Matt Million's August Update: Promises Continued in Utah
San Marcos, CA | August 2022
Yeehaw! This month’s update centers on the recent success driving for Palomar Racing as we became class winners of the NASA Utah 6 Hour while debuting as a 2-car operation for the first time. I cover the story of our exhaustive-yet-impressive weekend while also covering other racing experiences from the past month.
This team only about a year ago was a small vintage racing group led by Andy and Mike Anderson in Escondido, California. Along with the help of others, Palomar Racing is quickly becoming a whole lot more. The ‘Palomar Racing E2/ST5 Challenge’ is in full song and I’m immensely grateful to play my role as a primary driver alongside Nik Romano. It’s a treat to help grow the organization behind-the-scenes too as its located near my home in San Marcos.
I’ve had a sneaky feeling that this event at Utah Motorsports Campus would be a significant challenge. A 700 mile trip to compete in Round 5 of 6 in the 2022 NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship with two cars in two classes while also entering both cars into the ST4 and ST5 sprints on Saturday and Sunday. An impressive endeavor should we succeed, and at bare minimum we had a lot to learn!
MY STORY
A quick bio; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 22-year-old professional racing driver and recent college graduate 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 highlight was becoming E2 class champion in NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship for GOneppo Racing in a BMW Spec E46. For 2022, I am a professional driver for Palomar Racing in their ‘NASA E2/ST5 Challenge’ which you can read about on my website. Having recently finished my global business degree at CSU San Marcos, I continue to make strides toward professional motorsport seeking the right opportunities 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!
BACKGROUND
In an effort to keep this month’s update shorter, I encourage a visit to mattmillionracing.com to learn about my schedule and commitments.
WINNING THE NASA UTAH 6 HOUR & OUR MOST CHALLENGING EVENT YET
Tooele, UT | July 31st, 2022
Making the trip to Utah for this event is feeling routine. In 2020, I ran the event for the first time in a BMW E30. It was an eye-opening experience to a fantastic racing facility in Utah Motorsports Campus. It also taught me how uniquely difficult it can be to a newcomer. The combination of long straights, high midcorner speeds, and ruthless-but-required use of the kerbs makes it far more difficult to be ‘on the limit’ lap after lap than what appears.
In 2021, I returned with my friend Peter Oneppo and his BMW Spec E46. We won the E2 class that event on route to our E2 championship in the NASA WERC series. In that race, I spent most of my stints in wet conditions which thankfully weren’t on the forecast this time. Rain is a definite equalizer but I’d rather keep it simpler this year!
For 2022, Palomar Racing would arrive with serious intentions and two entries but many variables continue to get tested and developed. After a successful test at Willow Springs two weeks earlier, the team’s new #24 BMW E36 would become the E2/ST5 entry while the now proven #25 BMW E36 became the E1/ST4 entry. Based on power-to-weight calculations, this was the best route forward to succeed at NASA Nationals.
We entered both cars in the NASA Utah 6 Hour. Nik Romano and I would pilot both cars during the race while Ryan Keeley and Ryan Bittner joined the E1 #25 squad with Sonny Watanasirisuk and Lucas Weisenberg in the E2 #24. We had an utterly fantastic driver line up chock full of experience in these situations.
The long haul to Utah truly got started before we left Escondido. The first journey for the team’s black semi was delayed after an opossum (dead, to say the least) was found in the engine bay! Before too long, the convoy of two haulers and an RV was on the road. My friend Ryan Keeley, endurance driver for our team whose day job is a professional truck driver, was behind the wheel.
Friday was an intensely busy day for the team. We welcomed new drivers Bittner and Weisenberg as well as a handful of additional crew. Each car would be on track for four sprint sessions and two endurance sessions over an hour long. Well over 90 degrees, it was a challenging test facing the team with car, driver, and resource management of what was to come for Saturday.
