Fast Farmer Autosport 2025 Season Review
Well, what can I say about the 2025 race season? First, let’s take a quick look at a couple of pretty big milestones. June was the 10 year anniversary of my very first track day, and that guy would wonder what you were smoking if someone went back in time and told him of all the things I’ve done on track since then. Something I did just out of curiosity turned into so many incredible experiences….. A couple of years later, I joined NASA with the intent of running Time Trial, autocross on a racetrack was how I initially thought of it in my head, LOL. Then, after a couple of years in the NASA HPDE system, deciding that wheel to wheel racing was where I ultimately wanted to go. This leads into the second “milestone”..... October was the 5th year anniversary of my first wheel to wheel race, a ChampCar endurance race at historic Road America, yeah, that guy from 2015 would have never imagined doing that! And the driver I was then still wouldn’t have believed where and what I’ve raced since! From racing door to door around the high banks of Daytona International Speedway (Yes, THE DAYTONA where the NASCAR boys play!) winning the regional season points championship for my Time Trial class in 2023, to racing in the WRL (World Racing League-an "amateur” series that also happens to attract a fair amount of pro teams and drivers) at Circuit of The America’s, one of my favorite virtual tracks and home to Formula 1’s US GrandPrix, buying and racing a Thunder Roadster(HOLY FUUUUUUdge, those are insane!), then racing at Sebring International Raceway, (one of the oldest, continuously used circuits in the country) TWICE, and at night! Plus, the first one resulted in my team finishing FIRST in class, for my first ever victory! Those things would have absolutely blown my brain 10 or even just 5 years ago. After looking back at the last 10 years, I can’t help but wonder what sorts of accomplishments and experiences the next 10 years have in store…. One thing’s for certain, it’s going to be one heck of a ride!
Now onto my look back at the actual racing I did this year…..
Race 1: NCM Motorsports Park, March, CMC
A new season brought a fresh look to the CMC car. I repainted the body matte black from its usual flame red, and combined with the blue flames it looked awesome! It also performed well, after a set back on practice day, and being spun out on the opening lap of the last race, I ended up with a podium sweep for the weekend. A third place finish in all three races! With that momentum, I was excited for the next event at OIR.
Race 2: Ozark’s International Raceway, April, CMC
With NASA holding its yearly championships at OIR in September, I was planning on racing there as many times as I could, plus it is my favorite track to race on. The weekend started great, I was immediately on pace with my fast lap times from the previous year, even in warmups. Qualifying saw me improve on those times and set a new personal best, it was looking like an EPIC race weekend! Race 1 started ok, I gained a couple spots in the first few laps, but then we had 3 laps of full course caution. We had a green, white, checkers situation on the restart, meaning only 2 green flag laps to end the race. While the caution did allow me to get very close to the rest of the class, I was unfortunately separated from them by a pair of out of class cars. When we went back green, the second of those cars decided it would be a good idea to race me for some reason. I finally got around him after about a half lap, but was now several seconds behind the next place CMC car, as we crossed the line to begin the white flag lap, I was 2.9 seconds back, and TICKED OFF! I absolutely drove my heart out on that lap, eclipsing my personal best by around 4 seconds, and it was the third fastest lap of the race in the entire CMC field…. But, I was too far back. I crossed the finish line .8 seconds off his bumper, one more lap, and I would have had the spot. BUT, the lap time, combined with shrinking the gap by 2 seconds in one lap, left me feeling extremely good for Sunday. I got off to an awesome start in the morning race, gaining a pair of positions on the opening lap, while being in spitting distance with the next pair of cars…. Then the bottom fell out. Halfway through lap 2, the car started behaving unpredictably in the corners, then back on the front “straight”, it was all I could do to keep the car off the outside wall. Just before the brake zone for T1, the right rear tire went flat, and somehow I kept the car from spinning out and hitting the wall, but my race was done. The third race also ended with a DNF, I started getting motion sick just past halfway, but I was well out of contention anyway. What started out as an extremely promising weekend ended up being one of the worst I’ve experienced. I was determined to bounce back at Mid Ohio on Memorial Day weekend.
Race 3: Mid Ohio Sportscar Course, May, Thunder Roadster GTR
This race weekend was the maiden voyage for my new trailer that we purchased between NCM and OIR, AND it was also the Fast Farmer Autosport debut in the Thunder Roadster class! Somehow, I managed to keep it a secret that I had bought a bright, gecko green Thunder Roadster known in the region as “Thunder Grinch” for over a month. It was quite the debut! I spent the Friday practice day getting as many laps in as I could in the car, to try and acclimate myself to how it drove. The beginning of the first race showed me that no amount of practice laps could have possibly prepared me for racing in a pack of those amazing machines! Somehow, I managed to make my way to the front by the time we got to the front straight to lead my first race lap in the car! Despite a valiant effort, as the race wore on, I began to fade back and finished in 7th, but I held my own for the first half of the race, and felt very confident going into Sunday. The Sunday morning race ended for me before making a full lap, I got spun about ¾ of the way through lap 1. Normally that’s not a big deal, just get pointed in the right direction and get back after it, but with a GTR, if you don’t get the clutch in quick enough when you spin, the starter will get spun too fast and short out, rendering the car dead in the water. Due to the kindness of a few other competitors, I was able to get a new starter installed in the car and make the afternoon race. It had a similar feel to the Saturday race, with me getting a good start, then fading as the race wore on. It wasn’t a great weekend in terms of finishing position, but man, it was fun, and I learned a ton! I couldn’t wait to get back on track at Gingerman in June!
Race 4: GingerMan Raceway, June, GTR/TTGT
Gingerman in June….. The month and place that saw me take to the track for the very first time back in 2015, then in 2017 it’s where I spent my first ever NASA weekend, moving up from DE1 to DE2 at the end of the weekend, fast forward to 2021, and the June event at Gingerman is where I went through competition school to get my racing licence. With those good memories in my head, you would think it would be a favorite event of mine, but you’d be wrong. Every time I have raced there, it has always resulting in my car needing varying degrees of repairs after the weekend….IF I actually finish the weekend. In 2022, I parked it in the middle of the first race due to a bushing in the transmission tail shaft housing backing out. I got the new part installed just in time for the next race 3 weeks later. 2023 was fun, I threw down some seriously quick lap times…. BUT, that was in TT, the race car didn’t even make the trip. 2024: Missed the first day due to a family emergency, drove up Sunday morning for races 2&3 of the weekend. Started hearing a strange noise from the rear towards the end of the morning race, only ran 5 laps in the afternoon race. The result? Three teeth broken off of the pinion gear, PLUS, a melted area on the gas tank. Again, I got the car ready for the next event 2 days before loading up. That brings us to this year. 5 laps into the first practice session, I started hearing a strange noise from the engine, coming out of the next corner I started smelling oil, then saw smoke coming from under the hood. Back in the paddock we discovered an extra hole in the left side of the engine. Game over. I felt bad for myself for a couple of hours, then it dawned on me….. I have a perfectly good TT car sitting in the barn less than 2 hours away! I ran home, did a quick race prep of the 2010 Camaro, then “raced” back to the track. I ended up having a great weekend, taking second in my TT class both days, and setting the track record for the class in the second session Saturday morning. After that, I needed a vacation, so we went to Florida a week later!
Race 5: Sebring International Raceway, June, ChampCar, EC
After 5 days celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on a Florida barrier island, I was rejuvenated and ready to get back behind the wheel! We arrived in Sebring on Thursday afternoon, and got acclimated to our hotel before going to supper and a movie. We watched F1 The Movie on opening night in Sebring Florida, and for someone as obsessed with racing as I am, that was pretty cool. On Friday morning, we made the lengthy journey from our hotel to the track( just kidding, the hotel is located between turn 7 and the entrance to the track) . It took just as long to walk to our car from the room as it did to drive to the paddock. After re-introductions to the Open Throttle Racing crew (I had previously raced with them in December of 2024 at COTA), it was time to meet my steed for the weekend. Sapphire was a bright green BMW E46 M3, and it looked FASST! It was also pretty spacious for a race car, with great visibility, and had a very smooth, easy to reach gear shift… I was going to have a FUN weekend! After getting signed in, it was time for the drivers meeting, which I ended up being a tad late to… shhh, don’t tell anyone! I was getting fitted in the car and used to how the controls were laid out, and where the pertinent gauges were located. After the driver’s meeting, it was time for a 4 hour practice session. I got strapped in and headed out onto the track to turn my first ever laps in that car and at that track, that feeling is quite a rush! Unfortunately, after just a couple of laps, I noticed the water temp seemed a little high, but I couldn’t communicate effectively with