Mike Skeen named SCCA Trans-Am Rookie of the Year

Well done Mike, 2010 SCCA Pro Racing Trans Am Rookie of the year!

Spec e30 must be a good school, check out Skeen's pole position lap in qualifying for the Trans-Am race at Road Atlanta , just before the Petit Le Mans last week end.

Bit more power than a BMW e30 in this case, He's driving some monstrous Corvette, I'm guessing one front tire has probably more contact patch than all four Spec e30 Toyos put together.

You can read the press release and see video from the race after the jump.









BRASELTON, Ga. -Newly crowned series champion Tony Ave, of Maiden, N.C., picked up his sixth career SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series victory on Friday afternoon at Road Atlanta, coming out on top in a seesaw battle with polesitter Mike Skeen, of Charlotte, N.C.

Driving the No. 4 Boden Masonry/Lamers Racing/McMahon Group/Optech/PME Chevrolet Corvette, Ave vaulted from third on the starting grid and into the lead on Lap 1 of the 36-lap race. His lead would be short-lived however, as Skeen reclaimed the lead on Lap 5 and appeared to be well on his way to victory in the No. 81 ECR Chevrolet Corvette.

Unfortunately for Skeen, disaster struck on Lap 26 when he spun after encountering traffic in an inopportune spot in Turn 10, giving the lead back to Ave. From there, Ave – who clinched the 2010 Trans-Am championship in Thursday’s qualifying session – cruised to an easy victory.

“We got the lead right away and the car seemed like it was running like it had been on the practice day,” said Ave. “But when I got into the Esses and every time I turned to the right it would just stumble and not run very good. Coming out of (Turn) 7 it would do that every other lap. He was faster because of that. Finally, he got close enough to me and he drove by me coming down the straightaway like I was tied to a rock. I was worried if it was even going to finish, and it kind of maintained about that pace.

“I drove it as hard as I could just to try to hopefully stay with him and then he had a problem. We had such a big gap on third that I just had to drive around. It was a testament to the team; Larry and Debbie Beebe, for letting me drive their car after I sold the one I raced with all year. We’ve had a perfect year with the Pro Motor horsepower and Lamers and everybody that helps us out. I can’t say enough for those guys and Bob Monette helps. I’ve just got a lot of friends that help us do it, so I’m glad it worked out.”

Despite the spin, Skeen recovered to finish second in the final race for Agee Racing, which is retiring from Trans-Am competition. The second-place result was the best of the season for Skeen, and it enabled him to win 2010 Trans-Am Series Rookie of the Year honors.

“We were just running along there and trying to save fuel, save the brakes, have something for the end and holding the gap to Tony,” Skeen said. “We came into (Turn) 10a, I was behind a lapped car and I just got onto the brakes a little bit harder than I usually do. I locked them up and that was enough to do a 180 and let Tony by. It’s disappointing. It feels like we got robbed. We were running up front and kind of controlling the pace and now here we are with another second place. We’ll take it.

“This is a tiny little team. Agee Racing has only does three races this year. We’re on a very limited budget, running an older car and doing the best we can. Every time we’ve been out, we’ve been fast. We set the pole here, we’ve set lap records earlier in the year and here, so we’re really happy to get the results we’ve had and go out on a good note with the car. I hope all the best for Agee selling the car and good luck to whoever runs it next.”

For the second consecutive Trans-Am Series race, Doug Harrington, of Kemah, Texas, was rewarded for his perseverance throughout the race with a third-place result in the No. 00 PinnacleAutosport.com Chevrolet Corvette. This time, Harrington capitalized on a mechanical failure on the No. 17 The Pita Pit/The Grotto at Capone’s Chevrolet Corvette driven by Bobby Sak, of Kalamazoo, Mich. Sak was poised for his first podium result of the year before the last-lap misfortune.

“It feels great,” said Harrington of his third-place run. “There’s something to be said about just trying to hang in there and stay on the track, make the race, let things happen as they go, not lose focus and not wear your car out along the way. It feels really good. I didn’t really expect to get here today, but I’m definitely excited about it and happy. My guys really did a good job of thinking about things and trying to get me set up for the track and for the way I drive. It seemed to work.”

Finishing fourth was Amy Ruman, of Kent, Ohio, in the No. 23 McNichols/Goodyear/Cenweld Chevrolet Corvette. Ruman finished fifth or better in all but one of her Trans-Am Series starts in 2010 and finished fifth in the final championship standings.

