Brimtek/GermanAutoParts.com World Challenge Touring Car to be driven by WDCR's Tristan Herbert in 2011.

WDCR’s Tristan Herbert, the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series ITB champion, will run the 2011 season in the SCCA’s World Challenge Championships and Sports Car Wars.  Tristan will race with a team consisting of Virginia-based Brimtek Motorsports and German Auto Parts.com in their sole Volkswagen GTI in the Touring Car class.

In a press release, Dave Tilton, said, “Brimtek is committed to the entire season and all of the races on the calendar. Our team is composed of a very competitive and talented battery of individuals.  We have worked unremittingly over these past few years to advance from club racers to a credible professional organization.  Now we are ready to pit our proficiency, competitiveness and commitment against the best World Challenge has to offer.”

Tristan, a native of Reston, has gone from snowboarding (as member of the Budweiser Ariel Assault Team from 1998 to 2000) to racing motorcycles then cars.  He began his track career in 1999 on two wheels and moved to cars in 2008. 

In the past three years of SCCA club racing, Tristan has amassed 18 win and  two track records in addition to the 2009 MARRS ITB championship.

“I am a very competitive and focused guy, and I like to win,” he said.  “The opportunity to drive professionally is of course incredible, but the most important aspect for me is the competitive DNA that embodies the Brimtek team.  They are ‘a play for keeps, never quit organization’ and that suits me perfectly.  I feel confident that our commitment to each other and our race craft will catch a few of the existing World Challenge teams off guard this season.”

The GTI, with a Stop Tech brake package and Pirelli tires, has been undergoing extensive testing this winter at Summit Point Motorsports Park. The team has also made a series of suspension modifications and upgrades as well. 

“Testing during the winter months on a cold track is not ideal, but we are nevertheless learning a great deal and adapting to different track conditions,” said Ray Kopp, Brimtek’s technical director.  “We will continuously add to our knowledge base as testing proceeds throughout the winter months and into the spring.” 

The first race event of the season will be The Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla., March 25 to 27.

The team office and shop is located in Ashburn, which is in close proximity to Dulles International Airport.  The team occupies 3,000 square feet of space supporting fabrication, assembly and preparation of the Brimtek’s World Challenge GTI.  Trackside support will be provided by the team’s 40-foot, three-car transporter.

Brimtek, Inc., is a provider of technical products and solutions to the United States government with a primary focus on military, law enforcement, and homeland security applications.

Tickets are on sale for the annual WDCR banquet Jan. 29 at the Washington Convention Center through DLB Racing.  Cost is $50 for adults, $30 for children ages 3 to 12, and children under 3 are free.  Ticket sales end Jan. 23.

People don’t have to purchase tickets for the auto show, which is being held at the convention center, unless they plan on touring the show floor.

Awards — Club Racing and Solo – will be presented from 3 to 5 p.m. followed by an hors d’oeuvres reception at 5:30 p.m. Winners who would like to just pick up their award may do so without purchasing a banquet ticket if they will not be attending the banquet – just be sure to check with your race chair to confirm the time of your program’s award ceremony.

A buffet dinner will begin at 6:30, and Region awards will begin at 7:30 during dessert. A cash bar will be available throughout.  

There will be plenty of open seating, but arrangements can be made in advance for groups of four or eight only. If you would like to reserve a table for a party of four or eight, please send the details (names of each person to sit together) to Eric Kriemelmeyer.

A discounted group rate has been made available for attendees at four nearby hotels. 

For parking, directions and other information, see the convention center Web site.

Marty Grand on the top step of the podium after winning T2 at the 2010 SCCA Runoffs.

By Bob Hasychak

After a heart-breaking T2 race last year when his wheel fell off while leading, Marty Grand from Manassas Park, Va., and a WDCR, won the 2010 SCCA Touring 2 National Championship at the SCCA Runoffs in September. In addition, Marty set a new T2 SCCA Runoff lap record time of 2:30.298 (95.810 mph) at Road America.

You may think Marty had a perfect race, but that was not the case. After a caliper change the night before, he experienced brake problems that didn’t reveal itself during practice.

“I felt the brake pedal go halfway to the floor at The Kink, and the pedal went all the way to the floor coming into Canada Corner,” he said about the second lap of the T2 race. “I made two quick downshifts to slow and turned full lock to the right to scrub off some speed. Before I got back to third gear, Jason Ott was in the back of me and loosened my rear bumper. I hoped I still had brakes left for the race, and I did. I just had to pump them constantly.”

