SAINI: "I Need To Win More Than I Need To Breathe"

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SAINI: “I Need To Win More Than I Need To Breathe”

When I left you last, we had just been through our best weekend of the year with a lights-to-flag win at Autobahn Country Club in Illinois.

Jason Saini | http://www.jasonsaini.com | Posted August 21, 2009 Cresson, TX

Close your mouth, Jason... (Mark Weber/SCCA)

Not a lot of time has transpired since I talked to you last, but we've managed to get through two more full rounds of the SCCA ProRacing SPEED World Challenge Championship since then. Back to back races are never a picnic – lots of time on the road, only days for the crew to turn the car around, travel logistics, damage concerns; it's a challenging and stressful part of any series. We're not talking NASCAR teams here, who are used to racing every weekend, these are far lower budget and not nearly as well staffed.

When I left you last, we had just been through our best weekend of the year with a lights-to-flag win at Autobahn Country Club in Illinois. With that track being in my old backyard, it was a bit of homecoming. And our back-to-back venues? How about Mid Ohio (I grew up in Cleveland and went to Mid Ohio as a fan year after year,) and Road America (which was less than two hours away before I moved to Texas.) Needless to say I was thrilled about the venues!

Considering that it had been a couple races since our main rivals at Realtime Racing had won, and Mazda had tied them in the manufacturer's title with our Autobahn win, and the Mid Ohio race was the “Acura Sports Car Challenge' weekend, I knew it would be tough going! After a very relaxing week in Chicago, coaching and hanging out with friend and sponsor Richard Fisher, I was fully rested and ready to go for Mid Ohio.

It bears mentioning that we are still working on that shoestring budget I keep speaking of, and a whole host of people stepped up to help before Mid Ohio to make sure we had the resources we needed to fight for this championship. I wanted to take a brief moment to recognize these folks, we couldn't have made it work without you!

I always get nostalgic racing at Mid Ohio. I'll never forget the first time I pulled through the gate there, and saw the IMSA prototypes come over the hill and into “Thunder Valley.' It was the heyday of sports-car racing in the US, and the big-bad Nissans, Toyotas and Jaguars ruled the track... not to mention the incredibly beautiful Mazda RX-792P. I stood wide-eyed watching those beasts gobble up the quaint and park-like ribbon of asphalt near Mansfield, OH and wondered if I'd ever get to drive on that track.

It was at Mid Ohio that my MX-5 Cup season turned around in 2006. I had some DNF's and poor finishes after being fast in practice – but at Mid Ohio, I came across the line in 2nd – after a battle with my teammate who ended up winning the championship that year. It was a great turning point for my career in general, giving me the confidence to run up front.

Before this most recent outing, I had run two Pro-Miata events, one MX-5 Cup race and one SPEED Touring Car race at my old home track. I had always been in the top-5, and it was dream come true to even race professionally there – but let's face it, I really wanted to win there. I dreamed of winning there as a kid, so Mid Ohio is always going to have special meaning for me.

Our pace through practice was pretty good, I felt like we had a good shot at pole or at least the top-three. At one point, illustrating how difficult it is to win in our series, the top-5 in practice were covered by .081 of a second. That's right, FIVE cars, of different makes and run by different teams, all covered by less than a tenth of a second. We knew either way that it would be a fight! As expected, the Acuras were strong, making it all the more important that we do well.

Qualifying was 8:00AM on Saturday morning. It had rained the night before. The track was dusty, dirty and greasy. I knew the first laps would be a disaster, but since qualifying is gridded by points standings, I knew I had to run early to try to put in a time in case the session were red-flagged. However, the team discussed it beforehand, and decided to hold back one car to wait for better conditions. It paid off with a strong pole position for Mazda with Charles Espenlaub scoring for the team.
That pole was good for another manufacturer's point for Mazda as well. How did I do you might ask? I don't want to talk about it... we should skip right to the race! I'll say this much, on those first few laps, I was quickest – but by the time the dust had settled I would start 8th, the same position I had started my worst race of the year at Watkins Glen. It surely wasn't going to be THIS year that I fulfilled my dream to win a Professional race at Mid Ohio.

Now it became damage control. My nearest rival for the title, Peter Cunningham was in 3rd, but my other closest rival Pierre Klienubing was 9th. My goal was to say ahead of him and get as close to Peter as possible to keep the points gap on them.

Making a plan in a race is a somewhat laughable pursuit, yet we all seem to do it. I'm not sure why we think it's going to happen like the script in our heads, because it never does. I was going to get one or two cars at the start, then settle in and pick at least one more off as the race went on. That would put me fifth, around two spots behind Peter. Perfect, now let's execute!

Right, lights-out, launch... two BMW's straight ahead of me... they have RWD, I am in my FWD MAZDA6. First phase of my plan – mega-fail. I ride around behind the BMW's with Pierre hot on my heels, and the caution comes out for Kevin Helms' Honda having let go of a motor on the back straight. Big shout out to Kevin and his team for bringing a couple fresh entries to the grid, and building a new car for next year – they had nothing but good things to say about the series, and are welcome additions. Sorry you guys had a tough race, but look forward to seeing you at Atlanta!

On the restart, everyone got a bit stacked up through turn-one and I got inside the BMW's coming up to the keyhole... now I was 6th. Bam, next lap Patrick Lindsey's Mazda makes contact with Kuno Wittmer's Acura and he cuts a tire down. Bam, I'm in 5th. Sweet, after three green flag laps I've already met my goal! I could see my teammates right ahead, battling for the lead with the Acuras.

After a couple laps, I've caught the back of the lead pack... who go flying into madness banging into each other. I come in there only to find cars spinning in front of me. I dive for the inside and narrowly miss getting crashed into by a spinning car. I'm right behind my teammate Eric who damaged his car in the melee and understeered wide at the exit of turn nine. Now I'm in second place! Wow! I didn't expect this.

Saini's success in the SPEED TC series continues. (Mark Weber/SCCA)

Here I am, lined up behind my teammate and he appears to be slowing. I run a couple laps behind him, but the Acuras are catching us! I have no choice but to go by as Charles' car was letting him down. A bad injector ended his bid for a win, and I was now leading. LEADING? What? I almost couldn't believe it! After a dismal qualifying session, and low expectations all of a sudden I was leading and driving away!

Another caution bunched the field, erasing my 3+ second advantage. Here we go, Acuras right on my tail again. On the restart I just put my head down, and drove the best-handling race car I can ever remember driving. The crew gave me such a phenomenal car, it was an absolute joy to drive. I got to look up onto the hill outside madness, and know that I had made if from that hill into the lead of the race. What a feeling. I crossed the stripe 4.7 seconds ahead... of my two championship rivals. They had shared the podium with me at Autobahn, keeping the points battle close.

Forget about that for a second! I couldn't believe I had made it from 8th to win, it's just not typically possible in this series! All those years I'd dreamed of being on the top step of that Mid Ohio Podium, and it finally happened. I now had three wins on the season, and a very strong points lead. And my favorite track in the country was up next!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jason Saini

jasonsaini.com

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