Reflection. . .

It’s amazing how fast time flies.  It seems like just yesterday the season was just starting; now the racecars, at least for us, sit idle in the shop- waiting for their respective checklists to be completed.  The weather is turning cooler here in the northeast, and instead of engines the furnaces will soon be running.  The season of reflecting is now upon us, time to look back at the past year and remember the good and the bad.

            This time of year is always a little depressing for me.  The season is over, and other than some winter testing, I won’t be back in a racecar to compete until next spring.  I think of racecars like people, and I don’t think the racecars like to sit any more than I do.  Although we had some up’s and down’s this year it’s hard to look back at this year and not call it a success.

We visited some new racetracks and ran very well right off the trailer.  That always makes a crew and a driver feel good.  It’s always easier to find a little speed during the weekend, than being out to lunch and playing catch up.  That was something that we worked on at the shop this year.  Making sure we felt like the setup we put in the car would be what we needed when we got to the track.  Running an in house car this year, we didn’t have the at track manpower that some of these other teams have.  I am proud of my team to be able to compete at this level, it certainly wasn’t late models- which is where their comfort zone was.

This year was a big step out of my comfort zone as well.  At the end of the day, the goal of racing is still the same, be the fastest car on the track- lap after lap after lap.  While we were able win multiple times this year, I am more proud of how my driving has progressed.

I’ve been racing since I was 12 years old- get ready- that’s 17 years.  I feel that I have made bigger strides in the last 2 years than in the first 15 combined.  Due, in part, to the time I spent at Bertil Roos- if you haven’t attended yet; do it, its worth every minute.  I am grateful for what I learned at the Roos school, but I think it has more to do with my age.  As I have spent more time behind the wheel, I have gained more of a respect for the “craft” that driving a race car is.

I believe that anyone can climb into a racecar and go fast, relatively speaking.  The concept of what we do is not all that complex- go fast- don’t wreck- win some races- visit victory lane.  In theory, it’s not hard- but it is sometimes maddening how difficult it can be.  3 years ago, I finally learned how to qualify.  That seems like a stupid thing to say, but it’s not.  Qualifying and racing are 2 very different things.  Most everybody can tape off the grill, and bump up the tire pressures and go bust off a quick lap.  In doing so, most everyone tries to go faster when they qualify.  I can’t explain it really well, but I actually try to slow down a little bit.  I call it “backing up the corner”; getting slowed down before the corner and being able to accelerate sooner and longer down the straightaway.  It goes against everything that feels right.  Now, you have to have a good car to do that, but that’s all part of the package.

That has translated into road racing for me as well.  The more I try to go fast and hustle the car, the more disappointed I am with the lap times.  Taking only what the car will give you, being ultra smooth, like ultra-ultra smooth, and knowing the track as well as you can- you know; doing your homework.  Before we went to every track this year, I would watch in car video for hours.  My wife would get so mad, she would be trying to go to bed, and here I am with the volume up blaring a track video.  Thing is- it works.  Knowing every square inch of the track- BEFORE- you ever get on it, can help a driver so much.

When I was younger, it was hard to tell me anything.  I knew everything there was to know about racing, racecars, and how to drive a racecar.  I “didn’t even know- that I didn’t know”.  Its funny, now when I watch races on TV, I’m not watching the “race”, I’m watching the racecars.  I’m watching how they look on the track, under braking, the roll in the corner, ride heights.

As I continue to make this my career, I find myself discovering a whole new side of this sport.  Everybody talks about it, but actually being disciplined enough to consciously being able to calm yourself down inside the racecar is pretty hard.  Not getting emotional behind the wheel, not getting frustrated, or nervous, is a big key to taking big steps towards being a great driver.

For me, this is what I’m most proud of this past year.  Not just strapping in and going full tilt till the checkers.  Making the race a chess match of sorts- you know- a chess match at 150 mph’s.  That’s partly why the end of the competition season is such a drag.  Winter testing just isn’t the same.

