Monthly Update

Matt’s 2023 May Update: Podium in Lucky Dog & Road America WRL ‘What Could’ve Been’

Matt’s 2023 May Update: Back on Podium in Lucky Dog & Road America WRL ‘What Could’ve Been’

San Marcos, CA | May 31st, 2023

In a quick newsletter this month, I tell the tales of two back-to-back race weekends.

The first was Lucky Dog Racing League’s annual visit to Willow Springs in early May. I’d join my friends Greg Gomolka, Ryan Keeley and Michael Omelko in Greg’s fantastic BMW E30 we refer to as the beloved ‘Green Machine’. The car had a lovely S52 powerplant for the first time in its history as we set sights on winning overall against a 60-car field! With eight racing hours on Saturday and seven on Sunday, we’d need to be both clean and fast to achieve the feat. It was a pleasure to return back to Lucky Dog, such an awesome entry-level endurance series with great atmosphere and its own set of challenges!

The second race weekend was back competing for Palomar Racing alongside my codrivers Nik Romano and Ryan Keeley in the third race of our World Racing League season. This time we headed to the lush, cheese-filled landscapes of eastern Wisconsin to arrive at ‘America’s National Park of Speed’ Road America. We were excited to get on-track and see how our updates would perform as we chased the top GP1 cars. Overall, we wanted to finish both days and see how close or far we’d come since Mid-Ohio. But as you’ll learn, we unfortunately didn’t see many competitive laps once Friday concluded.

Thank you Palomar Racing for continuing to support my pursuit to becoming a professional of this sport at the current time. Thank you to the rest of our team this season and to friends/family as always.

Thanks also to Greg Gomolka for providing a fun and competitive Lucky Dog opportunity. Hopefully we enter one or two more together before year’s end.

MY STORY

A quick bio; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 22-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and recent university graduate from San Marcos, California. I began at the age of five spending the next eight years karting across the southwest. In 2014, I transitioned to sports cars in Spec Miata developing within 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 achieved. In 2021, I became a class champion in the NASA WERC series in a BMW Spec E46. In 2022, I joined Palomar Racing which lead to a NASA ST5 National Championship along with regional sprint and endurance titles. Having finished a degree in Global Business at CSUSM, I’m focused solely on entering professional motorsport in the near future given the appropriate 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

Visit mattmillionracing.com to learn about my story, biography, current schedule, sponsorship opportunities, and more. Please take a look at my past monthly updates at mattmillionracing.com/news

BACK TO WILLOW SPRINGS: COMPETING FOR AN OVERALL LUCKY DOG RACING LEAGUE VICTORY WITH FRIENDS

Rosamond, CA | May 5-7, 2023

A welcomed racing opportunity to be presented with! Competing for the overall win in the Lucky Dog 8 + 7 Hour event at Willow Springs.

Friend, driver, and all-around Dutch personality Greg Gomolka was planning to revamp his storied green BMW E30. A race car he’s owned and developed for many years, the ‘Green Machine’ now had an S52 engine (out of a BMW E36 M3). Along with other improvements like the shocks and dash tech, it was transformed into the best E30 I’d ever driven. Lightness, power, and always wanting slip angle. Truly put a large smile on my face the first time we went testing the new package in April! So much fun. Thank you also to John’s Auto Pro’s for the work they did to it.

Friday was a fairly relaxed, straightforward practice day. The four of us each got time in the car but didn’t need a lot of it. Through a couple test days earlier in the year, we had truly gotten this car to a happy place that we believed could contend for the win. It was a treat to spent time with our group as well as the Black Swan Search group of John and Kerri Artz who have done a lot to support my racing!

Saturday began in a beautiful, sunny day at Willow Springs. We attended the driver’s meeting which reminded me how fun these Lucky Dog events are. A bit less serious than other clubs but a wonderful energy and proving ground for smaller endurance teams. Loved seeing Cathy Fuss and her team again!

Qualifying is a bit unorthodox. They give the fastest overall car pole position, and everyone else can decide between A, B, and C class depending on what they want to compete for. We weren’t going to be the fastest car but wanted to start as far ahead in A class as possible. Luckily for us and Greg (who was starting today), the pole car didn’t arrive in time and we slotted in pole!

Green flag for the 60+ cars and Greg raced amongst the top five for the opening hour. A few local yellows meant we stretched fuel a bit but still had to pit significantly early compared to rivals. To put it simply, we realized we had a fuel burn disadvantage that limited our strategy options. Instead of normal three stop strategy for an eight hour race (Lucky Dog stint limit was two hours), we needed a minimum of four or five stops to see the checkered.

It meant we had no use in conservation. Flat out for the whole race to try and build a gap!

After Greg’s opening stint, we ran an excellent pit stop under the 5-minute minimum and sent Mick. He ran another good fast stint and we ran within the top three. I was next up and loved the first five laps of running quick laps and passing lots of traffic in the long, sweeping Willow Springs corners. It ended rather quickly though as an odd ‘sway’ formed in the rear end. Feeling like the front and rear had come disconnected with one another, I almost thought we had a tire go flat. I had to pit and when the team found no immediate issue, we were puzzled. A quick lift on the jack revealed what happened.

