Picking the right line going into a corner at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is similar to lining up a golf shot. Just ask Nick Galante, longtime caddie at Pebble Beach Golf Links and driver – along with Sean McAlister – of the Racing to End Alzheimber’s Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge.
Because of the sharp elevation changes – the Corkscrew is a six-story drop – it’s not always possible to locate the quickest way through a turn. Climbing toward Turn 1, a driver needs to be on the right line for the following corner, a sharp hairpin.
“There are three poles just beyond the track,” Galante explains. “You’re looking for the left one.”
Galante is successful in golf and racing. But he came to motorsports much later than most drivers, not running in his first competition until the age of 29.
The motivation was a broken back.
Born in Massachusetts, Galante was an avid snowboarder. An ugly accident left him badly injured and, for a time, uncertain if he would ever walk again. He was just 20 years old. “It scared me,” he says. “I didn’t have goals, I never looked that far ahead – what am I going to do with my life?”
Galante did have two other passions, auto racing – as a fan – and golf. Once he recovered, a friend in Vermont told Galante he should pack up for Monterey. Since coming to the area in 1999, he has lived in every town on the Peninsula. At the time, however, it was a foreign place.
Why Monterey? His friend said a few simple words: Pebble Beach and Laguna Seca. “That sounds like paradise,” Galante thought.
He speaks of an otherwise unimportant spot on the fairway of number 5 at Pebble Beach. It’s 150 yards from the tee with bushes on the right. “Take one step past them and boom! It hits you,” he says – the grandeur of the course. Laguna Seca’s most iconic attraction is the Corkscrew, and Galante calls the carnival thrillride of it phenomenal. “But I can’t stress enough how important Turn 6 is,” he continues. “The penalty for messing up is huge. It’s such a difficult turn to take properly. I’ve never had that feeling.”
Galante talked his way into both of his jobs. He became two-time champion of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge before moving to IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge – part of the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by Motul that takes place from April 29-May 1.
He’s in a new ride for the 2022 season, and the Hardpoint Racing team is off to a frustrating start. At Sebring the car was plagued by electronic glitches. But Galante says they have made changes and things are promising.
“The Porsche is a very nimble car,” he points out. “It’s got the perfect blend of everything needed at Laguna Seca.” Galante says he will never grow weary of Pebble Beach or Laguna Seca, no matter how many laps he takes around each course. And there are other challenges, especially in racing.
“My main goal right now is the two 24s – the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”