As you can tell, I’m already looking forward to next year, and I can’t wait to tell everyone the plans as well.  I guess its back to the shop, and maybe a few board meetings till then.  We haven’t released our website yet, but stay tuned- its going to be pretty cool.  Follow be on twitter @justinonderko, and justinonderko.com as well.  Till next time. . .

It's Been a While. . .

It seems like a long time since I sat down to put my thoughts to paper- so to speak.  A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks as well.  Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas clinched the Daytona Prototype title in the Rolex series, and its something like Scott’s 5^th and Memo’s 4^th.  Those guys are definitely deserving Champions and excellent road racers.  Though I’m not a huge fan of the man, Brad Keslowski has made a statement in the Sprint Cup Chase; winning 2 of the first 3 Chase races.

As for me, the last week was spent with my wife.  We kind of took the honeymoon we didn’t take last year when we got married.  Last year, 6 days after we got married, instead of taking a honeymoon my wife went along with me to a race that we had scheduled.  The best part about that weekend ( heavy sarcasm here) was that it rained both days and never climbed out of the low 50’s.  She sat in the clubhouse or the truck most of the day to keep warm and dry.  I figure that was pretty special for her to do for me, so I let her plan the week that she wanted this year.  We spent a lot of time out on the boat- which is something we both love, so it was a really nice time.

I wanted to mention a foundation we had on the car a couple weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.  The Motorsports Rehabilitation Foundation.  While it is something no driver likes to think about, getting hurt inside a racecar is a very real possibility.  As I get older, I find that I think about it a little more than I used too.  Now that I’m married, and with the possibility of a family- what would I do if something happened?  Worse yet- what would my wife do?

That’s where MRF comes in- they help out families of injured drivers in those times of need.  Scott Lynn founded the MRF about 15 years ago after an accident while competing at Watkins Glen.  He exited turn 1 at 125 mph, and hit the retaining wall head on.  It was then that he realized that while he was extremely lucky- it could have very easily gone the other way.

The MRF is able to step in and help those that have been either injured or the families of those who have been killed in sanctioned motorsports events.  They understand that the medical bills, legal fees, and everyday bills that tend to rapidly accumulate at the time of an injury can be a real burden.  A burden that can very easily become too much to deal with for most people.  It’s not something we think about when we load our racecars up, but life can change very quickly at the racetrack.

Michelle Randall, a co-founder, and Eugene Hahn, a director, not only are educated in  economics and business, they also understand the business of racing.  Better yet- they understand WHY we do what we do.  More often than not, that is important as well.  When someone gets hurt- the question or statement is “why did he/she have to be out there”.  It’s what we love, and to know that a foundation like MRF is out there- makes it easier to climb into a car.

Regardless of who you are- a fan, a crew member, a driver- I ask you to log on to www.gomrf.org and check these guys out.  They are an outstanding group of people, and it is a wonderful service that they provide in a terrible time in someone’s life.  Learn about them, read about who they are, donate to the cause- and hope that you never have to use them.

The wheels are turning over here at Onderko Motorsports.  I wish I could tell you about all that is happening behind the scenes.  I hope to make some big announcements in the near future- but you know how that goes- nothing- nothing-nothing and then BAM!  All kinds of good stuff comes out.  Anyway, I will be staying busy the next 2 weeks, and hope that you will too.  By the way- we will be unveiling a new website very soon, so we are really excited about that as well.  Log on to www.gomrf.org and check those guys out!  Till next week. . .

2012 IZOD Indycar Championship. . .

           Congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay- the 2012 IZOD Indycar Champion.  Boy that has a nice ring to it.  Personally, I’m glad that we have an American driver as champion again, after all- it is an American series.  Although I have never been a huge fan of Will Power, I can’t imagine the range of emotions he must be dealing with.

            While I understand that the difference between myself and IZOD drivers is about 5-6 million dollars a year, I would like to think we are the same on the inside.  I remember the joy of 2010 and our Late Model Championship, and the sting of 2012 at Mid-Ohio is still acutely felt.  For me, winning the championship made day to day life much happier and easier to deal with- and conversely; breaking the transmission at Mid-Ohio made even the smallest things seem like a big deal.