A subframe bolt had failed that connected much of the rear frame to the car. An odd item to see fail, it would take an hour before we could locate a similar bolt from a friend and install it. When Keeley went out and discovered the same issue occuring, we knew we’d need to find the exact part in order to fix it properly. Thus, our Saturday in the #22 was competitively over unfortunately.

But on the fortunate side, the Black Swan Search group needed a fourth driver in their BMW E30 competing for a top five in C class. I want to thank John Artz for the offer to jump back in ‘Burgundy’ for the first time since the 2021 25h Thunderhill together!

While obviously slower and contending for a different class, this E30 could nearly run the full two hours on a single tank. I had a blast driving it to the finish! Working to stay within competitive class times, managing traffic from behind and ahead, and dealing with the quirks of a very different car. I managed to just about edge the fuel to the finish having been on ‘fuel light warning’ for the last 40 minutes of the stint. We ended up 5th out of 30 in the end. Thank you to the Artz’ once again!

The day was entirely new to start Sunday in the ‘Green Machine’. We had fully resolved our issue and prepared to execute the same plan. Today, I’d be taking the green flag and hopefully getting us off to a lead. It was a success as I battled the #968 Porsche for top spot over the first hour. My savvy in passing slower traffic helped edge the gap to about half a lap before I handed off to Mick. Another near perfect pit stop, we were again looking strong. Mick unfortunately had a tire get cut down but we resolved it and only lost a single lap. Greg jumped in next and had a good stint going until a bizarre tire failure cost us another two laps. Still, we recovered well and kept within the top three overall thanks to our pace and pit stops. I put in another super fun stint at maximum pace to get us slightly closer to the leader as we now found ourselves 2nd overall.

A few more stint rotations, Keeley brought us home to secure our 2nd place! We ran a good race but the early tire issues held us back from besting the Sampson Racing #80 BMW E46.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and always a pleasure to compete in Lucky Dog again! It’s a great way to run lots of competitive, tightly-fought laps in a series made for all experience levels. Thank you Greg, Lisa, Ryan, Mick and those on the #22 crew. Also a thank you to Dan, John, Roddy, and those on the #164 Alfa Romeo crew who helped us.

World Racing League at Road America: Story of ‘What Could’ve Been’

It was unfortunately a very difficult weekend in our third World Racing League event of this season for Palomar Racing. Though, there is always experiences and takeaways valuable for the next time we compete or the next time I head back to ‘America’s National Park of Speed’!

Back at home base in San Diego, the Road America event was one we were immensely excited about and our preparation began as soon as we returned from Mid-Ohio. We’d continued to refine the #14 BMW E36 to be closer on-pace with the GP1 frontrunners. With numerous improvements and a new tire supplier in Yokohama, I couldn’t wait to see the freshly paved Wisconsin circuit.

The crew and I flew into the area on the Wednesday prior and enjoyed an evening in Elkhart Lake. Ryan Keeley, the third driver in our #14 lineup and truck driver, had quite an adventure getting to Wisconsin in time for load-in on Thursday! A couple flat tires and long nights later, he arrived in the paddock and we setup near our pit stall at the entrance to the circuit’s long pit lane.

Friday was the official test day and we got on-track in early morning. My first laps of the day were behind-the-wheel of the team’s #15 BMW E36 GP1 which was here as a back-up this weekend as well as to receive testing time.

My-oh-my is Road America a special circuit! A whole lot narrower in person than it seems, the long straights and tall trees give a ‘funneling’ sensation that rocket you into the next tight corner. The track had recently been repaved and the grip levels reflected this. Very grippy.

I spent only a session in the #15 on old tires to refamiliarize. We had some work to do on the car so focus shifted to the #14. My co-driver’s Nik and Ryan had already set their ‘qualifying’ sessions in the #14 and it was my turn to scrub in a new set of Yokohama’s and set good times after lunch.

A light sprinkle began at green flag but did little to affect grip. I was immediately struck by the positive grip difference on this compound. The overall balance of #14 was further rearward than the #15 giving it an additional sense of stability to my liking.

Turn one is a quick dab of brake for a smooth and early back-to-power turn in. Turn three is similar but a little later and a little slower. Turn five is crucial to maximize brake performance since you’re at 130mph coming into a downhill 90 degree left. Up the hill to turn six and importance lies on a gentle brake application to tuck the front end into the off-camber left. Maximize the exit, flat throttle through turn seven and down to another sharp left in turn eight. Then, a crucial balance corner in the carrousel. I couldn’t believe how far into it I could maintain full throttle before the fronts gave up a little. A small lift and back on power to shoot out the other side on racing line setting up for the infamous kink (which is barely flatout on new tires and a cool track temperature for us). Down into Canada Corner with another important hard braking zone. But it becomes very crucial to get off the brake pedal earlier than expected and utilize the compression at apex to fire off the corner and up to turns 12 and 13. Flat out through that uphill chicane and into a very fast entry for the final corner. Soft, long brake with a quick transition back to power and up the huge start/finish hill to the timing line!

After the 20 minute session, I would’ve loved another one to refine my ‘race flow’ and smoothen out my inputs and mentality. But rightfully, we prioritized Ryan for the remainder of the day to bring him up to pace since he’d never driven here before. Overall, we ended up mid-pack of the GP1 field but knew we’d be able to keep race pace closer to our qualifying lap better than those ahead of us. We simply needed to run clean, consistent, and within touching distance of the front during Saturday’s race and gain an idea of where we stood.

