Matt's January Update: 2022 Season with Palomar Racing & Report from Laguna Seca

San Marcos, CA / February 1st, 2022

The first month of the year has been a jam-packed introduction to a number of 2022 racing projects. With over 200 circuit laps and four race cars driven before the end of the first month, I’m beginning to feel what the professionals do!

In this update, I’ll discuss three stories from the month: announcing my season for Palomar Racing and car development progress, being called-in to a Lucky Dog endurance team to win at Laguna Seca, and supporting Palomar Racing for VARA University at Buttonwillow.

I’ve been working to have these updates easily readable, engaging, and shorter. I’d appreciate any feedback. Thank you for the support!

MY STORY

A quick catch-up; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 21-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and full-time university student from San Marcos, California. I’ve been racing since the age of five spending the next eight years karting across the southwest. In 2014, I transitioned to sports cars in Spec Miata developing and succeeding in the Mazda Motorsports ladder through Teen Mazda Challenge up to winning in Spec MX-5 Challenge in 2018. In 2019, I became a 25 Hours of Thunderhill class winner and in 2020 a long-held aspiration of racing touring cars in Germany was finally achieved. In 2021, the main highlight was becoming E2 class champion in NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship where I drove for GOneppo Racing in a BMW Spec E46. I’m in my final year of studying Global Business at CSU San Marcos with a goal to use these skills to enter professional motorsport given the right opportunity and support.

I love sharing my racing career experiences with hopes that those who read them can find value in following my journey. Thank you for reading!

story #1: JOINING PALOMAR RACING FOR 2022 + CAR DEVELOPMENT

BUTTONWILLOW, CA / Jan 7-9th

My first laps on-track in 2022 came with a strong relevance and commitment for the next 12 months! Here’s the announcement and background first, then I’ll give a bit of commentary about what it means to me.

I’m immensely excited to announce a major component to my year. I will join Palomar Racing as a driver in their NASA ST5/E2 program which will see full-season competition in both NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship’s (WERC) E2 category and the NASA SoCal Super Touring 5 (ST5) series. The #25 BMW E36 we will run is being developed to the combined ST5/E2 ruleset. Sharing sprint and endurance driver duties with me is Nik Romano and Nico DeCuzzi. Palomar Racing is owned and operated by Andy Anderson, Mike Anderson, and Kevin Desirello with our crew chief being Blair Geil. The team is located in Escondido, California and is primarily supported by Palomar Solar and Roofing. This is Palomar Racing’s first championship outside vintage racing in VARA, SVRA, Rolex Reunion, CSRG, etc.

In addition to the NASA WERC and E2 campaigns will be entry into the 2022 NASA National Championships at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in September. The team is currently developing a second, identically prepared #24 BMW E36 with hopes to enter two cars in the ST5 championship events and possibly in Monday’s WERC 6.5 hour event. The crowning endurance event of our year will be the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill which takes place at Thunderhill Raceway each December. All of the year’s lessons learned will be utilized and applied here!

To give context on how it came together; serendipity, timing, and fitment! It was during last October’s NASA WERC Buttonwillow 3 Hour when I met these gentlemen. Through mutual friend and crew chief Blair connecting us, they became the pit crew for GOneppo Racing in the race Peter Oneppo and I took 1st and secured our 2021 NASA WERC E2 championship. Unaware to me at the time, they were putting together a serious effort for next season and I happened to leave the right impression. Nik Romano, friend and teammate this season, had been working with them to put a ST5/E2 program in place and reached out to me about the opportunity.

This is my first opportunity as a truly ‘sponsor supported’ driver and it definitely raises the personal importance, along with yet another realization that my racing career journey is headed in an encouraging direction. It’s also special to represent a significant local business this season with the team’s headquarters located only a few miles away!

Our 2022 mission is a natural fit and progression for both my racing career and this awesome, motivated small team. I’m honored to contribute my abilities to Palomar Racing’s campaign. Thank you to Andy and Nik especially for entrusting me with the task.

Development Race Debut at Buttonwillow

Our debut weekend came in early January at Buttonwillow Raceway for NASA SoCal ST5. This event was primarily a data-gathering exercise for the car before the season truly began in February. Nik was scheduled to guide the weekend’s races with Nico and I supporting. On the Wednesday before, Nik gave us the news he was suddenly unavailable and couldn’t make the trip. It was now, under poor circumstances, up to Nico and I to collect data!

We acclimated ourselves to the #25 in Friday testing. Immediately it was obvious how much potential this package has. The concept was to combine the BMW E36’s lightness with aerodynamic prowess, reliability, and power. While the ‘power’ aspect is forthcoming with our improved engine scheduled to be ready for NASA WERC Rd.1 in February, the lightness and aerodynamic potential made the car insanely nimble and capable of impressive mid-corner speed.