            I’m sure the Monday morning meetings were very different as well.  The guys at Andretti Autosport were probably still celebrating, while it might have been a little uncomfortable over Penske Racing.  I believe that you run every lap of every race to the fullest- or at least as full as you can make it.  I believe each lap counts, and as a driver it’s your job to make sure you run all the laps.  Which is why I don’t believe Ryan “lucked into it” or “got lucky”.  Sure, when Will Power spun and crashed, it made Ryan’s job easier, but he could have just as easily crashed as well, or broke, or any number of things.  That’s why you never give up- ever.

            On the other hand, I don’t think it’s completely fair to blame Will Power for “losing” the Championship.  Yes, he did spin, and effectively ended his chances.  However, was there a time this season, when maybe his crew made a mistake or two?  Maybe.  Was there ever a time when Will had 10^th place car, and was able to bring it home 5^th?  Again, maybe.  In the end, it really doesn’t matter, because the driver is like the quarterback- they are the ones who shoulder that responsibility of winning or losing.

            All that being said, Ryan edged Will by 3 points.  3 points.  3 points.  3 points can make you go crazy.  3 points can make you say “what if” all winter long.  3 points can get you fired, or it can get you another deal for next year.  A lot can be said by 3 points.

            As for me, the off season is here.  Time to regroup, and move forward for next year.  Getting back on the winter training schedule, and keeping in shape for next year.  It’s not a time to lay back, it’s a time to get ahead.  Getting budgets together, renegotiating contracts, signing new sponsors- its time to get to work.

            I’m going to switch to a bi-weekly format for the blog for the offseason.  It will give me chance to focus on all of the aforementioned items, and make it more interesting when I do get to update you.  I would like to wish my wife Marisa a Happy Anniversary, we will have been married 1 year on September 24^th.  Now, I know its not 10 years, but you have to give her most of the credit, living with a racer is measured like dog years- it always feels longer than it really is.  She’s pretty amazing- and I’m glad to be with her.  Anyway- enough with the mushy stuff, this is a racing blog- enough with the mushy stuff, this is a racing bloglways feels longer than it really ispretty cool in the next few weeks, so stso follow me on twitter- @justinonderko, and we will be unveiling something new and pretty cool in the next few weeks, so stay tuned.  Till next time. . .

2012 National Championships- Mid-Ohio Memories

           The 2012 NASA National Championships at Mid-Ohio are in the history books.  Even in another year of recession, the pits were full of drivers and teams chasing victory at the famed road course.  We saw Daytona Prototypes, Mustangs, Corvettes, Hondas, and everything in between.  Drivers raced hard and fast for 4 days, and in the end the drivers that were able to out race and in some cases outlast the competition- took home the trophy.

            Since we’ve got home, I’ve tried to figure out a way to put this past week into words.  It’s hard to describe the whole experience.  There are really two sides to last week for me.  There is the obvious racing side of things, and then there is the human element side of things.  For me, I always try to down play events such as this.  Even though this is the National Championships, in reality- it’s just another race.  I believe you can get caught up in the sheer spectacle of things and lose focus on the task at hand if you allow yourself to get wrapped up in the moment.

            No matter how long I’m at this game, the last few miles on the road until I pull into the racetrack are always the worst.  My insides are turning upside down and my mind is racing a mile a minute.  This past week was no different, in fact, it was worse- I mean, come on, it’s only the biggest race of my career.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool to have a set of credentials with the Mid-Ohio logo on it.  The whole scene was such a spectacle- just the sheer size of the event was awesome.

            I try not to get wrapped up in the moment to often, I feel like I should be past all of the shock and awe of racing, I’ve been around this sport for so long now- I feel like I’ve had my share of ups and downs.  It was really hard, especially Wednesday when I wasn’t out on the track.  It was both exciting and scary at the same time- to realize the tens of millions of dollars that surrounded me, in racecars-equipment-motorcoaches- and vendors.

