Team USA's Huffaker: From track to track

Images courtesy Team USA Scholarship


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By: Team USA Scholarship | 21 hours ago


Team USA Scholarship winners Scott Huffaker and Josh Green concluded a busy second week in Europe with a memorable trip to Italy, Formula Ford testing at both Donington Park and Snetterton, and even time for a little sightseeing and shopping in London. Here is Scott’s Sunday-night take:

Late Tuesday night Josh and I arrived back in England from our trip to Italy. We had a great time visiting the Lamborghini factory on Monday and the Dallara factory Tuesday. It was incredible to gain a first-hand insight into how the road and race Lamborghinis are hand-built, one at a time; and all of the precision, technology and preparation that goes into producing Dallara’s huge range of race cars, from Formula 1 to IndyCars, Indy Lights cars, sports cars and small-formula classes.

On our way to the airport we stopped by the Ferrari museum in Maranello to complete our memorable journey. It was so cool to see another country for the first time and sample some great Italian food!

More Team USA Scholarship!

Postcard from Team USA’s Green: The Italian job

‘Loving every minute’ - Team USA’s Huffaker

First fast laps in the UK for Team USA's Green

Wednesday, we left with the Dempsey team to go to Donington Park (photo above), the track I was most looking forward to. The first thought that comes to mind about Donington is Ayrton Senna’s incredible start in the 1993 British Grand Prix, where he started fourth and progressed to the lead by the end of the first lap — arguably the best single lap ever in the history of F1.

Ready for some fast laps at Donington Park, with Senna in his thoughts …


Arriving at Donington, the track was dry which was good as we had little running in dry conditions during our previous visit to Oulton Park and it would allow us to get a good feeling for the car. The track was immediately one of my favorites, with a great mix of corners and elevation change. The test day was fairly standard; we accomplished everything we needed to on the basis of pace and consistency. Next up was Snetterton.

The drive to Snetterton, in Norfolk, was the longest journey we had to make this month, and it was only two hours away! There are so many tracks within such a small distance it makes traveling so much easier than back home. When we arrived at the hotel, though, it took us forever to figure out how to turn the lights on. We turned every switch on and off, but nothing worked. Frustrated, we decided to go ask the front desk but on our way out we stumbled upon a small box by the door. We tried pressing on it and opening it until we decided to press the key to the room against it. All of the lights came on at once! Finally we could work on getting to sleep.



A wide variety of sights, sounds and weather conditions greeted the Team USA duo at Snetterton.


The first session on Friday was damp. The track was very long so it was difficult to get up to speed. The second session was completely dry so we had to change all of the references we had learned in the first practice, but I unfortunately got a puncture so was unable to make the most of the session. The third practice was in full wet conditions which was something we had not yet driven in. The final session was damp, but it got cut short because of a big storm that rapidly took over the track.

In that session, when I approached Turn 1 (Riches) the track was almost completely dry; but when I got to the middle of the corner, I was hit with a wall of water.

At the end of the day, we considered it a success: We got to drive the cars in all conditions which leaves us ready and feeling well prepared for anything the Formula Ford Festival can throw at us.

Sunday we ventured into London to do some shopping and sightseeing. Michelle Dempsey dropped us off at the train station so we could get the full experience by ourselves. First, we walked around the London Eye and Big Ben. Then we decided to walk to Buckingham Palace where we found a street parade going on. Something new for us was all the bells ringing at noon; they made it extremely hard to talk. We then decided to go shopping to get some clothes to help keep us warm on all the windy days. Finally, we headed back to the Dempseys after a relaxing day in the city.

Wardrobe makeover on a weekend shopping spree in London.


Next, we plan on taking a tour of Ilmor Engineering on Monday, and then finally we get to leave for the Festival on Tuesday to take on the first of the two big events we’ve been waiting for. I can’t wait!

– Scott


Josh Green, Scott Huffaker, Team USA Scholarship

 

Team USA's Green: Ready for racing at Brands Hatch

Photos courtesy Team USA


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By: Team USA Scholarship | 20 hours ago


In their second full week in Europe, Team USA Scholarship winners Josh Green and Scott Huffaker visited one of the most successful race engine builders in the world, Ilmor Engineering, Ltd.; then followed up with their first laps on one of the world’s most challenging race circuits, Brands Hatch. There, this weekend, the duo will be competing in the Aimshop.com BRSCC Formula Ford Festival. Josh picks up the tale:

Hello everyone! We’ll start this week’s blog post with our Monday, Oct. 21, tour of Ilmor Engineering Ltd., a motor developer in Brixworth located about 20 miles southwest of the Cliff Dempsey Racing shop in Corby. We arrived on time and met our wonderful tour guide, Simon Young.