Simon Gregg, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., also closed out his year on a high note with another top-five result by finishing fifth in the No. 59 Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette. It was Gregg’s seventh top-five run of the year and he finished fourth in the final driver standings.

Today’s race featured the new Trans-Am 2 and Trans-Am 3 classes, which raced on an exhibition basis in preparation for a full-time run in 2011. Bob Stretch, of Arlington, Texas, drove the No. 98 NewWheel.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo to the TA3 victory, while Jeff Dernehl, of Woodstock, Ga., was the lone TA3 racer in the field in the No. 03 Mazda RX-7 and finished 10th overall.

BRASELTON, Ga. – Results from Friday’s 36-lap (91.44-mile) SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series Round 10 race at Road Atlanta, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, class, driver, hometown, car, laps and reason out (if any).

1. (2) TA, Tony Ave, Maiden, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 36.

2. (1) TA, Mike Skeen(R), Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette, 36, -30.098.

3. (10) TA, Doug Harrington, Kemah, Texas, Chevrolet Corvette, 36, -49.225

4. (6) TA, Amy Ruman, Kent, Ohio, Chevrolet Corvette, 36, -51.516.

5. (7) TA, Simon Gregg, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Chevrolet Corvette, 36, -1:28.736.

6. (13) TA, Bobby Sak, Kalamazoo, Mich., Chevrolet Corvette, 35, -1 lap.

7. (5) TA, Glen Jung, Osteen, Fla., Mazda RX-7, 35, -1 lap.

8. (9) TA, John Baucom, Charlotte, N.C., Ford Mustang, 34, -2 laps.

9. (13) TA, Bob Monette(R), Alpharetta, Ga., Ford Mustang, 34, -2 laps.

10. (18) TA3, Jeff Dernehl, Woodstock, Ga., Mazda RX7, 32, -4 laps.

Time of race: 50 minutes, 05.029 seconds.

Average speed: 109.544 mph

Margin of victory: 30.098 Seconds

Lap leaders: Laps 1-4, #4 Tony Ave; laps 5-26, #81 Mike Skeen(R); laps 27-36, #4 Tony Ave

Fastest race lap: #4 Tony Ave, 1:21.341 (112.415 mph)

Fastest qualifier: #81 Mike Skeen(R), 1:19.321 (115.278 mph)

Racing North of the Border: Trans-Am Mosport

Michael Skeen sent us his latest report from the Muscle Milk Trans-Am race in Mosport, Canada. These are are such raw beasts, great to watch!



Racing North of the Border

Round 3 of the 2009 Muscle Milk Trans-Am series was headed north of the border to the infamous Mosport International Raceway and thousands of enthusiastic Canadian race fans. This was the first time any of us at Atlantic Autosport had been to the facility, but we were excited about the opportunity to share a race weekend with the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge series and some of Canada’s finest touring car drivers.

Arriving at the track midday Thursday, we were able to get the rig parked and set up in the paddock without any major trouble. We made final preparations to the car so that it would be ready for the promoter test day on Friday—my first opportunity to get on the track and forecasted to be the best weather all weekend.

Friday morning’s first session went very well as we got up to speed quickly with a baseline setup from Scott Murphy that was very good. We were already very close to the pace and had a good idea where we could pick up more time. However, the second session changed our weekend outlook.

After just a couple laps, I noticed the car start to sound a bit off-song, so I brought it to pit road where we could hear a significant valve tick. We ended the session early and took the car back to the paddock to find the adjuster bolt on the number four intake rocker arm stripped and loose.

We hunted the paddock for spares with generous help from our competitors, but none were a match for ours. Many locals pointed us to various shops and engine builders, but we still came up empty handed until we found Dan Boudreau, a local GM toolmaker of many years that happened to have a machine shop in his backyard. Within minutes, he had installed a screw thread insert in our rocker arm and we were ready to get the car back on the track. Unfortunately, we had already wasted the afternoon searching for a solution and missed all of the remaining Friday test sessions.

The weather forecast showed sporadic rain all day Saturday, but dry and cool weather all through race day. Rather than put extra time on the car for wet-weather practice, we left the car parked on Saturday and saved as much as we could for qualifying and the race on Sunday.

With very few laps on a new track and a car of unknown reliability, our goal for qualifying was to go out and set some baseline laps that would keep us in the top half of the field for the race start. After a couple laps, I had put in some decent times but I found myself in traffic and decided to pit for a basic check of the car. As soon as I stopped in the pit box we could hear a valve tick starting to develop again, so we parked the car early to avoid any unnecessary damage.