            Much like I try to be at the racetrack- enough with all that crap- lets get down to business.  I was ready to get out on the track- that’s where the world still makes sense to me.  Time to see if the last 2 weeks of preparation have paid off.  The time out on the track was spent learning and trying to figure ways to make us faster.

            To make a very long story short- during qualifying on Friday, we lost 3^rd gear.  We tried all that we knew how, but in the end- the damage was to severe and with the resources we had at that time, we couldn’t fix it.  We were not able to compete in the final race of the Championship weekend- resulting in a DNF.

            Now that tells you the end result of the week, but it doesn’t quite tell you the whole story.  It has been a long time since I have seen people work with the speed, accuracy, and efficiency as my guys did during our time at Mid-Ohio.  I am very proud of the team and the car that they gave me.  Due to the rules package that we race under, we must declare our horsepower and weight before competition begins, as measured by a dynamometer.  We declare 148 horsepower- our competition declares over 390.  Without getting into the specifics of the rules- I’m giving up 240+ horsepower.  This is not to make excuses- its to drive home the point of the caliber of car my team put underneath me.  I was turning lap times within 2% of the pole winner after only 40 minutes on the track.  Now- practice/qualifying is not the race, but I’d say we would have had a pretty good shot at a podium.  But. . . we broke- so we’ll never know.

            To that point, we broke- we didn’t make a mistake and end up crashed.  We didn’t end our day by making a careless error in the pits- we broke.  Something that I’ve come to accept in this sport- parts break, bearings fail, tires go flat, and none of those things happen sitting in the trailer, they happen in competition.  Case in point, a few months ago, Dario Franchitti- this year’s Indy 500 winner, blew his engine on the pace lap at Iowa.  Now- I’m sure someone at Gnassi Motorsports got fired, but it’s a prime example of parts failing.  It happens- everything has a life span- and when its up, its up.  It’s the reason teams that compete in the most premier series don’t run parts more than once.

            All of this is of little condolence to the fact that our week ended early.  It is, however, part of the game we play.  It is why we continue to prepare our cars the way we do, and try to eliminate this from happening again.  Each time we have encountered a problem this year; we’ve redesigned it and fixed it.  I’m proud of that, and I’m proud of my team- Thank you.

            I want to thank our partners- OC2 Interactive (oc2interactive.com), RAD Racing (ncprs.org), and our latest partner- MRF (Motorsports Rehabilitation Foundation - mrf.org).  Without their support this year, we would not have been able to compete at the level we did.  We look forward to the rest of this year and looking ahead to next year as well.

            There are a lot of things to take away from Mid-Ohio, and we are currently tearing into the transmission to find the cause of the failure.  We will be posting some videos and pictures from Mid-Ohio soon, so check back often.  Till Next Week. . .

2012 NASA National Championships. . .

         The last couple of days have been spent going over our checklists for Nationals.  The car has been put back together, and given the green light for competition.  All of the pit boxes have been gone through, restocked, and set aside.  I try to stress to everyone- "Its just another race", but I think we all know, its not just another race.  The hauler was loaded up on Monday, it was washed, and fueled up for the trip Tuesday.  From our shop, Mid-Ohio is roughly 400 miles.  Mostly highway, it should be an uneventful trip.
         Most of Tuesday was spent traveling, we made it into Ashland, Ohio around 8pm and parked the truck at the hotel.  Early Wednesday morning we got up and traveled the 25  miles to the racetrack.  No matter how many times I travel to a racetrack- no matter if I've been there 100 times or going there for the first time- I get that nervous pit in the middle of my stomach.  We made our way to registration and got all of our credentials.
        After registration, we went to the paddock area to find our pit area.  We were fortunate to secure a space really close to the grid area, so we can keep track of what's on the racetrack.  I will tell you- parking at any race is a really pain- but here at Nationals- it is even worse.  We are packed in tighter than a can of sardines.  We got the truck and trailer parked, and the racecar unloaded, and set up our pit area.
       We got set up and took a walk around the entire paddock area to get familiar with where everything is.  We found the tech area and walked back to our pit area to get the racecar and take it over to have it gone over.  After we got our tech sticker, we took the car back to the pit area, and put the car up on the lift.
       We had a Welcome/Drivers meeting at 5pm Wednesday, so we headed over to that area to get a seat for that.  No matter how many races you've been to, or how many driver's meeting you've been to, they are all the same.  "Be safe, don't wreck each other, be on time for your sessions"- was the message that we got.
       We will begin our track time tomorrow, and really look forward to getting our first laps under our belt.  Next week I will give you the rundown of our on track time, and how we made out.  I'm proud of our team and what it took to get here.  I feel we have done all that we can to get ready for this race, and now its time to go out and see what happens.  "Be smart and make good decisions, the big race isn't until Sunday- so keep the wheels on it"- is the mantra right now- so now its time to get at it.  We haven't had the best of luck this year, so hopefully the racing gods look our way and we can avoid any on track scuffles.  I'd like to say "Thank You" to my guys, and I will do my best for them and our sponsors.  Till next week. . .

