Ryan Cheek Racing

Day 1 of SCCA Time Trials at VIR went great! My fastest full course lap was a 2:16.1, which I set during the last time attack session.

Racetracks in the mornings are so serene and peaceful, and VIR was no different. I was very excited but also quite nervous as nearly every driver lined up for some paced laps around the track. As I rolled through pit lane and shifted to 2nd gear, I goosed the throttle to check the grip. The car stepped out immediately, and I knew it was going to be a challenge to find grip. I'm running the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 Connects that I ran last year at the Dragon Hillclimb, TTNats, and Road Atlanta TT. They also sat in my cold garage all winter. But they have plenty of tread, and I need car control experience, right?

The paced laps went without incident, and the tires did start to warm up, soften and produce some grip. Less than an hour later I was headed out for my first practice session. I'm in the Intermediate 1 group, which is passing anywhere with a point by and consists of the faster cars with intermediate drivers. My car is the 2nd slowest car of the group (not my class) which consists of mostly new camaros and c6 & c7 corvettes. There is a new 2020 corvette, too, which is cool to be on track with. 

During my first session I ran a 2:21 fastest lap and that sure felt fast. Throughout the day I consistently dropped time. Being with faster cars really helped me push my comfort zone and find better racing lines. After the second practice session my time fell to a 2:19.

Lunch came and went, and then I was headed out for my first time attack session. Things were getting serious! I came back in with a lap time of 2:17.6. When it came time for the second time attack, and last session of the day, I was hoping to put my lines and aggressiveness all together and was hoping to drop into the 2:16's. I encountered a lot of traffic, and my tires heated up a little more & quicker than I would have liked. I ran a 1:16.1, but it was very sloppy! Still very surprised I pulled that lap time.

Overall, the car is feeling great! I really wish I had more brakes and more top speed, but every driver wants more from their car. 

Some track thoughts: The climbing esses are crazy but I love them. Braking for T1 is not as obvious as it seems.

Today we will have track sprints in the morning, which is 3 runs at a certain session of track. ( I don't know which yet) And after lunch I will have two shorter time attack sessions. I am really hoping to drive well, put together most of the racing line I have figured out, and really try to get those corners before the long straights perfect. If I do that, I should definitely get into the 1:15's.

Day 2 of SCCA Time Trials Tour at VIR started with a time change losing an hour of sleep and awaking to chilly 35* temps. The cars were covered in frost, the track was cold, and sticky tires were hard and slippery. I was fortunate to be in the 3rd run group for track sprints and hopefully the temps would increase and the sun would heat up the track. Track Sprints are a point-to-point, single car, timed competition with a standing start. Similar to autocross, and held on a portion of the track. Each car gets a total of 3 runs and the fastest run is incorporated into the driver's overall event score. 

The track sprint route began just after T5 and ended just before the flag tower in front of the South Paddock, after T12. Honestly, this was my most comfortable section of the track and I looked forward to giving it my all. It was around 9:30am when I headed out for my first run. The sun had come out but tires and track were still fairly cold. I took my first run fairly slow, careful with my throttle inputs and tire placement on the cold damp curbing. My time was awful, but the car felt mostly good to go. As I made my way around the rest of the track and back in to staging, I did some hard braking and hard throttling to try to get more heat into the tires. My 2nd run came about 10 minutes after my first, and as I full throttled through the snake section, the car felt great and had good grip. I felt this was going to be a great run. I barely lifted through the climbing esses and nailed my entry & exit through South Bend. Carrying a lot of speed into T11, I got a little timid and over slowed as I setup for entry into T12 (oak tree). Over slowing allowed me to get the car rotated quicker for T12 and I took the car over the inner curbing a little earlier than I had been, and full throttled expecting the car to track out smoothly to the outter curbing. BUT before I fully realized what was happening, the back end of the car started to come around the driver's side. My little bit of countersteer wasn't enough and I found myself spinning out. This was the first time I had ever spun out on track and it seemed to last forever. I really thought I had went around twice as I put both feet in and got the car stopped headed the correct direction on track. The car had stalled, and it took 3-4 cranks and a little bit of a rolling pop-start to get the engine to turn over. As I watched the next car enter T11, I floored the accelerator to get through the timing lights and hoped I hadn't messed up the next car's run. I made my way back around to staging with a new shimmy in the steering (flat spots on the tires from spinning) and a mix of emotions. I felt a little giddy that I was driving hard enough to spin out, but also a little weak-kneed as the car felt great the whole time until suddenly it didn't and that I hadn't realized it. I staged for my 3rd run and learned there had been timing issues and that previous lap wasn't going to be counted, so I still had 2 runs left. The next run, I took a deep breath and went full speed, it felt great, but then I was a lot more cautious around Oak Tree. It wasn't until my last run that I set my fastest time of 48.1sec. Unfortunately, it was still 2.3 seconds behind the pace of my closest competitor who ran a 45.8. Previously, I was holding 3rd in class by a .3sec lead. 

After the track sprints, we took a break for lunch, and returned for our final Time Attack sessions. The sessions were roughly half as long, getting only 3 flying laps, but also had half the amount of cars on track. Really giving every driver the openness and best opportunity to set fast times. My first session I was not able to reach the 2:16's as I had on Saturday and only set a 2:17.4. The car felt good for the most part, but turn-in bite was lacking and I think I was still a little timid since my spin. Second, and final time attack session, came just over an hour later. Surprisingly, the tires had cooled a lot! I pumped them up to a pressure that I felt had always given me their best performance, 36psi, and expected them to heat up to about 38-39 by the end of my 3 flying laps. I went out on track knowing I was in a solid 4th place in class, with no real chance of reaching 3rd (I would have had to run a 2:13) and I had a 3 second lead on P5. I went out consciously focused on working on turns 1-6 and I really wanted to run in the 2:16's again. My first lap felt good but knew I had fudged a section. As I crossed the finish on my second lap, I could feel that I was back in the 2:16's. The lap felt good and I howled with excitement and waved to my family as I passed them on the back straight. I almost decided to pit in after that lap, but the car was feeling fine and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make one more lap around VIR. 

Back in the paddock, I checked my times. I ran a 2:16.4. Not quite as fast as yesterday but a time that I was very proud of and had worked hard to achieve! I celebrated with a shot of tequila and an ice cold beer. It was a great ending to a great weekend, or so I thought!

During the awards ceremony, I gleefully cheered on my friends. Cameron Albea took 1st in T5 and Ancel Henry took 1st in T3 (yes, my class). Then they started to announce the Superlative awards. They again called my friend Cameron to the stage for the Cross-Over award for his successes in autocross and on track. I was elated for him! They then began to brag about the driving traits of the winner of the next award, Most Improved. They mentioned they had watch this driver drive well at TTNats2020, their marked improvement at the Road Atlanta TT, and then "wheeling the hell out of that little white Mustang this weekend at VIR". As my named was called, I was so surprised and deeply honored. I took the stage, hugging my friend and excited that we were representing the heck out of our WNC area. As I left the stage, I thanked all the SCCA TT staff. So thankful for all that they do, from long hours planning & setting up awesome safe events, to managing us competitors, and always being helpful positive spirits throughout. Truly means so much to be seen and recognized for my driving improvements. Driving/racing is my passion. I am always hard on myself and tend to not give myself enough credit. 

Thank you all for following along, especially those who kept up with me through my stories. Special thank you to my sponsors who help support this racing dream of mine. And I absolutely would not be where I am today without the constant love and encouragement from my family. 

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