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
