NASA GL Mid Ohio April: The One I'd Like to Forget

You might be asking yourself, where did the recap for April go? There were some great highlights, but mostly this one is “The Race Weekend I’d Like to Forget.” I’m turning the blog over to my wife for this recap. ~ Nick

NASA Great Lakes “Spring Break at China Beach”
Fast Farmer Autosport Race 1
Mid Ohio Sportscar Course
April 17-19 2026

Friday

Friday was the first test of the Frankenstein engine Nick put together over the winter. To recap, Nick blew an engine in June 2025, replaced it, and then during the NASA Championships in September had a spectacularly strange engine failure caused by hitting a curb wrong. It actually warped the engine block which was … unusual. In an attempt to avoid buying yet another engine, he took good parts from his blown engine, good parts from his warped engine, and some parts from an engine from his friend Mike… and pieced them all together. He didn’t quite get it all working before our last NASA event in 2025, so Friday was the first real test of trying it at an event. Unfortunately… during the second practice session, there was a catastrophic failure and the piston and the rod both exited the engine. (Yes, we knew this was a possibility. It’s still disappointing 🙁 )

There's not supposed to be a hole there 😦

Fortunately for Nick’s race weekend, one of his Thunder Roadster buddies came prepared just in case someone might need an engine. He spent Friday afternoon disconnecting most of the parts of his busted engine and then after our group dinner the work got started!






From Nick: I've been extremely lucky to be a part of two race groups that will literally jump on a severely busted racecar and have it back up and running by the end of the day!

Some amazing folks working!

Plus someone "supervising" !

There are some really amazing mechanics in this group and so many people contributed in various ways - with engine expertise, lending tools, cleaning oil off the car, etc. Some “interesting” predicaments were encountered during the engine swap so I’m extremely grateful for the entire group for sticking with it and getting it done! What took this group about 4 hours would have taken much, much longer at home.

Although we might have more tools at home, including an engine hoist, some things are just better at the track!

No engine hoist at the track for an emergency engine swap?

A car ramp, two ratchet straps, and some strong men will do the trick!  

The engine swap began a little after 7pm and around 10:30pm we had a working, running Grinch!

Saturday

WE HAVE AN ENGINE! It works! It’s an amazing feeling. Even though it’s cold and wet, we are racing!


An interesting decision for Race 1, the series leader decided to have the group do a “reverse grid”. Usually for the first race, our race group is put in order by qualifying lap, with the fastest car being in first place and the slowest in last place for the class. For Race 1, it’s raining, Nick’s engine is new, and he’s starting ON THE POLE. This is pretty nerve-wracking for me. However, I got this amazing video of the start from Jillian Ervin!

Mid Ohio April Race 1 Start

Photo Credit: Jillian Ervin

This was definitely the highlight of the weekend! Unfortunately, several laps later Nick had some trouble keeping it on the track and he landed in China Beach. The gravel in that area makes it nearly impossible to get out, especially for the TR cars, so he was just stuck there.

"Spring Break at CHINA BEACH" isn't all that fun

Photo Credit: Jillian Ervin

And then even MORE unfortunately, on the next lap his competitor Alex made a nearly identical move, went into China Beach in the same place and rear-ended Nick.

Photo Credit: Jillian Ervin

From Nick: I was doing so well in this race!! Then I went farming in China Beach. Wasn't great, and then I had a friend join me 🙁🙁🙁🙁

Thankfully, no injuries, I was just a little sore for a few days, but my bumper did not fare as well. The other driver did all he could to avoid me, it was just sooooo wet.

Sunday

Nick’s thoughts Sunday morning: Blown engine in Friday practice, rear ended while stuck in China Beach during race 1 yesterday....... What "fun" calamity will befall me in race 2 this morning?

He went out in Race 2 Sunday morning, which was delayed due to an incident in a prior run group, but came in early. He felt really slow, so he ran a few laps and then came in before the checkered flag. He didn’t go out in the final race. [SPOILER ALERT: After he did his post-event check on the car, he discovered that his left rear brake caliper was frozen. That DEFINITELY would have caused him to be slow because the car was always breaking itself! Plus the pad was worn down to the metal, so it was good instinct to bring it in!]

Nick’s thoughts on the drive home:

Home from a forgettable weekend at Mid Ohio, watching the replay of the IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach to decompress before going to sleep. The chorus of a Cody Johnson song, "The Fall", keeps playing in my head, I believe it's the perfect theme song for this past weekend.......

The ride was worth the fall
The fall was worth the smiles
The smiles were worth the tears
Tears were worth the miles
Miles were worth the pain
Pain was worth it all
It's all worth this life
Life is worth the ride
The ride is worth the fall