Getting Ready for the National Championships. . .

            This week in racing saw Indycar at Sonoma and the NASCAR Series at Bristol.  I was able to listen to the NASCAR race on the radio for most of the evening; I actually was able to get home from the shop to watch the final 50 laps.  Carl Edwards really needed a win but came up really short after a badly different pit strategy left him out on the track with 150 lap old tires.  Denny Hamlin was able to snag the win, while a few tempers got hot during the evening.  I made it a point to at least listen to the race, since that’s where I came from (short track racing) and Bristol never disappoints.  Wednesday night the Modifieds raced at Bristol, and we had some friends go down to compete.  Ryan Newman indirectly took out half the field when he couldn’t hang onto his machine off of turn 4.  The ensuing wreck that resulted from people trying to miss him had the front stretch clogged shut while cars got airborne.  I’m glad Newman has the time and money to cost other teams the remainder of their season.  A few of the teams were pretty low budget, just to make a show like that was a big deal, and some of them left with junk racecars.  Indycar was out in wine country, Sonoma California.  The race was dominated by Will Power, with Ryan Briscoe ending up with the win.  The race was actually pretty boring for the first two thirds, but all of the sudden things started changing and happening to jumble everything up.  The ever quick-witted Marco Andretti had another DNF- and while being interviewed afterwards admitted he was trying to blow the engine up so the team didn’t get a penalty for changing engines heading into Baltimore- The pit reporter then informed him of the rules and let him know that an engine with a known problem could be changed without penalty- though I’m sure he already knew that.  Alex Tagliani and Ryan Hunter-Reay had a bit of a run-in in the closing laps as well, Hunter-Reay has seen himself free fall from the championship lead in the last couple of races.  

            As for me, these past couples of days have been very productive.  I spent most of the weekend putting the engine and driveline back into the car.  One of my very good friends came by the shop to give me a hand.  Adam was one of the first guys that helped me each week back when I ran the short tracks.  It was kind of like old times, except for the fact that he has a son now.  I have to give a special thank you to Adam’s boy- Noah- he was very good all day, and I hope he is a future crew member; he certainly has potential.  Anyway, the engine and driveline is back in, ready to go.  I found a couple of things that needed attention, so I was glad to able to address them.  A few things need touched up, but nothing really major.