We prepared for Saturday as normal. An early arrival to ensure the car is warmed, checked, and ready for the 8am green flag. We setup in the pit box as Nik strapped in for his opening few hours. I’d be taking the final three hours of Saturday’s and the first few hours of Sunday. Not much for me to do now except setting up our livestream and helping the crew prepare for Nik’s first fuel stop.

Green flag! Nik made up a couple of positions on the opening lap and slotted into about 5th or 6th from the 16 who started in GP1. We planned to hold position and make up a few spots later as fuel mileage, strategy, and attrition played a hand. We had great pit stops and a very good average speed between the three of us, better than most of the other driver pairings.

But quickly we realized this wouldn’t be the day we hoped. Nik was forced to pit after only a handful of laps when the engine gradually limited its RPM’s and soon began to shut off.

Towed back to our hauler, it was certainly a shock to us. We attempted to diagnose but soon realized our best bet was an entire engine change. The engine had been running a lot hotter than we thought it had been. We didn’t know why, nor why we didn’t see warning signs earlier. But it was a secondary matter. We all got to work doing what had to be done!

Mighty effort from everyone at Palomar Racing. It was the smallest crew size we’d had in a number of races but everyone got on with the task. After hours of taking it out and putting in the spare, we would miraculously finish in time to see a few racing laps before the nine hours ran up. Cannot stress how proud I was of this group tackling the project.

We got Nik on-track just in time for literally the final lap of the race and we celebrated… maybe a little early. The engine shut off as he was near Canada Corner with no sign as to why. We later discovered a timing issue and solved it. The car seemed to run plenty happy once again and we prepared for a better Sunday. A special shout-out to my parents and grandfather Pete who all came out to support and lend a helping hand!

Even after what we thought was all the appropriate steps, Sunday turned out to look eerily similar. Nik took the start again and before he even made a racing lap, he was forced to pit with another overheating issue. The crew assessed all their available options to get us back going but none seemed to be feasible. We had to call off the day before it had really began.

It’s a shame to travel 2,000 miles for a test day and not much racing but it is the nature of motorsport sometimes. As cruel as it feels in the moment, and as badly as I wanted to see this group with another GP1 podium and positive progress, we’ll assess and just move onto the next one. Thank you Palomar Racing for enduring this challenging experience and sticking with it to the bitter end. I’ll get my first racing lap and experience at Road America another time!

UP NEXT

A small ‘summer break’ on my racing calendar before the next event. I’ll be with Palomar Racing for our next WRL at picturesque VIRginia International Raceway for a nine racing hours on Saturday and seven on Sunday. A 70-car field across five classes with 15+ GP1 entries. I cannot wait to return to VIR! It’s the ‘east coast’ circuit I’ve logged the most laps on and absolutely love the challenge it presents.

Every WRL event is streamed live on YouTube with professional commentary and broadcast. Tune in and support the series! Palomar Racing will be broadcasting live from onboard our #14 on the team’s YouTube channel too.

This season isn’t possible without the support of Palomar Solar and Roofing and the majority volunteer crew of Palomar Racing. Team partners in Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, AP Racing Brakes, Essex Part Services, Ferodo Racing, BimmerWorld, FastSideways, and others allow the team to compete.

Photography in this update by Chances Hales and Scottie Elkins.

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 - 06/06/2023

Matt’s 2023 April Update: Mid-Ohio WRL Recap & Special Evening in Long Beach

Matt’s 2023 April Update: Mid-Ohio WRL Recap & Special Evening in Long Beach

Lexington, OH | April 7-9, 2023

The rolling hills of central Ohio set the location of my second event in Palomar Racing’s 2023 World Racing League season. While the bitter cold and 2,000 mile commute did little to damper our spirits, the end result of these dual 8-hour races was far from perfect for us. Still, we came together as a team better than ever and had plenty of moments to be proud of… and plenty to learn from.

It’s a unique experience to race on another new circuit. Hours of studying onboards and past race broadcasts accompanied by simulator time each do their part in shaving down the learning curve. Still, there is no substitute for getting on-track and experiencing the grip, topography, and sightlines from the cockpit.

The famous Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was no exception. To put the results aside, it was a memorable trip and a great builder for the team. Any chance I’m afforded to spend hours in a race car building into a more complete athlete is a valuable one from my view. A massive debt of gratitude is owed to Andy, Mike, Nik, Ryan, and multiple others for helping make our 2023 World Racing League season possible. Thank you also to Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, Essex Parts Services / AP Racing, and BimmerWorld as our primary partners.

Thank you to Palomar Racing for continuing to support my pursuit to becoming a true professional of this sport. It means the world to be here as a full-season driver. Thank you to the rest of our team this season and to friends/family as always.

This month’s update will also include a story of the annual Road Racing Driver’s Club evening at the Long Beach Grand Prix. You will want to hear the tale from a night honoring legend Jacky Ickx! Thank you Jeremy Shaw for again allowing me to help your evening run a bit more smoothly behind-the-scenes.

