Post Race Report - 2024 Mid Ohio
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course hosted round seven of the 2024 Cube3 Architecture TA2 series season. This would mark Cale’s second trip to this circuit in the TA2 series, after a 16th place finish there a year ago.
Unfortunately, the weekend got off to a rough start when Phillips blew a left rear tire only a few laps into the first practice session. The Nitro Motorsports crew were fast to react, getting Cale back out to complete the session. After trying a few different setups in the second practice session, crew chief Derrike Cope decided to go back closer to the original setup, which proved to be the right call, as Cale picked up three seconds in the final practice session. A slight mistake in qualifying would give Cale the 23rd overall starting position, and 6th in Pro/Am, in a 29-car field.
At the start of the race Cale was pushed out of the way at the top of the hill in turn 5, almost spinning around. This caused him to lose three or four spots quickly, but he kept his head down and started making his way back through the field. The 45-lap race only had one caution, coming out at lap fourteen, which caused the field to get strung out during the long green flag runs and minimized the passing opportunities. When the checkered flag flew, Cale found himself in the 15th overall position, and 5th in the Pro/Am class.
“The goal going into each race is a top 15 finish, so we met that goal today. A little disappointed with what happened at the start with the contact, that cost me three or four spots right away. Once I got back by a couple of them, I tried to just settle in, I was able to get a good rhythm going with there only being the one caution. I felt my car was handling well, and I was turning really consistent lap times the entire race. We kind of got behind a little in the first practice when I blew a left rear tire, but my Nitro Motorsports guys got it dialed in during the final practice. I need to be better in qualifying, but overall, a great weekend. It is nice to have back-to-back top 15 finishes, that is something I did not do last season. Looking to keep this momentum rolling at Watkins Glen.”
Be sure to tune in to MAVTV this Thursday night (June 27th) at 8pm to catch the race highlight show.
CP Racing’s next race will be in TransAm TA2 at Watkins Glen for the Mission Foods Watkins Glen SpeedTour. The race will be Saturday, August 24th.