The chance to be able to drive a racecar is a great opportunity in its own, but the opportunity to drive four completely different ones in less than a month is the opportunity of a life time. Very few, if any, people have been able to experience what I have, especially at 15 years old. On this journey I was able to experience many new things, including driving new types of racecars, meeting many fantastic people, and even traveling to Australia. This long trip is something I will always remember and always look back to help me in the future. Here is my story.
The journey all started at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I was racing in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. I am competing full time in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, and Lucas Oil Raceway is the only oval circuit on our schedule. The race weekend started off with multiple test and practice sessions. My Pabst Racing team and I were able to remain consistently in the top five. I knew we had developed a very fast car, and I proved that in qualifying by putting the Nightrain Clothing car on the front row with two identical laps. In the race, I battled hard for the second place position. During all of our battling the leader was able to pull over a five second gap. I pushed hard all 75 laps to catch him, but I was only able to narrow it back to a little over a second, giving me my first ever USF2000 podium. I was really pumped to finally reach that milestone, but now I’m ready for a win.
On Sunday, the day after my race, was the Indy 500. The Indy 500 is not only a big day for me, but for my whole family. My family has been involved with the 500 for a long time. My dad’s father used to build engines for the Indy 500, my grandpa Jim Trueman, was a team owner in the 500, winning in 1986 with Bobby Rahal, and my dad is currently the race strategist for Will Power in IndyCar. I arrived at the track early in the morning with my family. For obvious reasons I was rooting for all three Team Penske cars. Most of the morning I met up with friends and enjoyed the pre-race festivities, but the day didn’t really start until Jim Nabors sang Back Home Again in Indiana and the racecars were fired up on the grid. The race was really exciting to watch. I was on my feet all 500 miles. There was never a dull moment in the race.
Although there was a lot of racing excitement, I am 15, I still had to go back to school. Between sessions and late nights in hotel rooms, I had to prepare myself for my final exams. I was headed home for a week of exams and then a summer of racing! Right when things seemed like they were slowing down before my first Red Bull GRC Lites race at X Games in Austin, Texas, an opportunity to shake down my GRC Lites came up. But there was only one conflict; I had to take my exams. With the help of my awesome school (Cannon School,) I was able to leave on Tuesday after school for California, where I would take my GRC Lites car on its maiden voyage. I arrived in Los Angeles late at night, and I slept at the OMSE shop for three or four hours before we had to get up and leave for Willow Springs Raceway. We tested all day on Wednesday and then I took the red-eye back home to North Carolina so I could take the rest of my exams. I am very lucky to have such flexible teachers and such a supportive school to be able to work with me. Not only just during finals, but also throughout the whole year. I’m proud to say that even with my busy racing schedule I was able to get all A’s and one B in my classes.
The day after school and exams were over, I was able to focus on my racing entirely. In part of my preparation for X Games Austin where I would race in the Red Bull GRC Lites, I headed up to New Hampshire, a state where I had never been, on Saturday to participate in the Team O’Neil Rally School. I had never driven on dirt before X Games, and this was a great way to get in some experience. In just one and half days out in the dirt I had completed my training with the help from the great instructors at the facility. Tuesday morning I left New Hampshire for Ohio for a USF2000 open test at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Due to my tight schedule I was only able to drive one of the two test days at Mid-Ohio. We started off the test early Wednesday morning. We were only able to get in two dry sessions before the rain rolled in after lunch. I was pretty bummed that the test was canceled for the day, because I was having a blast! There aren’t very many tracks that can compare to Mid-Ohio, especially in an open-wheel car.
Despite sprinting through the airport, barely making our connecting flight, I made it to Austin, Texas late Wednesday night. I was up and ready to roll for practice Thursday morning. The GRC Lites car is obviously a much different beast than a USF2000, but I had to adjust quickly if I wanted to make the most of the weekend. Other than the cars being different, I would also have to learn a completely different style of track. Unlike regular road and circuit racing I would be racing on asphalt and dirt, but with the dirt I would also have to go over a dirt ramp. Each practice session I learned more and more about the car and the track. On Friday we had one round of heat races. I was able to get a second place finish in the heat, which was a solid start to advance myself to the finals. On Saturday we had the semi-finals and then the final. I came comfortably in third in the semis putting me into the final. My goal for the weekend was to make it to the final, where only six cars made it. The final was set to go and I was starting fifth. I narrowly avoided getting into a mess on the first lap and only had to pass one car to put myself in a position to get an X Games Medal.
