The positions on a race team are unique in sports. There are drivers, of course, and the pit crew. But the unit also needs mechanics, engineers, fabricators, someone to handle logistics, a chef or caterer and more.
“We have a meteorologist,” says Matt Brogan, operations manager for Wayne Taylor Racing, adding one more to the list.
For team members, the effort visible to fans on race weekends is just the end of a long and complicated road. The StubHub Monterey Sportscar Championship, which takes place May 1-3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, involves fields of 34 cars in IMSA’s featured sportscar race, 45 on the Michelin Pilot Challenge grid, and more arriving with Lamborghini Super Trofeo and the Mustang Challenge – a lot of parts and people converging on Monterey County, with planning for the race starting in January.
Wayne Taylor Racing brings seven cars to the track, coming from different locations. Two weeks ago, Wayne Taylor Racing loaded up three cars and trucked them from Long Beach, where they had competed on April 19, to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Mechanics performed necessary repairs and maintenance – which in the case of the cutting-edge GTP cars requires stripping the car to its chassis – not in the well-stocked comfort of their shop in Indiana, but in a Laguna Seca garage. Certain parts had to be checked remotely for cracks or fatigue. After a couple days of this, mechanics flew back to Indiana, leaving cars and equipment.
In IMSA sportscar racing, the GTP class represents cutting-edge prototypes with hybrid technology and futuristic tire compounds, the most advanced race cars running in North America. GTD, on the other hand, are purpose-built racers based upon familiar vehicles – Porsche 911 GT3s, Ford Mustang GTs and the like.
Meanwhile, four more team cars join the IMSA GTP and GTD racers, destined for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo support races. That makes for a lineup of 14 drivers and some 70 crew, served by seven transporters, including a double-decker truck dedicated to engineering for the hybrid GTP cars. Only three team members – a fabricator, the person responsible for parts and logistics, as well as one dedicated to sub-assembly for GTD and GTP cars – remain back at the Indiana shop.
“We work three weeks ahead of everyone else, because the logistics of getting everything sorted out and coordinated has to be steps ahead of the trucks,” explains Team Manager Anton Julian.
The team manager oversees all the programs. Brogan focuses on GTD and Super Trofeo. The latter is important to Wayne Taylor Racing, for it brings along new drivers and crew members, who can be trained and move up in the team.
“We try to make everyone feel like they’re invested into the team,” Julian points out. “You know, pit stop practice at the shop, we’ll be rotating people through. Maybe we won’t be using those people, but it gives them something to work toward.”
The California swing poses a unique challenge for all teams. The proximity of races on the calendar makes it cost-prohibitive to haul cars back and forth after Long Beach. And the very different courses require distinct setups – both on the cars and in the pits.
“We still are constantly tuning slip and grip maps, PPU control, things like that,” Brogan explains. “We also got a new tire, just like GTP did, so there’ll be some learning between the two events.”
Even before the trip to Long Beach, the team pre-fitted parts for Laguna at the workshop. The tracks and races are very different and neither manager wants any surprises. Those pieces were then removed while the team returned the main kit or backup kit for Long Beach to each chassis.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking – if we’ve missed anything or we loaded that for Laguna, but not Long Beach,” Julian says. “The truck drivers know what they need and what they don’t need.”
While fans recognize the importance of mechanics and engineers working behind the scenes, for Julian the truck drivers are Wayne Taylor Racing’s hidden heroes. Not only do they account for race weekend inventory and haul the team’s equipment, they play an important role in the car’s performance.
Wayne Taylor’s truck drivers arrive before the team. One of the first tasks is purging the Michelin race tires, replacing air – considered unpredictable when it heats – with nitrogen. They also set up the garage and pit area.
“Truck driving is a small part of their job, probably about 20 percent,” Julian says. “They work their tails off all the time at the track.”
These same details play out at Porsche Team Penske, Meyer Shank, DragonSpeed, Pfaff Motorsports, BMW M Team WRT and the other teams that arrived at Laguna Seca this weekend. The race starts with the crew.
“That’s it in a nutshell, basically,” Julian says. “There are a lot more details to it than that. I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ve got it down pretty well.”
As for the logistics of crew and driver travel, meals and the rest, he adds, “I don’t want to be a part of that headache.”
The StubHub Monterey Sportscar Championship takes place Friday-Sunday, May 1-3. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 1021 Highway 68, Salinas. $36-$165. weathertechraceway.com