Ilmor builds motors up and down the motorsport ladder, from Indycar to F1 and even Moto GP at one point. It is especially focused on the development stage, though, creating motors and making them function at their highest capability, or testing them for manufacturers to see if some idea of theirs work.

Ilmor does all of the development in house for the Chevrolet engines used in the NTT Indycar Series. Photos of the championship-winning Team Penske car were plastered all over the walls – particularly exciting for Scott (Huffaker) and me as two-time champion Josef Newgarden is a Team USA alum!

The facility is amazing, with a multitude of machining tools to manufacture parts and many different work stations for designing parts online. We learned that it is even possible to do heat testing on the parts in an online simulation realistic enough to help develop the parts that are running on race cars today.

We were lucky enough to see one of its Indycar motors on the dyno with one of the head engineers standing by. He spoke to us about the process of running-in the engine, and we got to hear it rev all the way to the limiter (a mind boggling 12,000 rpm). It’s interesting to see how much pressure the motors really are under in the back of the race cars as they twist and turn their way around race tracks. Brutal. The countless hours of engineering and research that goes into each one of Ilmor’s motors proves why the company creates some of the very best in the sport.

More Team USA Scholarship!

Team USA's Huffaker: From track to track

Postcard from Team USA’s Green: The Italian job

‘Loving every minute’ - Team USA’s Huffaker

The next day, Scott and I got to sleep in (to a measly 10 a.m.) before we hustled out the door and were off to Brands Hatch. After spending two hours in the car (no bingo bus for this trip, sadly) we arrived to the awesome sight that is Brands Hatch. Its massive hills and undulating nature makes for an exciting scene. It was Tuesday, so we weren’t on track, but we went to help the team set up the awning and get the cars in place.

Under the CDR big top at Brands Hatch, one of the Team Canada Rays in red, our red, white and blue Team USA cars alongside.


Team boss Cliff Dempsey has a method to everything he does, setup included; so we were mostly just going with the flow. After the tent was up we got to meet the extended Dempsey family: Peter Dempsey arrived with his wife and two kids. It was great to meet him as he runs a team called Turn 3 Motorsports in the Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires series, which is part of the ladder I soon hope to join. He’s very similar to his father and is great fun to be around (and a pretty good driver at that).

Later that day the two Canadians arrived with Kelly and Brian Graham. I already knew Zach Vanier from running with him in the first round of the F1600 Pro Series, and it was great to meet his fellow countryman, Jonathon Woolridge. We spent the remainder of the day talking about each of our separate series and catching up on time passed.

Brian Graham runs his own race team in the Canadian Toyo Tires F1600 Championship, using a different chassis to what I ran all year; and it was great to gain insight into what makes the chassis different.

After meeting everyone, Scott and I were taken back to the hotel to eat a quick dinner and head to bed after a very long day of travel.

An early start on Wednesday meant that our usual ritual of snoozing our alarm until the last possible second was utilized. Despite that, we made it to the lobby at 8:00 and were met by a very crisp, early-morning wind. It was the first day on track, and we couldn’t wait to get started. We quickly got signed on and learned about the track-limits system which is the most notable difference from tracks here to tracks at home.

Then we went back to the trailer and went over some video with our driver coach before heading out for our first session. As one big line of Cliff Dempsey Racing-run cars, we followed the man himself (Cliff) up the hill as he was on his moped directing us to the pit lane. It was quite a cool drive to pit line, twisting through narrow tunnels and eventually emerging on the inside of Paddock Hill bend. We sat in pit lane awaiting the green flag, all extremely eager. We were greeted, though, by an extremely cold and slick version of Brands Hatch which made learning the track extra tricky. The circuit’s hilly nature means the car wants to move around a lot as it becomes unloaded over the crests.

The track was all it was hyped up to be — the feeling of the car dancing left to right on turn-in at Paddock Hill Bend, then stiffening up as it reaches the bottom of the hill, is unforgettable.