MY STORY

A quick bio; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 22-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and recent university graduate from San Marcos, California. I began at the age of five spending the next eight years karting across the southwest. In 2014, I transitioned to sports cars in Spec Miata developing within 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 achieved. In 2021, I became a class champion in the NASA WERC series in a BMW Spec E46. In 2022, I joined Palomar Racing which lead to a NASA ST5 National Championship along with regional sprint and endurance titles. Having finished a degree in Global Business at CSUSM, I’m focused solely toward professional motorsport in 2023 given 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

To keep these updates shorter, visit mattmillionracing.com to learn about my current schedule, biography, and more.

Welcome to Mid-Ohio: Palomar Racing’s Second Stop in 2023 World Racing League Calendar

Lexington, OH | April 7-9, 2023

It was a quick turn-around at the Palomar Racing shop between our latest WRL event in Alabama and this one. Under four weeks to have our friends at Bullet Performance in Costa Mesa prepare both of the team’s BMW E36’s for battle. The #14 needed ‘the works’ including a refined engine, driveline components, and full look-over while the #15 had its full offseason services already mostly completed.

It would be another packed grid for World Racing League with 50 entries across four classes. It’s excited to see the championship continue to sustain big momentum. The best competition, teams, environment, and ‘stepping stone’ for endurance racing slotted between club and professional ranks.

Friday morning was as bitter cold as it could’ve been without snow falling. 35 degrees Fahrenheit at most. The track surface at eight o’clock reflected the temperature and lack of usable rubber. We were apparently the first series back on Mid-Ohio after their offseason and it showed. Times were multiple seconds off race pace and it felt like an ice rink.

Regardless, it was a big step in the right direction to have both team cars turning laps this early in the weekend. Another big step was welcoming the #15 to the championship with a new-to-the-team set of drivers in Rob Walker, Satakal Khalsa, and Austin Varco. The #14 would continue with Nik Romano, Ryan Keeley, and myself.

The #15 ran a good amount of laps while the #14 sat out a few sessions as we fiddled with technical inspection. Once we had the power-to-weight figure we sought, I dove into the final day’s session to set a qualifying time.

One of the fantastic regulations of World Racing League is an open tire formula. As long as your compound is 180+ treadwear, you can run whichever manufacturer. The Continental Tire compound we elected is more on the longevity side than pure pace and getting it to 'fire up’ isn’t always easy. It took three laps but I’d finally found a groove.

Mid-Ohio is an odd track to push hard for times, at least in our current setup. The more I’d try hustling to find the last few tenths, the tendency to overload tires would happen sharply and thus end up loosing more time. Especially in the middle sector it was super important to brake and turn-in a touch earlier than expected everywhere. The surface of Mid-Ohio is very slick compared to most circuits and its very easy to exceed its grip limit. Certainly an adjustment to get used to. But wow is it satisfying to link together T4 to T12 in a rhythm, especially the ‘jump’ crest of T9.

I’d soon get a fairly traffic-free lap to set a time that was within 98% of our package’s potential for the day. It put us 4th of 12 on the GP1 starting grid for Saturday, sitting six tenths behind the front row. A big leap from our 9th place starting spot and over two seconds from the front at Barber the prior month. The team’s developments were incrementally edging us closer!

Saturday: Facing Challenges

It was a sight to behold on Saturday morning at the hotel. Six grown men shivering as the minivan’s heater built up temperature. Yes, it was once again in the 30’s which is far too cold for Californians (and our photographer Chance, who despite living in Utah, was also very cold).

I’d be the final driver in #14 today after Nik’s starting stint and Ryan through the middle. Austin would start the #15 off before Satakal would take the middle and Rob to the finish.

The WRL pre-grid atmosphere is always neat. Seeing the wide range of teams from true professional outfits with GT4 machinery to local club teams with an older touring cars. A glimpse into the diverse origins and future of the series.

For some, its the stepping stone to pro racing. For others, its the best grassroots endurance series around and they’d want to be nowhere else. But whether you’re in a GTO entry or a GP1-3 entry, it’s a fantastic chance to learn multi-class dynamics and strategy… and a lot of fun.

The race started well! Nik and Austin took the second green flag and ran in the midst of GP1 for a half hour. An early red flag was called after a GTO entry caught fire without incident on the run to T4. Eventually we went back racing and all was normal for another hour.

Warning signs of something unhealthy inside the #14 soon became evident. The water temperature would rise sharply without warning or reason to a nearly inoperable level. The team felt they’d possibly fixed the issue as it improved for a few minutes after a pit stop but to no avail. Nik brought #14 to the hauler when our main mechanic spotted an issue with a small radiator leak.

As this was being replaced, I caught word that #15 had been in a ‘fender bender’ on the front straight. It too needed to come to the hauler for mostly cosmetic repairs to the front end.

The team jumped in with both feet on the repair jobs and both cars were back on circuit in under an hour. Keeley took control of the #14 to see if the new radiator would fix our issue. It appeared to do the trick as he ran for an hour without overheating. But the issue came back. We feared the engine might have gotten too hot to be saved by this point. Instead of attempting to finish risking the engine in spectacular fashion, the team made the better decision to park #14 for the day and begin the engine change to ‘old faithful’, our tenured back-up S52 engine that refuses to quit.

The sister #15’s day was also cut short. A minor driver error going four wheels off happened in just the wrong spot, digging the splitter into mud and subsequently ripping off some important bits.

Our race was over before the finish but the workload for our crew had just begun.

