Three days later, I found myself in the USTCC drivers' meeting at Infineon Raceway. While I was on the World Challenge Touring Car roster in '06, I never saw a checkered flag, or a green for that matter. So, officially, this would be my first pro race. Ali Arsham, the series director, introduced me as a guest magazine editor that would be racing with them. I could hear the whispers passing through the group. "Better not get in my way, better not cause a full course yellow." Automotive journalists have a pretty bad reputation amongst racers. I can't say we don't deserve it.
Despite my overwhelming confidence, I was pretty lost for the first few sessions out on the track. The last time I'd driven it, I sealed up my Honda Challenge championship with a Second Place finish. But that was years ago, in my own CRX. This time I was in an unfamiliar right-hand-drive car on an insanely crowded track. Theoretically, the USTCC cars should have been the fastest things out there. But many of the locals in their Spec 944s, Miatas, and BMWs were negotiating the turns better than I was. I ended up following an H2 Civic around just hoping to get the rhythm back.
One of my competitors offered to work with me on my line. Of course I brushed him off, but secretly I knew I needed help. The team introduced me to Steve Romine, their driving coach. He is not only an instructor at Infineon's Jim Russell Racing School, but also a certified athletic coach, which is a whole different thing. This was the first time I'd worked with a coach and the first instruction I'd had in ten years. We reviewed my in-car video and discussed what I should do to go faster. Some tips were down to the foot, like specific turn in points, but others were tricks about reference marks that were a quarter mile away. Turn 1 is a seriously high-speed, blind left-hander. I was lifting early there to play it safe. Romine taught me that I could look under the bridge just as I passed start/finish and locate the entry to Turn Two. Once I had that reference point I could sail through Turn 1 and set up for the next series of corners before I could even see them.
Mark Villaluna and Jimmy Hufford, the head Opak mechanics, wanted to know what set-up changes to make. But honestly, I hadn't even thought about it. You know a car is good when you forget that it's there. Before the main race, they pulled the car out of the paddock to change the engine and transmission oil. Opak Racing's shop is right there on the premises at Infineon. Inside sat a pair of Spooned out Fits and another DC5 Integra (RSX) that was identical to mine. The fluid change seemed a little excessive, but it was a nice touch. Diligent maintenance is part of their formula and their endurance racing results are impeccable. The only other task they had was to get the transponder working. That was our only real crisis of the weekend.
We had been using hand timing and nobody bothered to check the official times until after qualifying. With help from Romine, my practice lap times had dropped considerably. We knew that I was right there with the leaders. But on the grid sheet, I was listed last with no qualifying time. It was time for me to put that automotive journalism networking to use.
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