News / Monthly Updates
Birmingham, AL | September 6-8. 2024
Coming soon…
Matt wants to thank AutoTechnic Racing’s Rob and Charlie for the commitment to him over the past year.
Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event and other pages on mattmillionracing.com.
Birmingham, AL | March 1-3rd, 2024
Round 2 of 10 for the 2024 World Racing League season took place at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Matt Million competed in the Palomar Racing #38 BMW E36 in the GP1 class alongside codrivers Ryan Keeley and Sean Milburn. Together, they extended their class championship lead with a competitive 3rd place in Saturday’s 8 hour and, after a technical issue in the last hour, 5th in Sunday’s 7 Hour.
With 14 cars entered in GP1 and 50+ entries between all five WRL classes, the 15 combined hours of racing saw fast action and strategy throughout. After a double podium in the first round at Eagles Canyon, two more results at the sharp end of the field have kept Million and the team leading the GP1 championship.
Saturday’s 8 Hour started on an extremely wet track after thunderstorms plagued practice and qualifying on Friday. Million started the #38 from 6th in class. Although the track was wet, the rain had stopped and the surface began to change into ‘drying’ conditions and soon a full 'dry line’ by the end of Million’s opening double stint. With the car’s setup ultimately geared toward dry conditions, Million played a patient game to remain around 6th for the opening hour before rapidly picking up time as the dry track formed. He moved the #38 Palomar Solar BMW E36 into 2nd place, and briefly the lead, just before the first round of pit stops.
From there, team regular Keeley took over for a full double stint and contested around 3rd for much of the two-and-a-half hours. Excellent stops from the Palomar Racing team kept the team fighting between 2nd and 3rd by the time Milburn took over from Keeley. A newcomer to the team but not to touring car racing, he kept the #38 in a competitive position during his stint. Million took over for the final hour on a well timed pit stop that put them within seconds of the #44 PC Racing BMW E46 for 2nd place. Million lacked the ultimate pace to compete, but fought as hard as possible to sustain 3rd place on the day.
Million started Sunday’s 7 hour from the 4th position since he set the classes’ 4th fastest lap the prior day. Within two corners, Million took control of the race by passing for the lead with a fantastic start. He held 2nd place for the majority of his opening stint as the #44 PC Racing entry was too quick to hold back. Million describes his attempts to hold onto 2nd as ‘one of the best stints he’s ever driven’ as he fought off multiple GP1 front runners for the position.
Milburn jumped aboard during the first round of stops to complete his stint before the mandatory 1-hour Sunday ‘quiet hour’, doing a great job. Keeley put in his usual ‘fuel saving masterclass’ to extend his double stint to two-and-a-half hours yet again once the race got back underway. With about an hour to go, Palomar Racing was in a fight for 2nd again but this time with #150 ASM Honda S2000. Million was back in and on the charge when a sudden electrical issue killed the car’s main power. The #38 was towed behind-the-wall with 40 minutes remaining. Although they briefly got back on track, the issue soon came back and Palomar retired the car in the final half hour. Still, a remarkable day up to that point meant they’d still finish 5th of 14 in the car having built up a sizable gap.
It was another impressive weekend for the Palomar Racing team as they continue to make strides and become known as a GP1 front runner. To remain in podium contention for 14 of 15 hours and lead the race on a few occasions, as well as have zero pit lane or on-track penalties, is another huge step in the right direction following 2023.
Matt wants to thank his co-driver Ryan Keeley and Sean Milburn for a great weekend with their camaraderie and support. Thank you to Andy and Mike Anderson with the support of Palomar Solar and Roofing, of which none of this season would’ve been possible without.
Special thank you’s as well to the crew, including the driver’s and the owner’s, along with Blair, Grant, BimmerSpeed (Ryan, Mike, Pete, Mark), Strom Motorsports, Mashore Autobody, and many others who have helped our season.
Matt wants to thank all the volunteers and corporate partners who support Palomar Racing. The primary support of Palomar Solar and Roofing along with support by Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Ferodo Racing, AP / Essex Part Services, Yokohama Tires, BimmerWorld, Strom Motorsports, BIMMERSPEED, FastSideways, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, Swift Springs, MCS, AGA Tools, SignArt Graphix, and others.
Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event and other pages on mattmillionracing.com.
Photography by Sam of Low Tide Motorsports & Scottie Elkins
Alton, VA | July 7-9th, 2023
Palomar Racing’s fourth weekend in their 2023 World Racing League campaign saw mixed fortunes with an overall positive outcome. The team saw the checkered flag with both #14 and #15 BMW E36 GP1 cars in both the 9 and 7 hour races run on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Piloting the #14 this weekend was Matt Million, Nik Romano, and Austin Varco. The #15 was piloted by Ryan Keeley, Mickey Miller, and Connor Lydon.
Friday’s practice and qualifying set the pair up toward the rear of the field. Car #14 would start 7th with the #15 starting 9th from 13. Overall, improvements done the cars had helped at some tracks while others still struggled.
Saturday’s results saw the #15 take the team’s second podium of the season with a 3rd in GP1 after outlasting many troubled competitors. The #14, although with a strong first few hours, had electrical troubles see it miss a few hours of the race to finish 10th of 13 in class. On Sunday, the #14 came home a respectable 5th and the #15 finished right behind in 6th from 13 starters.
