MATT MILLION’S MAY UPDATE: POLE, PODIUM IN WILLOW SPRINGS 4-HOUR & FUN COACHING EXPERIENCES
May 21st, 2021 - Willow Springs, CA | Photos by Herb Lopez
Hello! This month’s update focuses on a productive, tire-cording podium finish at NASA WERC Round 3 at Willow Springs, where myself and Peter Oneppo took the GOneppo Racing Spec E46 to a third straight class podium amidst a long 4-hour into the night. Also reflected on is unexpectedly coaching a friend and sampling his fantastic Spec Boxster along with some updates on what’s up next.
A quick catch-up; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 21-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and college student from San Marcos, California. I’ve been racing since the age of five spending eight consecutive years competing in karts. In 2014, I transitioned to sports cars in Spec Miata at age 14 finding success in the Mazda Motorsports ladder through Teen Mazda Challenge up to wins in the semi-pro Spec MX-5 Challenge in 2018. In 2019, I became a 25 Hours of Thunderhill class winner and in 2020 I achieved a long-held aspiration of racing touring cars in Germany. For 2021, my racing season has become NASA’s Western Endurance Racing Championship (WERC) as I continue full-time university studies hoping to eventually move into professional sports car racing or similar in the future.
I thoroughly enjoy sharing my experiences as a young racer through these reports with hopes you guys can take away some value from following along. Thank you for the support and recommend these to a friend (if they’d be interested!)
Setting the Stage
After coming within seconds of an E2 class win alongside Peter Oneppo for GOneppo Racing in Round 2 at the Buttonwillow 3h, we knew the possibility existed to go after the series’ most competitive title if we had a strong next round. That next round came five weeks later at Willow Springs with a twist. Still starting in daylight and ending late at night, this time we’d be racing a 4-hour which called for two pit stops and the potential for tire changes. Another reason why this series is appealing; with 4 of the 6 rounds running into darkness combining race lengths from three to six hours, the variety allows for different approaches (not to mention hours of unique night racing).
To restate a few points from last month’s update, being the endurance driver for GOneppo this season has become my main 2021 focus for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it keeps me in the cockpit and competing competitively on a semi-regular basis. While I’d absolutely love to be proving myself in SRO/IMSA or European championships, the budget to do so is out of reach currently so to keep racing and learning is better than sitting home! The E2 category in NASA WERC is becoming more competitive than it ever has been. Any small setback or be lapping off the pace and expect not to be winning or on the podium!
Second, the Spec E46 platform is a great all-rounder in terms of performance, chassis dynamics, and challenge. The class we compete in is full of these cars which makes it feel like endurance spec racing. Last, being with GOneppo has provided me a cool experience of autonomy in formulating race plans, crew roles, setup, and essentially helping figure out how to keep improving and win this championship!
I’ve made it clear to myself, and hopefully others can see it as well, that any smaller series or team I’m fortunate enough to race with in grassroots motorsport is treated with the same commitment and dedication as if it were professional. The way I view it, if I’m not using the chances I have now to prepare myself for when pro racing become a reality then I won’t be ready when those days come. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, right?
Welcome to Willow Springs, Round 3 of 6
Iconic Willow Springs. A circuit many from Southern California have turned laps on for multiple decades. Arrived Friday morning for this one-day event greeted by high winds. We didn’t plan on a big testing program, simply just get both myself and Peter a good warm-up and collect baseline data. In my years around Willow Springs, I’ve never felt winds this strong.The entry of T8 was so vicious I nearly understeered straight off the circuit in the outlap to then receive snap oversteer in the middle of T9. Fortunately it died down before qualifying because that wasn’t very pleasant!
Our competition for this round was strong as well. Notably, three other Spec E46’s came with winning potential; the #11 Racewerkz entry which succeeded at Buttonwillow, #189 Bealeocity Motorsports entry with friend and pro driver John Capestro-DuBets in the lineup, and the points leading #88 Bitteracing entry that has become our championship rival. In total, 9 cars made up our class for this round.
