Racing before a home crowd always ups the fun factor. And in the case of several competitors, a hometown performance will come March 2 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Racing before a home crowd always ups the fun factor. And in the case of several competitors, a hometown performance will come March 2 at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
Jason Saini, whose CJ Wilson Racing team is based in Austin, and Jeff Mosing will be among a large field of drivers competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge event.
Saini, a transplanted Ohioan, moved to Austin a number of years ago to join team manager and car builder Andris Laivins. The team races a pair of Mazda MX-5 cars in the Street Tuner class.
Mosing, also an ST competitor, drives for another Texas-based team, RACE EPIC/Murillo Racing, that fields BMW 328i cars.
“I can’t begin to express how excited I am to be competing at a world class track that has found its home here in Austin, Texas,” said Mosing, who tested at Circuit of The Americas several weeks ago. “This track is unlike anything GRAND-AM has visited. It requires more part throttle driving than any other circuit I have been to.
“It will provide fellow racers with lots of opportunities for passing as it is very easy for a competitor to make a mistake that you can profit from. The difficulty starts immediately at Turn 1, luring you into thinking ‘I can go just a little deeper in the braking’ but you can’t. Mess Turn 1 up and the lap is over.”
Saini is pleased about how the city of Austin has embraced the new facility.
“It’s put the city on an international [motorsports] stage,” he said. “They did an amazing job putting the facility up and on schedule.”
He agrees with Mosing; the track’s layout requires total concentration. “It will create separation between the drivers who hit their marks and those who don’t,” Saini said.
Laivins, a native Texan, has raced throughout North America but not close to home.
“I’ve never gotten to race in my state,” he said. “Texas never has had a high-profile road course. The [road racing] fan base will grow. There’s a real opportunity with Circuit of The Americas to get people in Texas to help road racing’s cause.” Team owner Wilson, however, will have to follow the Texas race from several states away. He’s gone back to his regular job as a left-handed starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Pitchers and catchers reported this week to the Angels’ spring training base in Tempe, Ariz.
Wilson did accompany the team to Daytona – perhaps his only opportunity to see his drivers race in person.
“It’s definitely a downer being able to go to only one or two events,” said Wilson. “We’re usually on opposite sides of the country.”
Wilson met Saini, a former Mazda MX-5 Series champion, some years ago. Saini was an instructor at a Fort Worth-area racing club where Wilson, then a Texas Ranger, was a student. Together they formed CJ Wilson Racing, which debuted in 2012.
“I grew up around dirt tracks [in Southern California] and racing’s been in my bloodstream since I was five,” said Wilson, who hopes to be a professional driver after he completes his baseball career. “I feel lucky to be able to start a team. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is a good place to start. What’s most exciting is the merger [of GRAND-AM and the American Le Mans Series], knowing there’s going to be a very long future for sports car racing in America.”
Circuit of The Americas’ Continental Tire Challenge event will be broadcast by SPEED at 4 p.m. ET on March 9.