Now in the lead, Jason tried to pull away, but Marty knew he had to stay close to have any chance of winning. It took several laps for Marty to figure out how to optimize his soft brake peda, but on lap eight retook the lead and went on to win by 7.4 seconds.

Starting out, regional races had Marty competing with only one or two T2 drivers, so after three regional races, he applied for a national license. Knowing that to be competitive on a national level he would need a new car, he asked his wife, Heidi, what she thought. This discussion led to the purchase of his current Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

Marty started the 2010 season with wins at the Road Atlanta Double Nationals where he drove his Evo to the track with his race tires in the back of his car. Yes, his race car is still street legal and licensed in Virginia!

He went on to win the doubles at VIR, Pocono and Beaver Run, thus qualifying for the Runoffs. Marty currently holds the T2 lap records at Summit Point, VIR, Road America and Pocono.

“I’d like to thank AMS Performance, JRZ Suspensions, TRE Transmissions, Curry’s Automotive, Hoosier Tires and Carbotech Brakes for my success this year,” Marty said. “But most of all I’d like to thank my awesome wife Heidi for her understanding and support, along with my children Keith, Taylor and Kyle.”

So what are Marty’s goals for 2011? First – defend his championship. Then try a few pro races and win two well… huh… I promised I wouldn’t say any more … we’ll just have to wait!

Stay tuned to the Northeast Region National Races. It’s sure to be a Grand event!

originally posted to the WDCR Region Executive’s blog by Evanthe Salisbury. Click here to see the original post from 9/14/2010.

It is with a very heavy heart that I inform WDCR’s membership that Lifetime Region member Brian Holtz passed away on Monday, September 13, 2010, from pancreatic cancer.

Brian wore many hats within the SCCA’s organization. This is just a few of the ones I could think of…
Chairman of the SCCA Pro Racing Board
Area 2 Director (WDCR is part of Area 2)
Regional Executive – Philadelphia Region
National Chief Steward
Member of the Club Racing Board
He was also a Lifetime Philadelphia Region member as well as a member of the South Jersey Region.

And I know that I’m not even scratching the surface of all of the things that Brian has done/been for SCCA National, SCCA Pro Racing, the Northeast Division, and all of the people he touched in his lifetime.

Those who attended the Labor Day Double MARRS event had the opportunity to visit with Brian as he drove himself from his home in PA to visit with his friends in the DC Region.

He was a great leader, mentor and most of all, a friend. He will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace and his memory be eternal. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Ellen, his son, Joseph, and his entire family.

Ron Skidmore, long time member of the Washington DC Region and Chief of Tech for the Region for many years, passed away Saturday. Funeral services will be held this Thursday, September 30. Info at the following link:

http://www.dellingerfuneralhome.com/ronald-lee-skidmore/

Ron was one of those rare members who worked almost every event to make the Region’s club racing program successful. He and his wife Joyce were always manning the Tech Shed for for every WDCR race; regional, national or 12 hour. Ron would tech cars from early in the morning until 10 or 11 PM. He seemed to be the first to arrive and last to leave, perhaps since he camped next to the Tech Shed!

We will all miss Ron and his contribution to the Washington DC Region.

Radial Tire of Silver Spring, Md., is sponsoring the final Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series race of the season.

“Radial Tire Presents the Toyo Tires MARRS Finale” will be held Oct. 9 and 10 at Summit Point Raceway, W.V.

For driver and worker registration, follow the links through the WDCR Web site, http://www.wdcr-scca.org/.

In addition, Radial Tire will offer two sets of tires at the annual WDCR awards banquet.

Visit the Radial Tire web site here

Visit the Toyo Tire’s web site here

Even though the Labor Day Charity Event details are still in the planning stages, it will be held on Saturday, September 4th, on the Washington Circuit at Summit Point Raceway, featuring Featherweight and Heavyweight Kart Races, an evening of Casino games, and a Kids Carnival. Start your Kart training regiment now… Will you qualify for the Featherweight (Small Bore) or Heavyweight (Big Bore) race?

The event will benefit two charities:
Jackson’s Toy Box to benefit Dr. Bear’s Closet at Children’s National Medical Center
The Middleway Volunteer Fire Department

We ask that attendees bring a new toy, game, or book to donate to Jackson’s Toy Box and all money raised will benefit the Middleway Volunteer Fire Department.