Qualifying
Also for the second time, I had the pleasure of qualifying the car. The task was slightly different here; 5:00pm marked the start of a combined 30-minute practice/qualifying where teams could freely work pit stops. This didn’t sway us from our strategy for pole position! Be on grid early, build the right gap, and set one flying lap at optimal tire conditions before reaching traffic. Timing and scoring difficulties delayed the session and our persistence to be ready early paid off; everyone came off the pit lane in a line.
The calculations ran through my mind; installed was new Toyo Tires rubber, a 30lbs ballast for post-race weight security and a full fuel load (to be prepared for the 20-minute turnaround after the session). The GOneppo machine was as heavy and grippy as possible. Knowing I’d have just one try after a slow outlap to build heat into the tires, my commitment had to be 100% while understanding the handling would be totally foreign than in practice. Cresting T7 on the outlap, Peter informed me the last car had left pit lane. I held off until T8 to begin attacking. We timed it right!
The lap was good. Certainly there was more pace to extract as I compensated for the weight, but it felt good given the variables. Crossed the line as faster traffic passed from behind and slower traffic was ahead. 1:32:54. 1.7s better than I managed in the windy practice session. I thought it could be enough for pole but regardless that was the only flyer I was attempting! These tires had to go 4 hours around the most abrasive track we race on. Unstrapping at the trailer, timing showed our competition got within three tenths and couldn’t improve. GOneppo Racing on pole again! Absolutely love these situations. One lap to lock in and make it count!
You can watch my driver’s eye from qualifying by clicking here. It was a stable and precise lap, not the most wild to watch but quick enough to put us on pole!
The Race
Peter would again take the opening stint as he did last month for strategic reasons. He’d pit at or after the 1-hour-30-minute mark using up all 16 gallons of fuel then driver change during the first stop at sunset and set me up for a one-stop plan during my 2-hour-30-minute run.
The dynamic between us has developed its fun, productive moments. Putting him on class pole for the second time has encouraged growth on his opening stint management. It’s a little added incentive to stay up and fighting from the top! He started P8 of 33 overall.
He got a brilliant jump and pulled out a gap on second place. For a while, he was making this look easy. Though we surely weren’t under the illusion. Before long the #11 Racewerkz Spec E46 had climbed the field to pass us after 15 minutes as they started with their quickest driver. Not a big worry. As long as we maintained on the same lap and matched their pit calls, no doubt I could contend in the night.
Our crew consisted of fellow racers Eirik as crew chief and Kartik as the first fueler alongside our experienced fuel man Andrew. For a group assembled on short notice, they each did a fantastic job working efficient and clean leaving the ultimate outcome on myself and Peter.
Exceeding our fuel window, Peter came in on target and on the lead lap. Driver change was clean and not rushed as the fuel would take a little over one minute. I knew this would be a long double stint but eager to adapt with the car’s condition and play our hand toward the finish.
Didn’t take but a single lap to understand this wasn’t the car I drove in qualifying! The tires had far more wear than expected as we approached half distance and I’m told to conserve them as much as possible. Thus my first goal is established; extract the most pace while keeping away from excessive tire slip (sliding the rear, pushing the front). Willow Springs has become the ‘cheese grater’ of circuits on the West Coast with the long corners compounded with an increasingly rough surface. With a high average speed, saving tires and maintaining quick laps isn’t a simple puzzle.
The Spec E46 benefits from a decent degree of rear slip, a driving style I couldn’t utilize right now. Averaging 1:35’s was slightly better than our competitors also starting to conserve. Small gains now could lead to a big payoff in 2 hours.
Within 20 minutes, the sky tinted orange faded to black and I was settled. With no truly slow corners, managing traffic here is high risk and high reward. Slingshot around a Miata in T9 and gain big time on a competitor forced to wait, but fail to spot the race-leading prototype in the same corner and it very well could be a short evening. This first multi-class experience here reminded me a bit of Le Mans with all the speed and ‘straightaway chess’ passing cars.
For the majority of my race I was devoid of a proper in-class podium battle. Occasionally I’d come across an E2 car down the order, but between the our various strategies I didn’t run across our main three rivals often unfortunately! That’s when it gets crucial to refocus on minimal time loss through traffic and make the most of solitary laps. This became exponentially more difficult as suddenly all left-side grip vanished and had to manage a very tricky car. 10 laps of fighting traction and I called the first feeling of fuel starvation to the crew.