Matt Million contested the first two and a half hours of Saturday’s race in the #14 BMW E36 as well as the opening two and a half hours of Sunday’s race.
“This past weekend at VIR was a very good step in the right direction for Palomar Racing. Coming off the back of Road America where we only turned five racing laps, we needed to get back on form with reliability and consistency. I’m super happy both engines went through the weekend with no issues. Although the #14 had electrical gremlins which cost it 60% of Saturday’s race, everything else worked well and we finished Sunday strong. Our switch to Yokohama Tire and their AD09 compound was a massive improvement in grip and drivability.”
“I’m super happy with how the Palomar guys came together this weekend. A 7-week break was nice to end at one of the best circuits around. Again, to be the only team and group of people coming from West of the Rockies is a statement of intent for building our team into a better operation. It hasn’t happened quickly or easily, but we continue to sort out the car’s speed for GP1 as well as ironing out management challenges as a small group.”
“In terms of my on-track performance, I’m quite pleased. I stuck to the margins and drove hard as I could to stay within some sort of distance to the leaders. Our car is still unoptimized for the class and it shows, but I’m still giving it everything I’ve got behind the wheel! We dealt with electrical issues Saturday and a faulty power steering Sunday which took out some confidence from my stints. But these challenges are part of being a professional driver. Some weekends everything is perfect, others are not and it’s on you to manage it as best as possible.”
“I’m excited for the quick turn-around to Road Atlanta. We will be bringing in some updates to hopefully bring us closer in pace to the GP1 leaders. I haven’t been to Road Atlanta since 2018 and cannot wait to revisit one of my favorite circuits in the country!”
Million will next compete for Palomar Racing at Road Atlanta from July 28-30th in the World Racing League 9 + 7 Hour event. He is scheduled to drive the #14 Palomar Solar BMW E36 M3 in GP1 for the rest of the season.
Matt Million wants to thank all the volunteers and corporate partners who support Palomar Racing. The primary support of Palomar Solar and Roofing along with support by Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Ferodo Racing, AP / Essex Part Services, Yokohama Tires, BimmerWorld, Strom Motorsports, Bullet Performance, FastSideways, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, Swift Springs, MCS, AGA Tools, Rugged Radios, SignArt Graphix, and others.
Look for Matt’s ‘July Update’ to be published by the end of this month. Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event.
Photography by Chance Hales.
Birmingham, AL | March 3-5th, 2023
Palomar Racing’s debut in the 2023 World Racing League season was a success. The team saw the checkered flag in both the 9 and 7 hour races run on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
A 3rd place finish on Saturday and 6th place on Sunday out of 16+ entries in a deep GP1 field was ‘mission accomplished’ for the team based in Escondido, California.
Matt Million contested the final three hours of Saturday’s race in the #14 BMW E36 as well as the opening three hours of Sunday’s race. His teammates were Nik Romano and Ryan Keeley who completed the rest of the ten hours.
“Overall, it was a very helpful and informative WRL debut for our team. It went about as good as it realistically could have! We qualified 9th for both days which was representative of the car’s ultimate pace. We are certainly not a GP1 front-runner yet, with a lot of planned car updates to get us to the sharp end as soon as next month. But what we did prove is that we are a super competitive organization and belong here. To reach 3rd place is a huge testament to the team’s clean pit stops, zero penalties, and long run consistency/pace/skill of our driver team. The 6th on Sunday was also indicative of this but the front-runners had a few less mishaps.”
“I’m super happy with how the Palomar guys came together this weekend. We had 12+ crew members (mostly) flying in from California and a semi that had a 2,000 mile haul. Already on the back foot when we arrived, a lengthy tech inspection and poor weather meant we only had a single hour of Friday practice. Most of the team hadn’t been to a WRL event before and they all did fantastic on the stops and preparation. Proud of this team as the single West Coast ‘long-haul’ group at the weekend!”
“In terms of my on-track performance, I’m quite happy. I didn’t miss more than a handful of apexes through over six hours of racing and led the car in pace and consistency. I truly felt like there wasn’t much more to maximize on my end beside small nit-picking items. Ran a fast pace while being extremely heads-up and capitalizing on traffic all while avoiding unnecessary risk. Barber Motorsports Park is an absolutely phenomenal venue, what a fun circuit! The elevation changes are so sharp with long, fast, ribboning, unique corners. A top three circuit on my list now definitely. Can’t wait to come back!”
“I’m excited to get started next month at Mid-Ohio. We have a lot of planned updates to the car which can hopefully cut the pace deficit down to the class leaders. We didn’t have much for them this event but through our determination and consistency, we out-performed most people’s expecations. Looking forward to my first trip to Ohio!”
Million will next compete for Palomar Racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from April 7-9th in the World Racing League 8 + 8 Hour event. He is scheduled to drive the #14 Palomar Solar BMW E36 M3 in GP1 for the rest of the season.
Matt Million wants to thank all the volunteers and corporate partners who support Palomar Racing. The primary support of Palomar Solar and Roofing along with additional support by Apex Race Parts, AP Racing Brakes, Ferodo Racing, Essex Part Services, Continental Tires, BimmerWorld, BIMMERSPEED, FastSideways, Enphase Energy, Panasonic Solar, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Swift Springs, MCS, AGA Tools, Rugged Radios, SignArt Graphix, TrackDayTire.com, and others.
Look for Matt’s ‘March Update’ to be published by the end of this month. Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event.
Photography by Chance Hales.