An unexpected treat to Friday was being able to sample the team’s 1969 BMW 2002 built to B-Sedan regulations. It weighs about 2000lbs, makes around 180hp, and never wants to be below 6000rpm! Honestly, when the Palomar guys told me to shift around 8000rpm I truly believed they were joking. No joking indeed. I’ve never driven any car remotely similar; a raw, uncorked, visceral experience wrapped in a bite-size package. Yet, it’s shockingly intuitive. The dynamics, gearbox, characteristics all encourage a particular on-the-limit driving style that she responds well to. Essentially, if you’re not partially sliding at all times, you’re not going fast enough! What a joy. Please check out this onboard video I’ve published from the experience by clicking here!

I’d race on Saturday with Nico on Sunday. A satisfying qualifying performance, able to secure pole in ST5 from 7 cars with the power deficit and time left on the table as I worked to adjust my driving style to the downforce.

The 25-minute sprint race proved how important it was to be here collecting data. While it was incredible in most corners, all the high-horsepower traffic would heavily compromise this advantage with little to be done in defense on the next straight! I took 2nd battling an unpredictable braking sensation which compromised the speeds further. We learned afterwards the ABS had failed and I was thankful to get to the end safely. In all, it’s exactly what we wanted to find out: create a list of all the ‘must fix’ areas, understand how to maximize our advantages, and put the development work in early.

It was a great first weekend to work with Palomar Racing learning team dynamic, performance expectations, and potential. I’m immensely encouraged by the planned preparation for February and cannot wait to get the season started!

STORY #2: WINNING AT LUCKY DOG LAGUNA SECA

*Great run! P1 in class, P3 of 45 overall on Saturday*

MONTEREY, CA / January 15-16th

When I received a message from longtime friend Francis Hu that he needed a driver for his Lucky Dog endurance team, it was a quick reply back!

His daughter, who normally took this spot, was unavailable for the January event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. I was honored to be offered the drive. It was a 6.5 hour race on Saturday and 7.5 hour race on Sunday. I’d be behind-the-wheel of his team’s BMW E46. Although I’ve driven numerous E46’s in recent years, none have been at the incredible Laguna Seca. Knowing I’d return here for the NASA National Championships in September, this would be a wonderful preview and chance to accumulate plenty of lap data. Even with the Lucky Dog series focused on ‘fun’ rather than outright performance, it was a great opportunity.

The team is ‘Ambi-Turners’ and includes co-drivers Myan Spaccarelli and Kimball Williams. For Saturday’s race, our objective was to be classified in B-class and go for the class win. Since the three Lucky Dog categories (A, B, and C) are determined by general lap time range, we’d be on the cusp between A and B. Being the resident ‘pro’, I needed to make sure my pace was dialed back within range of my teammates for the day which was a surprisingly fun challenge.

Kimball took the start and ran consistently between 9th and 12th place overall from 45. One-and-a-half hours later, Francis was strapped in as we excellently met our 5-minute pit stop minimum. Now solidly classified as in B-class, I assessed the fastest in-class time and made sure I’d run as close to that number as possible (about a 1:47:0). Just past noon and we executed my stop cleanly. On a quick lap, our E46 on these series-mandated Hankook RS4’s was capable of high 1:44’s and thus I was involved in lots of mental arithmetic meeting my number through both heavy and sparse laps of traffic! Myan took the final stint of the day by which point we ran 1st in B-class and top five overall. Maintaining consistency, we won the class and climbed to a rather impressive 3rd overall from 45 entries. A unique moment of the finish was I wasn’t able to celebrate on the pit wall with my teammates… because I was right behind the Myan!

Long story made short, my friends at Team Black Swan Search needed a 4th driver to finish in the #62 BMW E30 to maintain stint compliance. Therefore, I took the final half-hour behind the wheel of the car which gave us 2nd in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill just last month! One more ‘bucket list’ item checked off… drive two cars in the same race. To make it even better, I was having so much fun in the #62 after being told to ‘drive as fast as possible’ that I came within tenths of the fastest C-class race lap. It was radioed in on the penultimate lap so I pushed a bit more. Crossing the checkered, it was enough for the fastest lap in class. Great moment!

I’ll keep the story of Sunday’s 7.5 hour brief. It was another fun, well-executed race made even better by taking the restriction off my lap times. The 1:47’s now could become 1:45’s and it was an enjoyable challenge wrestling the well-used Hankook RS4 DOT tires into more speed. With this tire compound giving out and snapping the car around with aggressive inputs, the game of delicacy through dozens of slower race cars was a nice challenge.

