Road Atlanta is Double the Fun for Mee - Speedway Digest

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) season finale at Road Atlanta means double the fun for Alta Velocita Racing (AVR) driver/team owner Jerome Mee.

Mee will race in the final two rounds of the 2014 Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered By Mazda season Oct. 2-3 followed by his first career TUDOR United SportsCar Championship start Oct. 4 in the famed Petit Le Mans.

The 10-hour endurance event at Road Atlanta’s 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course will be Mee’s first experience driving for Performance Tech Motorsports with professional teammates David Ostella and James French. The three drivers each will take multiple stints in the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/ Phillips 66 Prototype Challenge (PC) car.

No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Prototype Challenge car

“Stepping into this race, I’m going in with my eyes open to the fact that being the gentleman driver my job is to go out, keep the pace and keep the car smooth and intact,” Mee said. “My goal is to make laps, stay quick and efficient, and that’s it. I’ll leave the actual racing aspect of it to the pros, David and James, who are incredibly quick. My goal is to compliment them and keep the car solid for them to go out and race.”

Just over a year ago, Mee sat behind the wheel of his No. 95 AVR Prototype Lites car for the first time at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. Now Houston resident Mee is racing among the top of the Lites 2 class while also trying his hand at sports car racing’s top tier of competition.

“It reminds me of last year when I had my first Lites race at COTA,” Mee said. “I was sitting in my trailer getting dressed and wondering why I was feeling nauseous. I realized it was butterflies that I had not felt in over 25 years. Over the course of this season I didn’t notice it as much, but I have a feeling I’ll feel that way come Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to doing this. I’m not in fear of it. Before I was anxious because I didn’t know what to expect and I had not been in the environment before, but now I’ve been in the environment for a year and I know what to expect. I have a fantastic team behind me. I will have a coach on the radio with me the whole time getting me through this. My job is to do the best job that I can for Performance Tech, and I’m going to do everything I can to make that possible.”

No. 95 Alta Velocita Racing Prototype Lites car

In the final two sprint races of the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered By Mazda season, Mee is looking for nothing but pure competition. Brian Alder of BAR1 Motorsports has clinched the Lites 2 championship, giving Mee and Todd Slusher of ONEMotorsports a shot at second place.

“I want to work on being as quick and effective as possible and having good, aggressive races,” Mee said. “When I say aggressive, I mean assertive and smart. Whether that’s with Todd or Brian or all of us, I just really want to go in and duke it out. Where I finish is not as important as having the experience of being able to duke it out with those guys. I want to have a challenge, be in the race and have a good, clean, hard-fought battle.”

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda practice is set for 8:45 a.m. (ET) and 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1, followed by qualifying at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 2.

Two races – the first 30 minutes and the second 45 minutes – are scheduled for 1:25 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, and 9:10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3.

The green flag will drop for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season finale at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. The 10-hour Petit Le Mans endurance event will be broadcast on FOX.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.