life and times of GoFast.Pro

Congratulations Tony Stewart 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion

2011-11-21T03:56:00.000-08:00

A little over a 18 months ago, Ian had the pleasure of racing karts with Tony Stewart at the Kart Track at Virginia International Raceway. The pair handily won the enduro and then sat down and just talked about how much they both enjoyed racing. Tony held up the little trophy from the kart race and said he enjoyed winning that as much or more than the other much larger trophies he had accumulated to that point.

In honor of his 2011 Sprint Cup Championship, here's a reprint of the article about their race.

Stewart still is chasing his first Sprint Cup victory of the season, but he’s already taken the checkered flag this year—at Virginia International Raceway.
In the process, he gave 15-year-old Ian Turner of Williamsburg a day to remember.
It started when Stewart and his crew were taking a break from racing at Martinsville on Saturday, March 27. They rented out the kart track at VIR for the day to have some fun. As the day ended, Stewart asked about staying a little longer. He was informed there was a NASA (National Auto Sport Association) race scheduled for that evening.
Overhearing the conversation, Tommy Tucker, Ian’s father, offered up his spot—he was going to split the race with Ian.
Stewart went over to race organizer Jon Felton.
“This short, familiar-looking guy comes over,“ Felton said. “He asked if it was OK if he ran with us. And everybody was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Tony Stewart.‘“
Stewart was cleared to run with Tucker, his pit crew got a car of its own and the 90-minute race was off.
It took Ian four laps to take the lead from his starting position in the back of the pack, and the young prodigy had built a three-lap lead when it was time to turn the car over to Stewart. Not surprisingly, the NASCAR veteran held his own.
“He just blew away the field,“ Ian said. “He got better and better with every lap.“
The driver known as “Smoke” crossed the finish line six laps up, doubling the lead that Ian had built in the kart, which goes about 45 mph.
Instead of bolting for Martinsville, Stewart and the crew hung around in the garage, chatting with his new team.
“It was just like sitting and chatting with somebody in your living room,“ Tommy said. “He gave Ian the checkered flag and signed it. It was a great experience.“
Ian said that the conversation was mostly business, as the two talked about racing. Though just 15, Turner recently was cleared to begin racing cars at VIR, and Felton said that he’s been a solid competitor in the kart series.
“He’s super smooth,“ Turner said. “It’s pretty common to have them come down and humiliate a bunch of adults who think they can drive fast.“
Turner even held his own with Stewart—his fastest lap time was just a tenth of a second slower than the NASCAR veteran’s.
As for Stewart, the race was his lone triumph of the weekend—the Martinsville race was rain-delayed until Monday, and he finished 26th. When he heads to the starting line at Richmond tomorrow, Turner will be at VIR for the finale of this season’s kart racing.
The youngster said he didn’t have a favorite NASCAR driver before sharing a kart with one. Now he’s on the Tony Stewart bandwagon—at least until they become competitors.

YIKES!

2011-10-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

Obviously, we haven't been very good at updating the blog here lately. We have many videos and photos from several events we need to get up and I promise we will do that within the next couple of days.

Meanwhile check out Charlotte's website -- She pays all the bills so we have to send some love (and traffic) her way. HomesbyCharlotte.com

T

TrackDaze event at VIR 060411

2011-06-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

June 4, 2011 TrackDaze at VIR

2011-06-04T02:20:00.000-07:00

I am standing outside the hotel in South Boston at 5am checking over the M3 before we head out. Grab a few Hardee's buiscuits and sweet tea, drive the 20 minute out to VIR, tech the car, sign in for TrackDaze and get Ian Turnerout of the track one more time for some wild, fast fun. My capacity is crew chief, manager, car owner, teen counsellor, go-fer, concierge, cheerleader and fan - Life is good!

Summary of 14 Hours of Charlotte ChumpCar Race

2011-04-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for the well wishes. The race was fun -- it didn't turn out quite the way we wanted to but there were some incredible moments in it as well.

We started the race off very strong and the car was running very well. Rob Hall took the first stint and worked his way through the field. After about a little over an hour the car developed a vibration FR and needed to be brought in. Upon inspection, it was determined we needed to replace the right axle and the car was taken into the garage where Chris and the guys made the change in very short order.