Every single crew member had a huge role in repairing both cars. The #15’s work was primarily completed by Owen and David whereas the #14’s engine change got done through a combination of everyone helping Pete and Blair. Everyone’s contributions over the course of many hours was immensely valued. The ‘pack up early’ part of the plan never ceased to exist.

The mood was lightened by the arrival of fresh pizza (which turned out to be far tastier than we expected it to be). As the night rolled in along with the cold air, plenty of work still continued. I stayed late with them as its really difficult to leave the crew on nights like these. But in the interest of driver’s being as sharp as possible for the morning ahead, I had to get the driver team to sleep by midnight.

It was a trying day for Palomar Racing. Still, I went to bed feeling confident in Sunday. The boys had all the knowledge and parts they’d need to do the job. No sunny days could be valued without a bit of rain…

Sunday: Perseverance Pays Off

It’s an unspoken rule as a racing driver. If your crew is up late replacing major components in the car to be in the fight for the following day, you must have full confidence in their ability. Not much different than the trust they have in you to bring the car back in one piece after a stint!

Early morning wake-up, I suited in the hotel room and got to the circuit by 6:30am. I had zero doubt in our crew and was rewarded for the thought.

They’d gotten to bed after 2am and ran on about three hours of sleep. There wasn’t too long for ‘thank-you’s’ as I needed to be on grid quickly for the 8am start. The bitter Ohio cold isn’t as bad knowing the next three hours will be at elevated heartrate!

We started our season on Continental’s series compliant compound since they’d given us great support and the tires could survive a long WRL race. Though, we discovered they might be too rigid for our needs as the lightest car in GP1. Maxxis approached the team about trialing the new Victra VR-1 compound. We’d give them a fair shot today on the #14… assuming all would be mechanically well!

I rolled off grid in the last row of GP1 behind the #15 team car started by Rob. Lots of unknowns I’d be needing to communicate to the team about. The engine, tune compatibility, alignment, temperatures, and more would need to be watched very closely.

Feeling healthy and motivated for the task, it was confidence inspiring to not feel anything too unusual during the pace laps. Green flag on the backstraight and we dove into T4. Lots of tight racing ensued as tires came up to temperature. Plenty of moments going side-by-side in Mid-Ohio’s fantastic middle sector.

Immediately it was clear we’d be at a pace disadvantage. The lack of grunt was noticeable. We learned it was making 20 horsepower less due to a number of factors essentially making us a GP2 class car on pace. We’d be fighting a 1-2 second per lap deficit from before along with irregular power curves on occasion. But the tale of endurance racing is to never give in despite what challenges you might face… a lot can happen in eight hours.

At least the overall handling was familiar although the different tire compound had new characteristics to adapt to. I fought my absolute butt off for those three hours to just about keep up. It was evident our success hindered on fuel mileage, strategy, and keeping the nose clean more than it ever had before.

A testament to our group, it was shaping up very well. The boys did an excellent job with pit stops and strategy throughout. From 9th to 3rd over the course of a few hours! A few front-runners ran into early mechanics issues while we leapfrogged a couple in the pits.

Rightfully so, I didn’t know the full outlook on our race until I was switching out with Ryan at the three hour mark. It was a super pleasant surprise after an exhaustive stint without much reward from my perspective. I drove with everything it had and we remained in the fight. Our strategy got handed a curveball as I was forced to box 15 minutes early due to an odd tire puncture.

The sister #15 car’s race was also looking better! They’d been one or two spots behind us for most of the race. It did experience a brake issue which took it behind-the-wall for a handful of laps but finished strong and on pace. Big thank-you to Owen and David especially for the repair jobs on that car late into the night.

As for the our race, it stagnated in a positive way. We teetered between 3rd and 4th for a while. Around half distance, we were unexpectedly forced to change both front tires as their longevity wasn’t what we anticipated. This brought us solidly to 4th by the time Nik swapped in for the last few hours.

A full-course yellow with an hour and a half remaining was the perfect opportunity for us. It gave us our final fuel stop whereas some heavier, more powerful cars in GP1 might struggle to make it from here on out. With 10 minutes remaining, we had nearly forced 3rd place to pit for fuel which would’ve given us the podium. Instead, a problem with our battery caused Nik to loose power and eventually stop in a safe location on the far side of the circuit. We made it seven hours and fifty seven minutes nevertheless.

It was an unfitting way to end what had been a remarkable fight back from our group. From midnight engine installation and a bunch of unknowns, to maintaining podium contention against the odds. We were punching above our weight all day. Yes, it was a tough weekend. But everyone at Palomar Racing that day should be super proud of the effort. It will, without question, teach us an abundance of lessons that we’ll use to be stronger this season.

Onto Road America in May!

The RRDC Evening Experience

The week following Mid-Ohio, I joined one of my favorite folks in the racing industry to help put on a fantastic event. Jeremy Shaw is a man who wears many hats. From being a lead voice of IMSA Radio, to creating opportunity for young drivers through programs like Team USA Scholarship, and everything in-between. He also puts on the Road Racing Driver’s Club annual dinner at the Long Beach Hilton ahead of the Long Beach Grand Prix.

The dinner brings together so many legends of open-wheel and sports car racing, from drivers to industry members, that there are frankly too many to name!

