Race Recap: High Plains WRL Provides 2nd in GP1 for Million, Palomar Racing in Colorado

Race Recap: High Plains WRL Provides 2nd in GP1 for Million, Palomar Racing

Deer Trail, CO | September 1-3rd, 2023

After an electrical issue on Saturday, Palomar Racing’s sixth weekend of their 2023 World Racing League campaign saw a return to the GP1 podium for Matt and the #14 BMW E36 M3 on Sunday.

Team regulars Matt Million and Nik Romano were joined by Lucas Weisenberg in the #14. Weisenberg, current Toyota GR Cup driver, is a welcome addition with his past experience working with the group. The team’s second entry, the #15 BMW E36, was driven by team regular Ryan Keeley as well as Andrew Gardner and Alan Leukhardt.

The #14 finished 7th of 11 in Saturday’s 8-hour and 2nd of 11 in Sunday’s 8-hour.

Qualifying 3rd, Matt took the #14 to an early run in 2nd place for the opening stint. During the first pit stop, the car failed to refire. After an hour of diagnosis and repair, it was discovered part of the AIM PDU computer module failed and wouldn’t allow the car to restart. Weisenberg and Romano brought the car to the finish without trouble afterwards. For Sunday’s 8-hour, Weisenberg started in 4th and maintained position for his stints. Romano continued for his stints and handed off to Million to close the race. Through clean pit stops and stints, the #14 found itself firmly in 2nd with 219 laps complete, three laps behind the winning #147 Morehead Speed Works BMW E46.

The story of #15 was more unfortunate. An 8th place finish on Saturday and 7th place on Sunday after the car struggled to maintain proper voltage, amongst other issues. A gearbox failure took the car out of Sunday’s race past half-distance.

“It’s an awesome feeling to get the #14 back onto the podium! We got 3rd in our very first race of the season, way back in March at Barber Motorsports Park. Since then, this car has seen a lot of revisions to make it more competitive in GP1. Through development of springs, tires, engines, aero, and a lot of small things, it’s a been an exhausting season to find small bits of speed but suffer frequent mechanical and electrical gremlins. After our 4th of 15 at Road Atlanta, it was clear we’ve developed into a podium-contending package. Still with gains to be made in ultimate pace, but a lot more potential than early in the season. This 2nd helps confirm that when all goes well on our side, we are nearing closer to our ultimate goal in World Racing League.

“”I’m really proud of what I could extract in qualifying to put us 3rd in class. I’ve never been to High Plains Raceway before and only had a handful of laps before true ‘go time’. It was the best position we were going to start from, with the top two on a different level of speed than where we are in our development.”

“High Plains is a sneakily fun circuit! 15 corners, 2.5 miles. Only one real straightaway, lots of heavily cambered and off-camber corners with elevation. Besides the utterly tight hairpins, it’s a wonderful ‘flow’ circuit. There isn’t much in the way of sights though… a lot of dead grass!”

“I’m truly proud of my start and opening stint on Saturday. We remained within touching distance of the leader (15-30 seconds) for the entire hour and a half. I have to especially thank Ryan Lindsley and Pete Bush of BIMMERSPEED for their tireless hours of car preparation ahead of this event. The #14 felt like an entirely new race car, giving me the confidence to set some seriously quick laps time after time and keep us close.”

“It’s a shame about our relatively small issue on Saturday. We would’ve been on for a podium both days, which is what this group deserves after all the hard work this season. It did feel good though to bring the car across the finish on Sunday and secure the result. My job Sunday was a lot more tame; keep the car on the road and hold onto the position with no close threat in either direction. Definitely a team-earned podium all-around. Proud to be a part of their journey and chip away at the milestones, despite the difficulties we’ve faced on multiple levels in 2023. Thank you Andy and the rest of Palomar Solar for the continued hard work, belief in me, and backing for this program. Thank you Blair, Grant, Kaylyn, and the drivers for the long days to make sure we succeed.”

Million will next compete for Palomar Racing at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma for the WRL’s 8 + 8 Hour event in mid-October. He is scheduled to drive the #14 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, BIMMERSPEED, FastSideways, Enphase, Panasonic Solar, Swift Springs, MCS, AGA Tools, Rugged Radios, 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 Photography.

Million Tests BMW M4 GT4 for AutoTechnic Racing at Indianapolis

Million Tests BMW M4 GT4 for AutoTechnic Racing at Indianapolis

Speedway, IN | August 30st, 2023

On a sunny afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late August, I achieved what many young professional drivers hope to get realize; get to drive a modern GT4 category racing car. At the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway nontheless!