What an awesome way to end my first GRC Lites race with an X Games Bronze Medal! When the weekend started I was excited to be an “X Games Athlete”, but earning a medal can’t be put into words. My brother Tanner and I used to idolize X Games Medalists when we were younger, and now I was one of them! My X Games Medal was not the end of my excitement for the day. I packed up my gear, and my dad and I headed off to Fort Worth, Texas for the Indy Car race at Texas Motor Speedway.
After the Indy Car race, my dad and I went to the Airport and jumped on a plane to Brisbane, Australia. We arrived in Australia on Monday. My dad and I got settled in and adjusted to the time as we headed down to the Gold Coast, but I didn’t have too much time to relax. On Tuesday I went over to Matt Stone Racing to get fitted into their V8 Supercar Dunlop Series car to get ready for my test at Queensland Raceway on Wednesday. I had never driven anything like a V8 Supercar, not to mention a right-hand drive car.
The test started early Wednesday morning with a track walk and an overview of the day. Once the track crew arrived it was time to play! Throughout the morning I was getting faster and faster, while getting used to the car. As I was getting comfortable I was pushing harder and harder. Mid-way through the test, I was able to have Steve Johnson (V8 Supercar winner) drive the car so I could have some data to compare. I jumped right in after him. After my outing was over I was only two tenths off of Steve’s lap time on the same set of old tires. For the rest of the day I ran on a new set of tires, and improved my time by a half a second. I felt very good after the day was done, and my brain was full with all new information. I felt like I left a good impression with the team, and I enjoyed every second behind the wheel. It would be really cool to get the opportunity to drive one again.
For the rest of the time that I was in Australia, I explored Brisbane and the Gold Coast. I walked throughout the cities and on the beaches. I also was able to go to a wildlife reserve to go see some of Australia’s animals; like kangaroos, koalas, and Tasmanian devils. It was really cool to be able to go to Australia and hopefully I’ll be back one day.
We left on Monday night (Australia time) and arrived in Detroit, Michigan Monday night (US time). We went to Detroit because my dad had some meetings he had to attend, but I wasn’t around for long. Tuesday afternoon I was on a plane to Chicago for a test in my USF2000 car. I spent the night at my engineer’s house and we headed off to the track Wednesday morning. The first session was very important for me because it would be a good way to see how well I could adjust back into the USF2000 car. After the first session I was right up to speed and was able to perform all the techniques for this type of car, and for the next two days we tested and improved the car. On Friday morning, I was back on a plane and headed off to Washington DC for the second race of the Red Bull GRC Lites season.
We hit the track Saturday afternoon for practice. Unlike X Games, the DC course had a lot of asphalt sections, a big jump, and just one dirt section. The dirt and the jump were what I was focused on because that is where I lack experience. Our second practice session was canceled because of track maintenance. The first heat followed. I finished the first heat in 3rd after getting passed on the last lap.
Sunday morning we were lined up for the second heat. The heat did not go as well after being bounced around in the first turn, I ended up in last. A bad result in heat 2 did not set me up well for the final. In the final, I had a terrible start off the line and was quickly put into last place (8th) before the first turn. I made quick work of 6th and 7th place by the end of lap 2. I made it up to 5th right around halfway of the 10 lap race, and that is where I stayed. I learned a lot from my second GRC Lites race and have a better understanding of what I need to do better for the next time.
After almost a month of being away from home, I experienced so many new things on my trip; such as, my first USF2000 podium, driving on a stage rally course, racing in my first ever Red Bull GRC Lites race, earning an X Games medal, going to Australia and testing a V8 Supercar at speeds near 170mph. At Lucas Oil Raceway in the USF2000 car we averaged over 100 mph, and at X Games Austin I was jumping through the air in and sliding through the dirt reaching speeds close to 80 mph. Obviously, having a driver’s license is highly overrated. I enjoyed every second of my time on my trip and am already excited for my next race at the Toronto GP in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. Thanks to my parents, my sponsors, Pabst Racing, Team O’Neil Rally School, OMSE, C4 Motorsports, and Matt Stone Racing for making this all possible!