I received a call from Jeremy last year which went something along the lines of, “would you be interested in attending the dinner in exchange for helping me put on the event behind-the-scenes?” Luckily, I was free that day. And thank goodness I was because it was a highlight of my 2022! When I knew I’d have the day open this year, I made certain to reach out and help out behind-the-scenes further for 2023.

I’d be helping setup the 30+ dinner tables, unpacking and placing signage, helping order and place the silent auction poster boards, and various operational tasks during the event itself.

Last year’s guest of honor was Rick Mears, a legend of the Indy 500 and American open-wheel racing. This year would be someone equally as formidable… and closer to my heart of endurance sports car racing. The great Jacky Ickx would be flying in from Europe to be honored!

Jacky is an all-time legend of motorsport. From his multiple Formula One wins, six 24 Hours of Le Mans wins, and wins in many other big races like the Spa 24h, Dakar Rally, and Bathurst 1000. To say I was excited to meet him was an understatement!

Ahead of the evening’s formalities, I was tasked to meet Jacky in the hotel lobby and give him the rundown on his duties and timeline. He was unbelievably lovely and began telling me his about arduous journey from France. We were both relieved to see each other after he was afraid his delay would force him to miss his own ceremony!

I brought him to the event room and assisted with his signing of over 20 detailed posters, model cars, and books chronicling many of his career’s crowning moments.

After helping check-in over 300 guests, the evening officially got underway. RRDC President Bobby Rahal led the proceedings. It was a delicious offering of dinner… one that my tablemate Jeremy nearly missed out on because he was running around so much. He had a lot on his plate to ensure the event ran smoothly (which it very much did).. just not a lot on the dinner plate!

Jacky charismatically told stories and life lessons upon a very intrigued audience before his past teammate and fellow legend Derek Bell joined him on stage. It was heartwarming to see the two reconnect on stories they’d long since told! We also watched a very funny personal video from Brian Redman telling us stories of the honoree. Bill Patterson painted up an incredible live painting of Jacky’s hero cars which would help close the evening with an epic live auction by NBC commentator Lee Diffey.

Thank you very much to Jeremy and Tamy for the opportunity to assist. It was the perfect celebration for Jacky Ickx and I cannot wait to see who is honored in 2024.

UP NEXT

It’s still a long season ahead with Palomar Racing in our World Racing League journey.

On the calendar next is May 12-14th at amazing Road America for a 9-hour on Saturday and 7-hour on Sunday. A full 70+ car field across five classes with nearly 20 GP1 entries. We expect to be the most competitive we’ve yet been as we continue to learn this championship.

Every WRL event is streamed live on YouTube with professional commentary and broadcast. Tune in and support the series! Palomar Racing will be broadcasting live from onboard our #14 on the team’s YouTube channel too.

This season isn’t possible without the support of Palomar Solar and Roofing and the majority volunteer crew of Palomar Racing. They’ve allowed me the chance to accomplish career milestones I’ve not had the fortune of reaching before.

Thank you Andy and the rest of Palomar Solar and Roofing. Team partners in Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, AP Racing Brakes, Essex Part Services, Ferodo Racing, BimmerWorld, FastSideways, AGA Tools, KinematicSpeed, Swift Springs, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, SignArtGraphix, and others allow the team to compete.

Photography in this update by Chances Hales.

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 - 05/02/2023

Matt's 2023 March Update: Recapping our WRL Debut from Alabama

Matt’s 2023 March Update: Sweet Home Alabama!

Birmingham, AL | March 2023

A great way to start the season in a new championship ‘challenge’… on the podium!

A major component of my 2023 racing endeavor has been recommitting to team Palomar Racing for a second year. They’ve continue to provide a special opportunity to move my racing career ahead while simultaneously building Palomar Racing into a true race team.

Using what we accomplished together in California’s NASA club endurance and sprint championships in 2022, we set a higher target for 2023 in the shape of national World Racing League competition. ‘WRL’ has grown to become the premier U.S. club-level endurance championship. It’s the right arena to bring the team’s two BMW E36’s to the highest caliber as the group moves forward.

I will pilot the team’s primary #14 BMW E36 M3 entry in the competitive GP1 class. Of the 12 race weekends the series puts on annually, we will enter eight. All five events in the Mid-West Championship as well as an additional two Eastern Championship events. The final event will be the National Championship weekend at Circuit of the America’s in December.

While the Mid-West GP1 title is our target, we will be in contention for the National GP1 title through WRL’s points system. Though, our season will need to be very good for this to be a possibility.

Our first event took place in early March at Barber Motorsports Park… and this is the story.

Thank you to Palomar Racing (especially Andy, Mike, and Nik) for continuing to support my pursuit to becoming a true professional of this sport. Thank you to the rest of our team this season and to friends/family as always. Your support does not go unrecognized.

Thank you for reading and supporting my journey.

Photography provided by Chance Hales and Scottie Elkins

MY STORY

A quick bio; my name is Matt Million, I’m a 22-year-old aspiring professional racing driver and recent university graduate from San Marcos, California. I began at the age of five spending the next eight years karting across the southwest. In 2014, I transitioned to sports cars in Spec Miata developing within 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 achieved. In 2021, I became a class champion in the NASA WERC series in a BMW Spec E46. In 2022, I became NASA ST5 National Champion along with regional sprint and endurance titles. Having finished a degree in Global Business at CSUSM, I’m focused solely toward professional motorsport in 2023 given 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

To keep these updates shorter, visit mattmillionracing.com to learn about my current schedule, biography, and more.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY: PALOMAR RACING’S ALABAMA DEBUT IN WORLD RACING LEAGUE

Birmingham, AL | March 2023

It feels like only last week I wrapped up the year at NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

That event, and the entire season in 2022, built the foundations for another ambitious team pursuit this year.

