Top Ten Showing for Precision Racing LA at Sebring
Precision Racing LA took on the penultimate round of the Toyota GR Cup North America and it was Jaxon Bell and Spencer Schmidt who would battle in the thirty-one-driver field. After qualifying 13th (Bell) and 28th (Schmidt) the pair managed to move forward from their starting positions with Bell running inside the top ten to finish seventh.
“Just finished up race one here at Sebring,” explained Jaxon Bell. “Good race and moved forward six positions after starting 13th and finishing seventh. Had a bunch of good battles out there but most importantly, kept the car clean so we have something to race tomorrow. Looking forward to round two tomorrow.”
After starting on the outside of row fourteen and avoiding lap one, turn one melee, Schmidt soldiered his way forward closing his first wheel-to-wheel action in 22nd.
It was a tough race, pretty hot out there,” explained Spencer Schmidt. “I had a tough start as there was a lot of action in turn one with a couple of cars crashing and going over one another. Avoided that well but lost a few spots in doing so. Had a pretty good car for the first half of the race and was battling for position almost every lap but towards the end, fell off physically and the car was just cooked. It was a real hot day in Sebring and that took its toll on a lot of us.”
Back to the track Sunday, Precision Racing LA fought hard in the final wheel-to-wheel action of the weekend.
In Qualifying 2 Sunday morning, Bell qualified 13th and Schmidt qualified 27th. In race 2, both drivers were able to fight forward early in the race, but Bell was involved in contact that put him at the back of the field, ultimately finishing 27th just two positions behind Schmidt who was classified 25th on the result sheets.
“There were lots of ups and downs this weekend, but I think the big positive was keeping it on track, minimizing mistakes, and just building confidence in the car and myself,” explained Spencer Schmidt. “I’m looking forward to racing at the brickyard for a lot of reasons! Excited to get back in the car so soon and build off the momentum from this week. But I also can’t wait to turn my first laps at a track that I’ve spent every Memorial Day weekend at since before I can remember.”
“The highlight of my weekend was race one where I passed a few cars and was able to come home with a p8 finish that paid good money and good points for the championship. I look forward to a clean slate at Indy,” added Bell. “I feel like I will be strong there given not many of my competitors have raced on that track before. The biggest challenge this year has been getting up to speed on new tracks for me that my competitors have raced at many times before. I look forward to a strong performance to end the 2023 season.”
After qualifying 13th (Bell) and 28th (Schmidt) in the first qualifying session the pair managed to move forward from their starting positions in race 1 with Bell running inside the top ten to finish seventh. After starting on the outside of row fourteen and avoiding lap one, turn one melee, Schmidt soldiered his way forward closing his first wheel-to-wheel action in 22nd.
The final round of the Toyota GR Cup North America season will take place October 5-8 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.