our car chief over the radio, so had no option other than to go back to the paddock or risk hurting the engine. Turns out, I forgot to turn one of the fans on, DOH! After going over all the switches again, and making sure the temps dropped, they sent me back out. I got myself into a good rhythm with the track and how the car felt, and was really enjoying myself. Unfortunately, after several laps, the car lost power exiting turn 10, and I was forced back to the paddock. This time, there was an actual problem, and having used up my hour of allotted time, I hopped out of the car with only 8 laps under my belt. The crew got the problem fixed within a half hour, so the other three drivers got plenty of seat time before practice was over. With the race being an overnight race, scheduled from 6pm to 8am, Saturday was spent just trying to get as much rest as possible. We went to the track around 4:30, just in time for an absolute torrential thunderstorm to hit the track! The race ended up being delayed by 2 hours because of heavy rainfall and lightning, and once it did start, it was still raining steadily. I got in the car for my first stint around 9:30, and was probably as nervous as I’ve ever been strapping into a car. I had all of 8 laps on the track and in that car during a perfect afternoon, and now I was heading out into a race, in the dark, AND rain, with a car I’d never driven! You learn real quick how to drive a car in those conditions, not to mention how to get around a new track while managing traffic. Fortunately, I have a tendency to figure out tracks quickly, and was having a great time in short order. That stint ended a little after 11, and since my next wasn’t scheduled until between 3 and 4 am, I went back to our rental car and just relaxed for a couple of hours. My final stint actually started earlier than scheduled, getting into the car a little after 2:30. I got out between 4:30 and 5, and changed into some clean clothes before watching the rest of the race. When the checkers finally fell at 8, we came home first place in our class, by 40 laps! The next day, while driving home from Indianapolis, it suddenly dawned on me….. For the first time ever, I had WON A RACE!!! I’ve had several podiums, but this was the FIRST time I came in NUMBER 1, what a feeling!!!!! That turned out to be a great source of motivation to get my own car back up and running before the next NASA event at Mid Ohio in August.
Race 6: Mid Ohio, August, Thunder Roadster GTR
The August NASA event at Mid Ohio would offer one last chance to get some seat time in the Thunder Roadster before the championships in September, as well as the only opportunity I would have to test out the new engine I put in the car after GingerMan. The engine ran strong in the first practice session, but during my after session checks back in the paddock, I discovered a mess under the hood. There was oil EVERYWHERE, my first thought, since the engine had to go through a few minor modifications to bring it to GTR spec, was that I didn’t get all the bolts tightened up properly. I put a wrench on every single bolt and a few of them did tighten up a little, so I figured that was the end of it. WRONG. A few laps into the next practice session, I had the black flag workers check under the hood, and it was leaking just as bad as before. It would be a problem I chased all weekend, never figuring it out. I had a few of the other TR drivers look it over, and we all decided that it probably wasn’t leaking very badly, so just run it and keep an eye on the oil level. The race Saturday got off to an exciting start, I made up a couple of spots on the start, then coming out of a section of the track known as Thunder Valley, the car just snapped sideways and I couldn’t bring it back. I was able to get the clutch pushed in in time so as to not fry my starter, but the car stalled and I was left sitting counter to traffic in the middle of the track with the entire field coming at me on their opening lap. NOT an ideal place to park a car. I held my breath and saw some magnificent driving displayed by other NASA racers, somehow no one hit me, nor were there any other accidents while avoiding me. Being over a half lap behind the rest of the TR’s, I treated the rest of the race as an extended practice session, and got front row seats to a great ST class battle. It was a good learning experience, but I was ready to attack on Sunday. That mind set didn’t last long. On the start, I tried to go three wide and make a pass to the inside, but ran out of room and was squeezed off track. By the time I got the car gathered back up and on track, I was in the middle of the Spec E46 group. I tried to get through during the first lap, but found it difficult to get through all the traffic racing for position. Not wanting to interfere with battles for position, I just found a gap and settled in, again relegated to just getting seat time and learning how to drive the car. With a couple of laps to go, all at once my brakes got spongy, being well behind any other TR’s, I decided to just park the car instead of fighting through a brake problem and possibly wrecking. The final race of the weekend saw the same thing happen, my brakes went soft on me with just a couple laps remaining, so I parked the car. Unfortunately, this time I was in the middle of my class actively battling for position, so that made it more disappointing. Next up was the NASA Championships at OIR in just 2 weeks, not much time to figure out what was wrong with the car and fix it.
