Matt Widner: A sign of things to come

Man, I really cannot believe how well my first ever race weekend with Skip Barber ended up

Being the Racing Academy champion and having the opportunity to run the full Summer Championship Series is something I have longed for for three years, and it has finally happened. Road Atlanta went far better than I anticipated, exceeding my goals by a long shot. Never in a million years did I think I was going to be able to run with the top guys and compete for a podium finish in my first-ever race start.

It all started with practice on Friday morning. Having just gotten off a red eye due to a Business Law final I had the night before, I was a little out of it. I was picked up by my Dad, and we headed for Road Atlanta. Throughout the car ride, I couldn't help but be nervous. This was my first-ever race weekend, first time at Road Atlanta and it was raining pretty well. I had absolutely no experience in the rain, so I had my work cut out for me. As we pulled into the track, I spotted the hill going down into turn 12 - it was gigantic.

My practice sessions went as well as they could have gone. With the rain and MY inexperience at Road Atlanta, I was pretty conservative. My goal was to get familiar with the track and create turning and braking references. With the rain coming down consistently, third practice was pushed to Saturday morning and that allowed me to get a feel for the track in the dry - and what a difference that was. After that dry session, my confidence went up and I was ready to qualify.

My plan going into qualifying was to work with a few other drivers in the draft, then see what I could do by myself. For the first three laps I was in a pack of about six, then I pulled down into the pits for space.I ventured back on track, found a gap and worked on getting my lap times down.Getting out of the car after qualifying, I felt the most confident I had felt all weekend. I had the biggest grin on my face because I knew right then I probably was going to be competitive. The question was, how competitive?

Not long after qualifying, the green flag flew for my first-ever race in a formula car and it was nothing short of exhilarating.

I found myself starting seventh coming to the green and I knew my best chance to make up some ground would be in Turn 1 on the first lap. The green flag flew and I was three-wide going into Turn 1,  and came out and up the hill already two spots ahead from where I started. I couldn't believe it. Through the esses and Turn 5, I was sitting fourth with third and second in front of me. I laid back and set them up for a pass on the back straight, utilizing the draft. I was successful in obtaining third and held it until the last lap, when the driver in fourth returned the favor and passed me with a good draft down the back straight. You really were a sitting duck when leading a pack of cars down the back straight.

Coming across the finish line fourth, seeing my family jump up and down ecstatically really put everything into perspective, I honestly can't believe I have made it this far.
After everything was said and done, I was awarded the highest-finishing rookie and was awarded the hard charger of the race. If this is a sign as to what's to come the remainder of the season, I cannot wait to get to the next race.

Thank you everyone for all your support thus far, it's much appreciated!

Matt Widner