Ian took the car out after the change. I was a little nervous honestly but he took to the car like a pro. He spent a few laps getting comfortable and then we started to notice a BIG shift in the laptimes. Just as he started to really crank out great times the officials flew a red flag and had an emergency drivers meeting at the start/finish line. We had had two different incidents there drivers blew through barriers in the chicane and the officials pointed out that there was a $500 charge for each barrier hit.

After that bit was out of the way, Ian got back into the car to complete his stint and the times continued to get better and he was doing a great job of passing some faster cars. You can see a bit of his driving here http://youtu.be/d8UG6CgJfrI

After Ian's stint was over Wayne took over and was out about and hour when tragedy struck. While on the other end of the track he got an overheating indicator. He brought the car on around where it stalled at pit-in. After pushing to the pit area and ultimately into the garage it was determined the engine was fried and our day was over.

Proud Dad

Unfortunately the race ended for us before I got my time at the wheel. That was really disappointing but I have to say, the proud father moments made the trip more than worthwhile.

Tommy

Video of Ian at 14 Hours of Charlotte ChumpCar race

2011-04-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

The last 12 minutes of Ian's two hour stint driving the #11 ExFed VW Jetta at the 14 Hours of Charlotte ChumpCar race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

14 Hours of Charlotte ChumpCar Race 4/23/11

2011-04-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

We're HERE!!!

2011-04-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!! Charlotte Motor Speedway is an AMAZING place. We're all checked=in and have walked the track and ready to race in the morning. If you have never seen this track from the infield you have missed a quite incredible sight. 110,000 seats and the largest bigscreen anywhere not to mention the track itself -- what a different site when there are only a handful of folks here tonight.

Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

5 DAYS LEFT!!

2011-04-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

Only five days left until the race at Charlotte!!! Can't wait, only got 12 more blocks for school till the weekend starts, and the racing begins. It is really exciting to start on a team with my dad and some great people, on team Exfed! Stay tuned for more updates.

Ian

One Week

2011-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

One week until the 14 hours at Charlotte for the Chumpcar race.My dad and I are extremely excited and looking forward to racing on the "roval" for team Exfed! We have all of our equipment and are regularly driving on iRacing to get prepared. This will be my first official car race after for about 1 year of racing schools and DE's preparing. We will be updating regularly this week, so stay tuned. Ian

Please Help Us Raise Funds For The American Diabetes Association

2011-04-12T19:35:00.001-07:00

Ian and Tommy are walking and raising money for the American Diabetes Association's signature fundraising walk, Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes, because diabetes is important to them. Tommy's father / Ian's grandfather, Norman Turner was diagnosed as a teen with Type 1 diabetes. He lived 50+ years with daily insulin injections and led an inspirational life. We are honoring his memory with our support for the American Diabetes Association.

Please click here and follow this link to Ian's fundraising page and donate any amount you can. The team goal is $2,000 but if you would like to donate $2 or $200,000 please feel free.

Ian in particular will be promoting his efforts through his upcoming racing activities -- keep an eye out for him at Charlotte Motor Speedway and at VIR. Go up and tell him that you would like to help by either joining our fundraising team or by donating to his efforts.

Long Overdue Updates

2011-04-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

WOW! It has been awhile since we updated this. Since the last post Ian has: attended several NASA HPDEs; he and Kenny Mitchell won the 2010 VIR Kart League with Ian claiming the most individual wins in the league (champion for second year in a row by the way; and, he will be racing with the ExFed team in the ChumpCar series at the 14 Hours at Charlotte Motor Speedway on April 23, 2011 and the 24 Hours of VIR the last weekend of July.

In December, Tommy decided he needed to add some current formal training to his resume' and attended the Skip Barber 3 day school at Road Atlanta. In March of this year he drove with the ExFed racing team at the ChumpCar Double 7 Hour race at Rockingham. The race was run on the roval (oval + infield road course) -- what a blast! ExFed ended up with a third place finish for the Saturday race but on Sunday fell victim to an failed alternator fan and ended the day early after a strong running P2 with the lead in sight.

We have tons of in-car videos on YouTube including this one of Tommy at the wheel at Rockingham:

ChumpCar at Roebling Road 08/21/10 BMW "incident"

2010-09-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

ChumpCar at Roebling Road 08/21/10 working way through traffic

2010-09-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ian running in HPDE1 with NASA-MA on VIR Full

2010-07-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

E36 M3 Ring Taxi laps around VIR with Jon Felton

2010-07-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

July '10 NASA Weekend at VIR -- Ian takes to the track in the M3

2010-07-26T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tommy's blog entry:

The Turner boys spent the weekend at Virginia International Raceway with NASA Mid-Atlantic. Ian took the E36 M3 out for several track sessions with his NASA driving instructor Doug Arcidino of Folis Jones Racing. It was a blast watching him out there running with the big guys.