Although it would technically be my second time in a GT4, taking part in a driver evaluation shootout in early 2021 with another manufactur. However, this opportunity felt a lot different. With aspirations to make the GT4 class and the new BMW M4 GT4 my next step as a professional driver, this was a very special and important day.

AutoTechnic Racing chose to take advantage of a BMW Motorsport-hosted track event at Indianapolis to help prepare their teams for upcoming IMSA and SRO races here. All three of their BMW M4 GT4’s would be present; the #51 for Zac Anderson, the #253 for Rob Walker and Satakal Khalsa, and the #24 for Adam Gleason.

Lacking the funding to place myself as a driver in the test, I chose to work for the team. Manning radios, assisting drivers, and completing other tasks to help the test run efficiently. Although I’d prefer to be strapped in instead of strapping in others, I understand my current situation of sponsorship and finances. I’d rather be present and working with a team I truly enjoy than sitting at home!

Through my work for the past three SRO/IMSA events and a close relationship with many at AutoTechnic, I was given a chance to test the M4 GT4 on the afternoon of the test’s second day. It’s rare to find yourself in the right place, right time, with the right people to where this can occur. I’m immensely grateful and honored at their belief in me and my talents.

Thank you Rob and Satakal for allowing me to drive their current SRO GT4 America chassis to begin my journey in the BMW M4 GT4. Thank you Rob Driscoll and Charlie Scott for supporting this plan, team drivers Zac and JCD for speaking highly enough to put me in this position, and the San Diego-based crew with Keeley, Lindsley, and Pete Bush for introducing me to the team.

I was able to have two sessions. The first, a short 10-15 minute run, was primarily to learn the fundamentals. I improved about one second per lap, starting at around 1:37 and ending at a 1:32. The second session was about 20 minutes on an older set of tires. I dialed back the traction control to as much as possible and focused on being smooth, consistent, and calculated. Multiple laps from 1:32.2 to 1:31.8 followed. All the hours studying the car’s operational manual as well as hours on the simulator did help me come to speed quicker than I would’ve otherwise.

What a race car. Similar in ways I’d thought it would be, very different in ways I didn’t consider. Visibility, tire feel, pedal feel, and overall weight transfer all felt noticeable different from what I expected and needed to adapt quickly. It soon began to feel normal after a dozen-or-so laps… nearly. Blasting down the front straight and across the most famous brick finish line in the world was an unbelievably cool feeling. A special one I won’t forget any time soon.

In the moment, I felt I could’ve been a better in many areas. Braking force, brake timing, car positioning, throttle management, etc. And I was right, I could’ve been better. But for a first half hour in a completely foreign race car at a new circuit, I’ve come around to the idea that… I should be immensely proud. It was a heck of an effort to be thrown into the situation. Thank you Zac for helping instill this perspective after the sessions. I’d love to one day reach your level in these cars!

I believe I’ve proven the potential needed to compete at a high level in GT4 in the future. Now, I am constantly searching for ways to make a GT4 season happen in 2023. With SRO’s GT4 America my primary aim, I will need to locate the right opportunity or finding a significant amount of sponsorship to make it happen.

It would mean the world to me to begin my GT4 journey in full during 2024. It would mean even more to do it with AutoTechnic Racing in their incredible M4 GT4’s. In the meantime, I’ll continue to work hard at making dreams… a reality. :)

- Matt Million

9/9/23

Race Recap: Positive Strides at WRL Road Atlanta for Million, Palomar Racing

Race Recap: Positive Strides in WRL Road Atlanta for Million, Palomar Racing

Braselton, GA | July 28-30th, 2023

Palomar Racing’s fifth weekend of their 2023 World Racing League campaign saw mixed fortunes with an overall positive outcome.

Piloting the #14 BMW E36 in GP1 this weekend was team regulars Matt Million, Nik Romano, and Ryan Keeley. Also in the GP1 class, the #15 BMW E36 was piloted by team Chattanooga Tourenwagen with drivers Zach Mortimer, Justin Ford, Cory Simmons, and Justin Wingfield.

The #14 finished 7th of 15 in Saturday’s 9-hour. After missing the opening 2.5 hours due to an engine change, it charged for the remainder of the day. The #14 crew ultimately rebounded to finish 4th of 15 on Sunday after a fairly straightforward 7-hour race. The #15 would finish a respectable 5th on Saturday and 11th on Sunday.