Back in the paddock we found that the push rod under our repaired rocker arm had been fractured on the tip and shortened to the point that the valve was out of adjustment. With a new push rod from our Canadian competitor, Blaise Csida, we were up and running again in time for the race.

We were optimistic with our fourth position on the grid, knowing we had a better pace than we showed in qualifying. With a clean start, I followed Trans-Am veterans Jorge Diaz, Tony Ave, and Tommy Drissi as we straightened out after the first turn. The car was handling quite well and the power felt respectable considering the abuse the engine had taken all weekend, but after a few laps I could feel and hear problems. It was tough to watch the leaders pull away when I pitted on lap four, but it was clear that the car had lost power and we were risking a catastrophic failure that could have oiled the track if I continued circulating. Rather than do that, we took the car back to the paddock and began to load up for the long haul home.

It is certainly frustrating to give up what could have been a great result, but as they say, “that is why we run the races.” To go to a new track with an under-developed GT-1 car and run competitively among an experienced Trans-Am field is quite an accomplishment for the Atlantic Autosport team. I am proud of what we have done with our second place at the series-opener and two strong runs to follow that up, but I am afraid we will not be at Round Four.

We accomplished our goal of getting on the track and acquiring some valuable experience. Now is the time to step back and develop our program to take advantage of the strong potential it has shown. Keep watching for us as we prepare for the future!

Underdog: Trans-Am at V.I.R.

Mike Skeen sends us his latest dispatch from the Trans-Am series trenches.

"We are a small fish in a big pond. Some of you will remember that Atlantic Autosport was formed just weeks before Round 1 of the 2009 Muscle Milk Trans-Am series with a GT-1 car that had not been run in 2 years and a dedicated crew of volunteers. Now here we are in April running against the likes of Klaus Graf in the Muscle Milk Jaguar XKR and countless other teams that have been in this arena for years.

Without the time or budget to test every weekend, we spend our time between race weekends improving what we can in the shop. There is, of course, no substitute for real-world track time and we always discover new things about the car when we put it on the track. Unfortunately, with just two practice sessions during the weekend, we had little time to get things right before heading into qualifying.

First time out the car was way off. With so many things changed after Round 1, we barely knew where to start. We addressed the obvious issues, but some were not as apparent. One of our biggest concerns was a leaking rearend housing that would plague us all weekend. As we tried to find a solution for that, we took the shotgun approach to narrow down some of the handling issues. Our second and final practice showed that we were much closer to our target, but we still had not solved the leak.

The crew worked many hours Saturday afternoon taking the rearend apart and solving issues one at a time to make the best of what we had available. Unfortunately, qualifying showed it was not enough. With a time of 1:48.1, which was well below the existing track record, we secured fourth on the grid after provisional polewinner Klaus Graf was disqualified because of a wing height infraction.

After qualifying, we made some final field repairs in an attempt to help our issue and that was all that could really be done. We spent the rest of our time watching the weather radar, as rain was predicted about when the race was scheduled to start. Just as the call was made to report to grid, we began to feel a few rain drops. They were sporadic and never really wet the pavement, so we left the slicks on the car and continued as normal.

I lost a few positions at the start of the race being on the outside of Turn 1, but I was able to keep up with the lead pack as we pulled away from the rest of the field. Klaus Graf was coming through the field quickly and I did not put up a fight when he came up on me. Before long he had gotten up to second place and a full course caution was thrown, putting him in touch with the leader, Tony Ave. On that restart, I got past Diaz and Drissi and we continued to have a good battle for several laps before another full course caution flew for a big wreck in the uphill esses.

Fortunately, everyone was safe, but our car was starting to show signs of rearend trouble. The car had been smoking some from the leaked fluid burning off and a small vibration started to develop during the laps behind the pace car. I continued to circulate because a few rain drops were on the windshield, cleanup was expected to take a while, and the team wouldn’t be allowed to work on the car under yellow anyways, but when the pace car lights went out, I went to pit road. The guys took off the rear bodywork with no surprises—a big mess and a car that was not going to finish. Watching the field take the checkered flag from pit wall was not fun, especially knowing that I was well ahead of the eventual third place finisher.

A disappointing weekend to say the least, but we are still fourth in the points and only 12 points from the lead. We are looking forward to Round 3 at Mosport on May 17th, but we have a lot of work to do in the meantime. Thanks to some help from Smith Stokes Automotive Group, we will have something to work with in preparation for Mosport—hopefully we can build more partnerships to keep this underdog team afloat."

