Wilson pleased with progress as GT3 Cup rookie

ABOVE: C.J. Wilson debriefs with team driver Marc Miller following Friday's race. (J.J. O'Malley photo)

Back in 2001, C.J. Wilson made his Minor League Baseball debut, pitching for the Pulaski Rangers in the Appalachian League (0.96 ERA) and Savannah Sand Gnats in the South Atlantic League. Now, 16 years later, Wilson is a rookie once again. On Friday, Wilson finished 12th in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, improving on his 20th-place position in Thursday's opening race.

"The good thing is that I've attended a lot of these races before, and watched a lot of video and listened to John Hindhaugh's calls of the races on IMSA.com," Wilson said. "The key was not to overdrive in the first half of the race, and let the guys who were overly aggressive take themselves out. And that's kind of what happened."

Wilson turned his fastest lap on the 18th of 21 laps, despite the tire drop-off on the No. 33 CJ Wilson Racing Porsche 911.

The former hurler for the Texas Rangers and L.A. Angels admitted that his familiarity with the sport eliminated any case of pre-race jitters.

"It was almost like another practice session for me," Wilson said. "I'm so far away from where I want to be competitively, I need to continue to improve – that's the only thing that matters. If I'm getting better throughout the weekend, eventually I'll put together better qualifying sessions and then, better races. I've made good progress this weekend, but I still don't know what the 'secret sauce' is here at Sebring. I've still got a bit to work on."

Putting on his car owner's hat, Wilson was very pleased with the weekend.

"I've still got all my windows ... and all my doors ... all my wheels, wing, wheels and both bumpers. This is a very inexpensive race for me, and that's nice."