Saturday was about as busy as a race day gets! I’d take the #25 out in ST4 practice, hop back in the #24 for ST5 qualifying soon after, have a lunch break before racing the #24 for a 30-minute sprint, have an hour break to then qualify the #24 in endurance qualifying for E2, and finally get some liquid and food before starting the first hour and a half in #24. If all went as planned, I’d change into the #25 for the final stint in darkness for E1.
The day started with ST5 qualifying and race which both went fine. I took the win in ST5 although a general lack of competition meant I battled out-of-class cars the whole time. Still, it was a blast to race and fine tune the #24 even more. A concern grew at the end of my race as the car had noticeably less power. We ran through a number of potential culprits in the engine bay, fixed what we could, and crossed our fingers.
Qualifying time for the six hour! Since I’d start in the #24, I’d determine my own starting position. The same Toyo RR tires remained that I drove on two hours prior to save a new set for the race. Even with a 34 car field, the speed disparity between the fastest and slowest cars meant finding open track wasn’t too difficult. Especially on a circuit of this size.
I found my quickest flow of the entire weekend. First flying lap, 2:13:018. A single hundredth from breaking a 2:12! Really quick considering the sunbaked circuit and heat soaked engine. Next lap, 2:13:032. My consistency is right on target but I need one more tenth! Third lap? 2:13:028. It’s been a while since I’ve set three laps within three hundredths. The radio message to the team was “literally gave it all she had”. I’d start 1st from 7 in the class and a few tenths above 2nd place.
The six hour got underway at 6:00pm local time. I was feeling rejuvenated after a small snack of chicken and pasta. Easy to forget nutrition on a day with zero time for a normal meal. It was impressive how muscle memory became a factor in my stint. My fifth competitive session of the day, I was on autopilot!
I slotted into 2nd early in the stint as a Porsche Boxster in our class suddenly found a ton of pace. But with six hours, I ran to a pushing-but-conservative pace target and kept sight of the leader as I set 2:13’s to 2:15’s The car didn’t take long after to suffer from power loss again as it reached high temperatures. I did everything I could to keep the #24 in 2nd as a few in-class BMW E46’s charged from behind. The pit wall stressed to me that it’s a long race and all I could do was what it gave me. An hour and a half later, I fended off the competition to box and hand over to Lucas Weisenberg, the 19-year-old points leader in NASA SoCal Spec E46 and future talent, to keep us in the fight.
And he did what was tasked for more than an hour and remained competitive. Though a little over an hour into his stint, the shifter mount had failed and Lucas effectively lost the ability to shift quickly. The team eventually boxed him and Sonny took over. Four laps into his stint, the ability to shift any gear was gone and the #24 was behind-the-wall. Our superstar mechanic Kevin went straight to work and… succeeded! Within about 20 minutes, Sonny was back racing. But there was still issues. He came in, more work happened, and he went back out. This trend effectively continued until Sonny was happy enough with 3rd and 4th gear to make the finish. But sadly, we were over 20 laps down and 4th was the result we could scrap in E2.
In the E1 car, things were extremely different. Romano started in the #25, ran a very nice opening stint and boxed from 2nd in class. Bittner ran two stints afterwards and kept us well in contention of a podium. Keeley then completed a double stint doing exactly what we needed by fuel saving when needed, and pouncing when needed to enter the top two. He was called to pit after some very strong stints, keeping us in the fight with the top three all on the same lap. It was 10:40pm as I leaped off the wall, dropped the net, slotted in, and synched the belts. Team made a crucial decision in changing the left front tire which was effectively unusable. The extra time it took to change would pay off as my stint played out.
I left the box in a hurry and got the radio call about 2nd being about 7 seconds up the road and 1st about 15 seconds. Wasting no time, I needed to gain control of the E1 race as soon as possible. Impressively with the new front left tire, I had all the grip needed to load the front end with efficiency but having to manage a slick set of nearly corded rears. Within a few laps, I was past the #37 EDGE Motorworks BMW E36 who appeared to be conserving fuel slightly. Another few laps and I was into 1st passing the #8 Rearden Racing Nissan 370Z through Witchcraft and into The Attitude corners.
