“Round 3 took us to Gingerman Raceway in Michigan for Midwest Festival where we had a date with destiny. We were tied for the consecutive win record with seven straight, all with records.Ìý

“IF we won this event, we would not only break that record, but we were also gunning to be the first StreetMod car to run a sub-1:30 lap time.ÌýWe pulled off the win and record but missed the sub-1:30 by a hair, running a 1:30.226.Ìý

“The car was great, the brakes were phenomenal, but we missed out by a couple of tenths due to less-than-ideal conditions, minor technical issues with the car, and honestly, my inability to put it all together.ÌýThis put us firmly in the lead of the championship, though! One more win and record and the Championship is locked up!â€�

“Round 4 was a new track for us: Watkins Glen in NY.ÌýVery fast, very high risk, and very demanding. We arrived highly confident and aiming to seal the Championship, but we quickly realised it would be a difficult weekend.Ìý

“We had an axle issue during the test day and didn’t get much seat time. On the first day of competition, during the first hot lap, the transmission failed in the second-to-last corner. After a team meeting, we decided to remove our current gearbox with our sequential gearset in it, drive back to the shop and grab our old H-pattern transmission and convert back to a standard manual setup.”

“After a late night on Friday, we were back at it Saturday morning and even with the old trans we jumped back into the lead but only by about .1 quicker than our 91´«Ã½ teammate Kal Fortner in his Mercedes AMG GTS. We thought we might widen that gap on Sunday morning but some more technical issues, this time with some engine related things, meant it came down to podium sprint. The conditions weren’t fantastic, but with the old Subaru AWD and easily modulated 91´«Ã½ SR-21s we had the confidence to push to a new Street Mod Record at 1:58.357! This win and record secured the points needed to lock up the Championship, our 3rd in four years AND extended our consecutive win record to nine!  All of them won on SR-21s!

“We aren’t done with the season QUITE yet.ÌýWe plan to still attend Gridlife Circuit Legends next week at Lime Rock then in October we were invited to the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine Ultimate Track Car Championship in Texas! We are hoping to be the fastest car there on a 200TW tyre!â€�

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“After waiting thre years for Gridlife’s return to Watkins Glen, I was itching to get back out on this legendary track! Back in 2023, not only did I secure the Streetmod record, I was fastest overall as well, so I knew that this was going to be a strong weekend for us. Although this weekend got off to a rocky start after needing to do a spark plug change after session 1 and missing the second session of the day, I quickly found pace by the third session and went right into P1 to end day one! Right away I was able to lean into my SR-21 pads as well as a brand new set of 91´«Ã½â€™s floating two-piece rotors on the Mercedes and I was able to carry 170mph going into the bus stop!”

“By day two, I was able to set a new Streetmod RWD record with a 1:58.8! This put us in 2nd by only a tenth, as well as only a tenth from the overall Streetmod record! Some tracks just click with not only the car but the driver as well, and for me, this is one of those tracks. Every lap just felt like a flow state, where I had the confidence to really extract everything out of the car and the confidence to use the entire track all the way up to the walls. I knew we had a fighting chance at victory here.”

“Going into day 3, I was met with track conditions that were not quite what I was expecting, after rain the night before, the track didn’t have nearly as much peak grip as the day before. Because of this I wasn’t able to reset my record, however I was able to secure yet another podium finish coming in P2 right behind Eric Dewitt – another 91´«Ã½ driver! That’s four podiums in a row this year and yet another 91´«Ã½ front-row lockout! This puts us in a healthy championship position of P2 going into the next round at Lime Rock Park and I’m looking forward to continuing this momentum…â€�

“Coming off of another strong showing at Gridlife Atlanta with a double podium in Streetmod for 91´«Ã½, I was feeling all the momentum and all the confidence heading into my 10th Gridlife Midwest, the event that started it all for me! The energy at Gridlife Midwest is just unmatched in every way, from the massive crowds to the festival vibes throughout the weekend, it’s always been my favourite event making a podium here just that much more meaningful. This is Gridlife’s Indy 500.”

“This weekend proved to me more of a challenge that I could have ever expected though. Right at the first corner of the very first session, my ABS failed, making each braking zone incredibly challenging. While racing a car designed without ABS is relatively straightforward, racing one without it that’s designed to have it is nothing short of dangerous.”