Friday’s practice and qualifying set the pair up toward the rear of the field. #14 would start 10th with the #15 starting 9th from 15. Outright pace has been a struggle for the team’s E36’s this season. Once the engine change was completed two hours into the race, Matt Million contested the next 3 hours of Saturday’s race in the #14 as well as the final 2.5 hours of Sunday’s race.

“With such a quick turn-around between VIR and here, I’m proud of how we managed the month. I helped Ryan (Keeley) prepare and load the cars and equipment at AutoTechnic Racing in Connecticut after VIR. Very grateful to have Charlie, Rob, and the rest of that professional group provide us the shop space and resources to prepare.”

“After joining Ryan on a 15-hour journey south into Georgia, we unloaded and prepared new car developments with the team on Thursday at Road Atlanta. We worked our butts off to increase the tire size potential in our fender wells, which ultimately was successful. The official WRL weekend began Friday and after I set a baseline of our potential in qualifying, it was apparent something was amiss in the powertrain of #14. We probably could’ve lasted the weekend with it, but we made the decision to change it out in favor of a much better backup S52 engine. Combined with major issues we discovered in the front control arms, the crew had a very long afternoon, night, and morning ahead.”

“We nearly got on-track for the green flag Saturday morning at 8am but decided to not rush the transfer. I sat, eyes closed visualizing my upcoming stints, in the driver’s seat for an hour as the crew finalized the mechanical bits. After a quick alignment and test drive, I took it on circuit 2.5 hours into the race. I had no expectation, but very quickly it was apparent everything had been transferred correctly! The car felt stable, smooth, and engine vitals looked normal. The tune loaded onto the engine held back its true power potential, so we ultimately continued to lose a lot of time down straightaways and out of corners.”

“Still, I was ecstatic the #14 was on-track and I was giving it what it had! Road Atlanta is a top three favorite circuit for me. The blind, ultra fast crests with an unmatched rhythm and short lap time never leave you bored. The back-straight is long enough to help your mind ‘reset’ for another incredible lap of one of the country’s finest circuits.”

“I’m very proud of my double stint Saturday morning. Since GP1 was the top class for this event, a lot less traffic made it easier to be within millimeters of consistency lap-after-lap. At one point toward the end of my first hour, I was a leading car on a restart. I was able to pull away from the entire GP1 field and continue to set the 2nd or 3rd fastest laps of GP1 for the following hour. Not bad for a car I could only qualify 10th the previous day! I was hustling her as fast as she would let me though. Certainly not always an ‘endurance’ pace! It’s what Nik, Ryan, and myself had to do in #14 to even stay remotely competitive. Great fun nonetheless, but we have work still to do in the pace department.”

“Ryan and Nik took over for the remainder and we finished 7th of 15 that day which was a great result missing 1/4th of the race. We retooled, regrouped and set out for a better day Sunday. Nik got us off to a respectable start for two hours before the mandatory two hour church ‘quiet hours’. Ryan continued to keep us in a good spot before I finally took over for the last few hours. It was the hottest ambient and track temp we’d had all weekend and wow was it a handful! It took an extraordinary workload to even get closer to the times I was setting the day prior. Eventually, I got to better grips with the worsening conditions and chipped away at time and consistency. By the end, we finished a very strong 4th only missing the podium by about 2 laps. Considering our outright pace was 2-3 seconds per lap off the leading GP1 cars, it was a great result for us.”

“I want to shoutout all of our (small) Palomar Racing from the weekend for delivering a near flawless effort in the pits. A couple warnings, but zero penalties after 14+ hours of racing and pit stops. Also want to shoutout the Chattanooga Tourenwagen team for boosting our happiness and having a great time in the team’s #15 car. They were all a pleasure to work with and I’m stoked they had a good result on day one even after a potential race-ending moment! Race two was not so kind for them, but they took it in stride and grace and learned a lot regardless.”

Million will next compete for Palomar Racing at High Plains Raceway in Colorado for the WRL’s 8 + 8 Hour event. He is scheduled to drive the #14 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.

Visit ‘Photos’ to view more pictures from the event.

Photography by Scottie Elkins.

Race Recap: Million, Palomar Racing Complete WRL VIR 9 + 7 Hour

Race Recap: Million, Palomar Racing Complete World Racing League’s VIR 9 + 7 Hour

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.

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

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