The Event Ahead

On the rainy evening of Monday the 27th of February, the black Palomar Racing semi was sent on its way east. 2,000 miles to the beautifully manicured grounds of Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

With the next furthest team coming from Colorado, we certainty won the ‘long haul’ award. At least my co-driver and professional semi driver Ryan Keeley was driving the rig there. Full confidence in him!

Only one Palomar Racing E36 would enter the Barber rounds. The ‘primary’ car for the season currently consists of Nik Romano, Ryan Keeley, and I. We’d share duties of Saturday’s 9 hour and Sunday’s 7 hour between us.

It’s a huge benefit to have teammates (and great friends) you’ve worked with in the past. With the three of us working together for most of 2022, the transition was fairly seamless. Tendencies, driving styles, communication, driver changes aspects, etc. are already known. With a new series and rulebook to adapt with, the less ‘new’ elements the better.

In the crew, team owner Andy Anderson and brother Mike are joined by familiar faces in main roles; Blair, David, and Grant as main crew and fuelers with Dawson and Ricardo as helpers. We welcome friend-of-the-team Owen as our new data acquisition role! Mechanical support was provided by Ryan and Pete of BimmerSpeed.

Friday should’ve been a day for us to acclimate to the circuit, discuss setup, and allow the crew to setting into roles. But in racing, rarely do big leaps go as expected off-the-bat.

A combination of minor mechanical inconveniences, annual tech, and a true Southern rain storm hitting the circuit, we weren’t able to get on track to qualify or practice until 3:30 PM. It was just enough time to get familiar with the track and car changes from last year (brakes, tire compound, etc).

I took the final 25 minutes of the day on track. It wasn’t a lot of time to feel 100% dialed-in but would be enough. I felt confident in my preparation. My level of fitness, time I spent in this chassis last season, prior starts in the series, and a good amount of simulator training eased my mind. Special mention to Sabelt America and Hagerty Motorsports for the perfect new race suit!

On the team’s side, #14 was running quite well to close the day! We all attended the weekend race meeting that evening. The WRL team and competitors are serious and professional but very approachable and a fun bunch. The small Southern Californian group felt welcome!

Saturday: On the Podium After 9 Hours

Early mornings in this series. A 6AM team meet at the circuit is necessary to get everything ready for the 7AM grid opening and 8AM race start. A more substantial investment in coffee will be required this season!

After yesterday’s storms, the weather couldn’t be much better. Not a single cloud and low 70’s. I love rain racing, but after shoveling a hundred pounds of mud from the car in our last event, this was preferred.

Nik Romano would start our weekend off as the first driver with Ryan Keeley in second and myself to close the final three hours of the nine hour race. Though we didn’t get a large sample size of laps yesterday, it was clear we’d be fighting an uphill battle in GP1. We all knew we would be given this was all new supplemental and technical rules for the crew and car to be adapted to. Despite what I considered to be a very strong personal performance in the event, the current package for our #14 was only adjusted slightly from NASA ST5 rules and saw an average lap time deficit of two or three seconds to the top.

Knowing this combined with being the team’s debut, we had to run our own race the best we knew how and see checkered. With 50 entries split across four categories (GTO, GP1, GP2, GP3), anything could happen and we’d be as prepared as possible.

GP1 led the pack of ‘General Production’ classes to the second flying start behind GTO. Nik slotted into where we qualified (9th of 16) and played smart. Soon he picked up one or two positions and ran well for the first few hours.

It was a fairly tame race with only the occasional Code 35 period to break up the running (all cars slowing to 35 MPH instead of following a pace car during full course yellows).

Vividly I recall being in the hauler suiting up as Nik entered box for our first fuel stop. The crew adjusted very well to the new regulations. Three cans of fuel instead of two being the most notable difference from their prior endurance experience. Nik was back on his way for another hour and a half before Ryan was swapping into the driver’s seat. Again, another clean stop.

Somewhere late in Nik’s stint, a GP1 front runner fell out of contention with an issue. We ran 5th during Ryan’s stint until a very opportune moment. Two teammates running ahead of us had separate mechanical issues within a span of minutes. By the time Ryan brought me the #14 for a driver change and fuel with three and a half hours remaining, we were in podium contention!

With sizeable gaps separating me from both 2nd and 4th positions, I had to be especially sharp and heads-up. I wasn’t directly chasing or defending position, but needed to maintain my edge to remain quick, alert, and make the best decisions with traffic. Working to apply the mentality of the world’s best sports car racing drivers.

Wow had I missed this championship! Very competitive racing across the field, busy traffic management, the pushing for quick laps within range, managing changing track temperature on quite slippery DOT-rated tires. A full-immersion endurance series with lots of moving parts and professional approach. A joy to compete in and it made me unbelievably excited for this year.

I accomplished what I set out to do and kept the nose clean with smart decisions and notable pace. Learning the circuit and tire better, I continued to lower the #14’s best times and find a rhythm. Not many ‘close’ moments and a lot of mutual respect shown by competitors. Good thing we have a digital clock on our AIM dash because three hours is enough time to loose your sense of duration!

