidly changing weather conditions. Some of the on track sessions were wet. Crew chief David Mehr had a tough job of making the call for rain tires as our qualifying session approached. In the end the call was right on and we ended the weekend with a great result. On Saturday Sam qualified P2. Sam finished the race P4 and Andrew finished P3. Sunday car 21 started and finished P3.
Thanks to the teams performance, and support from Bühler, we’ve earned an invite to the SCCA Runoffs Championship. With the main race season ending on that high note of podium finishes (which had not happened in while), the team is energized and ready to tackle the biggest amateur racing event in the United States of America. See you at INDY!
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