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Le Mans / ALMS
ALMS: Texas Ranger CJ Wilson Goes All The Way
MLB star CJ Wilson scores class win at 25 Hours of Thunderhill, lays out ambitions of one day competing in ALMS...
Texas Ranger's starting pitcher CJ Wilson, left, celebrated his first class victory at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill earlier this month. (Photo: ALMS)
CJ Wilson, an avid fan of racing and in particular the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, won his class at the NASA-sanctioned “25 Hours of Thunderhill” in Sacramento, Calif. Better known as a starting pitcher for the American League champion Texas Rangers, Wilson’s Mazda MX-5 completed 596 laps and placed sixth overall.
Wilson, who was fourth in the 2009 event, teamed with pro drifter Tyler McQuarrie, David Cheng and Darin Polsley.
What are the physical and mental preparations you go through to get ready to race vs. getting ready for a baseball game?
They're both pretty similar mentally - I'm always watching video of the opposing hitters and before a race I'm watching on-board race videos from the track I'll be racing at - hopefully in the same car that I'd be racing. I take a lot of notes on the opponent, come up with a few different strategies and make sure that my catcher and coaches are on board.
Racing is much the same. I'll come up with a team-wide strategy or rely on one made by our head strategist and right away the most important thing is that everyone gets on board.
Physically, you've got to have some pretty great cardio stamina in order to be an endurance racer or a starting pitcher - having your mind sharp for hours takes the same kind of toll on the body whether in the driver's seat or on the mound - and if your body is built to last it goes a long way to keeping your mind fresh.
How old were you when you started racing?
Unlike most of the racers I'm up against now I started much later in life. Instead of karting, I was playing Little League. I just started racing in 2008 after doing a few track days in my Porsche in 2007 at Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Texas. I had so much fun during those track days that I decided to schedule some instruction at the Skip Barber Racing School and the Jim Russell Racing Schools and just fell deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of racing from there.
How many races you have had this year?
This was a slow offseason for me because of the World Series- the Thunderhill 25-hour race was my only one. Last year I managed 19 - between the Skip Barber Series, the Bondurant Racing Series and the NASA 25 Hours at Thunderhill. This offseason I'm going to focus more on testing in some open-wheel cars.
How many ALMS races you have attended? Will you be attending any races in 2011?
Growing up, I'd watched tons of racing on TV but was really only able to go to smaller events until recently. The truth is the prototypes have always captivated my imagination.
I got to my first ALMS event in 2008 when the Series was at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and then went again in 2009. If I'm not able to get them live, I watch all the ALMS races I can on DVR (because typically we're playing while they're on TV). Secretly, I keep hoping that there will be some overlap and I'll be able to sneak over to watch a few races live again during the season.
The baseball schedule is so grueling that I won't be able to attend any races this coming year unless I get traded to another team between now and when our regular season starts... kind of disappointing but it gives me something positive to look forward to after my pitching career is over.
Has the ALMS played a role in your personal racing career?
The events I have attended with ALMS have been great for my career personally - meeting and talking shop with drivers like Dirk Werner, Joerg Bergmeister, Dominik Farnbacher, Chris Dyson, Ben Devlin, Johannes van Overbeek and other guys has been really helpful.
I really respect how hard it is to be a professional racer and I think they likewise respect my understanding of the sport. I've also been lucky to meet some of the factory team people at Porsche, Mazda and GM at the various races.
Any time I can make a good impression it's great for me down the road and I totally geek out when I can get up close with the cars. John Doonan from MazdaSpeed, for example, was actually at the 25-hour race the last two years and we've kept in contact so it was cool that he saw our team win this year.
Most of the people in racing are really happy to be there and the enthusiasm for the sport is quite contagious between all drivers and fans. The drivers themselves are really accessible and it leads to a lot of the ‘small world’ scenario. I've got a really long road ahead of me but with the newer LMPC class, I've got hope to - one day - be a prototype driver.
Wilson, who was fourth in the 2009 event, teamed with pro drifter Tyler McQuarrie, David Cheng and Darin Polsley.
What are the physical and mental preparations you go through to get ready to race vs. getting ready for a baseball game?
They're both pretty similar mentally - I'm always watching video of the opposing hitters and before a race I'm watching on-board race videos from the track I'll be racing at - hopefully in the same car that I'd be racing. I take a lot of notes on the opponent, come up with a few different strategies and make sure that my catcher and coaches are on board.
Racing is much the same. I'll come up with a team-wide strategy or rely on one made by our head strategist and right away the most important thing is that everyone gets on board.
Physically, you've got to have some pretty great cardio stamina in order to be an endurance racer or a starting pitcher - having your mind sharp for hours takes the same kind of toll on the body whether in the driver's seat or on the mound - and if your body is built to last it goes a long way to keeping your mind fresh.
How old were you when you started racing?
Unlike most of the racers I'm up against now I started much later in life. Instead of karting, I was playing Little League. I just started racing in 2008 after doing a few track days in my Porsche in 2007 at Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Texas. I had so much fun during those track days that I decided to schedule some instruction at the Skip Barber Racing School and the Jim Russell Racing Schools and just fell deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of racing from there.
How many races you have had this year?
This was a slow offseason for me because of the World Series- the Thunderhill 25-hour race was my only one. Last year I managed 19 - between the Skip Barber Series, the Bondurant Racing Series and the NASA 25 Hours at Thunderhill. This offseason I'm going to focus more on testing in some open-wheel cars.
How many ALMS races you have attended? Will you be attending any races in 2011?
Growing up, I'd watched tons of racing on TV but was really only able to go to smaller events until recently. The truth is the prototypes have always captivated my imagination.
I got to my first ALMS event in 2008 when the Series was at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and then went again in 2009. If I'm not able to get them live, I watch all the ALMS races I can on DVR (because typically we're playing while they're on TV). Secretly, I keep hoping that there will be some overlap and I'll be able to sneak over to watch a few races live again during the season.
The baseball schedule is so grueling that I won't be able to attend any races this coming year unless I get traded to another team between now and when our regular season starts... kind of disappointing but it gives me something positive to look forward to after my pitching career is over.
Has the ALMS played a role in your personal racing career?
The events I have attended with ALMS have been great for my career personally - meeting and talking shop with drivers like Dirk Werner, Joerg Bergmeister, Dominik Farnbacher, Chris Dyson, Ben Devlin, Johannes van Overbeek and other guys has been really helpful.
I really respect how hard it is to be a professional racer and I think they likewise respect my understanding of the sport. I've also been lucky to meet some of the factory team people at Porsche, Mazda and GM at the various races.
Any time I can make a good impression it's great for me down the road and I totally geek out when I can get up close with the cars. John Doonan from MazdaSpeed, for example, was actually at the 25-hour race the last two years and we've kept in contact so it was cool that he saw our team win this year.
Most of the people in racing are really happy to be there and the enthusiasm for the sport is quite contagious between all drivers and fans. The drivers themselves are really accessible and it leads to a lot of the ‘small world’ scenario. I've got a really long road ahead of me but with the newer LMPC class, I've got hope to - one day - be a prototype driver.
Monterey
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