To make it another hour without forcing a late fuel stop, I’d need to start conserving now. I began a 20-25% conserve and clarified with my car chief on the task. Confusion set in when I was effectively told to ‘push as hard as reasonably possible given the tire life’. That’s when I was briefly told ‘we’re currently fighting a potential penalty, keep pushing at pace’.
Tough not to be your own strategist in this scenario. If I pushed, we were surely forcing a late stop that we wanted to avoid (but would’ve likely had to take anyways given our fuel mileage). If we were indeed hit with a single (or multiple) lap penalty, we’d want to push for a podium regardless. So I didn’t argue, reduced my fuel save to 10-15%, and clicked off fast laps.
The stint was an intensely fun experience. Back in full night conditions, seeing an equal amount of passes and passing as an E1 class entry (middle of the grid), listening to our unrestricted S52 engine. 2:10’s, 2:11’s the range at an 85-90% push. Night racing is an experience I hope any aspiring racing driver gets to have. With no surrounding visibility, you are locked to the task of what’s directly in front of you on circuit and in your dash. This stint was easily the most satisfying and rewarding of the entire weekend.
Knowing the consequences of the team’s plead for me to push, I was on fumes with 15 minutes remaining. Assured the 1+ minute gap I’d built up in my push would keep me leading after the stop, it was a quick splash-and-go to be put back in the race. The team knew best as I crossed the timing line to be shown about 20 seconds up the road from the #37 EDGE Motorworks entry. Within the final 10 minutes, I heard a quick update on our penalty situation. The race director overruled the decision on an earlier fuel spill as not drastic enough to warrant the penalty. We led the race on track and now led on paper as well!
Checkered flew at midnight. Weaving back-and-forth with the lights flashing for the team. The #25 squad pulled off the improbable. First E1 entry, first E1 win. We beat 7 other in-class entries and finished a hugely impressive 6th overall from 34 only behind GT3 Cup and GT4 cars. After the absolute grind of a weekend the team had endured, it was a much needed reminder of what all the work could lead to. My second win in this event, but a first for Romano, Keeley, Bittner, and the rest of our team.
It didn’t come without a fight. The EDGE and Strom teams (both with BMW E36’s) pushed us to the bitter end and weren’t far; within a single lap. They have multiple years of experience and expertise in their cars and teams and it is an honor to compete against them at a high level in our first year of NASA competition! Memorable races come often from memorable competitors.
On Sunday, a rather tired Nik and I swapped cars for the NASA Utah sprint races. Nik put valuable miles on the #24 after Kevin worked to repair our shifter with the final report of ‘it feels like it used to!’ I was able to set the ST4 pole in #25 at a 2:07:0 during the most ‘on edge’ session of my weekend. It was hot, the Hoosier tires were grippy but past their peak, and I experienced what Nik was talking about with the balance. The car was on a knife’s edge on fast entries. Something we know to work on for future races. After setting three laps within two tenths of a second, it was truly ‘all she had’ yet again. My race was anticlimactic as a part of the shifter broke on lap three and I was forced to retire. A failure I’d much rather have here to learn from, repair, and replace before NASA Nationals in September! We’ve already sourced a solution to ensure it doesn’t occur again.
Overall, what an incredible challenge for the Palomar Racing group. It gave us a lot to think about as we make the necessary improvements throughout August. We certainly exceeded my own expectation of what I thought was feasible! The potential had been proven all season up to this point, but this one proved to me that it didn’t matter how new this program was. We have all the factors needed; the cars, the crew, the processes, the spirit. It’s finally coming together. Grateful to be included as a young racing driver with a massively grateful outlook for these opportunities and bigger ones yet to be realized.
FIRST EXPERIENCE AT WATKINS GLEN & ALLEN BERG COACHING
Watkins Glen | July 22-24th, 2022
Outside of my ‘day-to-day’ work at Palomar Racing this year, I’m constantly seeking out differentiated experiences inside of varying race teams, paddocks, and championships.