Thank you to Team USA’s many sponsors. Scott and I aim to do you proud this weekend.


The day carried on smoothly with us all learning more and more and continuing to find time on a track that was very new to us. It was a great atmosphere under the tent, each of us providing the usual banter (as race car drivers do). As well, Michelle Dempsey’s cooking was wonderful (as usual!) and made lunch a special treat. I’m super excited for the rest of the weekend, and can’t wait to get on track tomorrow.

Until next time,

-Josh


Brands Hatch, Josh Green, Scott Huffaker, Team USA Scholarship

 

Green finishes second, sets fastest lap in Formula Ford Festival Heat race

Image courtesy of Team USA


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By: Team USA Scholarship 20 hours ago


Josh Green (above left), from Mount Kisco, N.Y., claimed an impressive second-place finish in his initial AIMSHOP.com Formula Ford Festival Heat race, run in damp and worsening conditions today at Brands Hatch. Team USA Scholarship teammate Scott Huffaker, from Menlo Park, Calif., finished seventh in Heat Three, which was held an hour or so later in very wet conditions.

A total of 69 cars took part in qualifying this morning, separated into three Heat races, each of which was scheduled to be run over 15 laps.

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Team USA Scholarship duo prepared for Formula Ford Festival

Team USA's Green: Ready for racing at Brands Hatch

Team USA's Huffaker: From track to track

Green was in action first, posting the fourth fastest time in his #21 Ray GR19 on a cool but dry 1.2-mile track for Heat One. After successfully completing his first-ever standing start and maintaining his position on a damp track, Green was quickly into his groove, slipping past former Scottish Formula Ford Champion Ciaran Haggerty (Graham Brunton Racing Ray) for third at the exit of the Druids hairpin on Lap 2.

By then polesitter and three-time Festival champion Joey Foster (Don Hardman Racing Firman) and fellow FF veteran Matthew Cowley (Team Dolan Van Diemen) – who had rocketed through from sixth on the grid – had already edged away to an appreciable lead. Cowley pulled off an exquisite maneuver at Paddock Hill Bend on Lap 4 to squeeze into the lead, leaving Foster to come under increasing pressure from 16-year-old Green, who hadn’t even attained his first birthday when Foster scored his first Formula Ford Festival triumph in 2003!

Image by Gary Hawkins Photography


Green’s pace was inexorable, and even the guile of Foster was unable to keep the American from sneaking past into second place at Druids on Lap 6 (above). Cowley took the checkered flag a full 5.2 seconds clear of Green, although it was the American who held the honor of fastest race lap at 1:01.802, an average speed of 70.36 mph.

“It was quite the race,” said a delighted Green. “We definitely had a really great pace. Cliff Dempsey just makes an awesome rain racing car. It was really good. Joey put up a pretty good fight and I tried to catch Matt but we were so on the limit of the track. It was so greasy out there. The car was all over the place. There were those sickening moments when you feel your stomach drop and the whole car is sliding and you are waiting to go off. It was pretty crazy but it was a lot of fun. I have to thank Team USA Scholarship and everyone who is behind it. Without them, none of this would be possible.”

After Cliff Dempsey Racing teammate Jonathan Browne, from Ratoath, Ireland, had scored a narrow victory over Englishman Chris Middlehurst (Team Dolan Van Diemen) in Heat Two, Huffaker was next in action for Heat Three, held on a significantly wetter track.

A fine start initially saw Huffaker briefly jump from fifth place to third on the opening lap, but he struggled in the dire conditions and eventually slipped back to seventh at the finish. Two-time Festival winner Niall Murray scored a clear victory aboard his Team Dolan Van Diemen.

Image by Gary Hawkins Photography


“It’s frustrating that we went backwards but I learned a lot,” said Huffaker. “I got a great start, moved up to third but fell back to fourth when Niall (Murray) went past. In the beginning, I struggled with the brake bias. The track was a lot wetter than qualifying and I lost another couple of positions working on that. Once the group in front got away, I just tried to settle in, play it safe passing lapped cars, find a rhythm and live to fight another day. I’m so grateful to Cliff and Matt, who is working on my car. Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to trying to make up some positions in the Semi, and try to get back into the top group.”