Other highlights of the weekend included hanging out with our many old and new friends from the track including Alex McNabb and Jon Felton. Jon took Ian, Alex and me out for a high-speed run around the track Ring Taxi-style. Ian rode shotgun and took some serious notes while Jon demonstrated his knowledge of the track and the M3 (it was his until we purchased it earlier this year).

We had a great time this weekend. I am looking forward to our next VIR event at the end of August.

Ian's blog entry:

This weekend was my first ever event in which I got to drive a street car. The NASA event that took place this weekend was the perfect event to be in for my experience, since there were many other people who had never been on a race track before. When I got to the track on Saturday morning I was both nervous and excited about the upcoming event. My dad and I arrived just in time to set up our tent and then run to the all hands meeting.

At the all hands meeting they laid down some broad-base rules for event. After the meeting, we split up into our HPDE groups, which I being a rookie was placed in HPDE 1, and got to meet some of the people I would be sharing the track with. Once we were split into the groups we went into the classroom to learn about some of the basics of driving on the track.

We spent about an hour in the classroom before we were released to go onto the track. We got to our cars and drove them to grid in the pit area. Once in the pit area I met up with my instructor Doug. Doug was a very cool, and hands on kind of guy. He would often go and talk to the workers in the pit area. Once he got into the car we introduced ourselves, and he talked me through the objective of this first session telling me it was all about learning what the car could take and not overdoing it. Instead of using the microphone that each instructor was given Doug used hand signals, which in my case helped a lot, due to me not having to talk during this time and focus more on the road.

This first session was an eye-opener for me, because I was not used to driving a car, especially at over 100 mph. After the first session I drove Doug back to his tent, where he introduced me to his teammates of Folis Racing group. They seemed to be a nice bunch of people that were just dying of the heat of the day.

Then I went to my shaded tent area where our friend Alex Mcnabb offered to let me drive his Porsche for the next session but I declined due to it being my first weekend in a car(but I was SOO flattered that he even asked. How great was that?). Right after he offered Jon Felton came over to our tent where he offered to drive me, my dad and Alex around the track. So we went out and he drove a few laps in the Ring Taxi, which were crazy, due to Jon radical yet controlled driving. After the ride I was dropped off at the classroom.

In the classroom we started to cover the “line” of the track and talk of the experiences we had. After the classroom we got back in the car and I went to go pick up my instructor, excited about picking up the pace in this session. Once I picked up Doug we went out onto the track and increased our speed. During this session I went out last and passed a couple cars including a Subaru, Corvette, Monte Carlo, Audi A4 and a couple other cars. Doug kept on pushing me to go faster in the corners and accelerate through the corners.

After the session I dropped Doug off and pulled the M3 inside of the tent. We torqued the lug nuts on the wheels and left our car to cool off, where Jon came over again and took us out for a pace lap, for one of the races. During the first lap the flaggers gave the field a black flag to come back in because of the running order was incorrect. Then we went to the paddock and rested for the first session. By the third session I was completely exhausted from the heat. During the third session we increased our speed again and passed even more cars and got up to 115 mph.

After the third session we packed our tent and bags and went back to the cool sanctuary of our hotel for the night. On Sunday we had our first classroom session at about 8:40 and lasted about an hour. During this I learned about steering with the throttle and brake. Soon after the lesson we went out and Doug told me that we would just take it easy this session, and as soon as he said that I was thinking of how I could get faster around the track by taking a better line and using the steering methods that our instructor taught us. During this session a Corvette ran into a car in turn five and a Miata and an GTR both ran off.

When we came in I was thinking about how hot it was even on the track, and I was getting VERY hungry, so I went and got me something to eat with my Dad and crew chief, Tommy Turner. About an hour and a half later went back to the classroom to have our final briefing where he told us to take it easy the last two sessions, so we would have a car left to take home and at this exact moment I’m like, “come on I want to have some more fun.” So we went out and got up to 120 mph this session and by this time I learned a lot about the track so during this session Doug barely told me anything. All Doug did was hold on tight and pray. I was glad I made Doug nervous. It gave me a sense of accomplishment knowing I had done so well during this session.

