Team duo advance learning curve during Night Before The 500 at Lucas Oil Raceway
BROWNSBURG, IN – This past weekend, JDC MotorSports and its drivers contested the seventh round of the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, running in the annual ‘Night Before The 500’ event at the 5/8-mile banked Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana. The multi-time championship-winning squad campaigned Michael Johnson and Ryan Booth at the prestigious event and both drivers gained valuable oval track experience, working with the team to improve their cars as the weekend progressed. For the sixth time this season, Booth drove to a top-10 finish, while Johnson directly followed his teammate, taking an 11th place result in his first Pro Mazda oval event.
Booth started the weekend under the radar as he ran 12th fastest in the first test session on Friday afternoon. By session two, Booth had put in the work and dropped six-tenths of a second off his best time, and moved into the top-10. The 21-year-old continued his progression, dropping his lap times all day, dipping into the 20-second bracket while laying down the eighth fastest time of the round with a 20.725-lap. Booth left the track on Friday evening happy with the team’s progress on his #19 JDC machine, but knowing they were capable of much more.
The JDC squad and Booth arrived at the track on Saturday morning prepared for a great day of racing. The Charlotte, North Carolina resident showed very well in morning practice, laying down the second fastest lap of the second session, just over a tenth of a second off the top time. In qualifying, the team needed to make a significant change to address an issue, and while Booth posted his fastest time of the weekend up to that point, it put him in the 11th starting spot for the 90-lap race. Booth raced hard throughout the main event, and came home with a 10th-place finish. A caution period would have certainly allowed him to challenge for a better finishing position as he had the late-race pace of the leaders, but sadly, the race went green from start to finish. Booth’s top-10 finish at Lucas Oil Raceway bolstered his ninth-place standing in the current driver’s championship fight, as he’s now finished in the top-10 in six of the seven races thus far.
“Our Night Before the 500 adventure did not go exactly as we had hoped,” Booth commented. “We were making such great progress throughout the weekend. By the time the last practice rolled around, we were right there and ran P2 in the final practice. Unfortunately, we were having some shock trouble and basically had to throw a new setup at the car right before qualifying. We ended up qualifying towards the back for the race. Unfortunately, we didn't have good pace until the last half of the event. Right from the get-go, we lost a lot of time that was quite hard to catch up. Once I was into the groove of the race, we were running consistent, competitive times with the leaders. I closed the gap to the group in front of me, but ran out of time to make any passes for position. It was really a shame for the team since we worked so hard all weekend! It was an extremely valuable weekend though, since it was my first oval in an open-wheel car. I am hoping we carry over the progress from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Milwaukee Mile in August and I’m hoping for a better result at Mid-Ohio. I can't thank JDC MotorSports enough for the hard work and Wisko Racing for the opportunity to represent such a great program.”
Johnson’s weekend was a rollercoaster ride, for certain. The inspiring racer, who is paralyzed from the chest down, showed speed on Friday in testing, as dropping his lap times and moving up the leaderboard was the theme of the day. Johnson started with the ninth quickest time of session one, before cutting off another tenth of a second and moving up to eighth quickest in session two. Friday ended on a high note as he dropped a full half-second in the final session of the day to clock in the fourth fastest time of the Pro Mazda drivers, with a 20.597-lap. Saturday’s practice sessions were hit and miss for Johnson as he went seventh and 10th quickest in the two morning preparation rounds. In qualifying, Johnson earned the 10th starting spot on the grid. Saturday night’s 90-lap race featured plenty of track time and race pace to help improve Johnson’s oval track abilities. The Michigan driver finished the race one lap down in the 11th position. Johnson left Indiana after a long month of May sitting 14th in the championship chase.
“The event went pretty good, as I had good speed up until qualifying,” added Johnson. “I was first out for qualifying, which wasn't what I wanted. I started tenth and finished 11th. I wish it was a better result in the race, but I learned a lot. I'm looking forward to the Milwaukee Mile and improving everything!”
The team and its drivers will head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 4-5 for an official series test. Johnson and Booth now return home to prepare for the upcoming rounds of the 2014 season, as the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires will head south to Texas for the Grand Prix of Houston on June 27-29.
JDC MotorSports races with associate sponsorship from RedLineOil.com and HR-Sportswear.