Race report by Scott Hargrove. Round 7 & 8:

Rounds 7 & 8 of the Skip Barber Summer Series took place at the historic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The weekend consisted of 4 days of on track activity, from Thursday June 30th to Sunday July 3rd. There were firework on and off the track, as the town celebrated Independence Day in style.

Friday: After sleeping on the track and getting back out the next morning, I went a second faster while still running by myself, placing me P4 in the first timed session. In the second session I started working with other people and while everyone's time improved, I remained P4.

Saturday:  Qualifying would take place Saturday morning, followed by the race later in the day. After a great weekend during rounds 5 & 6 in Lime Rock, qualifying on pole and racing to two second place finishes, I felt confident to run similarly here. I worked in a group of about 5 or 6 people, all drafting off each other to try and claim the quick time. At the end of the session I ended up 3rd, 0.459 seconds off of second.
 
When race time rolled around it was after 5pm. It had been a long day of waiting, but it was defiantly worth it! The start was clean and by the end of the third corner, I began to check out in the lead. I held the lead until turn 5 on the second lap. At that point I was shuffled back quickly, ending up in the rear of the lead group. The racing was very close, at times inches away from each other. I decided to play it safe until the end of the race. At the start of the last lap, I was in 5th. By the time we got to turn 5 I was back to 6th and things were not looking good. I made a late pass into turn 8 and got 5th back before the Caracal. Through the Caracal I drove the car to its absolute limit. The pack  of 4 just a few car lengths in front of me punched a huge hole in the air for me to get a massive run out of the kink. The cars went two by two in front of me but I was going at least 10 mph faster. I resorted to passing all of them with two wheels on the grass around the outside. It was a risky move but it paid off. Coming into Canada we were three abreast for the lead with me on the inside. I let one car get in front of me on the exit, with the intent of drafting past him up the hill on the way to the checkered. Through  the last corner my plan was almost derailed, as a car went on the inside of me. I held him off on the outside and still managed to get a massive run up the hill. I popped out of the leaders draft and we drag raced to the finish. I inched my way up beside him and came out victorious, winning by 0.034 seconds. When I came into the pit lane I was presented with the checkered flag and got the do the first victory lap of my life. Unfortunately with two laps to go the field checked up in front of me while I was glancing in my mirror. I made very slight contact with the car in front of me but it left its mark on my car. It was so slight I didn't know it had happened until after the race. At which point I was assessed a 25 second penalty and the win was taken away.

Video and My Laps Links

Race 1 Video Recap:
Race 1 Results: 

Sunday: After losing my win the day before I was determined to get it back on Sunday. I had to start in the 9th position because of my penalty but I quickly came up to the front. Coming into Canada corner there was a crash right in front of me, I had to take evasive action but managed to come out clean. This resulted in a full course caution. At the restart I played it safe again, and just drove in the sixth position. Every now and again I would gain a spot or lose a spot, until two laps to go, where I lost a lot of spots! Heading into turn 5 I had to lift and cars went by me on both side. Coming to the white flag I was sitting in the 6th position. I remained in 6th until we got to Canada corner. Right in front of me there was a crash and I went through the corner with opposite lock, missing it my centimeters! Mean while I stayed in the gas and made a pass on the exit of the corner! Heading into the last corner the leaders had about a 5 car length lead over me, but it didn't matter because they made contact and I was next in line after their penalties were assessed!

Video & My Laps Links
Race 2 Video Recap:
Race 2 Results:

On Saturday I crossed the line first, got dunked with a cooler full of ice water as a first time winner, and did a victory lap. That win was taken away, but on Sunday I crossed the line 3rd and only after we were all out of our cars did I know I had been given the win. Next stop is Road Atlanta, where I look forward to having an equally successful weekend! Thanks to Skip Barber Racing School, Race Energy, Analytic Systems, MAZDASPEED Motorsports and Petrol Polarized Driving Eyewear!
 

Race report by Scott Hargrove. Round 9 & 10:

Rounds 9 & 10 of the Skip Barber Summer Series took place at Road Atlanta, where the temperature was over 100˚F and hydration was a must. On track activities started on Thursday July 21st and ended on Saturday July 23rd.

Video Link

Weekend Video Recap: 

Thursday: During my first of four sessions on the day, I had to learn the track having never seen it outside of a simulator. I quickly found my way around and within a few laps I was right on pace. When the session ended I was 6th on the time sheets. During the second session I started to push the car even harder and at one point through turn 5, a fast left hander in which you completely jump on top of the exit curbing, I managed to go a little over the end of the curbing and hit a bump just right that it sent the back of the car flying into the air. All was good as the back end just came back down and I continued, but a close call none the less. The rest of the day was fairly un eventful, as I just continued to work the draft and climb the time sheets. I ended the day  P3.

Friday: Qualifying was first thing Friday morning. I had 18 minutes to manage a quick lap, and on my first lap I put out a time that would have been good for 2nd without using the draft. However when I managed to get a draft lap in it was good enough for pole by 3 tenths of a second. This was my 2nd pole of the season.

Friday afternoon saw my first race of the weekend. I started on pole and got a good enough start to hold the lead until the back straight. At that point the draft proved to erase any lead I could manage to gain throughout the rest of the lap. I battled for the lead nonstop for most of the race. Near the end I found myself in 4th place and coming onto the back straight on the last lap I used the draft to get side by side for the lead  into the hardest braking zone on the track, turn 10. As I pushed the brake zone to the limit, the person to my right went even further into the brake zone, locking up a tire and barley keeping it on the road. This allowed me to battle around the outside and gain the lead coming down the hill to the finish line. I crossed the line a mere 3 tenths in front of second place, claiming the second win of the season. It was also my second in a row!

Video & My Laps Links

Race 1 Video Recap:
Race 1 Results: 

Saturday: Once again I started on pole for Sundays race, and this time I managed a great start. By turn 1 I had a four car length advantage, but by the time the back straight came it was all but erased. Just like the day before the draft proved too strong  to keep a lead for a whole lap. So I decided to hang back and wait for the end of the race to continue mixing it up for the lead.  At the end of the straight on the second lap I was  passed for 4th position but when we broke for turn 10 there was contract right in front of me that I  avoided. This put me back into the 4th position. A few laps later I got an opportunity to take back the lead. Once I had it I hit all my marks and pulled a gap just big enough so that the field just caught me by the end of the back straight. I was able to keep the lead going through turn 10, while there was a side by side battle going on for second. This allowed me to pull a lead just big enough to break the draft. I drove the car as hard as I could every lap from that point on. My lead began to increase rapidly with the field still battling behind me. I ran 9 laps in a row all within three quarters of a second, the fastest of which was just 5 tenths off my qualifying time in the draft. With 3 laps to go there was contact back in the field that forced a full course caution. This erased my lead completely but luckily the race was to end under caution and I crossed the finish line to claim my 3rd win in a row!

Video & My Laps Links

Race 2 Video Recap:
Race 2 Results:

The weekend could not have gone any better. Thanks to my coach Michael Valiante who helped guide me to two wins in a row. Thanks to Skip Barber Racing School, Race Energy, Analytic Systems, MAZDASPEED Motorsports, Petrol Polarized Driving Eyewear and my parents for providing me this opportunity. Next stop in Lime Rock, where I've had success in the past and look forward to going back!