Matt Million’s March Update: Podium at Sonoma and Unexpected Chances
March 28th, 2021 - Sonoma, CA
Hello! This month’s update reflects on a late call-up to race the NASA WERC season opener at Sonoma Raceway and finish 2nd in class, as well as touching on what’s happened in my racing since February. I then expand on my racing outlook for the year.
A quick catch-up; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 20-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and college student from San Marcos, California. I’ve been competing since the age of five spending eight years racing in karts. In 2014, I transitioned to cars in Spec Miata at age 14 finding success in the Mazda Motorsports ladder through Teen Mazda Challenge up to semi-pro Spec MX-5 Challenge in 2018. In 2019, I became a 25 Hours of Thunderhill class winner and I achieved a long-held goal of racing touring cars in Germany during 2020. For 2021, my racing plans remain fluid as I continue full-time university but aim to compete in more pro-am sports car events throughout the year.
I love sharing my experiences as a young racer through these reports with hopes that those who read it can take away value or enjoyment from following along. Thank you for the support!
ARRIVING AT SONOMA
Arriving at Sonoma Raceway on the Thursday evening ahead of the NASA NorCal weekend, I wasn’t planning to race. My main role was data and coaching support for endurance team Technik Competition and their Porsche Boxster competing in the 2-hour-30-minute first round of NASA’s Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC). Of course I wanted to be racing! But as no clear opportunities with teams presented themselves and an effort to save finances for bigger races this year, I decided being in the paddock to serve a role was better than sitting home!
On the Wednesday before, I reached out to a fellow San Diego racer Mike Beale who I noticed signed up for the Spec E46 sprint races and the WERC event as a solo driver. I offered to give coaching help for the test day if wanted. He mentioned he wasn’t able to attend Friday, but his E46 would be there and I was free to do laps for collecting data on setup and driving tips for when he arrived. Not a typical coaching day, but a unique chance to help build his notebook (and take my first laps around Sonoma since 2017!)
Thus, I now became driver support for two entries! With the helping hands of fellow Spec E46 friends, I was able to run his car for three sessions and effectively be my own engineering and pit crew for Friday. Thankfully, the Technik team’s Boxster was running great and the driver’s were pleased with the day which allowed me more time to extract and dial in this Spec E46.
AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY
This weekend would be special in another way; also entered in the WERC race was a mighty Mercedes-AMG GT4 from team JMF Motorsports by Conquest Racing West. Two months prior, I had been selected to take part in a 2-day driver search initiative with the group at Buttonwillow Raceway. It was perhaps the most incredible racing opportunity of my life. Being included among six of the country’s most deserving young drivers for a chance to join the team and race their AMG GT4 on route toward professional sports car racing.
I have so many humbling, encouraging, positive reflections from the experience. How a single ‘out of the blue’ phone call led to stepping into a powerful homologation racing machine with a professional team for the first team… in less than a one month span. Thinking ‘there’s no way I can prepare in time’ to then perform at a level higher than I ever thought possible, caught between reality and the realization of my wildest professional endurance racing aspirations.
If you are interested to read more, visit my article on mattmillionracing.com. I want to again thank everyone involved in providing me the opportunity. It was nice to quickly chat with all of you in the Sonoma paddock, hope your first event went well!
Now to continue with the report..
SATURDAY
Saturday morning at Sonoma was spent getting Mike up-to-speed for his sprint races, the afternoon spent conducting driver and fuel stop practice with Technik Competition, and at 5:00pm I found myself assisting in the 50-minute WERC qualifying session for both!
As I find myself not having the resources to race as much as I’d like, finding ways to contribute (with data, coaching, spotting, being a helping hand, etc.) has been a valuable way to keep active while understanding aspects of the sport better. Never know how one seemingly small skill you pick up in the paddock will impact your future career, or how a single smile and handshake can come around later on!
While Mike planned to drive the 2-hour-30-minute event solo, he was reminded of how physical the Sonoma circuit can be. The Spec E46 could last about 1-hour-25-minutes with its roughly 16 gallon fuel capacity, after which the pit stop could only refuel 10 gallons (which is the maximum per E2 class refueling regulations). If he felt too fatigued to continue at a competitive pace, I was asked to be ready as reserve driver to finish the final hour. ‘Man, I might have a chance to race’, I thought to myself. I’d be getting to bed early ready to perform if called upon!