I’d taken our final fuel stop of the day with about an hour an a half remaining. What a team effort. No mistakes or penalties on pit road! I remained sharp, although feeling a bit sore toward the end, with the track temperature decreasing. Although we neared the finish and my fuel was getting low, the team promised me ice cream if I could put in our first 1:39 lap of the race. Complying to the request with 15 minutes remaining and then went straight into fuel management, we crossed the line 3rd in GP1!

Across the inspection weigh bridge and we were cleared. One hell of an effort from the team against all the unknowns and unanswered questions! The podium was a warranted moment for us all and ultimately helped prove that the WRL decision might’ve been a very good one. Palomar Racing has their work cut out for them this season as we discovered, but we will be in the fight!

Grateful for the opportunity as always. Each performance like this day makes the dream of professional racing feel a bit closer. Closer to being completely confident and ready for that moment.

Sunday: 7 Hours Complete, Lots of Takeaways

Sunday’s procedures had a few differences. Two fewer racing hours was met with an hour-long 11AM break for the local church to conduct its service without race cars noises. You’d think even the church could appreciate a wonderful sympathy of sports car racing… apparently not!

The team reversed stint order for the day meaning I’d start, Ryan second, and Nik to the finish. With three hours between start and the mandatory break, it was the best strategy to leave me in until then. Team photographer Chance snapped grid photos before I left to start 9th in GP1. Starting order was based on the prior day’s best times. Our wonderful 3rd place wasn’t enough to save us this time!

Engaging the mindset to take on a high intensity, high pressure start is something I love. But this was not one of those days. Relaxed (relatively), I knew our best shot again was to outlast and out-strategy our competition.

Running in 7th for a good amount of the first hour, it took a handful of laps for our Continental rubber to reach a point of ‘push’ confidence. A great battle with the Ginger Racing BMW E46 was had until I took advantage of a Code 35 restart to leap ahead. From that point on, it felt like the day prior. Clicking off super consistent laps, reporting fuel numbers, and minimizing time loss through traffic. A couple significant incidents occurred leading to some longer Code 35 periods. I was called in for an excellent fuel stop by the Palomar Racing team and off I went for the last hour. Fantastic pit entry at Barber. Fast and high commitment, just like the rest of the amazing circuit!

My times were, on average, looking a bit quicker than the day prior by the tune of tenths. I set the car’s best lap of the event somewhere in the middle stages while the track was still fresh. Track temperature soared quickly at a point in the last hour and the #14 became a handful to hit the same marks.

Still, we reached the 11AM break in 6th. Unfortunately, the overall GTO leading Supra GT4 passed me one corner before the mandatory caution causing us to loose an extra lap. Oh well, this style of racing has ebbs and flows.

I returned to the pits under ‘parc ferme’ conditions and debriefed with the crew before having a bite of lunch. About as good of a start as we could take (besides the one lost lap). Loved my time flying around the unique, fast bends of Barber Motorsports Park. Truly hope to get back here sooner than later. A top three favorite U.S. circuit in my books. Click the YouTube video link below to watch a clean lap with me!

Ryan took over the #14 once we got back to racing and completed his final stint of the weekend cleanly. He’d been feeling under the weather all week and I was proud of the heart he showed in the car. Another clean handover to Nik who continued to hold down our 6th place comfortably for two hours. A small issue popped up in the final hour and he needed to box. We spent five minutes in the repairing an electrical-related problem that the team had been keeping their eye on and sent him back on his way. We lost our comfortable gap but remained 6th to the finish!

Not the small fairytale of the day prior, but a very competent showing and overall great team effort. It was a ‘representative’ event to know we were capable to punch above our weight if factors aligned, as well as knowing we’d be closer to the front after our updates get completed. Again, super proud of the entire Palomar Racing group. No small feat to have 15 people travel from across the country and complete their first ‘semi-pro’ style weekend with lots of potential and intent shown.

Alabama was a beautiful state, Barber was a jaw-droppingly good circuit, and the people of the championship treated us with class. All of Palomar Racing’s equipment returned safely to Escondido, California and the improvements are being made as I type. Onwards to Mid-Ohio’s 9 + 7 Hour in April!

UP NEXT

I’m very excited for season ahead with Palomar Racing in World Racing League.

Our next WRL event is April 7-9th at famous Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for eight hours of racing Saturday and another eight hours on Sunday. Another packed 50+ car entry with 15+ in GP1 will surely be a great event.

Every WRL race is streamed live on YouTube with professional commentary and broadcast. Be sure to tune in and support us! Palomar Racing will be broadcasting a livestream from onboard the #14 on their YouTube channel as well.

This season isn’t possible without the support of Palomar Solar and Roofing and the volunteers of Palomar Racing. They allow my racing career to push forward.

Thank you Andy Anderson and the rest of Palomar Solar and Roofing. Team partners in Apex Race Parts, Red Line Synthetic Oil, AP Racing Brakes, Essex Part Services, Ferodo Racing, BimmerWorld, FastSideways, AGA Tools, KinematicSpeed, Swift Springs, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, SignArtGraphix, and others allow the team to compete.

Photography in this update by Chances Hales and Scottie Elkins.

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 - 03/21/2023

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