nasa werc

Race Report: E1 Class Win in NASA Utah 6 Hour for Million & Palomar Racing

Race Report: E1 Class Win in NASA Utah 6 Hour for Million & Palomar Racing

Tooele, UT | July 29-31st, 2022

Round 4 of 6 for NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship took Palomar Racing to Utah Motorsports Campus in late July. The NASA Utah 6 Hour has become a traditional race in this endurance championship; the longest event this team has faced to date.

Palomar Racing took on the challenge to run their #25 BMW E36 in the E1 class while running the #24 BMW E36 in the E2 class marking the first two-car operation for the team. The team would also enter Matt Million and Nik Romano into the regional ST4 and ST5 sprint races as well to gain further data on the cars.

Even as a first-time entrant in the E1 class, Palomar Racing took a closely contested victory from 8 competitors in the class whilst finishing 6th of 34 overall. Nik Romano started the race fast and clean, followed similarly by Ryan Bittner, Ryan Keeley, and Matt Million to finish. The car ran within the top three for much of the race, even with an apparent fuel mileage deficit. A penalty issued by the stewards for a small fuel spill in the final stop gave #25 a substantial setback. This was eventually overturned before the end of the race as Million charged to make up time.

This marks the second consecutive NASA Utah 6 Hour win for Million after his E2 victory last year for GOneppo Racing. Bittner, Keeley, Romano and Palomar Racing all became first-time winners of the event.

In the E2 class, Million qualified the #24 on pole with a class record. The race started with Million and ran in contention during the opening stints as he handed off to Lucas Weisenberg. An unfortunate shifter failure combined with a power loss issue meant the car required service behind-the-wall. After multiple attempts to get the car back into the race, third driver Sonny Watanasirisuk was able to finish 4th from 7 in the class.

Million’s next event with the team will be September 9-11th at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the US Touring Car Championship. The team will use this event as the warm-up for their main focus; NASA Nationals in ST4 and ST5 from September 15-18th. Million will contest the ST5 championship in the #24. Monday, September 19th will be the fifth round of NASA WERC as the team will again enter #24 in E2 and #25 in E1.

The ‘Palomar Racing E2/ST5 Challenge’ would not be possible without the following partners; Palomar Solar, Swift Springs, Motion Control Suspension, Toyo Tires, BimmerWorld, ApexRaceParts.com, FastSideways, AGA Tools, Hawk Performance, Frozen Rotors, and others.

Look for Matt Million’s ‘August Update’ to be published soon. Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event.

Million, Palomar Racing Win NASA WERC Rd.2 at Auto Club Speedway

Million, Palomar Racing Win NASA WERC Rd.2 at Auto Club Speedway

FONTANA, CA | 27 March 2022

Palomar Racing, with drivers Matt Million and Nik Romano, win the E2 category during the second round of 2022 NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship at Auto Club Speedway. The three hour race ran from 4:00PM to 7:00PM on Saturday, March 27th. The #25 Palomar Racing BMW E36 finished 1st of 6 in E2 and 13th of 39 overall. The team also won the NASA SoCal ST5 sprint race on Saturday with Million and finished second on Sunday with Romano.

Drivers Million and Romano delivered the second consecutive endurance win for the group’s #25 BMW E36 ST5/E2 car after winning the season opener at Willow Springs last month. Romano started the race from pole position in the E2 class and led for a majority of his fuel-stretching stint. Million took over past half distance during the only scheduled fuel stop and brought the car to the finish in 1st saving fuel during the stint to guarantee a one-stop strategy. The race ended 20 minutes early under full-course yellow conditions due to the event’s ambulance needing to deliver a spectator to a local hospital.

Palomar Racing completed 72 laps impressively only one lap behind the E1 class winner and ahead of the remaining nine E1 entries. The team faced E2 competition from HQ Autosport, Team SRC, and Technik Competition throughout the weekend. While many in E2 faced troubles, Palomar Racing ran mostly issue-free with no mechanical problems, no penalties, and a rapid pit stop under one minute.

“This was a team earned victory tonight! Nik carried out a beautiful first stint doing exactly what was needed to remain in P1 while not overly burning fuel and keeping the tires underneath him. We needed to push him as long as possible on fuel to make a one-stop strategy work. With the help of a couple early full-course yellows, we were easily able to hit our fuel targets and I took over with a little over one hour remaining. I decided to continue saving heaps of fuel, knowing we had a sizeable lead, to guarantee our strategy. In the end it worked! But I am left wanting more as my transition from fuel saving to maximum push at the end was cut short by the extended full-course yellow to finish.

But again, while Nik and I did our jobs, this was a Palomar Racing crew earned win. The car was running an entirely new suspension package with Motion Control Suspension dampers and Swift Springs to give us the mechanical grip we lacked. It made a tremendous drivability improvement combined the S52 powerplant and adjusted aerodynamics. We had no major mechanical hiccups the entire weekend, our strategy was top-notch in order to secure a win, and our pit stop was the cleanest and fastest ever performed at just under one minute for fuel and driver swap. Majors credits to Andy, Mike, Kevin, Blair, David, Dawson, and the rest of Palomar Racing whose practicality, positively, and work ethic to continue Palomar Racing’s competitive edge is absolutely awesome. We will be extremely well prepared for the rest of this season, the NASA Nationals, and NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill. I cannot wait. It is an honor to perform as a Palomar Racing core driver alongside Nik this year.

- Matt Million

Look for Matt Million’s ‘March Update’ to be published soon.

Million, Palomar Racing Win NASA WERC Season Opener in E2

Million, Palomar Racing Win NASA WERC Season Opener in E2 at Willow Springs with Double ST5 Wins

ROSAMOND, CA | 12 February 2022

Palomar Racing take 1st place in the E2 category during the season-opening 2022 NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship round at Willow Springs International Raceway. The 3.5 hour event ran from sunset to night on Saturday, February 12th. The team finished 1st of 6 in E2 and 6th of 25 overall. The team also won both NASA SoCal ST5 sprint races at the weekend.

Team drivers Matt Million and Nik Romano delivered the first endurance win for the group’s #25 BMW E36 ST5/E2 on debut. Romano started the race from pole position in the E2 class at 4:30 PM local time. Million took over at dusk during the first scheduled fuel stop just before halfway and took the finish.

While the challenge of making Palomar Racing’s NASA WERC debut was difficult enough, they faced a fierce battle from the veteran #72 MooreWood Creative BMW E46 squad during the race and ultimately finished on the same lap (118). An alternative tire change strategy put Palomar Racing a lap behind MooreWood Creative during part of the second half until a late unscheduled stop swung the race in favor of the #25 Palomar Racing entry.

“This is incredible. We showed up this weekend with almost a brand new car from the one we’ve been testing. Lots of new components had to get fitted in an extremely tight window to this race. If we ended the weekend within touching distance of the excellent MooreWood Creative team, it would’ve been mission accomplished for February. What actually happened was extraordinary. The combination of strong pace and fuel management between Nik (Romano) and I, a quicker and more reliable car than expected, well practiced pit stop procedures, crew excitement, and overall crew excitement for this debut put us in a position to capitalize on any faults from the competition. The stress of building this car/program from scratch in January has become raw potential. A serious and genuine thank you to Andy Anderson, Mike Anderson, Kevin Desirello, Blair Geil and the rest of Palomar Racing who saw the value of bringing me into their program. You should all be immensely proud and I’m eager to help push this program to new heights in NASA WERC, NASA ST5, NASA Championships, and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

- Matt Million

Look for Matt Million’s ‘February Update’ to be published before the end of this month.

For Inquiries…