USTCC Round 2 - Laguna Seca Comeback to Victory

 Press Release May 24th - Andy Chittum - Mad Man Motorsport

Chittum Wins Round 2 at Laguna Seca with astounding comeback victory 

May 23rd and 24th the United States Touring Car Championship was back in action a mere two weeks after the 2.5 hour endurance race at Sonoma Raceway.  Mad Man Motorsport was riding high from an authoritative victory, but the endurance race relied on a combination of teamwork and car management, while a sprint race back at Weathertech Laguna Seca would be pure speed and nothing else, beginning with the signature touring car standing start on the front straight of the challenging 2.238 mile course.  

Qualifying saw colder than usual temperatures, with sea air keeping the track cool and relatively slippery, challenging the drivers to keep get their cars up to temperature and set down a fast lap.  Chittum quickly got the big Hankook tires up to temperature and, clearing some space in the field, put down two quick laps both right at a 1:43, quick times for the 2 liter Mazda MX5.  Pulling in for the team to check tire temperatures and pressures, the team looked to have Pole Position in hand, so pulled in to the pits to see if anyone else in the USTCC Sportsman class could challenge.  

Unfortunately, right about that time, one of the TC class cars had an incident in the famous corkscrew turn, and clearing the wreck took the rest of qualifying time, bringing the session to a close early.

Next morning race day proved to be even more challenging weather wise with a fog front rolling in to the ocean-adjacent track, and while the track wasn't exactly wet during the busy race schedule, it remained rather slippery in spite of the repaving within the last year.  

18 cars lined up to take the green flag, with Chittum on pole position for Sportsman class, with Tom Lepper also on the front row in GogoGear.com's legitimately fast K24 fortified EG civic.  This proved to be quite the challenge as Lepper and Chittum left the line neck and neck, but with an additional 1500rpms and 400ccs of torque, he pulled away as both cars banged 3rd gear, and quickly gained 10 lengths on the MX5 down into the Andretti hairpin, passing some of the TC cars.  

Chittum, for his part took advantage of the superior braking of the MX5 and threw the little car well up the inside of the hairpin, gaining much of the advantage back.  The two cars battled, however, once Chittum was able to get more momentum going, he was able to double under Lepper entering turn 3, then absolutely send the car into T4, running uncontested into T5, and negating the Honda's power advantage.  From that point, Chittum was able to pull out a gap, put some out of class cars between them, and drive it home to victory.  

USTCC will return to Sonoma Raceway June 21-22 for Round 3, where once again, a standing start and intense wheel to wheel racing will decide the winner. 

USTCC Round 1 - 2.5 Hr Enduro Win

  Press Release May 11th - Andy Chittum - Mad Man Motorsport

The 2025 USTCC Season kicked off May 10th and 11th with a 2 1/2 hour endurance race around the iconic 2.52 mile course that twists through the hillsides and offers some of the most challenging corners on the schedule. 

Saturday found Chittum in the distinctive bright orange Mazda MX5 ready for warmup and qualifying.  Having practiced in March at the twisty track, the team was ready, however, the team was surprised to find some minor rubbing with the meaty Hankook F200 tires in an area of the MX5 body that had previously been repaired, and the team quickly jumped to action to clearance the area and have the car ready.  Given the issue, Chittum was limited to just 3 hot laps in qualifying lest a tire be compromised, but still managed pole position ahead of former series champion Tom Lepper driving GogoGear's powerful engine swapped EG Honda Civic. 

The beefy Hankooks needed a just little more room than the previous spec. 

Finishing the work and prep Sunday morning just before the grid closed, Chittum managed to slowly pull away from the Sportsman field, balancing speed from the grippy Hankook tires while keeping gas consumption low on the 2 liter Mazda engine.  A few yellow flags and other broken cars helped at the beginning of the race, but Chittum settled in for a full 40 lap stint aligning gas consumption perfectly with the end of the pit window toward the end of the race. 

The Mad Man Motorsport team gave Chittum a clockwork pitstop with 10 gallons of fuel, a quick check over the car, and discharged him back to the fray just 5 seconds over the mandated pit stop time.  

Once back on track Chittum found himself approximately 27 seconds ahead of second place and was able to cruise the last half of the race to victory.  

Victorious team - Chittum still squinting from a Champagne blast to the eye.  Will work on that technique next race.

Andy Chittum and the Mad Man Motorsport team will return with the Mazda MX5 at round 2 of the United States Touring Car series at Laguna Seca on May 24th.  Stay tuned to USTCC.com and Chittum.net for more hard charging race action!