Pitting that lap for my only scheduled fuel stop, the damage was clear. Both left-side tires were shredding themselves to bits. Originally we thought one tire was all we might have to change in this race, not two! Per E2 rules, only one tire can be changed in the hot pits per stop. I’d have to make an unscheduled stop to replace the other which cost us easily two minutes (a little over one lap). Other teams faced similar struggles but made decisions to replace them earlier during the first fuel stop would put us on catch-up!
Initially a bummer to fall behind, once the second tire was fitted it felt like an entirely new race. Honestly, I couldn’t believe the difference! The performance in replacing them along with a bit of electrolytes and an urgency to gain back time lost resurged my confidence. With a bit more ‘belief’ to add to my challenge, I entered my sharpest flow of the evening in the final 45 minutes.
The pace I could set earlier was good but now everything clicked on a different intensity. I found a way to gain 1-2 seconds per lap consistently into the 1:33’s and 1:34’s, a good amount up on our rivals. T2 far more entry speed, entry of T3 deeper with more precision, exit of T4 crisper, T9 became wider and later, eyes further, air cooler. A mission to finish strong. Those final laps raised the spirit and enthusiasm of my own performance. Imperative to end off on a strong personal satisfaction of giving it your best!
The potential we had was obvious in the final three laps; spotting the tail of #88 Bitteracing and catching rapidly. Crossing the checkered directly behind but realizing our extra stop meant it would’ve only have been to unlap ourselves. We finished P3 of 9 in the E2 class, P9 overall. Still, satisfying it was to see that the car’s pace never faltered in 4 hours of racing. It came down to tire life and strategy, along with long-duration confidence to hold the pace. Endurance racing is a game of costs and benefits, conservation and flat-out, risks and rewards. Not the win we were capable of, but fantastic to share the podium with Peter once again and a reminder you’ve got to love the great and less-than-great days in this sport. The momentum in our small program is growing!
Do check out the complete onboard video of my 2+ hour night stint by clicking here. It’ll give you a better sense of everything discussed! Also posted on the Matt Million Racing channel on YouTube is a 10-minute driver’s eye highlight which you can view by clicking here. Not enough? Here’s a link to our race from onboard the livestreaming camera which features a cockpit and rearview camera angle along with a speedometer (quite cool!)
Weekend Reflections
Overall, we executed a clean race and pushing a pace easily matching or exceeding the leaders. Proud of it! The decision to pull me in for the unplanned rear tire change was a tough one for Peter with hindsight telling us we could’ve replaced it during our driver change stop. But that’s endurance racing. So many variables in play that to miss one should be expected in a developing team. Taking it as a learning experience and ensuring that fate will not follow us next month in the Utah 6 Hour, I can assure you!
Rather interestingly, lap 134 of the 136 laps we completed was only two tenths off my personal best in the race of a 1:33:8 set on lap 125. I believe it speaks nicely to continual improvement both during the races and behind-the-scenes; I was standing on the podium reminiscing over little gains to be better next time! Being this was the first time I’d driven Willow Springs in the dark I kept working on myself to look further, balance weight better, pass traffic sooner, carry in more speed to a particular corner, etc. Great experience nonetheless and I know Utah will be epic!
From Willow Springs to Buttonwillow
With the NASA WERC race occurring on Friday evening this time, a weekend clash with my commitment to help coach friend Sean in PCA Golden Gate Region Spec 911 was able to mostly be avoided. While my role with him and Aether Motorsports relies on Friday testing to set laps and work data, I’d have to rely on my many years around Buttonwillow to jump into the team Saturday morning without the extra day!
With only a few hours sleep from the prior night’s race and plenty of caffeine, I was driven through the day knowing a nice bed awaited me that evening. However it was just before that comfortable night’s sleep while having dinner with our small group at Catrina’s Mexican in Wasco when my ears perked up. On Sunday morning, I’d be tasking with something I wasn’t planning to do; drive and teach!