The first of two 15-lap Semi-Final races will start tomorrow, Sunday, at 12:00 noon local time with Grand Final slated to see the green flag at 4:05 p.m. Live timing can be found at https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/194331. In addition, live streaming video can be found at https://bit.ly/33XYqE4 or https://bit.ly/2pPGkpc.


Josh Green, Team USA Scholarship, Team USA Scholarship

 

Team USA Scholarship duo prepared for Formula Ford Festival

Image courtesy of Team USA


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By: Team USA Scholarship October 25, 2019 3:18 PM


Two weeks after first arriving in England as the most recent recipients of Team USA Scholarships, Josh Green, 16, from Mount Kisco, N.Y., and Scott Huffaker, 19, from Menlo Park, Calif., are set to compete at this weekend’s AIMSHOP.com Formula Ford Festival and World Cup at Brands Hatch. The duo will be looking to challenge for top honors in their Cliff Dempsey Racing-prepared Ray GR18/19s against a mix of seasoned veterans and new faces, with 71 entries on deck for the highly anticipated event, which returns for its historic 48th year.

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Team USA's Green: Ready for racing at Brands Hatch

Team USA's Huffaker: From track to track

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The talented young Americans have been busy with preparations to fly the patriotic Team USA colors in their European debuts. Final testing wrapped up today in “traditional” Brands Hatch weather conditions with rain, wind and cool temperatures. Following an additional two days of testing at the undulating 1.2-mile circuit earlier in the week, plus previous outings at Oulton Park, Donington Park and Snetterton, both Green and Huffaker have hovered near the top of the unofficial time sheets and have their sights set on showcasing that practice makes perfect when the real action begins tomorrow with the initial three Heat races.

Two days of testing in all conditions … except completely dry. Image by Steve Nickless


The Team USA contingents will be contesting Heat Race 1 (Green) and Heat Race 3 (Huffaker) which will set the grids for a pair of Semi-Final races on Sunday morning. The top 14 cars from each race will qualify for the 20-lap Grand Final.

In addition to their on-track activities, Green and Huffaker have benefited from a series of educational visits over the past two weeks. First up was a two-day trip to Italy where they toured both the Lamborghini factory and Squadra Corse, where all the Huracan Super Trofeo EVO cars are built, and Dallara Automobili, the world’s largest race car manufacturer which, among many other projects, provides cars exclusively to the NTT IndyCar Series and Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires.




This week they paid a visit also to Ilmor Engineering in Brixworth, England, which builds and develops the 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged Chevrolet engine with which 2008 Team USA Scholarship (and Formula Ford Festival) winner Josef Newgarden recently secured his second IndyCar championship in three years for Team Penske.

“It’s been an awesome two weeks,” said Green. “From the trip to Italy to touring Ilmor and all of our testing it’s been an unforgettable experience. Cliff runs an amazing team and the cars have been dialed every time on track. All of our tours were great and it was a massive learning experience gaining all sorts of new knowledge on the manufacturing of motors and chassis. Super excited to get racing this weekend at this hugely prestigious event. As well, a massive thank you to everyone behind the Team USA Scholarship, without whom none of this would be possible.”

Rivals at the Team USA shootout in September, Green (left) and Huffaker have become fast friends. Image by Steve Nickless


“We have gotten a lot of time in the cars in all weather conditions,” added Huffaker. “I have learned a lot from the team and also from our driver coach, James [Theodore], especially having all the data and experience from all the other drivers under our tent [with regular driver Jonathan Browne, Peter Dempsey and two Team Canada Scholarship drivers]. Hopefully we can keep it clean in the Heat to give us the best chance to do well in the final.”

 

Top-10 finishes for Huffaker, Green in Formula Ford Festival Final

Gary Hawkins Photography


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By: Team USA Scholarship | October 27, 2019 12:07 PM


Team USA Scholarship drivers Scott Huffaker, from Menlo Park, Calif., and Josh Green, from Mount Kisco, N.Y., took the checkered flag in ninth and 10th positions at the conclusion of a closely fought AIMSHOP.com Formula Ford Festival Grand Final this afternoon on the 1.2-mile Brands Hatch Indy Circuit.

The event was won by Cliff Dempsey Racing teammate Jonathan Browne, who completed a perfect weekend by taking pole position, winning both his Heat Race and Semi-Final, then leading throughout the 20-lap final in his Ray GR19. Two-time Festival champion Niall Murray (Team Dolan Van Diemen) finished second.