About two hours later, we went out again and this session got up to 125 mph while going even faster around the turns and passing even more cars while thinking I want to do this forever, and why would I need to stop, but when the checkered flag came out I was tired due to the heat of the weekend. So I dropped Doug off at his tent, where he told me about all that I had accomplished during these two days. This made me very proud knowing how far I had come in the last two days. So we packed our bags and left for home, but before we left VIR I was fast asleep.

Ian Preparing for Debut in M3

2010-07-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Only two weeks left before Ian takes to VIR's full course in his e36 M3.

Team Young Guns Dominates Long Day of Racing at VIR Kart Track

2010-07-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Thirteen races and temps in the 90s made for a long day Saturday at Plantation Valley Kart Track. Ian took on some extra races after the heat took its toll on teammate Kenny Mitchell. In the end, Ian drove nine of the 13 races and took 8 firsts and one 2nd place. Kenny picked up a 1st a 2nd and a 3rd place to give the team podiums for all but one of the races for the day. It was an exciting day with many hard-fought races with the Speedwerks and Le Blue teams making Young Guns work hard in every event.

The primary driver for Team JR Racing spent all but two of the races on the floor in front of a big fan recovering from heat exhaustion after the first event.

Busy schedule for Ian at Navy Swim Camp

2010-06-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

Got a call from Ian last night from Annapolis. First day of camp was great. They spent a lot of time drilling on his favorite subjects: starts, turns and freestyle. Dinner wasn't too yummy last night but not too worried about Ian starving. He's enjoying hanging with his roomates -- one is from Lubbuck, TX and the other from just below Raleigh, NC -- they were busting on him while we were talking.

The USNA is Ian's favorite school (BY FAR!) and combining very intense swimming with being at Annapolis is Nirvana for him.
[click on the blog title above to check out the schedule for camp]

Tommy to Race With ExFed At Roebling Road in August

2010-06-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, GA will be the site of the ChumpCar Double-7Hour Enduros on August 21st and 22nd. Tommy will again be driving the #11 ExFed VW Jetta with Rob Hall as well as team owners Chris McKinney and Jeff Heddleson. Turner was part of the ExFed team that won the ChumpCar 24 Hours of VIR in April of this year.

Skip Barber Racing School Day 3

2010-05-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Final day of Skip Barber Racing School at Road Atlanta. The day started with a class on passing and covered a wide variety of scenarios. The out to the track for several passing exercising and then some lapping with higher rpm limits than Day 2. Then back to the classroom for a class on starting. and of course out to the track to practice starts. These were a blast to watch especially as Ian seemed to take the green flag a little more seriously than most others. The afternoon on the track culminated with full-speed lapping sessions all the way around the track.

Nothing really prepares a dad to see their 15 year old screaming down the straight at well over 120 mph. It was comforting thought to see Ian's calm moves through the high-speed turns and cool head passing others.

Skip Barber staff including the instructors, Spencer Pumpelly, Casey Carden and Sean Israel took a very raw class and gave them a solid foundation for whatever their next step in racing. The Skip Barber maintenance did an equally outstanding job keeping the cars running despite the hardships new drivers put on the machines. Skip Barber Racing School is a very professional organization and deserve especially high marks for their job with Ian

It's official. I now have a race CAR driver!!!

Skip Barber Racing School Day 2

2010-05-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Day 2 at Skip Barber Racing School down. It was another long hot day. Whew! Had morning classes on the different flags, racing in rain, and racing dynamics. Everone then went out to the track for some lapping sessions and back to the classroom for a detailed class on braking then back to the track for braking exercises. Ended the day with more lapping sessions. Ian is doing great and we are both learning tons!

2010-05-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of racing school down. Day started off a little shaky w stalling on starts but Ian did very well 2nd half of day. Fun watching the neurons firing and the connections being made. Two classroom sessions this morning with an autocross in between and afternoon was all lead-follow sessions at increasing speeds. Long day hot day for me in the sun but LONG, HOT day for Ian in the driving suit and helmet

2010-05-24T14:31:00.001-07:00

Day 1 of racing school down. Day started off a little shaky with some stalling but Ian did very well 2nd half of day. Lots of lead/follow laps at increasing speeds.