P15 in Extremely Stressful Round 7
Aug 21, 2010
Hello Friends,
I’m finally resting after another eventful day at Road America in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup. We just completed a very grueling Round 7 of the championship.
The day started off a bit later than usual for us at around 10 AM where we debriefed with our technicians to determine which tires we would run on the car for the race later in the evening. We also wrapped up our driver’s meeting with our instructors soon after.
After our quick debriefs, Ralph Shaheen was cool enough to be one of our guest speakers for the weekend. He’s been in the racing industry for a good 20 years and knows all the key players. He was able to be as blunt as possible to let us know the reality of being a successful race car driver and personality goes a long way. It was a very informative session and was glad he was able to spend the weekend with us.
I was also able to meet the two veterans that I invited out for the weekend. I met Brad Ellingson along with his wife and kids. Within minutes, Michael Lischka introduced himself who was accompanied by his dad, David. They were all extremely appreciative to have the opportunity to come out and enjoy the race weekend. I gave them all a tour of the technical center, had the vets sign a gold star on the hood of my Brimtek/WWP VW Jetta TDI Cup car, and gave Michael a chance to actually sit behind the wheel of my race car. They all had access to the VW hospitality tent as well as the shuttle vans to escort them around the facility. They were blown away with the entire operation.
Before we knew it, we had our SCCA driver’s meeting in preparation for the race. We suited up and hopped into our cars. I would be starting on the outside of row 4 in 8th position. We grid on the front straight, starter lights went on, revved our clean diesel engines, and we were off.
Had a great start and was able to pass Wyatt before entering T1, then after that, it all hit the fan. The pack of cars behind me seemed to be driving like they were in a video game! Using cars as guard rails, bumping and banging...quite unbelievable. I was in survival mode to protect my fenders. It was extremely frustrating as people were pushing their way to the front like their lives depended on it. I honestly thought we were in a bumper car race, very unprofessional. Three wide, four wide, no one seemed to care about crash damage! Before I knew it, I was back in 15th! No one seemed like they wanted to work with each other up to the front, it was every driver on their own. This caused all of us to slow each other down and nobody was gaining any ground. So much happened in that 30 minute race, it’s all a blur now.
Even writing about it now after the fact, I’m just really disappointed with a lot of drivers in the series. It seems to be getting worse and I’ve had my talks with the officials involved with the series to let them know how I feel and believe penalties will be handed down before the night is over. As far as trying to save my fenders, it didn’t work out, got tagged pretty good on the passenger side of my car half way through the race. The last thing I needed at this point. Alignment was off and a bit of a handful to drive throughout the rest of the race. In the end, I held onto a 15th place finish.
I’ve been involved in racing for almost 10 years and will jump out on a limb and be the first to say that this was the worst race I have ever competed in. I’ve had my battles with some of the front runners throughout this season and I’ve been able to run a lot of competitors extremely hard without any contact what so ever. Today, I had to keep an eye on my mirrors, it seemed, going into every brake zone as the dive bombs kept coming left and right. This kind of driving doesn’t make any friends in my book.
Enough of the venting, I’m just glad the car will still be able to compete in tomorrow morning’s race. I’m also glad I’ll be starting a bit more closer to the front of the pack in P6. I feel extremely bad for the VW technicians who will be working in the late hours of the night to repair cars and get them back in racing condition for tomorrow.
I’m going to sleep this frustration off. Tomorrow is another day and another race. Not sure where I am in the points as of now, but I’m never giving up. I can’t thank everyone enough for the tremendous support and will truly be looking forward to some clean battles tomorrow morning in Round 8.
Until next time, take care!
AJ Nealey
About Brimtek
From reconnaissance and covert surveillance operations to aerial video surveillance and VIP Protection Services, Brimtek is a provider of leading edge, technical products and solutions to the United States Government with a focus on military, law enforcement, and homeland security applications. Taking more than 100 years of combined experience in Special Operations Tactical Surveillance and Intelligence community operations, Brimtek started Brimtek Motorsports, a division focusing on motorsports, designing and building car audio, video, and data systems. For more information on Brimtek, visit www.brimtek.com.
About Wounded Warrior Project
The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors. Its purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured men and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. To get involved and learn more, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
About The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, which is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, is the only Clean Diesel racing series of its kind. Drivers will compete in 30 identical Clean Diesel racecars as they contend for $100,000 in the world’s first green racing series. For more information about the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, visit www.vwmotorsportusa.com.
About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in SCCA-sanctioned regional autocross events. He then moved into the karting and regional sports car racing events. In 2008, the Edgewater, MD resident won the ITA Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series Championship after winning the pole and race in each of the series’ eight events. Nealey also co-drove in several NASA-MA races in 2008, accumulating five wins and setting three track records. Nealey competed in the 2009 Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th in the Championship point standings on the strength of two podium appearances and five top-ten finishes. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com
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Driving Sales and Building Relationships with AJ Nealey in the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup
