One test. A car I had never driven. A track I had never seen. And everything on the line.
That is what I was walking into when I flew out of Charlotte and headed to Chicago for my F3 test drive at Autobahn Country Club with Havoc Motorsport. I did not know exactly what to expect. What I found out over those two days is something I am still processing.
Day One: Building the Foundation
Before any wheels turned, we had work to do.
The first day was all about getting everything dialed in. Seat fit. Pedal fit. Making sure the car felt like an extension of me before I ever hit the track. After that, the team took me out to lunch and we sat down to talk through the plan for the following day.
That time with the Havoc Motorsport crew meant a lot. These are serious, experienced people who know exactly what they are doing with open-wheel cars. Walking into day two knowing the team had my back made a real difference.
Day Two: On Track
Two runs. Twenty minutes each. That was it
I rolled out of the pits for the first time in an F3 car and posted a 1:30. From there, it was about finding more with every single lap. Each run, I picked up roughly two and a half seconds, chipping away and building on what the team was feeding me in between sessions.
By the time the day was done, we had found ten seconds overall. My best lap came in at a 1:20.40. The South Course track record sits at a 1:19.10.
One second off the track record. In an F3 car. On a track I had never seen before this test.
The Feeling I Was Not Expecting
Here is the thing I keep coming back to.
The moment I got in that car, it felt natural. No adjustment period. No white-knuckling it through corners trying to figure things out. Just comfort and clarity from the first lap.
That is not something I take for granted. Road course racing has not been the focus of my career up to this point. But this test made it impossible to ignore. I genuinely see a future in road course racing, and this experience is a big reason why.
The People Who Made It Happen
None of this happens without the right people in your corner.
Huge thank you to John Harkenrider and the entire Havoc Motorsport team for treating me like one of their own from the moment I arrived and for providing the full footage from both runs.
Thank you to Ralph Hansen with Pegasus Marketing Group for the support. And a massive thank you to my grandparents Linda and Tom, and to the Wings and Wheels Foundation for helping make this test possible. That kind of belief means everything.
What Comes Next
This test confirmed something I have been feeling for a while now.
Open wheel. Road course. This is a direction I am serious about. The times speak for themselves, but more than that, the way it felt behind the wheel told me everything I needed to know. For now, I will be back in my late model at Tri-County Speedway.
Stay tuned. This is just the beginning. 🏁