We have set a goal to raise $20,000 for the Middleway Volunteer Fire Department and to donate more than 500 toys, books, and games to Jackson’s Toy Box for Dr. Bear’s Closet. As we plan the MARRS Labor Day Charity Event, we hope that we can count on your support to help make it a big success!

Corporate Sponsorship
Over the next month, we will be searching for Corporate and Individual sponsors for the MARRS Labor Day event. There are a wide variety of sponsorships available, including Platinum Signature Sponsors to Casino Night Black- Jack/Roulette Table Sponsors. If you or your company are interested in donating and receiving exposure to the over 2000 members of the Washington DC Region, plus the attendees of the MARRS Labor Day event, please contact Wendy Collins, chair of the Labor Day Charity Event.

Want to help or would like more information?
Please contact Wendy Collins via email or by phone at (301) 996-1401 if you would like to support the Labor Day Charity Event or if you would like to receive more information.

Jackson’s Toy Box

Jackson’s Toy Box was created to benefit Dr. Bear’s Closet at Children’s National Medical Center in memory of Jackson “Jake” McCarthy Collins, son of Wendy and Michael Collins. At the age of 4 months, Jake was first diagnosed with being developmentally delayed and was referred to Children’s National Medical Center. Over the next twelve months, Jake remained in the care of the doctors at Children’s National Medical Center while they searched for the cause of his illness. Throughout those twelve months, Jake developed seizures, lost his eyesight and eventually was tube fed. Even though he could not sit up, walk or talk, he maintained a happy disposition through his numerous doctor’s visits, tests, and daily therapies. At thirteen months old, Jake was finally diagnosed with a mitochondria disorder. At fourteen months old, when the disease became too much for Jake’s weakened body, he passed away.

The doctors and nurses at Children’s National Medical Center were a constant source of support and love for both Jake and his parents. In an effort to return the support and love to others, Jackson’s Toy Box was created to collect new toys, books, and crafts for Dr. Bear’s Closet. Often times a deck of cards, a doll or even a stuffed animal can put a smile on the face of a child who hasn’t smiled in quite some time. Dr. Bear’s Toy closet is a room full of donated toys, games, books and other items which really help boost the spirits of patients of all ages. A well stocked Dr. Bear’s Toy Closet is essential to ensure that every patient has a gift for the holidays, their birthdays, and most importantly as a little something to serve as a reward for their courage in fighting an illness. The Closet provides toys to thousands of patients in Children’s Inpatient Units, the Emergency Room and Outpatient Treatment Centers. Toys from the closet are also used to stock playrooms on each clinical unit. Play, which is so important to all children, is even more essential when a child is undergoing difficult treatment or procedures due to illness. Providing a new game or toy and watching a smile light up a child’s face is a special moment for families, staff and volunteers. We look forward to collecting an amazing amount of toys, games, and books to Jackson’s Toy Box.

Middleway Volunteer Fire Department

Middleway Volunteer Fire Department is one of the Fire Departments that serves Summit Point Raceway. They are a dedicated group of emergency trained individuals that respond to our emergency calls at Summit Point Raceway. Middleway has a deep need to replace expiring Fire and Rescue equipment including Self Contained Breathing Apparatus’ and Fireman’s gear. It costs $2,000 to replace a full set of Fireman’s gear and it is $5,000 for one Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus.

By Gayle Lorenz.

Alan Fiala has been a member of the Region since 1973 and served as Chief of Tech as well as NA (National Administrator for Scrutineers) for many years. Alan left for awhile (but always maintained his membership) to pursue other interests one of which was as a beekeeper and when he returned to the CR events he brought along his honey. When he was no longer able to work Tech he volunteered in T&S. When Bill Scott passed away I was in touch w/ Alan and learned that he and Bill both had received their PhD’s from Yale. While not confirmed I believe he died of complications from post polio syndrome.

A memorial service is being held on Tuesday (7/1/2010) at the Murphy Falls Church Funeral Home, 1102 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA at 10:00 a.m.

By Pat Griffith

AJ Nealey is another WDCR member who has entered his second season racing in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, and he feels a new approach to this season will help him in the championship chase.

“This year, I’m a lot more relaxed,” he said. “I’m working more on the mental approach and getting my head straight at the task at hand. Last year it was the fear of failure, and it affected how I was driving.”

AJ is also trying to copy the path Timmy Megenbier took to the series championship last year – staying clean and trying to accumulate points.

“He and Andy Lee [series runner-up] ran smart, methodical races, and that’s what I want to do,” he said.