Weather conditions this morning could hardly have been more different from yesterday with the steady rain replaced by cool, crisp temperatures and a picture-perfect bright blue sky.

The two Team USA drivers started from the third (Green) and 10th (Huffaker) places on the grid for the second of two Semi Final races. An eventful first lap saw Green lose a couple of positions and Huffaker gain three, with the Californian then finding his way past Luke Cooper’s Swift SC16 on Lap 2 for sixth before the red flags flew following a multi-car incident at the foot of Paddock Hill Bend.

With less than two full laps in the books, the race was restarted from the original grid positions. Green initially held onto third before slipping behind both Rory Smith (B-M Racing Medina) and Peter Dempsey (Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray), while Huffaker again was soon on the move forward.

An incident between Dempsey and Smith at the Druids hairpin resulted in Green losing momentum but proved beneficial for Huffaker, who vaulted to fifth place ahead of Green as the Safety Car was scrambled to allow several cars to be removed from the racing surface. Neither Team USA driver made a particularly good restart but they finished strongly in fifth and sixth, hot on the heels of Dempsey, who was later disqualified for his part in the earlier incident with Smith. Murray won the race by less than a second from teammate Chris Middlehurst and Cooper.

“The semi was good,” said Huffaker. “I was starting 10th because of not the best performance in the heat, so I knew I had to make up some positions. I made a good start, the first one in the dry, and was aggressive. By the end of the first lap I was in sixth and then there was a red flag. That put everyone back to their original grid positions and I was back in 10th and then they shortened the race so I was a bit upset about that because now I had to do all the same work in a shorter amount of time. I was able to get up to fifth and then Peter [Dempsey] had a penalty that put me to fourth, which put us in a good position for the final.”

Huffaker lined up eighth for the Grand Final, with Green in 12th after being penalized one position for an infraction during the Safety Car interlude.

Following an early Safety Car period after one of the two Team Canada cars broke on the starting grid, Browne took off into the lead ahead of Murray, Matt Cowley (Team Dolan Van Diemen) and Middlehurst. The top two positions remained unchanged throughout the 20-lap race with Browne eventually winning by 2.687 seconds. Middlehurst overtook Cowley for third on Lap 7 before Cowley reasserted himself to be chased home by Michael Eastwell (Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum), Joey Foster (Don Hardman Racing Firman) and BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600 Champion Ross Martin (Team Dolan Van Diemen).

Huffaker lost out to Foster in the early stages before settling into ninth, with Green battling his way past several rivals into 10th by Lap 8. The two red-white-and-blue cars ran in relative isolation for a few laps before Huffaker began to close on the battle for fifth between Foster, Cooper, Martin and Middlehurst. Huffaker executed a nice pass on Middlehurst under braking for Druids on Lap 16, only for Middlehurst to grab the place back one lap later. They eventually finished just 0.012-second apart, with Green some way back in 10th.

Josh Green


“I think today went well,” said Huffaker. “I made positions up in the Semi and in the Final. I did make a few mistakes but the car was great. I just wasn’t able to break into the top five. I was in a battle with a group of cars for sixth place overall. I was up into eighth and made a mistake and fell back and the race was just a little too short with the safety car. Overall the Festival experience has been great. I have enjoyed every minute of being here and the track is awesome. There was some really competitive racing and now the (Walter) Hayes is next and I look forward to that.”

“The Semi wasn’t the best but I got set back from an incident I had to avoid, and from the struggle I learned a lot,” added Green. “The Final was tons of fun picking up a few positions and finishing in the top 10. The racing over here is very different and really enjoyable, so I really can’t wait for the Hayes Trophy. Again a massive thank you to Cliff Dempsey Racing for the great cars and the Team USA Scholarship for the opportunity to be here.”

Huffaker and Green will begin testing on Wednesday at Silverstone in preparation for next weekend’s Walter Hayes Trophy.


Formula Ford, Formula Ford Festival, Team USA Scholarship

 

Huffaker: A dog named Clive

Image by Gary Hawkins Photography


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By: Scott Huffaker | 12 hours ago


Josh and I started the Formula Ford Festival week on Wednesday with the first practice day at Brands Hatch. This would turn out to be the only time to get practice in the dry before the race. We had four sessions in the dry and showed good pace. The Cliff Dempsey Racing team has an abundance of data at Brands from all the years of entering the Festival so we knew the setup. We worked with our teammate Jonathan Browne, plus Cliff’s son, Peter, who has a huge amount of experience in these cars, and the two Team Canada Scholarship drivers, Zach Vanier and Jonathan Woolridge, to help us get up to speed as fast as possible.