            I look forward to being able to spend a little bit of down time over the holiday before we head out to Mid-Ohio.  In one week, I will be writing this blog from a hotel room in Lexington, Ohio.  I look forward to getting out there and getting the pits setup and then getting out on the track.  It’s only an 8 hour haul for us, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

            We have a big unveiling of sorts happening next Wednesday as well, we will be launching a new version of my website.  OC2 Interactive, one of new sponsors for the 2012 season, is currently putting the finishing touches on it as we speak.  Take a look at it next Wednesday and then give them a call for any web or mobile based work you might need done.  They specialize in high quality work with a time and cost efficient mindset- in fact that’s their motto- “When you absolutely, positively need to have it done right, on-time, and in-budget.”  Check them out- www.oc2interactive.com
            It’s going to be a busy week, and arguable the biggest race of my career- to date.  It is just another race, though.  Its going to start with the green flag and end with the checkers- it’s what’s in between is what counts.  In addition to the new website, we will be blowing up Twitter while we are out there, follow me @justinonderko.  The site will have links to Twitter and Facebook, so check us out.  Happy Labor Day to everyone, I hope it is a safe and enjoyable day for all, and I will see you out at Mid-Ohio for the NASA National Championships!  Till next week. . .

Summit Point Reloaded. . .

            This past weekend had Onderko Motorsports at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia.  I was excited to be returning to that speedway since we ran so well in June.  We arrived in town Friday night and checked in to the hotel, it had taken a little longer to travel on account of the rain, but we made it safe and uneventful.

            Saturday Morning bright and early we unloaded for the day and I headed over to the drivers meeting.  We went over the way the day was going to go, and the order of events and how they would be run.  It was a pretty normal start to the raceday.

            We got ready for practice, and headed over to the grid to get lined up.  We ran decent in practice; I made a significant gear change during the week and it really changed my shift points.  Once I got comfortable with the car again, I pulled back into the garage area.  There was no use in putting more time on the car with Nationals right around the corner.

            Qualifying came and we ran really well.  The times came way down, and I really started to get comfortable with the car.  Our fastest lap came on the last lap of qualifying, which tells me that the car is working really well and should be fast in the race.  When we checked the grid order we found ourselves on the outside of the front row.  That was our best qualifying effort this year.  So far the day was going very well.

            The call came from race control to start getting the cars to the grid.  Once again my team got the car ready to do battle.  I got ready too, and climbed aboard and belted in.  I really felt like we had a great opportunity to get an overall win on Saturday.  I knew that if I kept the car on the track and didn’t make any mistakes an overall podium was almost expected.  We took our pace laps and took the green flag.  The polesitter didn’t exactly jump the start but he did get an awfully great jump on me before the green came out.

            I dropped back to third as we headed down to turn 1.  It took 2 laps but I got back to 2^nd spot.  I lost some time to the leader, but I settled in and really started to push the car to catch him.  The car was really working well, and we were .5 seconds off the track record with our times.  I felt good, the car felt good, the crew was feeling good- and then it happened.  BANG.

            When I say BANG, it was a bang- followed by the transmission going from 4^th gear to 2^nd gear.  The telemetry started flashing at me telling me the motor was over revving, my brain was screaming at me to get the car out of gear.  By the time I pushed the clutch in, the motor had revved to 11,478 rpm’s- well above the 9500rpm redline.

            I got out of the racing line and headed for pit lane.  I made it back to the garage area and climbed out of the car.  I knew it wasn’t the clutch, and my fear was that I broke the main shaft in the transmission.  All I could picture was chunks of gears and metal gravy in the bottom of the trans.  I didn’t want to mess with it at the track so we loaded it up and went home.

            Sunday was supposed to be spent with my wife, but instead I went to the shop and tried to figure out what had happened.  Around lunchtime my wife, Marisa, came over to the shop and helped me pull the driveline.  She was a big help and actually was the one who first realized what had happened.  We run a sequential style gear box, and as we were working she noticed that the shift cam didn’t feel right.

            The bolt that held the shift cam had actually sheared and allowed the cam to come loose and would no longer engage a gear.  A 2 dollar bolt ended what would have been a great day.  The good news is that it should be a quick fix.  We are going to put in a fresh engine and the gearbox is currently being checked out.  This is not something I wanted to be dealing with right before Nationals.

            Next week I should have good news and we should be just about wrapped up and ready for Nationals.  A big thanks to Marisa for giving up some weekend time with me to help me figure out what was wrong with the racecar.  It looks like I might owe her a special date night.  Check us out on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter @justinonderko.  Till next week. . .