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Grand Am
GRAND-AM: Skeen And Prey Partner Post “Setup”
Two years after competing against each other on SPEED's show "Setup," Mike Skeen and Chris Prey have joined forces in the Continental Tire Series.
Michael Skeen  |  Posted September 20, 2010  
Mike Skeen, left, and Chris Prey, right. (Melissa K. Smith)
Two years ago I participated in a competition that aired on SPEED as the second season of a show called "Setup." For a month straight, myself and twenty-three racers competed in Pontiac Solstice racecars every other day with very little time off. I made some great friends along the way, several of whom have gone on to do some pro racing in the time since.

One of those friends was Chris Prey, who now owns a team competing in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner class. As the series finale at Miller Motorsports Park approached, Chris offered me the opportunity to co-drive with him in the #86 Royal Purple Porsche Boxster that his team campaigns.

After racing against each other on the show, we both knew we could make a competitive driving pair in the Boxster, and we were very excited to get to work during the Thursday promoter test day in Tooele, Utah. We had three lengthy sessions and two more official sessions on Friday, so there would be plenty of time for us to dial in the car.

The initial setup was very good, but had too much understeer for us to be quick through the long duration sweepers that dominate much of the Outer Loop configuration that we were running. We continued to chase the ideal balance while running old tires to make sure that we had things right for the race. On Friday, we directed our efforts more towards sorting the qualifying setup, actually getting to a point where the car had too much oversteer and then dialing it back a bit.

Going into qualifying we were very optimistic because we had been running very competitive times in practice even on older tires. We were hoping to improve on the team’s current best of a 5th place qualifying position, and I managed to do that by putting the car in 3rd position on the grid with a 2:10.286 (about 4-tenths behind the pole-sitting APR VW).
Skeen has the Boxster running in the lead pack, but mechanical woes intervened with Prey behind the wheel. (Melissa K. Smith)

Going into the race, we knew we had a car that could run consistently quick times, but we also knew that our car was fast on different parts of the track as compared to the forced-induction hatchbacks around us on the grid. Our car was well-balanced and very good on the brakes, but we were lacking the higher top speeds that make passes easier. The game plan was simply to keep the car out of trouble and stay in touch with the lead pack, even if that meant giving up a few positions.

Sure enough, at the drop of the green we fell back a few positions on the drag race down the front stretch, but we found a comfortable pace as things began to settle down among the leaders. At that point I was in 5th position between the #198 RSR Mini and the #74 C360R Civic, both watching my mirrors and pressuring the car ahead hoping for a mistake.

Just a few laps into the race we came through Turn 2 to find a GS Mustang rejoining the track in front of us, which gave me an opportunity to get a run on the #198. We went side-by-side through Turn 5 and I managed to finish the pass from the outside line entering Turn 6 thanks to a little cooperation. Soon after that, I managed to get by the Mazdas and found myself in 2nd place chasing the #91 APR VW.

I was lucky enough to get a run on the #91 on one lap to take the lead in the infield, but I quickly found out how hard it would be to hold the lead when the red GTI sailed past me down the front stretch. For the rest of my stint I followed the #91 and occasionally had to defend against the #31 i-MOTO Mazda.

I took the lead one more time when the #91 pitted; however, staying out an extra lap would prove costly for us as the full course yellow came out on that very lap. This closed the pits for us, but several other ST competitors managed to get in pit lane before it closed. After we stopped and did our driver change, Chris returned to the track in 9th position. Still, we knew we had a good car and that Chris would be able to get back towards the front, so all was not lost.

However, very quickly thereafter, one of the brake lines that connects the master cylinder to the ABS pump cracked and the fluid leaked out of the system, leaving Chris without brakes going into Turn 1. Fortunately, he managed to keep the car out of trouble, but it was obvious that we could not continue like this. The crew made a valiant effort to repair the car in the pit lane, but we did not have the spare line necessary to fix the issue and had to retire the car.

Even though a small part ended up taking us out of the race, we had an excellent run that the Prey Racing crew should enjoy. The #86 Royal Purple Porsche Boxster finished the season with its highest ever qualifying position, lead the race, and ran among the front-runners for the first half of the race. Look out for this team in 2011!




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