NASA Championships: OIR, September, Thunder Roadster GTR
I was looking forward to champs, since I absolutely love Ozarks International Raceway, and have driven there several times. I was planning on using both practice days to slowly dial in to driving the Roadster on the track and be ready to compete with the rest of the field come Saturday’s qualifying race. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, my oil leak reared it’s ugly head again, but this time I was able to figure out where it was coming from. I was able to repair it, but the sealant needed 24 hours to cure, so I missed out on the final two practice sessions of the day. On qualifying day, I ran the morning warmup session, and the leak seemed to be fixed! We had two qualifying sessions scheduled for the afternoon, but the first was wiped out by rain, so the second one would serve as another practice session for me to get into a rhythm with the car before the qualifying race on Saturday. About halfway through Saturday’s qualifying race, one of my air filters decided to leave the chat, and I had no choice but to park the car, finishing third from last. My goal for Sunday’s championship race was to just try and stay with the rest of the pack as long as I could, and maybe make up some positions through the 45 minute race. I was accomplishing that goal fairly well, then we had a full course caution on lap 4 that lasted for 3 laps. This set up a green, white, checkers restart, and put me right on the bumper of the next car in front of me. I drove my rear off those last couple of laps, staying right with positions 7 and 8. I set a new personal best on the 2nd to last lap, then got a little crazy on the final lap trying to get close enough to the next two cars to be able to make a move for position later in the lap. This caused some severe damage to my engine when I hit a curb at the wrong angle, and I had to limp to the finish, getting passed right at the line to finish in 10th place. Not at all the weekend I envisioned for myself, and it effectively ended my NASA season. I tried valiantly to get a new engine put together from 3 broken ones, which technically I did, BUT I couldn’t get it to start. It was a VERY frustrating end to my first season racing a Thunder Roadster. Fortunately, I had one more race on my schedule, another endurance race with Open Throttle, this time at Circuit of The Americas in the WRL. Then NASA announced where the 2026 championships would be held….. SEBRING! I was able to switch my race with OTR to now drive for them in a ChampCar race at Sebring at the end of December.
Race 8: Sebring, December, ChampCar, EC
For my final race of 2025, I headed back to sunny, and WARM Florida to Sebring International Raceway. This time for the ChampCar Endurance Series New Year’s Eve 14 hour, held on Sunday the 28th. With practice being on Saturday, we needed to be in Sebring by Friday, the 26th, the cheapest flight we could find happened to be late afternoon on Christmas Eve. So, for the first time ever, I spent Christmas away from my family, it was strange, BUT, the beach made up for it! For Friday afternoon’s activity, we found a nearby state park, and spent a couple of hours riding the bike loop and walking a couple of the trails. It was very relaxing, and helped clear my mind in preparation for the weekend's racing. Saturday saw the combination of driver registration in the morning with practice in the afternoon, which is somewhat unusual for the series as generally you can sign in the evening before practice. My goals for the practice session were simple: Re-familiarize myself with the track, and get some initial impressions of how the car handles and what it likes. The car I was driving for this race was a 2016 BMW F30, with a turbo 4 cylinder engine and a 7 speed automatic transmission with paddle shift, making it quite different from anything I had driven before on track in race conditions. After the post practice data review, I felt pretty confident for the race. There was really just one problem I was having, and it was the same in every corner, making it easy to work on. After supper at a nice steakhouse with a couple of good friends who were also driving for Open Throttle, it was time to get a good night’s rest before the BIG day on Sunday. We had three drivers in our car , so for a 14 hour race that meant each of us got 3 turns in the car, I was second in the order, so my first stint started around 9:30, with my second coming in the middle of the afternoon, around 2:30-3, then the last towards the end of the race, around 8. After my first stint, I felt GREAT! I had come to terms with how the car drove, and more importantly, with how all the traffic behaved. 100 cars took the green flag, so there was very little time that you weren’t passing another car, being passed, or BOTH. It was exhilarating! Prior to the race, I had been invited to do an interview on the ChampCar Live YouTube stream, so between my first two stints, I got to check that experience off. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had feared it would be, and Melanie is going to put her prior experience as a speech & debate coach to good use so I can do a better job in the future. My second stint was similar to the first, I just ran consistent laps while keeping the car in good shape for the next driver. It was fully dark for my final stint, which, with the amount of cars still running, made for a hectic time in the car. But, again, I just focused on keeping the car clean and trying to run consistent laps, which, despite being a little slower than my two previous stints, I did a good job of. In the end we brought the car home in 7th place in our class, which was a good result over 14 hours when comparing the performance potential of the other cars in our class, and taking into account a fuel pickup issue that resulted in shorter than anticipated pit stops.
All in all 2025 was a season full of surprises, both good and bad, along with several exciting firsts! It would be easy to just look at all the failure’s and say it was a bad year, but when you step back and look at all the new experiences, you have to say it was really a very good year for gaining experience and developing new skills….. Those two things are invaluable in racing! Still, I hope 2026 is a little more stable, and there’s less mechanical issues that limit track time. My first race of the season is only 10 days away, so we’ll be back…… SSOON.