Through the first three rounds, the plan has worked – he finished third and fourth in the opening two races at Virginia International Raceway, then two weeks later at New Jersey Motorsports Park, he finished fifth after qualifying 10th.

He also thinks the year’s experience will help him as well because, except for running a new configuration at Miller Motorsports Park and a race in Mexico at Autodromo AMOZOC, it’s a similar schedule this time around, and the cars are exactly the same.

“I didn’t really think I’d be eligible to compete again because of my age, but Volkswagen grandfathered returning drivers in,” he said. “I looked around, and the TDI Cup is a good professional series for the money. It’s a legitimate series and has a lot of notoriety. It was the best decision for me.”

TDI Cup drivers begin each race weekend with a track walk where they go corner to corner with tutelage from one of the series driving instructors. “We’re all vigorously taking notes and writing stuff down. It’s input, input, input.”

Drivers are contractually obligated to not drive on track at all before the race weekend – no races, no trackdays, nothing. For AJ, he watches YouTube videos, and even for a track that he knows well like VIR and Mid-Ohio, he still spends time studying videos leading up to the race.

He said one of his most memorable races last year was on a track he had never been to – Road America. It was a wild race with a frantic battle up front and remembered for WDCR member Devin Cates (who’s racing this year in the Grand Am series) rolling his Jetta, and AJ ended up on the podium in second place.

“It was Saturday evening at dusk, so the lights were on around the track, and all the cars looked really good,” he said. “As far as atmosphere and track layout, Road America was a fun weekend. It’s an awesome track.”

Helping with sponsorship this season is Brimtek, which provides technical products to the U.S. government and military. Headquartered in Ashburn, Va., AJ was introduced to the company’s CEO, Dave Tilton, at a MARRS weekend at Summit Point by Tristan Herbert, who races a Brimtek-sponsored ITB Golf in the series. AJ showed Tilton his sponsorship proposal, and “he liked what he saw” – Brimtek came on board for the last few races of 2009 and agreed to continue support in 2010.

“Some may call it luck, but it was really opportunity meets preparation,” AJ said. “I sold everything – my truck, my racecar, my motorcycle – to finance last season and use it as a front to approach sponsors.”

With Brimtek’s government audience and Tilton’s background as a Navy SEAL, AJ is supporting the Wounded Warrior Project this season. Before each race weekend, he calls to veterans centers and invites wounded warriors to the track for what he called “full hospitality access.

“They sign a star on the hood of the car and get the red carpet treatment,” AJ said. “It’s just really cool to support them.”

Although AJ plays online in iRacing, which has many of the same tracks that the TDI Cup visits, he mainly focuses on physical training to prepare for racing. He started doing Bikram Yoga, which he said is “pretty intense – you can burn up to 1,200 calories a session. You experience the same heat as behind the wheel of the car, and it pushes your body to its limits.”

AJ began his motorsports career in 2002 autocrossing a turbo Civic in Street Modified, and he quickly realized it wasn’t the car for the class. He kept it simple by finding a second-generation Honda CRX for G-Stock (“after I de-riced it,” he said with a laugh) and famously missed his senior prom to autocross at the SCCA Pro Solo at Virginia Motorsports Park. He did 40 events his first year and then co-drove with WDCR member Mike Neary in his D Street Prepared Acura Integra.

“Autocross contributed heavily on my car control skills,” he said. “It’s a cheap, low-risk way of learning the limits of the car.”

For the three years after that, he raced shifter karts all along the east coast.
“I raced at Road Atlanta – all the big tracks – and that was an awesome way to get into road racing,” he said. The “chess game” of drafting on the bigger tracks helped hone his racecraft.

Next, AJ dabbled in the open-wheel ranks after attending a Skip Barber School (where he was classmates with Frankie Muniz of “Malcolm in the Middle” fame), but after doing a few regional races, he realized he couldn’t take the financial burden.
“I dreaded getting in the car and I was so happy to get out of it,” he recalled. “I was racing against these CEOs who didn’t care about contact and could just write a check if they wrecked. That’s when it hit home.”

He went back to a familiar — and inexpensive — car, a Honda CRX, finding one that had been used for autocross and track days. It had a rollcage and other safety equipment and was pretty much just a turn of the key away from Improved Touring. And since he worked as a mechanic at Hondamans in Pasadena, Md., which if you can guess is an independent Honda repair shop, he said he was excited about racing a car in which he had “all the parts for in the shop.”

He drove it to an ITA MARRS Championship and third place at the American Road Race of Champions at Road Atlanta, and then came the TDI Cup.

