Racing

After my first time on track in 2020, I instantly fell in love. Needing a car to race, I bought a 2008 Thunder Roadster that had been sitting in storage for over 10 years. It had many problems after sitting for so long, from gas destroying the carburetor to engine issues to suspension play. I spent the summer of 2020 rebuilding my car from the ground up to be able to race in the Thunder Roadster spec class. One year after I first went on track, I earned my racing license and have been racing since, continuing to improve my car as I go.

In November of 2021, my backyard gained a new addition: a 1988 E30 race car that had been in storage for the past 10 years. My father and I put in extensive work over the next year to make the car reliable and competitive, including a lot of suspension work and multiple engine rebuilds. The work paid off and in December 2022, I raced the E30 for 9 hours during the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, where the car successfully completed the race for a fifth-place finish.

My 2021 rookie season was exciting and chaotic as I tried to learn race craft while getting used to and fixing my Thunder Roadster. I raced with NASA and SCCA in both NorCal and SoCal. My most notable accomplishments include setting a class record at the Auto Club Speedway roval and winning my class's season championship. More recently, I have finally dialed in my car and have turned to data collection and analysis to help improve my driving, as well as running 3-4 hour endurance races solo. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, I ran with a much larger field and have been able to work on race awareness as my lines become more consistent.

In December 2021, I decided the team's strategy for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race, resulting in a second place finish. Gas numbers and driver changes were initially estimated in practices, but fog delays, crashes, and driver illnesses meant the strategy was constantly changing. To help with this, I coded a spreadsheet to automatically calculate numbers I could then interpret. 

At the Laguna Seca Grand Prix in September of 2021, I spent the weekend working with a Honda trackside member. Our responsibilities included engine diagnostics between every session, data analysis, and using collected data real-time to decide strategy. During the actual race, I was in the Ericsson's pit, on the radio and helping with strategy. Ericsson ended in 5th place (and most recently, he won the 2022 Indy 500!)