It's been a while since my last racing update. We are now two-thirds through our Gridlife Touring Cup season, with rounds at Carolina Motorsports Park, GingerMan Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and most recently, at Road America.

Rather than writing individual race reports about each event, which I am not sure anybody finds valuable, I will share my scattered and meandering thoughts.

The Cars Are Reliable

Carlos and I have had minimal issues with our E90 race cars this season. They've been reliable, aside from some minor, self-inflicted issues. Carlos has a persistently loosening rear toe arm that needs fixing. I've made mistakes like leaving my oil pan cap open and racing with my window net down. Overall, the cars have been running well and haven't let us down.

We're Still Learning The Formula

Carlos raced his Spec E9X in the GLTC series last year, and our new-to-us ex-Bimmerworld cars were a step in the right direction regarding competitive abilities. Since GLTC is a builder-focused series, it wasn't a surprise that the cars weren't immediately frontrunners. Carlos has led the development process on his car, while I've held back on modifying mine. Instead, I've focused on improving my driving and racecraft.

Thankfully, the changes that Carlos and I have been making to our cars have been trending in the right direction. We've identified some key opportunities that we will improve after Lime Rock to close out our 2024 season at PittRace.

Racing Is Stressful

I've only been racing for nine months, and despite 25-30 races, it's taking longer than I expected to acclimate to the stress and danger. While I've been able to drive relatively calmly, seeing numerous accidents of consequence and a car fire makes me aware of the dangers of racing.

It has helped me to constantly remind myself that I don't have to defend my position or attempt any driving beyond my comfort level. Driving at my own pace in a safe and predictable manner has worked out well so far.

GLTC: Good, Bad, Ugly

Gridlife is growing rapidly, and their Touring Cup series has been breaking entry records this season. The least entries were 48 at CMP, but MidOhio had 70, and Gingerman + Road America had almost 60 each. With the growth comes pains.

The Good

I've written about the positives, and thankfully, most still hold true. The drivers are extremely welcoming and kind. The racing is [mostly] quite clean. It's one of the largest amateur single-class racing series in the U.S. The variety of cars, build levels, and racer talent ensures there's always competition.

The Bad

Creating a ruleset for parity across different production cars is extremely difficult. Parity is improving, but there are still areas needing attention. Engines with large flat powerbands (e.g., LS on the high end, K20/K24 on the low end) still dominate. Some costly/difficult modifications, like custom short-ratio gearboxes, are beyond the average racer's reach.

The tire size chart seems to be exploited at the extremes. Each size bracket spans 125 lbs, starting at 2725 lbs. A car that weighs 2,400 lbs gets to run what would, in essence, be three tire sizes larger than it would be allowed if the tire size chart was expanded.

Positive modifiers allow a car to run larger tires. For instance, an LS-powered car with a large flat tune, a wing, and a splitter might have a +12% modifier. If the car is naturally 3,350 lbs, it would be allowed a 295 tire. However, because it is carrying 12% more weight, it is now 3,752 lbs and can run a 315 tire.

The Ugly

The contact... oh, the contact.

I naively bought into GLTC's 'no contact' policy. As I watched longingly from a distance, the livestream tended to gloss over incidents.

Unfortunately, there's been significant contact this season, causing some drivers to miss events or end their season. At CMP and Gingerman, three of four races ended under full course yellow due to accidents. Our track record for green-flag sessions must be about 50%, except for Mid-Ohio.

Some offending rookies, lacking remorse, were told they were not welcome back for a certain period. Some egregious accidents resulted in a DQ, probation, or just a mark on their record.

I don't have solutions, but I hope they address this before it's too late. It has hampered my enjoyment and reminded me that racing is simply dangerous despite the series' ethos of clean racing.

I'm new to the series and non-competitive [basically, a nobody], so I avoid whining about issues that haven't directly affected me [yet, here I am]. I acknowledge the series may have always been this way, and I was unaware. I'm hopeful that series leaders are aware and will improve the situation.

With no prize money or pro contracts at stake, we're racing for fun. Right? Right.