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Team USA Scholarship duo prepared for Formula Ford Festival

Team USA's Green: Ready for racing at Brands Hatch

Team USA's Huffaker: From track to track

Thursday and Friday were run to a similar four-session schedule but it was raining most of the time. I was able to get a good feeling for the car in wet conditions and dry conditions which allowed us to be the most prepared for the Festival.

Saturday we had qualifying in the dry. I was in the same qualifying session as Peter so we were able to work together to qualify in the top five. Moving into the heat I got a good start for my first ever FF1600 standing start to jump from fifth to third off the line, but I struggled in the weather and finished seventh. This was the heaviest rain that I drove in all week which caught me by surprise. I was disappointed with the result but kept my head up looking forward to the Semi-Final.

Image by Gary Hawkins Photography




Sunday was the big day, I had the Semi and the Final. I started the Semi from 10th so I knew I had some work to do. I got a good start getting into sixth on the first lap and was making a move for fifth when the race was red-flagged. The race was then restarted from the original starting positions and was cut by three laps, which was extremely frustrating. Still, I rushed to eighth at the second start on the first lap and eventually found myself in a battle for fourth with my teammate Peter. I finished in fifth but due to a penalty for Peter I got promoted to fourth.

I lost a position in the Final at the start, then the race immediately went into Safety Car mode. I made a mistake on the restart that dropped me back from the front pack, and I spent the entire race closing the gap. With a few laps to go I caught the back of the car in eighth but wasn’t able to make up any positions.

Overall it was a great experience, and even though I am disappointed with the result, I want to say a big thank-you to everyone on the Cliff Dempsey Racing team for all the hard work that went into this, and to everyone who helped made the Team USA Scholarship possible. Also big congratulations to our teammate Jonathan for winning the Festival with a dominant drive.

Image courtesy of Team USA


Monday we spent the morning at the McLaren factory just outside London! This had been a dream of mine since I started racing. We started the tour looking at some of the most iconic McLarens ever made. A personal favorite was the 1995 McLaren F1 GTR. Everything was magnificent. We got to see the mission control for where the decisions are made for the F1 team during the race weekends, the assembly line for where the street cars are made, and the racing department where they work on all of their race cars.



Image courtesy of Team USA


One thing I found most interesting was their struggle with geese! There is a helicopter pad that gets swarmed by geese so they “employed” a hawk to try and scare them away but it didn’t work, so instead they got a dog named Clive. Clive is one of the cutest dogs that just runs around the McLaren factory scaring the geese! The visit was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, fulfilling a bucket-list item for me ever since I was a kid.

We’re off to Silverstone next for the Walter Hayes Trophy so will update you from there. Thanks for reading,
-Scott


Team USA Scholarship, Team USA Scholarship

 

Josh Green: Eyes Wide Open

Gary Hawkins Photography


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By: Team USA Scholarship | 21 hours ago


It’s been a while since we’ve last caught up. We had a great time at the Formula Ford Festival and ended a really good weekend of intense competition by finishing among the top 10 in the Grand Final (above), which was respectable given the amazing quality of our competition.

We slept in at the hotel the night after the Festival and left early Monday morning for Woking to visit the McLaren Technology Centre. After about an hour’s drive, we arrived at what seemed like an empty hilly field; but as you drive on, the hill to your left slowly ends and you’re left with the insane sight that is McLaren. With a man-made lake in front, the giant metal monolith lays in the middle of the big hilly fields. It’s unlike anything I had seen before, and to add to our disbelief we soon learned this space-age building was constructed in 2004.

As we ventured closer two glass doors slid open and allowed us into the building, which was just as mental inside as it was out. Each of their championship winning cars, all in rows, were back-lit by the massive windows that line one side of the outer ring of the structure. It is an amazing sight, and as Scott Huffaker and I stood in awe, we were rounded up into an elevator that was completely glass, and walked onto a walkway above the entrance – which was also completely glass, sensing a theme? Our guide, Danielle Fenemore, escorted us through each and every car with just about every fact there is about each. She then took us down their long corridor of every trophy they’ve ever won, dating back to Bruce McLaren’s first ever win in 1954.

