06/09/2026
The racing gods definitely kept us on our toes this weekend, but Tuesday morning hits hard when you go from a high-speed paddock straight back to the real world.
**The Highs:**
Ismaeel absolutely drove the wheels off the #25 Cayman GT4RS Clubsport in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX class. Mother Nature threw the entire playbook at us on Saturday. A severe thunderstorm rolled through, leaving the track and pit lane completely soaking wet. Ismaeel handled the treacherous changing weather beautifully to lock down a massive P3 podium finish—and we’ve got a shiny third-place trophy to prove it!
By Sunday morning, the rain was gone, but we were greeted by an absolute pea-soup fog on pit lane at the start of the race. Ismaeel braved the low-visibility morning to back up Saturday's podium with a hard-fought P4. Incredible weekend for the #25 side of the paddock!
**The Lows:**
The 4-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race started with a ton of promise (and a ton of heat). Madeline Stewart started the race out from the 20th spot and ran a solid long first stint for the team staying on the lead lap and trying to set up a fuel mileage play for the end of the race. Even running in fuel-save mode she managed to keep it on the lead lap and was even in the lead by strategy when she came in for her pitstop and driver change to Cody Scully.
Cody was able to log some solid laps and run another long stint, but unfortunately went a lap down towards the end of it as the leaders were running around on fresh tires as he was trying to stretch another long stint out of his tires. Unfortunately, the car seems to have run out of fuel as he came to pit lane for his stop, which caused a bit of a delay and some confusion during the stop.
As you can probably guess, the car did not like being run out of fuel, and on Morgan's first lap in the car, he spun out as the car fought back. He was able to get the car reset and get rolling again. Unfortunately the spin put us back a bit further than we would have liked, but Morgan definitely had the pace to keep us in the long-term fight!
Unfortunately, with all the rain from the day before, the grass off-track was holding water like a sponge. The #2 Cayman dropped tires into the slick, wet grass out of the final turn while trying to make a move around the outside of another car. Without any traction, the car snapped and slid nose-first into the Armco, ending our day early.
The most important thing is that Morgan is completely fine. The car is going to need some serious front-end love back at the shop, but the crew should have it ready to roll by the time we head to Watkins Glen. Huge shoutout to the entire crew for pulling double duty across two series in some of the craziest weather changes we've seen all year.
**The Reality Check:**..And just like that, the weekend is over and it's back to the real job today. Swapping out high-octane fueling and tire management for CNC machinery and daily operations.
The contrast is wild, and for a fly-in contractor, the turnaround is immediate. I’ve only got a few days at home to catch my breath and handle the day job before I head back out Sunday morning to pick up the truck and trailer. Then it's right back on the road for testing next week.
The grind truly never stops!