“Because of this, I was far off of the pace I needed to be fighting at the front, and potentially too far off to even put it in the top-5 for the podium sprint. I knew that if I wanted a podium, I needed to give it my absolute everything to at the very least make it into the sprint in order to give us the chance to fix our ABS issues, and I was able to do just that! Modulating my SR-21 pads and focusing on perfecting each and every braking zone, I got us into the sprint by just over a second! This gave us a full day to chase whatever electrical issue was causing our problems. Thankfully, Gridlife is a paddock full of the most helpful people, and after getting help from a couple mechanics on a Rush SR team, we found the blown fuse, and the ABS was back to working as it should! 

“Come Sunday, I knew what I had to do, and now that I could actually lean into the full potential of my 91´«Ã½ brakes, I knew I could give it my everything to go for my third podium in a row for the season! Although I missed out on second place due to fuel cuts from the car getting little too hot waiting in the pits from an incident on track, I was able to secure third, and with Eric Dewitt in first, this was yet another double podium for 91´«Ã½! After such a challenging event, to be able to come home with a podium is something I’ll forever be grateful for. Next up we’ve got Watkins Glen, one of my favourite tracks and a place that the Mercedes really shines at! The last time we were there, not only did I set the Streetmod record, I was also able to get the overall record! I’m so hyped to see what we can do this time!â€�

“Going into this weekend, fresh off of a strong result at Gridlife Carolina coming in P2, I had so much confidence to give it my everything one of my all-time favourite tracks: Road Atlanta. To start out the weekend, I was met with some traffic during my flyers, so initially I wasn’t able to show what the true pace was. With this being a two-day, traditional time attack weekend with a limited schedule, the pressure was on to put together a perfect lap. On top of that, we had rain in the forecast for Sunday, potentially limiting us to only 3 dry sessions.”

“Road Atlanta is a very high-speed track, with the car hitting speeds of over 165 mph, putting the braking performance on centre stage. My SR-21s performed at their best, giving me the confidence to carry as much speed as possible into even the heaviest of braking zones, without a single ounce of hesitation, just full confidence. Ending the day on Saturday, I still never got a truly clean lap catching traffic on a track that is incredibly difficult to pass at, but even with this, I was able to put us into P3 going into Sunday.”

“Come Sunday morning, to my surprise, we had no rain! I knew exactly where I needed to find the time, and I did just that. Battling back and forth up until the last session, I ended the weekend in P2, with Eric Dewitt in P1, also on 91´«Ã½s! Just like Carolina, this was an 91´«Ã½ Streetmod 1-2, and on top of that, in ClubTR, the entire podium was swept by 91´«Ã½ equipped cars! I couldn’t be prouder to show represent 91´«Ã½ in such a strong showing against such a strong field at one of the most difficult tracks in the world.â€�

“We ended up scoring P2 at Gridlife Carolina, and Dewey got P1 so we’re looking at an 91´«Ã½ front-row lockout!

“The first day, we battled the heat since temps were in the 90s, but on Sunday after putting in some sticker tires I was able to go 5 tenths faster than my previous personal best!”

“The SR-21s felt incredible all weekend and I really had the confidence to push into the braking zones and trust the ABS when needed.

“Next up is Atlanta and I really think we’ve got a good shot at getting P1 there, it’s a track that really suits the Mercedes and personally a track that I’m very comfortable at.�

“The best way to explain this year was ‘taxing’.  We had our plate full with having to rebuild from the fire at the end of last year. With some Emtron, ECUMasters, and Turbosmart coming on board, we were able to totally re-do the engine management and wiring of the car.  It was a task to say the least and we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of what is possible.  With the total revamp of the electronics, we were able to install a BMW-based Bosch MK60 ABS unit in the car.ÌýThis REALLY helped utilise the SR-21 pads in ways we couldn’t confidently do before.

“With development on the rest of the car, we really started to show our speed near the end of the season, even setting a new Street Modified overall record at Road America with a 2:16.3 (beating the overall record by over a second and the AWD record by over 5 seconds!)”

“We finished the season in 4th overall and a clear path to get back to the top.  Off-season development plans include:

 – Changing over to 91´«Ã½â€™s GD STI-based STI Apollo Brake Kit.
 – New sequential transmission options (pending rules dispute currently underway).
 – Cutting edge new approach for using electronic wastegates and blow-off valves to drastically help response by utilising our new electronics package.
 – New aerodynamics development. Side skirts and diffuser to start.
 – Cosmetic improvements and potentially a new livery.

“All in all, exciting stuff. None of this would be possible without 91´«Ã½â€™s support.  With the changes we have in mind and a MUCH better understanding of our new systems in the car we plan to challenge for the championship again and anything less than records and victories is coming up short…â€