Proud Father Mosing Ready to Begin Season at Sebring

Family matters took precedence for Jeff Mosing in January, as the Austin driver opted to sit out the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge opener at Daytona to be with his wife Julia for the delivery of their first child.

Mosing became a proud father on February 6, with the birth of his daughter Nina.

Now, dad is ready to begin his racing season at Sebring International Raceway on Friday, March 20, joining Eric Foss in the No. 56 Murillo Racing/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman.

Substitute driver Justin Piscitell won the TOTAL Pole Award for the 2015 opener and joined Foss in finishing second. In 2014, Mosing won his first career pole at Daytona and followed up by winning his first race. Foss went on to capture the Street Tuner (ST) championship, as Mosing suffered painful back spasms only hours before the race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Piscitell – the team’s coach and third driver on the No. 65 Murillo Racing BMW 328i – filled in for Mosing.

Before we talk racing, first things first – how’s the family?

“Everybody’s doing wonderful. Nina’s growing and sleeping and feeding, just like babies should. She was born on the evening of Feb. 6, and she’s doing fine. Her mom’s doing well, too. Everything’s textbook. (She was born two weeks after the Daytona race, could he have made the race?). Hindsight’s 20-20. I’m sure if I scheduled something, she would have gone into labor minutes before I was supposed to get in to the car.”

Unfortunately, is this another year without a shot at the championship?

“I guess the probability is pretty low. The good thing is that I don’t drive according to probability, I drive because I enjoy it, and what’s going to happen will happen. It was kind of the same thing last year. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed I was not going to be part of the championship, I was just glad that the team and Eric could. At least we still have a chance to repeat that, given the performance of the car. Ken’s figuring it out better day by day, and he wants to get me in the car pretty soon. He said it’s a different car from what we have last year, and we’re still figuring things out with it.”

Did you get to watch the Daytona race on TV?

“Absolutely. I actually watched it live on IMSA.com, and I also watched it again on the TEVO. I was really proud of Justin and how well he did, for coming out for his first race in the No. 56 car. Of course, Eric did great, along with the whole team. I was real proud of them.”

Last year, you and Eric finished third at Sebring. What are your expectations for this year?

“It’s going to be real interesting. We didn’t slip into the Cayman until late in the season, so it is a new racetrack for us, as was Daytona. Eric and I go in with not huge expectations – we just want to go and do what we’re capable of. I think the Mazdas are going to be strong there – again. Of course, Compass360 bringing out their Audi is something to worry about, although I’m sure they’ll have some things to work out with that car, too. I think our team’s definitely capable of a top-five finish, but we won’t be setting expectations much higher than that. We’re going to look at the overall picture for the whole year.”

Will you be racing the same Cayman you brought out at the end of last season?

“Yes, it’s the same old Scrappy, but still relatively new. We’re continuing to learn the geometry of the suspension and how things work with the car, tire wear and everything else. You have to run quite a few races before you start figuring that stuff out. Ken’s really getting a handle on the car, he’s learned quite a bit about it since last year. As time goes by, we’re going to learn more and more, and hopefully we can make it work for us all year.”

What’s your fondest memory of Sebring?

Sebring has a place in my heart, because back in 1996 my brother Brent was actually the one who got me involved in road racing through the Skip Barber Racing School. We went to Sebring that March for my first road racing school, and I learned a lot. I didn’t start racing right away, but I knew back then that one day I definitely wanted to get in to road racing. So my roots in road racing definitely started at Sebring, and It’s something I’ll remember every time I go back there.”