2014 Wraps Up at Petit - Speedway Digest

Auto racing has its share of ups and downs, which many inside the sport summarize with the tidy phrase, “That’s racing.”

But Performance Tech Motorsports Team Principal Brent O’Neill sees it differently. He says, “That’s progress.”

The Performance Tech crew has spent multiple days preparing the No. 38 Dash Neighborhood/Phillips 66 and Prototype Lites cars for racing this season International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) competition. That includes 1,521 minutes of practice and more than 3,005 minutes of racing, and those numbers don’t include the time spent in the Deerfield Beach, Florida, shop or after hours at track. Each minute has led to the final hours of the season Oct. 1-4 at Road Atlanta.

Performance Tech will look for strong finishes for its Prototype Challenge and Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda cars at the 12-turn, 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit for the Petit Le Mans Weekend. This race weekend marks the end of the 2014 season in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda series.

Team newcomer Jerome Mee will join regulars David Ostella and James Frenchin the team’s PC car, while Robert Alon and Joel Janco will drive separate cars for the team in Prototype Lites.

“Watching the all the guys get better has been rewarding,” O’Neill said. “Joel just keeps getting better and better. Robert has come a long way. It’s fun to watch David become as quick as he is and see him running up there with the IndyCar drivers. James has just been amazing; that kid is really good.

“They’ve all overcome some heartache this year, but they’ve all really progressed. Same for Jerry, as well: It will be interesting to see his progression into 2015.”

The team is looking ahead to 2015 to continue progress, a goal that could be boosted by strong finishes to end the season at Road Atlanta.

“We want to have a good weekend to build up to 2015,” O’Neill said. “Just like everyone else, we’re looking to end with a win at Petit. We’d like to see our best finishes of the year across the board in PC and Lites. We’ve proved we can run upfront in both series. We’re just looking to have a good weekend. Then we’ll take a few weeks off and start preparing for 2015 the first week of November.”

Prototype Lites drivers Janco and Alon will kick off Performance Tech’s busy weekend with Practice 1 at 8:45 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, Oct. 1. Qualifying takes place at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 2. The 30-minute Race 1 is later that same day at 1:25 p.m. Race 2 will be a 45-minute sprint at 9:10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3.

French, Ostella and Mee will first be in the PC car at 10:10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 2 for the first of four practice sessions. Qualifying for the PC class begins at 5:05 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3. The final green flag of the United SportsCar Championship season drops at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. The race will be broadcast on FOX; check local listings for details.

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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.