We then ventured off to the factory where the road cars are manufactured and got a sneak peak of the latest McLaren GT, the first model that has been aimed at a more luxurious customer base, rather than one that’s just hunting for speed. For instance, the trunk has to have enough room for a set of golf clubs! We continued and went back toward the main part of McLaren until Danielle swiped her key card at a wall, and it slowly opened – of course there were secret doors! Behind it was every F1 car McLaren built and still owns, from the beginning in the 1960s until now. Impressed by that, we were then taken to the Formula 1 “Mission Control” room where the 30 engineers who stay at home base monitor every moment of every session at every race! They receive live telemetry and data and make real-time decisions for the cars on track thousands of miles away. It was a truly insane experience and one I’ll never forget!

After a night in with our parents in London, Scott and I met up with auto racing historian Steve Nickless for a visit to West Surrey Racing (WSR) on Tuesday. WSR might not be a particularly well-known name in the U.S. but it runs the ultra-successful BMW Project X program in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Dick Bennetts, originally from New Zealand, is the team owner, and he (and his team) have run F3 cars way back. They at one point ran both Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen, two idols of mine. Nevertheless, being in the sport for so long Mr. Bennetts had a huge amount to speak about – and loads for Scott and I to learn about – in nearly every form of motorsport there is. We spent an hour just in his office speaking about all things motor racing, from our thoughts on Formula E to how he switched to running a Ralt chassis from a March back in the early ’80s!

He then showed us around his shop and taught us all about the rules and regulations of the BTCC, and how they (and every team) always push the rules! We got a close up look at the BMW 3 series chassis he had run all season and won the championship – again – with Colin Turkington. The tour was amazing, but it was even more amazing to learn so much about all Mr. Bennetts had to offer! It’s always cool to get new viewpoints about different forms of motorsport.

The last two days since our tour of WSR we have been testing at Silverstone in preparation for the Walter Hayes Trophy. It’s a very cool sight to drive into a track you’ve played on video games your whole life. It’s just as much fun as I’d imagined; with the long sweeping nature of the corners, it’s very high speed and tricky to get right. Rain is in the forecast for the rest of the weekend but either way we know it will be a great event and I can’t wait to get started. So until then….
-Josh


Formula Ford Festival, Team USA Scholarship

 

A win for Huffaker, pole for Green in Walter Hayes Trophy Heat races

Images by Jacob Ebrey


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By: Team USA Scholarship | November 2, 2019 9:42 AM


A promising first day of the 19th Annual Walter Hayes Trophy race weekend at Silverstone produced an impressive pole position for Josh Green and a slightly fortuitous but well-earned Heat race win for Scott Huffaker (above) in their pair of Cliff Dempsey Racing-prepared Formula Ford Ray GR18/19s.

As often in the English Midlands at this time of year, changeable weather conditions simply added to the challenges facing the pair of talented young Americans. The initial qualifying sessions were delayed for around 45 minutes due to heavy rain, but Huffaker, in Heat 2, and Green, in Heat 4, put their three days of testing to good use as they both posted competitive lap times.

Later in the day, with the track slowly drying out but with the temperatures remaining very cool and held lower by a biting wind, Huffaker was the first to see the green light. Starting from the outside of row 2, Huffaker, 19, from Menlo Park, Calif., moved up one position on the opening lap at the expense of Jack Wolfenden’s Firman RFR FF17. Ahead of him lay only two-time and defending Walter Hayes Trophy winner Michael Moyers (Spectrum) and fellow veteran Joey Foster (Firman), a former three-time Walter Hayes Trophy champion, who were locked in combat. On Lap 3, incredibly, Moyers and Foster became entangled at Copse Corner, handing Huffaker a lead he held without serious challenge until the checkered flag.

Former Formula Ford Festival champion Ivor McCullough finished second, 2.13 seconds in arrears at the conclusion of the eight-lap race. Huffaker capped his fine performance by posting the fastest lap of the race at 1m08.596s (86.09 mph).

“I was gifted the lead, so we were a little bit lucky,” admitted Huffaker. “I knew we were a bit faster than the guy behind us so I thought, OK, just maintain the gap, don’t push harder than you have to and don’t make any mistakes. I saw him close a tiny bit and so I decided to push for a lap or two and those were my two fast laps. It was pretty simple. I was checking my mirrors to make sure I maintained a gap but it wasn’t a big gap and if I had made a mistake, he would have been right there.”