One such opportunity came in visiting Watkins Glen International for the first time. The SRO GT4 America championship (along with their other championships) was headed to the circuit on the third weekend of July. It was an open date on my calendar and decided no better to integrate with the Premier Racing team whose drivers, Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer, are great friends and mentors of mine.
In an ideal situation, it’s a benefit for me to visit race circuits before eventually driving them at later dates. Getting an understanding of the area, the paddock, the magnitude of the facility, and track nuances will expedite the learning process for when I revisit to race. This was a fantastic chance to learn Watkins Glen. I felt fortunate to be involved in the golf cart track laps, driver debrief sessions, and generally surrounded by circuit-specific setup chatter.
Being able to experience this during an SRO weekend is tremendously helpful too. The SRO and IMSA organizations of professional sports car racing in the U.S. are places I want to race in. These experiences of being in their paddocks only benefits my knowledge of how the professional racing world operates!
Adam and Elliott took the #120 Premier Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport to a 2nd place in Pro-Am on Saturday and a 5th in the class on Sunday. This wasn’t the best suited circuit for their Cayman but managed the variables well and ultimately came out of the weekend in a three-way tie for the points lead.
Grateful for any opportunity to learn with a professional team like Premier Racing. Hope to support them at a future race soon.
Whenever possible, I’m continuing to assist Allen Berg Racing Schools as an instructor/coach for their various programs. I’m immensely grateful to help the students in their Formula Car program at WeatherTech Raceway every few months.
Working with multiple students of varying backgrounds and learning styles has helped me adapt as a teacher of the sport. This past school in August, I got to work alongside my friends (and talented drivers in their own right) in Matt Cresci, Paul Whiting, Spencer Bucknum, Collin Mullan, Kyle Loh, and Lloyd Read.
A quick thank you to Allen Berg whose programs have built the foundation of my coaching!
ONBOARD: Palomar Racing Wins E1 in the 2022 NASA Utah 6 Hour
Utah Motorsports Campus | July 2022
Here is the complete onboard from Palomar Racing’s #25 BMW E36 on route to winning the NASA Utah 6 Hour in E1. My stint in this car begins around the 4:45:00 mark. Click here for the link.
UP NEXT
My racing calendar for September is looking like the busiest of my year.
From September 2-4th, I will race in the World Racing League series at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) for Chattanooga Tourenwagen in their GP2-class BMW E46. The race’s 8 + 8 Hour format in the humid Virginia climate will certainly be a challenge. Having won this same event last year, I’m thrilled to join this Tennessee-based group and aid their ambitions of taking the top podium step.
From September 9-11th, I will reconvene with Palomar Racing as we compete in the US Touring Car Championship event alongside INDYCAR at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Nik Romano and I will pilot the #25 and #24 BMW E36’s (respectively) as this event serves as the ‘warm-up’ before NASA National Championships.
From September 15-18th, I will contend for the ST5 national championship during NASA Championships at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in the #24 Palomar Racing BMW E36 M3. On Monday September 19th, Palomar Racing will enter both #24 and #25 in the 6.5 hour Round 5 of the NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship. I’m expecting to pilot both cars during the enduro as we bid for E2 and E1 victories.
Expect all major sessions of the US Touring Car Championship and NASA National Championship weekends to be livestreamed onto the ‘Palomar Racing’ channel on YouTube. Subscribe and click the bell icon to be notified when we go live.
This year’s season wouldn’t be possible without our partners. Thank you Andy Anderson and the rest of Palomar Solar and Roofing. Partners in FastSideways, Apex Race Parts, BimmerWorld, AGA Tools, Toyo Tires, Motion Control Suspension, Swift Springs, DG Spec, Red Line Oil, Frozen Rotors, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, and others help make the ‘Palomar Racing 2022 Challenge’ possible.
Photography in this update by Chances Hales, Mike Anderson.
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 - 08/23/2022
