DESERT CENTER, CA – Larry Mason and the Auto Diagnostic Services Team LMR Formula Mazda came into Rounds 3 & 4 (on March 21, 22, 2015) of the SCCA Western Conference US Majors Championship Tour as the points leader based on the win and second place finish at Auto Club Speedway in January. Their goal was simple, go out and score points and try to extend the points lead.
When qualifying came, he turned the third quickest time only about a half-second off of pole position. He was confident for the race and knew that there was still more time to be found on track. At the drop of the green flag in Race #1, two other cars from different classes were able to squeeze between Mason and the front two in his class. Unfortunately that lost him a lot of time to try and catch the other two. He was able to keep the gap reasonable for a few laps but as the race wore on the other two just kind of walked away from Mason. There was nothing he could do, he was beat. He still ended up third but was quite disappointed in that result as he felt he should have been more competitive in the race. Perhaps it was because he was running on tires that were almost a year old.
For Sunday’s race #2, Mason (starting third again) and his crew chief Tom Engelsman decided to go with fresh tires. Even though they were a hard compound, they figured that between the heat and the long radius corners, their endurance would pay off in the end. Well it only took a few laps before the second place car (trying to pass the leader) spun right in front of Mason. That lost Mason time, but he recovered, put his head down and went to work. He closed the gap to the leader and was close enough to see that the leader had a lot of understeer (lack of front end grip). Mason filled the leader’s mirrors and tried to make a couple of moves but couldn’t make the passes stick. Finally, heading into Turn 1, the leader made a slight mistake and dropped two wheels off of the track and that allowed Mason into the lead!
He was able to extend his lead and take an uncontested victory. Mason was thrilled with this result knowing that Team LMR was able to execute their strategy. This finish extended his points lead and that bodes well for the rest of the season.
It’s a huge difference what tires can make, and he’s excited about the prospects of the rest of the season if a proper budget can be secured. If you or someone you know might benefit from the action and excitement of auto racing by sponsoring the team, please send them to the Team LMR website for more details and pictures.
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| Mason enjoys the champagne reception in Victory Lane! |
 Photo by Sonia Mason |
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