MC Racing’s Strong Drive Matches Career Best Finish

August 2, 2020 (Willows, CA) – Michael McColligan, driving the #36 MC Racing Mazda RX8 continued his

strong form with a second place finish in Round 2 of the Hankook Tires United States Touring Car

Championship at Thunderhill Raceway.

Thunderhill Raceway has always been a challenging track for MC Racing and Team Driver Michael

McColligan but they headed to Round 2 with optimism. Saturday’s first practice was all about beddingin a brand new set of Raybestos brakes. The team took a strategic gamble and decided to skip the first

qualifying to conserve precious tires. In qualifying two, McColligan was able to deliver a time good

enough for P6 on the competitive grid. Standing Starts are always a bit tense and exciting and this race

would be no different with one of the BMW’s from farther back jumping the start and stopping in the

gap directly in front of McColligan. “When the green flag dropped, I got a great start but had nowhere

to go, so it was either back out of it or hit the wall”, stated McColligan. McColligan lost an additional

position to the Dodge and then settled into his race pace. As the race progressed, McColligan kept a

steady pace and began to reel the Dodge back in. “I could see that he was starting to struggle with tires

and the RX8 continued to feel good as I could really push. I was much faster in the handling sections but

his power advantage made it difficult to stay in touch on the open sections”, described McColligan. The

battle raged for a few laps and McColligan was able to pull off a stellar passing move into turn 6. A few

laps later, he caught and passed the yellow Civic that was having engine problems and then caught the

silver Civic right at the white flag. “I showed my nose to let him know I was there into turn 2 and was

able to pull off another strong pass in turn 6”, said a smiling McColligan. This put McColligan third at the

checkered flag, moving up to second via the BMW’s penalty for jumping the start. “This was one of my

best races ever as I drove hard, consistent, and mistake free. I pulled off some great overtakes and had

a blast out there! Thanks to the team for giving me a car that was strong and reliable despite the

extreme 100 degree plus temperatures. The champagne tasted good”, summed up McColligan.

McColligan and the MC Racing team will celebrate the result and right get back to work as Round 3 is

only three weeks away.

About MC Racing

MC Racing competes in the Hankook Tires United States Touring Car Championship aboard a Mazda RX8

with support from Idemitsu, Raybestos, Mazda USA, Mazdatrix, Racing Beat, Konig Wheels, Orafol,

Eibach Springs, and Napier Outdoors. For more information, visit www.mcspeedracer.com.