WRPM Race Update
May 4-5, 2024 – Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia
WRPMotorsports driver Willie Phee Finishes 2
nd
in Round 12 and 1
st
in
Round 13 in the 2024 SARRC Championship series at Virginia
International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.
Round’s 12 and 13 of the 2024 SARRC Championship series was held at Virginia
International Raceway and WRPMotorsports driver Willie Phee would finish second in
race one and first in race two.
Qualifying for the weekend would start Saturday morning with the quickest time in
either qualifying or the race setting the grid for race two. Saturday’s qualifying would
be held in wet conditions so the times were considerably slower that the normal dry
times. Phee would end up qualifying seventh overall and third in class in the mixed
group session. “This was the first race in 2024 and it took me a few laps to get
comfortable in the car, plus with it being a wet session it took a few laps to get a
decent time in.” said Phee.
In the Saturday
afternoon race
the track would
be dry and Phee
would start
seventh on the
grid but would
get a great start
and would go into
turn one in third
overall.
Phee would move into second overall on lap two of the nine lap race with an inside move
going into turn 13. Phee would hold on to 2
nd
overall at the flag after a hard-fought
battle with Justin Deffenbaugh’s Acura Integra.
Sunday mornings qualifying session would be in moderate rain and since the grid would
be set on the fastest time in either the qualifying session or the race it was pointless to
go out in the rain as the times would be considerably slower than the race.
Phee would end up second on the grid based on the race times.
The afternoon race
seemed to be heading
for dry conditions,
however about three
laps from the end of
the prior race it
started raining again.
The challenge now
was what tire to run
wet or dry?
The pole sitting Miata
was on dry tires and
went back to his pit
to change onto wet
tires. As the cars were called to the grid the rain started to let up and the track was
wet/damp and would most likely have a dry line midway through the race. Phee waited
until the last minute to make the decision to go out on dry tires even though the track
was still wet.
At the start Phee would get a good jump and get alongside the pole sitting Miata, but
the track was still damp and Phee was trying to keep his TSX on track in the mixed
conditions. On lap two a full course caution would come out as a car had gone off in
turn 17 and damaged
the guard rail. It took
five laps to get the
barrier repaired and
the entire time the track
was drying.
Phee’s gamble on dry
tires paid off on the
restart when he would
drive around the
outside of turn one and
move into the lead for
the next five laps. Phee
would continue to pull away while the Miata struggled on wet tires and cross the line in first
place at the checkers.
Video of the Sunday race can be seen here: 5:15:47
Group 3 Feature Race: IT/ SRX7 /
SSM / Sprint Bracket RRS (Click on the “more” link and click on 5:15:47 Link)
“The entire rain situation on Sunday was an interesting development as there was a mix
of cars on wet tire and dry tires. The full course caution helped the drivers with wet
tires as they could cool their tires in the wet spots and not have to run them as hard on
the dry line. I knew once the green came back out I would have the advantage. My
only concern was how long would the caution stay out and would there be enough laps
to get to the front,” said Phee.
“Luckily, we had five green flag laps and I was able to get into the lead very quickly and
maintain a gap to the second-place car. It was quite satisfying to have the strategy
play out in my favor”, said Phee.
The next race is scheduled for July 20-21, 2024 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in
Braselton, Georgia.
The WRPMotorsports team is sponsored by MCS Suspension, Optima Batteries, Sparco
USA, Total Lubricants, and OPM Autosports.
Race
Results