Dateline: Sunday, January 12, 2025

Over the holidays I spent an evening watching the Chevy Chase cinematic classic Christmas Vacation with my family. I’m going to assume here that most of you have seen this movie at least once or twice, or for those farther out on the spectrum you may even make it an annual ritual to gather and press PLAY the Sunday after Thanksgiving (you people know who you are). For those who don’t immediately recall the film, it centers on Clark Griswold, an all-American family man taken to an unreasonable extreme. In an attempt to make this the very best Christmas ever, Clark goes out of his way to overdo everything he possibly can, substituting effort for technique every step of the way. Predictably, and comically, nothing ends up the way he had envisioned it to be. Yet at the end of the movie, with his home literally falling apart around him, he finds peace in the chaos, stares at the nighttime sky, and declares softly to himself, “I did it.” And in one very narrow way, that’s sort of where I am here at the conclusion of my 19th year of motorsports competition.

A lot of reflection captured in a single photo.

Now that line has always kind of bothered me, because the entire spirit of the Christmas season is not about what WE do or have done as individuals, but rather the incredible gift that was given TO us on that miraculous night in a manger. And for this reason, I’ve always been kind of pissed at Clark for making the whole thing about him, and yet here I am going down that same path myself, albeit without Cousin Eddie standing there emptying his shitter into the sewer because it’s full.

So, National Lampoon and Christian faith parallels aside, I want to share some of my thoughts on OUR most magical season: BimmerWorld Racing’s 2024 SRO GT4 America Pro-Am campaign. It has now been almost three months since our season-ending event at Indianapolis and you have probably already deduced from the lack of an immediate newsletter that it wasn’t our finest hour. While you would be right about that, you would also be wrong about that. The weekend clearly didn’t deliver the on-track results we had been striving for (an uneventful 7th in class in Race 1 and a marginally improved 6th in class in Race 2), yet that didn’t diminish the quality of the effort. Let’s focus on that for a bit.

Indianapolis. Such a special place even if it has not been particularly kind to us over the years.

I’ll start off by saying there really isn’t a good way to explain just how many independent variables go into getting a racecar from the paddock to the finish line, let alone to the top of the podium. It takes an army of people, a trailer of equipment, and an encyclopedia of experience combined with the accumulated tribal knowledge to properly fuse it all together. And then you need equal parts talent, technique, patience, aggression, and permission from your wife to survive the loosely orchestrated mayhem that unfolds when the green flag is displayed. Because, you know, there are about 30 other drivers out there with their own army, trailer, encyclopedia, and tribal knowledge looking to claim the same glory.

Tribal knowledge at work.

The smallest of subtleties can make the largest of impacts, and years of learning may culminate in a single choice, decision, or action that carries the day. Or, in the alternative, spectacularly fails to do so. And to a large extent, there is a sense of comfort and security about all of these things, as they are factors over which we believe, with a well-deserved sense of hubris, we have complete control. Like Clark we rely heavily on ourselves, investing an absurd amount of time and energy into our pursuit of incredibly fragile, yet unbelievably heavy, solid glass trophies.

When captured on film, a race start looks so serene. It’s anything but that.

Are we really investing, though? No, the entire exercise is clearly more akin to high-stakes gambling, for there is an element of utter randomness perfectly paired with every single choice, decision, or course of action we select. Call it luck, call it fortune, call it timing, call it what you will, but the unpredictability of it all only comes in two flavors: good and bad. And even that is a relative state based on the specific racecar you happen to be piloting at the moment the chaos of the universe makes its grand entrance. Like Kenny Rogers once swooned, “Every car’s a winner, and every car’s a loser, and the best that you can hope for is to clear the wreck in 1.”

In 2024, I had my absolute highest of highs (see here: COTA) and my absolute lowest of lows (see here: Road America). That’s not hyperbole. Yet as a team we always put our best foot forward. We were always prepared. And for those incredible season-long efforts, Tyler and I walked away from the 2024 SRO Awards Banquet in possession of a small plastic trophy (as opposed to an incredibly fragile, yet unbelievably heavy, solid glass trophy) that reads “3RD PLACE PRO-AM” along its lower edge. And you know what? I’m ok with that, because that’s the hand we were dealt this season. No excuses, caveats, or disclaimers necessary. Plenty of others would have been perfectly happy with that trophy, and who am I to belittle the recognition of a job well done? This is where I put on my happy face and thank the Academy for the award before slinking off to an Indianapolis dive bar with three of my best friends. Again.

From left to right, four incredible racecar drivers yet to be household names.

So, a third-place Championship effort in 2020, a second-place Championship effort in 2023, and a third-place Championship effort in 2024. And let’s not forget about the second-place Championship effort in 2018 with that “other” racing team from Houston, Texas. It’s about to the point where being on the year-end podium is more of a curse than a blessing. And it’s driving me nuts.

Now, I’m not supposed to make any announcements about 2025 until Mr. Clay gives me the green light, but these last two seasons in particular have done nothing but motivate me to keep pushing forward. And as I have stated in this space before, I am surrounded by the best crew, the best co-driver and coach, the best teammates, the best equipment, and the best family. The recipe has proven to be effective. We have done incredible things together, and I have full confidence that there is even more in store. Why would I hang it up now when the objective remains just one small step away? I simply owe it to this team to put a big plastic trophy in their display case at the newly-remodeled BimmerMart.

Q: That sounds like an announcement to me.

A: No, it’s not. But it’s fair to call it “heavy foreshadowing.”

Yeah, we’ll be back. And don’t forget, we have unfinished business.

See you at the track! Or, in the immortal words of Aunt Bethany, Play Ball!

JWJr
#82 GT4 America
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