DRIVER BLOG // TED ANTHONY JR. @ BOSCH 200

Hello CTD faithful! I’m excited to share my first experience at Virginia International Raceway with all of you! The track is challenging, fast, and beautiful. Everything a racer dreams a track should be! We were hoping for a better result than the disaster that was the previous race… [read more]

I apologize for not reporting on Round #3, but there wasn’t a whole lot to report. My co-driver Rick Edwards got in one lap of green flag racing at Barber Motorsports Park, before being involved in an accordion-style pileup on the races first restart. Someone up the grid tapped their brakes, and (like what happens on the road) people start getting closer and closer, and in some cases, collect one another. So, our race was over before it began.

With generous support from Ford Racing, the TC Motorsports crew repaired our #14 Mustang Boss 302R, and got it ready to go just two days before we were to be at VIR. I arrived at the track Thursday afternoon to see the guys doing final prep, and applying the last of the ColdTrackDays.com vinyl.

As I said above, this was my first time visiting Virginia International Raceway. I had done a few laps on iRacing.com’s online simulator, but beyond that I had no first-hand experience. My first few laps tell me that this place is awesome! There are slow, technical corners, and there are fast, ballsy corners. It rewards a technical, consistent driver as well as a driver who is not afraid to use every little bit of the car’s potential. My favorite section of track is what’s known as the “Upper Esses,” a set of connecting bends that in our Boss 302R, we enter the first bend at over 135mph! The entry speed makes the following four turns very interesting (and fun)!

Our practice sessions went well; Rick was very diligent at absorbing data to learn the track as quickly as he could. He picked up time every session, and we were slowly creeping up the charts. After Thursday’s testing, the crew put the car on the scales to align it and make sure our weight was in order, only to find that we were 115 lbs. overweight! That could make a small difference in lap time!

I was elected to take the car out for the first official practice session, and put down a lap good enough for 9th overall. I’d say the weight played a role in some of that speed! Rick had a rough qualifying session, as he was balked several times and just couldn’t get his “game face” on. We would start the race from 25th position.

Rick had a great opening stint, and he kept the car in perfect shape. At just under an hour, Rick pitted under a full course caution, and all the way up to 14th place. I jumped in for the remaining hour and a half in 21st position. I had a good restart, gaining one position, and not even one lap later there was a massive incident involving four cars that would lead to a long caution period. My thoughts go to Todd Buras, who reportedly broke several ribs in the crash; I wish him a speedy recovery!

As the pit cycles continued, I found myself in 8th place by the time the race restarted! Two laps beyond that I was in 5th, and sticking right with the leaders! Ladies and Gentlemen, TC Motorsports is for real! As I continued to hang with the leaders, more cars pitted, and I ran in 2nd place for several laps. Part of the way into my stint, the mouthpiece for my drink bottle came off, which left the hose free to dribble all over me whenever it pleased. It was pretty distracting, and I made a few mistakes. About the time the leading car (#15 Multimatic Boss 302R) pitted, I had a huge slide coming onto the front straight and the #6 Sunoco Camaro was all over me. I braked a little too deep going into T1, and slid off the track, losing my short-lived lead and dropping to 6th place. I finally moved the drink bottle tube so it wouldn’t pour all over me, and got back down to business.

Two weeks prior to the event, I had a massive episode of stomach pain, which was determined to be a gallstone attack. Due to this, I was unable to exercise during those two weeks and my endurance was a little lacking. We had one more pit stop to make, and we took fuel and four tires. Looking back, taking tires was a call that could’ve gone 50/50. We would have lost fewer positions in the pits, but our times would not have been as quick. Ultimately, we finished 15th in GS and overall. The team did great, our pit stops were fast and efficient, and Rick and I kept the car clean, dent-free, and competitive. I also turned the 5th fastest lap of the race, which really shows our true potential for strong finishes in the future!

After the race, I was exhausted! The lack of training combined with the heat in the car, the lack of a cool suit and drink bottle, I was hurting! Two days following the event, I had my offending gallbladder removed, and am currently recovering from the operation. Needless to say, I am grateful for the month off, during which I hope I will be able to train and regain some strength for Lime Rock!

Thanks for reading!

Photo: Curtis Creager
Editorial: Ted Anthony Jr.