I’ve had a mentality shift on my racing career since I began college, as racing became more difficult to pursue. Putting on a fireproof driving kit to compete in race cars is a privilege and not an expectation. If situation or opportunity arises, you must ‘flip the switch’ and compete at a high level to extract as much learning as possible from it. Because who knows the next time you get to apply it! Still unsure if I’d be in the race tomorrow, I was ready.
SUNDAY - RACE DAY
Beginning bright and early at 8:00am, this was to be a different endurance challenge for teams and drivers. Typically, each race is held in the evening with day fading to night. While track conditions might start slippery or ‘greasy’, the darkness brought cooler temperatures and a cooler racing surface to compromise low visibility. This race would see drivers manage the slickest conditions of the day on a cold, damp surface similar to the ambient weather in Wine Country.
I climbed up Sonoma’s massive grandstands to spot for Mike’s opening stint. Fully suited and booted, ready if needed! 30 cars took the green flag across five classes, 11 of which in the E2 class that both Mike and Technik Competition competed in. Success in this class wasn’t easy as teams were well prepared. Technik ran away in 2nd as Mike maintained about 7th through his stint.
I made my way to our pit box after half an hour to coordinate stops. Luckily we avoided ‘double stacking’ (both cars pitting at the same time) since the Boxster was scheduled in just past the first hour, earlier than Mike. Their stop and driver change was nearly perfect, but got hit with a 5-minute penalty for a small fuel spill. Soon I got the radio call from Mike that had my headset flying off and helmet on. Pitting in 10 minutes to have me finish off the race! With many teams ahead making mistakes or serving penalties, he was up to 5th.
With no pre-rehearsed stop for our car, I stressed it didn’t matter loosing a few seconds as long as we did it calm and tidy. Took slightly longer than needed, but no speeding, no fuel spill, and a clean swap. I engaged third gear cresting out of the pit lane up to T2 still yanking tight my shoulder belts. Thinking to myself, ‘One hour to apply the lessons learned in adaptability’. Go time!
A bit of early confidence to feel the Toyo Proxes RR tires remained surprisingly fresh after the first stint. Important to sustain pace in a Spec E46 is keeping the rear tires underneath you and not ‘overheating’ through slides at corner entry, which isn’t easy in a relatively large and lively BMW 3-series! Through discussing data with Mike, I also noticed how the torque is a valuable asset. Coming from Spec Miata’s, I was accustomed to revving the engine high and dropping gears when possible. In this car around Sonoma, holding 4th instead of 3rd in T6 and 3rd instead of 2nd at T11 turned out to be just as quick (and less shifts)!
And with that, set my best times of the weekend after two laps. Right on pace with the leader. Maybe we had a shot!
Around six laps in, a bright green E46 came out from pit lane. 3rd place was in sight, but not without a fight! A couple laps of battling and my move came inside of T7 capitalizing as he ran wide, utilizing the passing JMF Motorsports AMG. Grinning ear to ear at hopping into a door-to-door race, the best was still to come.
The class-leading Bittneracing E46 left the pits directly in front of me with rapid Shaun Webster behind the wheel. This was for lead, I thought! What followed next was easily the most fun, competitive, rewarding 20-minute battles I’ve had for a long while. Nose to tail, back and forth, late braking and defensive moves, timing slower and faster traffic to gain an edge. I nearly pulled the perfect T7 crossover but I couldn’t make it stick. Ultimately the move was made as I picked a better path through traffic on the front straightaway. I love endurance racing.
By this point, we both lost track of time and objective. He was informed by his crew that I was one lap behind and he pulled back to save fuel. Noticing this, I assessed my own fuel situation. Having driven the car to fuel starvation on test day, a quick realization occurred that there was no way I’d cross the finish without a ‘splash and dash’ at this pace!
Channeling my inner Scott Dixon, this was a great chance to apply efficient fuel saving. Focusing on short-shifting and releasing the throttle earlier to carry momentum in a bid for fuel economy. Saving fuel isn’t the challenge, doing it while maintaining a similarly rapid pace is! Downhill sections meant less throttle and more coasting, braking needed to be later as I wasn’t carrying the same speed, mid-corners had to be quicker and sustain more momentum, and so on.
