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SAINI: June Sprints And Jason Britton!
Written by: Jason Saini
jasonsaini.com   http://www.jasonsaini.com
06/25/2009
Fort Worth, TX
 
You might think a racer would get pretty bored if there were a large break between races. The NASCAR guys and gals don't get a moment's rest, with a race nearly every weekend. But in Sports Car racing there's sometimes a month-long downtime between races. Luckily, I have plenty to keep me busy, making these lapses in the excitement of the season both tolerable and exciting; but more importantly it makes them fly by so I can be at the racetrack again, doing what I love.
SCCA SPEED Touring Car race winner Jason Saini (3rd from left) spent time instructing SPEED's 'Superbikes' host Jason Britton (holding helmet) on the art of lapping a track on four wheels. (Saini) ยป More Photos

The Tri-Point Motorpsorts MAZDA6's left Mosport's SPEED World Challenge Touring Car double-header with a solid team result, and I retained the driver's championship points lead... but that is weeks ago now, and my how they have flown by. Probably the most important thing I've been working on is trying to keep the rest of the season going. As is the story with nearly everyone in Motorsports these days, we are doing a lot with a little and trying to make every dollar count.

The next race at Watkins Glen is now less than two weeks away – partnered with the IndyCar Series July 4th weekend. The excitement is building as everyone at Tri-Point Motorsports is working hard to get the cars ready. We feel like our 2009 package will be quite strong there. Of course as a race team, you always feel that way – but Tri-Point has had some stellar weekends at the Glen and we're looking forward to another one.

Most drivers will tell you how they stay fit, train, work out, race on the simulator – all to stay sharp for the next race, but I take a different approach. It's not that I don't train as that's such an important part of being a professional driver; but whenever I'm not racing, I help run a race team that I'm part-owners of. Almost four years ago, I made the move to Fort Worth, TX to join forces with Motorsport Enterprises Racing and Shannon McMasters, and what a four-years it's been!

We had a goal, and a championship to run – the new for 2006 Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup series. We had new cars to build, a bunch of gleaming new 2006 Mazda's fresh off the showroom floor, paint barely dry were torn apart to make into race cars. Now four years into that series, we've won every season so far, and are currently leading the 2009 campaign. With future goals in Koni Challenge and ultimately Rolex GT, Team MER has grown into a mature, talented and successful race team.

Combining Shannon, who is one of the co-creators of SCCA's wildly successful Spec Miata racing class, myself as a driver, and Juliann, my girlfriend who serves as team manger/fabricator, made a strong partnership. However, I didn't have any way to actually buy a Mazda MX-5 to run the series with. Enter The Autobarn Mazda, a dealer in the Chicago area.

Even though we were moving away from Northern Illinois, there were strong ties there – but it was a cold-call that ignited my relationship with The Autobarn. I proposed to Richard Fisher, the owner, that he help me get an MX-5 and in return, I'd help him with driver coaching, appearances, and promotion of his dealership. After just one meeting, we had a tentative deal – and four years later a strong friendship to boot. Richard is a racer himself, and has improved immensely in the past years, now fighting for National club-racing wins.

One of the chances I got to repay the help he's given me came on May 31st at the Autobahn Country Club track in Joliet. Richard was holding a customer appreciation event and trackday, and I helped out by giving rides and doing some instruction for some key people. We ended the day with a bang-up go-kart race, which was one of those 15-minute long, constant lead-swapping,
contact-laden, intense affairs that usually happens when you get a bunch of racers in identical go-karts! In the end, I may have come out on top – but both Richard and his son were right on my heels.

These types of events, coupled with all the testing we do back at our home-base in Texas, at MotorsportRanch, I get the rare chance as a driver to make a bunch of laps to stay fit and sharp, in a variety of cars. It's been very helpful to keep me in the groove and ready to race, along with helping me interpret both the car's behavior and setup changes better.

From The Autobarn dealer event, it was back to Texas to help get our cars ready for the NJMP Rounds of the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup series. After a win in the opener at Road Atlanta, and a second at Mazda Raceway both by our driver Marc Miller, we were hungry for a good result at the double-header held at the Millville, NJ track.

We unloaded pretty strong, on par with everyone else and were confident about our chances. Todd Lamb, who had won the Mazda Raceway round had a ton of seat-time at NJ, so we knew he would be strong – and he was, taking both rounds of the double-header. Luckily, Marc Miller placed a close second both days, so we're still right there in the championship.

Some cool stuff happened at the NJ rounds, despite our lack of wins. Renowned photographer Rick Graves has been promoting professional Sports Car racing through a site called Oncars, by creating highly stylized 3-4 minute videos designed to show and tell how interesting and challenging our sport is. I think it's doing a great job, and should be helping viewer ship for these programs on SPEED. Overall, what he's doing is raising the image of sports car racing, and I'm proud to help him do just that.

When Marc Miller's car developed a differential issue, we talked with Mazda, the SCCA and NJMP officials to get some film for Rick while breaking in the new differential in Marc's car. What ensued was one of the coolest experiences I've had in Motorsports, where I was wired and the car was fitted with cameras at every angle. I did some laps, while talking and describing our sport, the passion we have for it, the competition, the track... anything I could think of.

The next day, at lunchtime, we tried an even more ambitious project – with even more cameras, one of which was attached to the chin of my helmet, with a 5lb bracket and camera hanging off! The camera was dead-center right between my eyes! It was extremely difficult to drive, and my head movement was hampered by the weight – so we didn't necessarily get the shot we wanted – but it was such a cool experience and I look forward to working with Rick more on it at upcoming events. I think a similar piece from inside the Touring Car would be very cool!

When the racing was done, I took some time to hang out with the folks at NJMP. The member-based track has what I consider to be the best social scene of any example across the country. The clubhouse/bar/restaurant is a hub of activity, and there's always a mingling of competitors, fans and track employees that is fantastic.

When I found out Monday was a member day, I jumped at the opportunity to hang out and help with instruction and have some playtime on the Lightning course – a smaller, yet faster and more flowing track than the Thunderbolt Raceway normally used for pro races. As it turns out, Dave Rosenblum was there doing some on-track instruction for motorcycle stunt rider Jason Britton, star of 'Superbikes' on SPEED. Dave kindly asked me to help, and an impromptu fun day ensued.

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