Blame it on anything, but the bottom line is that I have been very busy racing so this update has taken a while to send out. Sorry for that!
I had a great time in 2018 driving for FMO Racing in their Norma LMP3 in the IMSA series. The team, led by Brian Garzelli at CTC Motorsports based out of Sonoma Raceway, included a strong group of talented and hardworking people who made my experience, and our results, great. I was teamed-up with sponsor, Charles Chi, an aspiring driver and new team owner. Considering Charles was new to this fast LMP3, we still had some solid runs. Personally, I had a lot of little victories along the way. From being up front at many practice sessions to logging 
numerous fast lap times, it was nice being noticed again in a prototype, a car that I really enjoy driving fast! And the FMO crew always looked and worked so well together as a team. The last race we did at Petit LeMans was a highlight. Because of a different driver strategy, I started the race in P4 and was able to make my way up to P2 racing against and battling a couple of talented drivers in the front of the pack … and it felt great! Check it out here!
I would have been happy to continue to drive for FMO, however things can change quickly in racing and unfortunately the team owner decided to pursue a different path that didn’t include racing. And so what started out great ended too soon for all of us!
Although that ended my car racing activities in 2018, 2019 has been good so far. I haven’t had a full-time ride since but have had some great experiences with many teams including with my friends at TKO Motorsports. Dave is the team owner of TKO who wanted to see me driving again after my Daytona accident, and so bought a Porsche GT3R for his team and put me in it shortly after I was cleared in 2017. Not only did TKO get me back driving again, but they also hired me to drive in the Pirelli Word Challenge finale at Sonoma Raceway at the end of 2017! It’s crazy that what started out as an introduction by a long-time friend to teach Dave how to go-kart progressed into us doing a lot of driving together. I coach Dave on a regular basis in karts and cars, and this past 
March we teamed up for the PCA Club Enduro at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. We had a great time and came home with a second-place finish! I also work driving and testing for TKO, helping their engineers and designers try out new parts for performance cars they develop. I have even been on some new tracks with them, including Oregon Raceway Park, where we worked on both the Porsche GT3R and their TKO updated performance “street/track” car, the 850 HP ACR Dodge Viper!
And 2018 was not my last LMP3 experience either! In March of this year, I shook-down one of the sold FMO Normas at Sonoma Raceway. After a winter rebuild by CTC Motorsports, the Norma felt as I would have expected after being worked on by this group – awesome! But the shakedown was for a new owner that had no plans to race it professionally. Although the Norma LMP3 was great to drive again, it was sad to see team FMO dissolving.
And then this past April, I was back in another LMP3! I was hired by Polestar Racing Group to test their Ligier and to work on set-up and helping their drivers. It was great to once again work with Jim and Pam Griffith, who own PoleStar Racing, and to be back on the Mid Ohio racetrack! Jim was my engineer at Lynx Racing, the team I drove for when I first began racing in the Toyota Atlantic Series!
In addition to all this, I have been working on smaller race cars … go karts! Last year I was able to work with Enzo Prevost, an up-and-coming karter who is working his way into race cars. Enzo is sponsored by Richard Hilleman who owns Rattlesnake Electric Sports. Richard hired me in 2015 to help run his go-kart team. He is responsible for starting 
and developing electric go karts in Northern California. His hard work led to a stand-alone class for EV Karts in the Sanzaru Karting Championship at Sonoma Raceway. The electric karts he built were awesome to drive! Passing 125cc shifter karts with an EV Kart during practice was so much fun! I also did some select EV Kart races for Richard, which were also awesome. And because of Richard’s support, Enzo and I have had many great finishes in the Sanzaru Karting Championship as well as the Challenge of the Americas series. To top it all off, Enzo finished 5th at the Rok the Rio finale in Las Vegas. Some of the best drivers were there and Enzo raced like a champion to a hard-fought 5th place finish!
As for me, I am in my Rattlesnake Aluminos Vortek 125cc shifter all the time, whether it’s to push others to go faster or to just get out and “pound laps”. Those who know me know I love driving and racing!
So, what is next for me and driving? Well, like I always say, “you never know what’s around the corner”. I have had a number of teams interested in trying to put together the sponsorship to get me in their race car. Until then, it’s a lot of track days planned with TKO Motorsports to test their new products, as well as a few more Enduros in the Porsche GT3R, co-driving with Dave, that I am excited for!
A lot of karting, as well. I’ll continue to work with Enzo and Richard for the Rattlesnake Kart Team. Enzo grabbed his first win a few of months ago, and Richard had his first win in a shifter this past month in the Sanzaru Rok Limited class at Sonoma Raceway! And of course, a lot of coaching, in both cars and karts, to help drivers learn as fast as possible how to drive as quickly as possible!
So, no full-time car ride … yet. But I’m excited for the future and will be sure to update all of my friends and fans of what I’m up to!