30-minutes of performing this dance and I managed to stay within a second or two of my target pace. Toward the end I got a feeling I saved too much and leaped to set fast times with five minutes remaining. It wasn’t too much. It was spot-on! Rounding T11 coming to checkered, the thirsty E46 gasped and RPM’s dropped. On fumes, I had crossed the line to take 2nd place! An exciting balance of quick laps, tight racing, multiclass challenges, and being my own fuel engineer. Planning to have onboard posted on my YouTube page shortly!
Reflections
Ultimately, I learned it’s usually better to have one main focus for a racing weekend (as it can be tough to balance two roles for two teams). But when opportunity presents itself, it’s worth the additional effort (and running around the paddock) to make the most of it! Thoroughly enjoyed.
It’s taught me also not being afraid to reach out and offer to help mutual friends and acquaintances in the sport. The way to establish a good reputation among the paddock is to be there, talk to people, show your passion, and deliver high level efforts!
Thank you Mike Beale for the chance to help coach and end up on the podium together. Hope you enjoyed the weekend as much as I did. Thank you also to Peter, Matt, and the rest at Technik Competition for giving me the flexibility to pursue this. Special thanks to Andrew and Owen for conducting our pit stop, this isn’t possible without you boys!
WHIRLWIND OF TRACK SUPPORT
Without this race, my March update would’ve been on driver support days (which has been fun, but not as exciting to write about!)
Through the benefits of online college and an expanding network in the paddock, I found myself in four different cars at four different circuits during March, make that eight cars on seven circuits counting February! Truly humbling to help these drivers make improvements, knowing that I still have plenty to learn myself.
On the prior weekend, I went to the NASA SoCal event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana to help some Spec E46 racers. Primarily working with GOneppo Racing, it was exciting to be a spotter as driver Peter moved from 6th to 3rd after discussing a little data. It was also a good chance to get comfortable in his car as we will be together in the second round of NASA WERC at Buttonwillow next month. I was able to run morning warm-up to set a data ‘reference lap’ around Auto Club Speedway roval, which you can watch the onboard video of by clicking here.
Three days before that, I had a unique day with a friend in his Porsche 911 GT3 RS around Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. After driving a handful of air-cooled 911’s recently, it was exhilarating to feel how far these rear-engine machines have come. A private track event with only a couple cars, we spent over two hours drilling the basics of pedal releases, steering inputs, and understanding the ‘limit’. Unbelievable performance for a car you can get groceries in. One cool experience to add in my notebook!
Earlier in the month, I was at Willow Springs assisting my friend Sean Neel set up his SP911 for this season in PCA Golden Gate Region. Definitely a ‘first’ for me to pull off track and watch snow fall from the sky!
While coaching and supporting isn’t the same as racing myself, it keeps me active and refining fundamentals along with building relationships. It’s made me more appreciative of the days I get to compete.
WHAT’S NEXT
On the immediate horizon is NASA’s Western Endurance Racing Championship Rd.2 at Buttonwillow Raceway. I’ll be partnered in the 3-hour race with Peter Oneppo in his BMW Spec E46 for GOneppo Racing. This series has become my racing home as of late with hours of competitive racing with the added challenges of endurance. I am hopeful to compete in all six rounds this season and look forward to them tremendously! The following event is 4 hour at Willow Springs in May, I hope to bring good news on that in my April update.
Beyond this, I’m working diligently on a potential return to Germany in 2021 but no guarantee it can happen this year. An ultimate endurance racing goal of mine is the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, a goal I hope to achieve sometime in the next few years. But in order to be eligible, I’ll need to complete multiple events around the circuit to gain experience and credentials. I might be finishing up college before heading toward that goal full time!
There are also some pro racing and scholarship opportunities in the U.S. that I am pursuing this year. I hope to have news on these soon. Stay updated by following my links below or visiting mattmillionracing.com/news.
Of course, if you’d like to know how you can be involved in my racing journey, please contact me directly at matt@mattmillionracing.com.
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone who follows my journey. Whether it be reading these reports, following my social media, or visiting my website at mattmillionracing.com. Reach out! It would mean a lot to hear from some of you.
Cheers, Matt Million
San Marcos, CA - 4/06/21