Five Questions With ... Eric Foss

Subtitle:We Sat Down With The Daytona Winner Talk 2016 About The 2016 Season

Eric Foss opened up the season with an IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner (ST) class victory in January’s BMW Performance 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

Foss was joined by longtime co-driver Jeff Mosing in the No. 56 Murillo Racing/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman. Two years ago, Mosing missed a race early in the season, while Foss went on to win the ST championship. A year ago, Mosing sat out the season opener at Daytona due to a family conflict, again taking the Austin driver out of the championship.

For 2016, it’s the goal for Foss to share the championship with Mosing.

How big was it starting off the 2016 season with a victory in the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona?

“To start the season by winning at Daytona is always a boost for the team. Jeff [Mosing] is committed for the full season, so I really want to work hard to get him the best season possible. His drive at the start of the race was phenomenal. It was really exciting, and I felt good to finish it off by winning for him.”

How big was the victory in terms of the championship?

“A great start in the Continental Tire Challenge is really important, because ultimately, there are a lot of good teams out there.  Some of the good teams struggled at Daytona, so that gives us a little breathing room. But obviously, with (Spencer) Pumpelly and the RS1 team finishing second, there’s not much breathing room there. We know there are going to be some other competitive teams. So getting that good start is important, but ultimately, there are still nine tough races to go.”

Any surprises at Daytona?

“I think with the adjustment in performance at the end of last year, the MINI and the Audi really came to the forefront. I don’t think Daytona was a good track for them. I think coming to Sebring and some of the tighter tracks, those cars have a lot of acceleration coming off the corners and a lot of low-end grunt. That’s going to create some good fights with the Compass360 Audis and MINIs, in addition to some of the other Cayman teams – RS1 and Rebel Rock have great driver pairings, too.”

What happened that caused your car door to fall off during the pit stop and Daytona – and how did the crew fix it so quickly?

“Having the door fall off at Daytona during the pit stop was one of the most entertaining things I’ve experienced as a driver. Jeff had some contact at the start of the race and it bent the door in. When we did the driver change and I opened the door, it fell off and I literally started laughing – I had no idea what to do. Jeff quickly hopped out of the car and grabbed the door. I strapped in, and amazingly the crew guys were so quick with the stop that they were able to get the door refitted and we didn’t even lose a second during the pit stop. These Porsches have a cool system on the doors that allows them to come on and off pretty easily. The focus of the crew guys – Danny Thiel and Navaz Hussain – to get the door back on was pretty awesome. Jeff then pulled the door off in victory lane – it made for a great podium shot.”

What kind of race are we going to see at Sebring in March?

“Sebring has historically been a crazy up-and-down race in any series. I think we saw that in 2014 and 2015, there were a lot of surprises, and I think we’ll probably see some of that again. It’s a matter of attrition – this track is really hard on the cars over the weekend – and it’s a challenging track. If we see any rain, it will make it an extreme challenge.”