The Daytona 24 marked the opening race of the Le Pit Club Racing sim team’s season. This 24- hour endurance race was filled with setbacks, comebacks, strategy, and teamwork. What you missed or maybe want to reminisce—a race recap.

The Team:

• Blayke Phillips (Team Principal)
• Lee Martinez
• Joshua Dillon
• Chris Wang
• Kevin Beall

Five drivers, one team, competing for the win in 24 hours of racing. With 58 cars in the race and 31 other GT3s, the team qualified P6 and were off to a great start. The tough multi-class traffic caused the team to fall back into P10, but their fuel saving strategy had them right where they wanted to be. “You’re trying to execute a strategy that will win you the entire race, not just a particular stint.” (Chris)

During Chris’s first stint, he went into the pits in P1! With excellent communication and a strong approach, things were looking great. As the weather began to change and the rain started to pick up, the team went over their strategy—change to wet tires during the next pit.

Unfortunately, their car did not receive the wet tires when planned, which led to the car going rear first into a barrier and badly damaging the engine—a costly accident. “[We are] significantly out of top 10 contention right now.” (Blayke) Only in the first part of the race and having fallen back to last place, the team’s morale dimmed, but they knew above all else they were going to finish.

10 hours in... I checked in with Lee after a long stint—how are you? “Tired. Mentally we are in a better spot right now. We are just trying to fight back and keep going. We aren’t really going to learn anything just by quitting...we’re finding ourselves learning new lessons here.” The team continued to fight and support each other the best they could leading into the late-night stints.

Throughout the night, the team pushed the car up from P29 to P18. “Lots of attrition, crashes, and teams suffering similar fates to us, but the difference is we persevere. Still a bit under 8 hours to go.” (Blayke)

In the final hours, the team fought their way back up and finished in P15! “I think we should be proud of ourselves.” (Lee) Despite it not being the outcome originally hoped for, the team maintained positivity and humor throughout the entirety of the race. They supported each other, pointing out when something was well done and the communication never once faltered.

The Daytona 24 marked the opening race of the Le Pit Club Racing sim team’s season. This 24- hour endurance race was filled with setbacks, comebacks, strategy, and teamwork. What you missed or maybe want to reminisce—a race recap.

The Team:

• Blayke Phillips (Team Principal)
• Lee Martinez
• Joshua Dillon
• Chris Wang
• Kevin Beall

Five drivers, one team, competing for the win in 24 hours of racing. With 58 cars in the race and 31 other GT3s, the team qualified P6 and were off to a great start. The tough multi-class traffic caused the team to fall back into P10, but their fuel saving strategy had them right where they wanted to be. “You’re trying to execute a strategy that will win you the entire race, not just a particular stint.” (Chris)

During Chris’s first stint, he went into the pits in P1! With excellent communication and a strong approach, things were looking great. As the weather began to change and the rain started to pick up, the team went over their strategy—change to wet tires during the next pit.

Unfortunately, their car did not receive the wet tires when planned, which led to the car going rear first into a barrier and badly damaging the engine—a costly accident. “[We are] significantly out of top 10 contention right now.” (Blayke) Only in the first part of the race and having fallen back to last place, the team’s morale dimmed, but they knew above all else they were going to finish.

10 hours in... I checked in with Lee after a long stint—how are you? “Tired. Mentally we are in a better spot right now. We are just trying to fight back and keep going. We aren’t really going to learn anything just by quitting...we’re finding ourselves learning new lessons here.” The team continued to fight and support each other the best they could leading into the late-night stints.

Throughout the night, the team pushed the car up from P29 to P18. “Lots of attrition, crashes, and teams suffering similar fates to us, but the difference is we persevere. Still a bit under 8 hours to go.” (Blayke)

In the final hours, the team fought their way back up and finished in P15! “I think we should be proud of ourselves.” (Lee) Despite it not being the outcome originally hoped for, the team maintained positivity and humor throughout the entirety of the race. They supported each other, pointing out when something was well done and the communication never once faltered.