Home

Muscle Milk Trans-Am Season Opener, Road Atlanta.

Axis of Oversteer, as part of our expanded motorsport coverage this season, will feature first person reports and videos from racers competing in different classes, both amateur and professional. We see this as invaluable to our readers, many of whom are either racers or would like to be more involved in the sport, as a learning tool. We hope to share on-track tips but also equally important experiences in car preparation and gathering of sponsorship.

We are especially pleased that Michael Skeen agreed to share his season with us. Michael was 2008 NASA Spec e30 National Champion dominating with 22 wins and 21 poles over 34 races.

For the 2009 season Skeen is expanding to the newly resurrected TransAm series flogging a nasty sounding Corvette for Atlantic Autosport.

Read Michael's race report and see him slicing through the field during the season opener at Road Atlanta after the jump.

Muscle Milk Trans-Am Series Opener, Road Atlanta March 2009.

Ask anyone in racing, and they will agree that our sport has the highest highs and the lowest lows—perhaps that is what makes it so addicting. For myself and Atlantic Autosport, the season-opener for the 2009 Muscle Milk Trans-Am series was the perfect illustration of this concept. Before getting to the details, I want to back up and give you some of the history behind what brought us to this event at Road Atlanta.

Some of you will remember my participation on Setup, which aired on SPEED about one year ago. During that time, I met Matt Moorefield at a TrackDaze event at VIR and we stayed in contact after that event, doing some SCCA enduros in his ITR BMW. Matt, the owner of Atlantic Retail Construction, was bit hard by the racing bug, and we spoke about how to get involved in some pro racing throughout 2008. When announcements were made about the resurgence of the Trans-Am series with Muscle Milk as the title sponsor, we thought that would be a good fit. Fast cars, action-packed sprint races, and one of the most recognizable series brands in American racing history. What more could you want?

Within the last two months, we formed Atlantic Autosport and found a well-prepared car at Shaver Motorsports. It was a great foundation, but all of our testing was spent fixing small issues that were the result of its dormancy over the last two years. After submitting our entry for Road Atlanta, we still were not sure we would make the event because we were rushing to get the car ready. We made it down for the test day on Friday and the car was running properly for the first time.

Some might say we were in over our heads against the professional teams in the series, but we were quietly optimistic. We stayed on old tires all day Friday and Saturday with the intention of saving our one set of sticker tires for qualifying Sunday morning. With decent times on old tires, we expected to qualify within the Top 5 on the good rubber, maybe better if we were lucky. We were also worried about our fuel mileage because we were running the existing fuel cell, which was designed for shorter races. Our plan before qualifying was to get near the front and just follow the top guys as best we could while saving some fuel for the end.

That all went out the window on lap two of qualifying. When I left the pits during that session, the car never felt quite right and we later learned it was because the center of our 3-piece wheel on the left rear had separated, allowing the tire to slowly deflate. At the beginning of the second lap, it deflated quickly and the tire came apart as I entered the concrete-lined esses. Fortunately, the car stayed off the walls and we just picked up some Georgia clay as I cut through the grass and parked the car at the Turn 6 flag station. Without a hot lap in the books, we were stuck at the back of the pack for the race start.

Our new strategy was to go all out from the start and put on the best show we could. Without any sponsors on board, we had to show we could deliver results, even if that meant driving to the front and running out of fuel. Our stellar crew of volunteers worked hard to get tires under all four corners and check over the whole car to make sure it was ready to go. At the start of the race, I carefully picked off cars as quickly as I reasonably could and I found myself in the Top 5 within a matter of laps. About 15 laps into the race, a fuel cut issue we had in testing began to resurface. It was subtle, but by the time I had caught Pickett and Drissi in the Jaguars, I could not accelerate fast enough to stay close at the end of the straights. At this point, I decided I would follow them, save fuel where possible, and wait to see how the cards would play out.

After a few laps of this, we got the blessing we needed in the form of a full course caution for several cars that had wrecked or dropped oil around the track. With numerous areas to be cleaned up, the race could not be restarted in time and we finished under yellow. Securing fastest lap, a lap record, receiving the Flowmaster Star of the Race Award and Sunoco Hard Charger on the podium in our first race was a great moment, and certainly the most exciting of my career. Second place never felt so good.

Round 2 of the 2009 Muscle Milk Trans-Am Series will be held April 17-19 at Virginia International Raceway in conjunction with the SCCA Oak Tree Nationals. Check out MikeSkeen.com for more information and come see us at the track!

(all photos:Don Yaun, SilverEIGHTStudio.com)