My favorite passing zone was the entry of T9 as you could capitalize on traffic running wide and hold a tight, swooping move which was far more efficient than most braking zones to pass in. It’s a delicate balance for a pro caliber driver in Lucky Dog which is an amateur-supported series. In the end, you can have fun going quickly during a stint but need to be mindful of the beginners and remember to just do the job you’ve been told and hand the car off clean!

We finished 6th overall on Sunday after another clean run. Ultimately, it was a skill-sharpening exercise to clock over 100 laps of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in dense, often unpredictable traffic. But all my efforts were second to making sure Francis and the Ambi-Turners team had a fun, productive weekend. Considering it was their first ever Lucky Dog class win and best set of results, I’d say mission accomplished.

Thank you Francis, Myan, Kimball, Eugene, Vivian, and the rest for providing a wonderful weekend.

STORY #3: DEVELOPMENT STRIDES & SUPPORTING AT VARA UNIVERSITY

BUTTONWILLOW, CA / January 21 - 23rd

The final story this month returns to Buttonwillow Raceway, this time for the season-opening VARA vintage club racing weekend. However, there’s no racing to speak about. Each January VARA organizes an entire event dedicated to driver training and their ‘VARA University’ high-performance driving and racing schools.

The Palomar Racing team are seasoned VARA competitors and the plan was to help our fantastic crew chief Blair receive his racing license. While I planned on attending to support and offer advice, the team handed me an important role; to test and develop changes on our #25 BMW E36 ST5/E2 competitor during open Friday testing.

Since our opening event two weeks prior, a number of changes were made to the car. A different front-end geometry, aerodynamic adjustments, brake improvements, and others minor details meant data needed to be collected. In total, I clicked off about 60 laps of Buttonwillow CW13 at pace with various adjustments and notes logged. The most effort I’ve put into high quality, fast laps in a test day for a good while! And again, the strengths of this package shined even brighter as I got my second taste. Even with the engine 30-40 horsepower down from what’s allowed in the category, I could run consistently faster laps than any other E2 category I’ve raced here. In short, great progress on the #25.

Everything in that test elevated my excitement for the season. Immensely grateful to be included in Palomar Racing’s lineup and hope to make it a special season.

We transitioned into Saturday’s VARA University experience. Our crew chief Blair would get his racing license in the team’s #007 BMW E36 while our mechanic Kevin got to live the fruits of his labors; running the #07 BMW 2002 in the school after fixing a lingering engine issue on Friday night!

As I spent the day listening to a wonderful array of vintage race cars and happily supporting Blair and Kevin, our paddock friends who brought their BMW E30 M3 wanted my assistance to coach their young driver Sara and get my feedback on the platform setup. She was already a very competent driver but was ready to move up from basic instruction.

It was very helpful to understand where small improvements could be made and even more helpful to show it from the driver’s seat. When teaching, it’s important to drive the car in a manner your student can tangibly replicate while exemplifying the one to three aspects discussed beforehand. In this scenario, my example was primarily on lessening steering input to maintain a more comfortable balance (allowing for more safe speed with practice) with a secondary focus on firm-yet-smooth brake applications and finally on adjusting car position in certain corners. Undoubtedly the most rewarding part was watching her confidence rise in knowing what she needed to work on instead of generic instruction and applying it!

Thank you Andy, Mike, Kevin, and Blair for the allowing me to support. Thank you also Carl, Mark, and Sara especially for allowing me to practice my driver coaching and sample a wonderful BMW E30 M3! An overall lovely weekend.

REFLECTIONS

Although I didn’t send out a December Update, please click here to visit the article on my website. It covers my experience with Team Black Swan Search at the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill. It was my fourth start in the event as I led a driver team of ‘25 Hour’ rookies. We finished 2nd in class after a fierce battle over the entire (fog-shortened) 17 hour race. Plenty of stories to read!

It was a busy January full of good experiences and people. Headed into February, my sole focus is the NASA WERC Rd.1 for 3.5 Hours of Willow Springs and accompanying ST5 sprint races on the weekend of February 11-13th. I’m excited to deliver my best for Palomar Racing and start our working relationship in front of the competition! I cannot stress enough how these opportunities aren’t common and it’s an honor to be included in this one.

Beyond this, I’ll be putting the headphones on and getting to work on my final semester at university. I’m on target to complete my Global Business Management degree at CSU San Marcos this May and it feels awfully strange yet rewarding. Four years of learning about aspects of my business-related passion and I’m ready to pair it with my racing career!

IN CLOSING

Thank you for reading and supporting my motorsport journey. Whether it be through these updates, social channels, or in-person, the small interactions truly make a difference. Using my motorsport path as a means to create value for others is very important for me. If you enjoy these reports or are interested in supporting steps toward professional racing, please get in touch! Stay up-to-date on mattmillionracing.com and my social media. Until next time…

Matt Million

San Marcos, CA - 02/01/2022