Matt, friend and former teammate of mine in winning 25 Hours of Thunderhill who competed against me in the prior night’s race, was there to race his Spec Boxster. It was his first time in this car since March 2020 and he made a clear desire of wanting to get back up to speed and get the mind back into a sprint racing rhythm. After a discussion, I was offered to run the car in Sunday warm-up to offer a second opinion on the setup and use my data to find trends we could learn from to make him faster. It’s incredible how a small opportunity can refocus your entire outlook on a weekend! I wanted to give Matt a professional job, work hand-and-hand on improvements, and help his confidence rise for his Sunday races.
I arrived to the BR Racing garage early the next morning. Having an actual race engineer to help with seat fitment and be on radio with was an awesome extra which made the situation feel a bit more special. My sole objective was to be professional, deliver a quality session and assessment, and make sure he had tangible points to improve upon for his races through theoretic talks and data. Quite fun!
You can click the link here or view the video posted in this article to watch a few laps from my session, I recommend it! I didn’t fit well in the seat, ran on old scrub tires, and had never driven an actual Spec Boxster before. But once I saw the MoTeC dash light up and popped the steering wheel on, I was quietly giddy with excitement. Great little session it was. The Boxster’s mid-engine weight transfer is something to constantly keep in mind especially not being accustomed to it. Easy to trail-brake too far into the corner and loose the rear. The throttle is your friend to settle it and straighten up, so throttle aggression (while being smooth onto the pedals, obviously) is needed to extract a bit more from the lap. It was useful also to have fellow Boxster racer Mark out playing with me and allow for a quicker get-up-to-speed! My times were a couple seconds up on Matt’s best and a few tenths shy of the pole time set in Spec Boxster that day. The feeling took me back to my Spec Miata days… only with an awesome data dash system, a smooth gearbox and steering rack feel, and more horsepower! Awesome fun to wield around my favorite Southern California circuit Buttonwillow.
Thank you so much for the offer to help, Matt! Glad we were able to extract quality data, have good chats, and see you improve in the races with an epic battle in the end. Made my job as a last-minute coach feel very proud and privileged.
Because I’m running out of space in this report, I’ll just leave one last video link; setting data laps at Willow Springs in an exhilarating 1986 Porsche 911 3.8L racing car built to POC GT3 regulations. Had the chance to coach my friend in his fantastic 911 once again and it’s an absolute joy to drive. Check it out by clicking here, it might make you remanence on the ‘old days’ of racing!
What’s Next
The next stop in NASA Western Endurance Racing Championship is Round 4 of 6; the championship’s annual trip east for NASA Utah 6 Hour in the evening of Saturday, July 31st taking place at Utah Motorsports Campus. I will again compete with GOneppo Racing alongside Peter Oneppo and an undetermined third driver. The race will again be livestreamed onboard our #45 BMW Spec E46 at GOneppo Racing on YouTube. Click this link to visit the page and subscribe so you don’t miss it. If you can’t tune in live, subscribe to Matt Million Racing by clicking here and you’ll be notified once highlights are posted from the event. Be sure to download the Racehero.io app for your device to follow live timing during the race.
With no race currently on my calendar for June, I might have my ‘June Update‘ as a 2021 review-so-far and preview the next six months of my racing. While each trip to the track this year has varied between racing, coaching, or supporting friends, I’ve been fortunate enough to somehow drive 12 different race cars across 7 circuits in California in between my full load of college classes! It’s rather surreal how five months ago I didn’t have much, if any, firm racing plans. Now with a short summer break, I’m able to breathe and realize how far I’ve grown as a driver and as a person. I’m in this journey for the long game, I enjoy it too much not to be!
In Closing
A few quick thank-you’s; to Peter Oneppo, who I’ve now spent my last two races with and am excited to continue toward the front next month in the ‘Utah 6 Hour’! To my parents of course, who’s undivided support of this often tricky motorsport career path is always so appreciated and special to have supporting me. And to Matt and Sean who have graciously allowed me into their racing programs and given me the freedom to help find ways to do it better. Thanks also to Herb Lopez for the awesome photography!
Finally, thank you to everyone who follows my journey. Whether it be through these reports, my social channels, or saying hello. Providing value is of crucial importance for me. If these reports provide value of enjoyment or potentially if you interested in helping me step into professional racing, please get in touch! Stay up-to-date on mattmillionracing.com and the social media links below and until next month… cheers!
“The race is long - to finish first, first you must finish” - Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
Matt Million
San Marcos, CA - 6/02/21