Introducing Randy Sturgeon

[wrsturgeon]

A few years ago my wife and I gave her father a 2-Day Driving School at Laguna Seca for Christmas and of course I had to take the school “to keep him company.” I told a friend of mine what a good time we had and we decided to try the 3-Day Racing School. I thought we would take the Mazda school but he was having none of that – much to my surprise he wanted to take the open-wheel school. We took the 3-Day, Advanced 2-Day Schools, some Lapping, and finally decided to try a race at Laguna in 2007. We both survived and tried another one that season. We started in the back of the pack and worked our way up a little. I enjoyed the racing and set a goal of becoming a mid-pack racer so I would have more folks to race. I ran 3 races at Laguna last season and finally got to about mid-pack so I am happy about that.

Ross Jaffe recommended this site. I asked him about driving suits and he thought this site would be helpful.

My vehicles are pretty boring: 1999 Ford Explorer and a 2000 Jeep Wrangler. I usually drive the Explorer but make it a point to drive the Jeep the week before Lapping or Racing to get used to a clutch and practice heel-and-toe downshifting. Now the instructors know why I am such a mess in Turns 2 and 11 at Laguna!

I hope to run more races this year and maybe get some experience in the rain. I am working full-time as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry and unfortunately my racing is dependent on being fully employed. I euphemistically refer to my employer as my “Sponsor.”

I am also interested in learning more about the engineering aspects of racing. I follow the IRL and wonder if many of the problems experienced by Andretti Autosports the last few years are due to losing their good engineers.

[dalyduo]

Welcome Randy,

Sounds like you've had good luck in choosing your friends! Glad things have progressed so nicely for you.

We understand your devotion to your "sponsor" to keep the race weekends coming and welcome to Skippyforums.

Have you driven any tracks other than Laguna and any plans to come East or South?

What would be your favorite "next" track to explore?

[Rosso]

Originally Posted by wrsturgeon

I am also interested in learning more about the engineering aspects of racing. I follow the IRL and wonder if many of the problems experienced by Andretti Autosports the last few years are due to losing their good engineers.

Hi Randy! One engineer to another, when the car runs well, posts pole time or wins, it's is always good engineering that produced the result. When the car is loose, tight, DOP, DOS, DFS or DFL it is always the driver's fault.

[wrsturgeon]

DalyDuo - I would like to try different tracks but do not have any in mind. Tracks that are considered "must see" would be intresting to me. Being a new racer, I would prefer tracks that are forgiving. I like Laguna because they moved the walls back for the motorcycles and you have to work at hitting something stationary, although I've managed to do that!


Rosso - Isn't that the truth! I could not believe that Tony Kanaan's engineer told him "it isn't the car" when he was having trouble qualifying at Indy. I can't imagine anyone saying that to a driver with Tony's experience and reputation!