As for after the TDI Cup, AJ said he’s researching on what’s the best next step. He wants to stick to sportscars and ultimately race in the American LeMans Series and at the 24 Hours of LeMans, but for now, he’s comfortable just making that next step that makes sense logically as well as financially. Most of all, he wants to continue the enjoyment of coming to the track.

“I have the mentality that I’m here to have fun,” he said. “I don’t get that aching feeling of nervousness before getting on track.”

You can follow AJ on Facebook, Twitter and his personal Web site.

By Pat Griffith

Ryan Ellis is a WDCR member who’s competing in his second season in SCCA Pro Racing’s Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, which launched in 2008 as way to introduce clean diesel technology to the U.S. market and develop the best of motorsport’s up-and-coming talent — drivers selected range only from 16 to 26 years old. The cars are identically prepared turbo-diesel Jettas.

Ryan, 20, actually started racing at the age of four in 1/4 midgets and go karts.  At the age of 11, he moved into Legends cars then into NASCAR Late Models at the age of 16 and finally into Spec Miata a year later.  He has also raced in the MX-5 Cup series.

After not reaching the podium in 2009, Ryan started the 2010 season with a bang by winning the opening two rounds of the TDI Cup at Virginia International Raceway.  He also took pole position in each race. 

A lifelong Washington Capitals fan, he also landed a sponsorship from the team for the 2010 season.

Ryan is a sophomore at George Mason University majoring in business-marketing (“For racing!” he said), and also works at Allsports Grand Prix as a driving instructor, and at Flint Hill Private School as a teacher.  He also plays hockey for GMU.

We caught up with Ryan to ask him some questions about the 2010 season and what it takes to be a professional racing driver.

Straightpipe: Compare your preparation this year with last year — what did you focus on for the selection process?

Ryan: I actually didn’t do much different this year than I did last year as far as preparation. If anything, I changed my physical fitness. I try and work out and run — I am for three miles — at least once a day but it is hard with two jobs and classes as well. I watched a lot of tape of last year’s races at all of the tracks and relearned the techniques to passing in TDI Cup.

The funny thing about tryouts is, I missed all of it, minus one day because of the massive snowstorm that hit the D.C. area. I couldn’t fly out of the area until the last day of tryouts and luckily, Volkswagen worked with me to give me an even chance of making the series.

To get ready for the beginning of the season, I debuted the MazdaSpeed3 at Daytona in the Continental Tire Sports Car Series and finished 10th in my first ever race!

Straightpipe: Describe yourself as a driver — what are your strengths?  Weaknesses or anything you try to focus on before a race?

Ryan: I believe that I am more experienced than just about anyone in the series. I am 20, which is in the middle-aged range for the series, however, I have been racing for 16 years. The experience helps me adapt to new tracks, situations, and other scenarios quicker than other drivers.

My biggest weakness is that I have never really raced front-wheel-drive cars before, especially diesel, and that is a huge change for me as the main car I have roadraced is a Miata.

Straightpipe: When did you decide to try for the TDI Cup again? 

Ryan:  I was looking at going into the Grand-Am Continental Tire Series, however, I didn’t have the money to jump into it. I was actually leading rookie of the year points after Daytona and was still hoping to get into it, but I just couldn’t afford to move up.

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series is by far the cheapest way to get into pro racing and it just made sense to always have that in the back of our minds, and when the Continental Tire deal never worked out, TDI Cup became the main focus.

Straightpipe:  How do you prepare yourself when going to a track you’ve never raced on before?

Ryan:  To prepare for a race, I watch tons of tape. I try to find many different angles and car’s videos from a new track and just watch it endlessly until I can almost drive the track in my head. In fact, right now I have a YouTube video of a Miata racing the East Course at Miller Motorsports Park playing in the background — the location of Round 4 for TDI Cup.

Straightpipe: How did you get Capitals sponsorship?

Ryan:  The Capitals sponsorship was always an idea of mine. I have been a Capitals fan since I can remember and go to games and practices to meet the players and get autographs and such. I was supposed to be introduced at Game 7 of the Capitals last playoff game on the jumbotron with a video of my car as the driver of the Capitals car, however, I had a marketing presentation for one of my classes due at the same time as the game!  [Editor's note: Sadly, the Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs, so Ryan will have to wait until next season for that chance to appear on the jumbotron.]

Straightpipe: Are the cars the same as last year?

Ryan: The cars are all the exact same as last year, no changes whatsoever.  We are still only allowed to choose which tires we place on which corner of the car.

In the Washington Capitals #6 car, Ryan Ellis leads the field at Virginia International Raceway.

Straightpipe: Tell us about the VIR weekend. 

Ryan: The first practice was actually a huge surprise to me and gave me a TON of confidence. I was nearly two seconds faster than the second-fastest driver. I hadn’t ever been fastest at any track in any session of TDI Cup, and to have that kind of margin was pretty outstanding, even if it only was practice. I had only had one session at VIR since last year’s race, and it was the Playboy MX-5 Cup race in the fall, but I don’t think it helped me at all in the opening TDI Cup weekend.

I was fastest both qualifying sessions, and as the weekend went on, the gap between my laps and [Juan Pablo Sierra Lendle] kept getting smaller. Eventually, we were running very similar laptimes.

The first race, we swapped the lead nearly six or seven times and because we were constantly racing one another, never put much of a gap on the rest of the field. However, as we crossed the stripe for the last lap of the race, JP cut to the inside and missed his braking marker, and overshot his turn-in, allowing me to pull an inside-out move. I missed a shift I was so excited and I left turn one with a small gap over JP and then Jake Thompson who caught us all in our battle.

We made our way into the back esses and Jake had just gotten by JP when he blew a tire in front of everyone, giving me just the gap I needed to have a comfortable lead for my first ever TDI cup win! It was an amazing feeling to say the least.

Day two, myself and JP made a pact not to race each other until the last couple laps so we could break away from all the other drivers. He lead the majority of the race, and I couldn’t hang with him except for staying in his draft. Going into Oak Tree on the last lap, he caught the curbing a bit too hard, and lost his momentum for the backstraight. I pulled alongside him and we entered the dangerous braking zone side-by-side. We took all of the roller-coaster section side-by-side before I got a small gap going onto the front straight and JP had lost the momentum he needed to pass me back. It was another thrilling tremendous race and I couldn’t have been happier.

Straightpipe:  So you won the first two races then followed it up with a disappointing finish at New Jersey — what happened there?

Ryan:  All of the veterans had the same tire strategy (except for JP) and we all chose rear tires which were too worn causing the cars to have way too much oversteer. We all qualified in the back and I qualified 10th. Juan Pablo qualified pole so I knew I had to catch him quickly, and in the first corner I passed five cars on the outside and moved into fifth position, and going into the Turn 3 chicane I got overaggressive and tried to pass for fourth position. I was alongside another car who didn’t see me and I was pushed into the dirt on entry and rubbed my tire into his wheel causing my tire to blow.

I drove the rest of the lap with three tires and got a new right-front tire on but was already a lap down and couldn’t recover as the races are very short — 30 minutes.

Straightpipe:  How do you work on your driving away from the track?  Karting?  Video games?  Reviewing video?

Ryan:  A little bit of all of those. I am a driving instructor at Allsports Grand Prix, a local karting facility. I mess around a lot in iRacing, a driving simulator, mainly racing the TDI Cup Car obviously, as it is extremely realistic. I watch video before every race and when I get the time, I race with MARRS and have some events planned later in the year! Unfortunately, I couldn’t race at VIR until after TDI Cup raced there, as it is against their testing policy.

Straightpipe:  What are you looking at for your future career?  Any other series you’d like to get into and why?

Ryan: Obviously I’d love to move out of TDI Cup as much as I love it. I will drive anything with four wheels if I have the money and I’m hoping to move into Grand-Am within the year. My dream is actually to race GT in the Rolex Sports Car Series or WTCC/BTCC. But, I really don’t care what I’m driving as long as I’m racing.

Straightpipe:  You raced at VIR before entering the series last year but also raced at several unfamiliar tracks.  Which one was your favorite?

Ryan:  I’d have to say it’s a toss up between Mid-Ohio, Mosport and Virginia International Raceway. All three are beautiful tracks and have great atmospheres around them. They all flow very well and have great elevation changes; the key to the perfect track. I cannot wait for Mid-Ohio this year as I feel I have a great chance to podium and/or get my third win! Last year, I was running top three for a lot of the race in my best run of the year.  [Editor's note: The Mid-Ohio race weekend is June 18 to 20.]

Ryan battling with King Rat buddy, Richard Hromin at Summit Point Raceway.

Ryan of course is hooked up in today’s information age.  You can follow him on Facebook, his athlete profile on Facebook and his personal Web site.  Hopefully, Straightpipe can follow more of his successes during the season!