Sheehan finishes on the podium again.

Round 3 of the United States Touring Car Championship brought the teams to the GoGoGear.com Racing Team’s gorgeous home track of Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. The mild temperatures were a welcome change from the heat of the last race weekend in California’s Central Valley, but this was offset by the heavy smoke that hung in the air due to the terrible fires across the state.

With the issues from the previous two race weekends finally resolved, the #31 GoGoGear.com Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8L was ready to attack the track with a mission of winning 3 races in a row. Practice went well, and qualifying was a real surprise when Gary Sheehan out qualified the rest of the Touring Car field by a significant margin. The class three-peat looked like it was already in the bag.

Things didn’t turn out quite the way the team anticipated, as Sheehan outlines here. “Well, that didn’t’ go as expected! From the moment the flag dropped I realized I had a real battle on our hands. Gary Trudeau showed up in my rearview mirror immediately after the start and I couldn’t shake him. It took me half a lap of watching his car in the corners to realize the team had put a brand new set of Hankook F200 slicks on his car, while my race tires were on their third race weekend. To make matters worse, the setup change that worked really well in qualifying was not the best race setup, and my front tires, already worn over multiple weekends, quickly degraded and grip fell off a cliff. I fought Gary Trudeau off for as long as I could, but time and speed were on his side, and once he got past me there wasn’t a thing I could do. I’m happy with 2nd place considering the tire strategy we went with, and still have a comfortable lead in the championship. With fresh tires and some significant setup changes in store for the next race weekend, I’m feeling pretty good about our chances of maintaining the championship lead.”

The teams have a few weeks to get ready for rounds 4 and 5 at Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, CA on September 12-13. Double-header race weekends are especially tough as the car has to make it through two qualifying sessions and two races. Wear and tear on the car is doubled, and the effort required to keep the car in top racing shape is significant. The upcoming weekend will be a test of speed, strategy, and endurance. Sheehan goes into rounds 4 and 5 with a 35 point lead over second place Gary Trudeau.
Round 3 of the United States Touring Car Championship brought the teams to the GoGoGear.com Racing Team’s gorgeous home track of Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. The mild temperatures were a welcome change from the heat of the last race weekend in California’s Central Valley, but this was offset by the heavy smoke that hung in the air due to the terrible fires across the state.

With the issues from the previous two race weekends finally resolved, the #31 GoGoGear.com Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8L was ready to attack the track with a mission of winning 3 races in a row. Practice went well, and qualifying was a real surprise when Gary Sheehan out qualified the rest of the Touring Car field by a significant margin. The class three-peat looked like it was already in the bag.

Things didn’t turn out quite the way the team anticipated, as Sheehan outlines here. “Well, that didn’t’ go as expected! From the moment the flag dropped I realized I had a real battle on our hands. Gary Trudeau showed up in my rearview mirror immediately after the start and I couldn’t shake him. It took me half a lap of watching his car in the corners to realize the team had put a brand new set of Hankook F200 slicks on his car, while my race tires were on their third race weekend. To make matters worse, the setup change that worked really well in qualifying was not the best race setup, and my front tires, already worn over multiple weekends, quickly degraded and grip fell off a cliff. I fought Gary Trudeau off for as long as I could, but time and speed were on his side, and once he got past me there wasn’t a thing I could do. I’m happy with 2nd place considering the tire strategy we went with, and still have a comfortable lead in the championship. With fresh tires and some significant setup changes in store for the next race weekend, I’m feeling pretty good about our chances of maintaining the championship lead.”

The teams have a few weeks to get ready for rounds 4 and 5 at Buttonwillow Raceway in Buttonwillow, CA on September 12-13. Double-header race weekends are especially tough as the car has to make it through two qualifying sessions and two races. Wear and tear on the car is doubled, and the effort required to keep the car in top racing shape is significant. The upcoming weekend will be a test of speed, strategy, and endurance. Sheehan goes into rounds 4 and 5 with a 35 point lead over second place Gary Trudeau.