Green’s Heat 4 race a half-hour or so later was significantly more challenging. The 16-year-old from Mount Kisco, N.Y., was beaten away from the start by outside front row qualifier Luke Cooper (Swift SC1 but immediately settled into a thrilling four-car battle with Matt Cowley (Van Diemen), who finished on the podium at last weekend’s Formula Ford Festival, and two-time Walter Hayes Trophy runner-up Oliver White (Medina JL17).

Green took the lead with a brilliant move on Fisher under braking at Brooklands on the opening lap, diving through on the significantly wetter inside line, only for Cowley to move in front next time around. Green found his way into the lead by Lap 4, but there was clearly nothing to choose between the quartet. Finally, one slight mistake by Green under braking for Brooklands Corner on Lap 7 proved decisive, as Cowley regained the point and Green quickly found himself elbowed down to fourth.

White grabbed the lead on the final lap to win from Cowley, Cooper and Green. All four were separated by just 0.645s.

“The first race of the Walter Hayes Trophy was a lot of fun,” said Green. “Finally I was able to race people which hadn’t happened yet. Everyone put up a really good fight and we still have a pretty good starting position for the Semi Final. I know what I need to work on for the next round.”

The other two Heat races were won by Ireland’s Jordan Dempsey (Spectrum 011c) and Englishman Rory Smith (Medina Sport JL1.

Heat 4 was the fastest of today’s four races, thus White will start from pole position for the first of two 12-lap Semi-Final races tomorrow morning, which is scheduled to start at 11:10 a.m. Green will line up on the inside of Row 4. By virtue of winning the second fastest Heat today, Huffaker (unofficially) will start from pole position for Semi-Final 2.

Live timing – as well as commentary from Ian Titchmarsh, Paul Truswell and Alistair Douglas – will be available at https://www.tsl-timing.com/event/194456.


Walter Hayes Trophy, Team USA Scholarship

 

Josh Green's "Amazing" Team USA experience

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emailBy: Team USA Scholarship | January 10, 2020 11:45 AM

After yesterday confirming he will follow in the footsteps of 2018 Team USA Scholarship winner and 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Champion Braden Eves by joining Cape Motorsports for the 2020 USF2000 season, Josh Green, 17, from Mount Kisco, N.Y., reflects on another successful Team USA Scholarship trip to England:



We’ve been home for a couple of months since our trip to England, so I thought it was a good time to reminisce about the experience. The opportunity given to Scott Huffaker and I by Team USA Scholarship president Jeremy Shaw was a prestigious one. We followed many renowned talents in the motorsports world and our names were tacked on to the end of the list.

The time in England was all it was said to be. The Dempseys offered amazing hospitality; Michelle’s cooking was always great and both she and Cliff were extremely generous to make us feel at home throughout the trip. Michelle always took care of the arrangements prior to arriving to any tracks or flights and it made it seamless and simple for Scott and I to check in or register for each event or hotel. Both of us are extremely thankful for their generosity and help to make an easy transition from home to England, and to make the entirety of the trip stress free.

Not long after we first arrived in England, we found ourselves back on a plane, headed this time for Italy. The trip was insane. We got to make a string of connections throughout the country with many amazing people. For example, our first visit after arriving in Bologna brought us in front of Giorgio Sanna, head of motorsport for Lamborghini. We were able to see the entire production line and how they build the cars from the ground up, in house. As well, we later got to meet Mr. Dallara in his factory. We voyaged around their massive simulator and through the multitude of workshops where each of their race cars are delicately hand-built and sent off to each race team.

Keeping with the theme, when we were back in England we got to see the McLaren factory, which housed both their production line and where they build each of their Formula 1 cars. We were lucky enough to see the polished marble floors and tables of the workshops where tens of championship winning F1 cars were born. We also visited WSR, which clinched yet another British Touring Car Championship this year, and Ilmor Engineering, a team that builds specialty engines for just about everything. We watched on as a Chevrolet Indy car engine was dynoed and prepped for delivery somewhere in the U.S. We also got a new take on motors and how they work in detail as we were taken around their beautiful shop.
Josh Green leads a British Formula Ford tussle. Image by Jeff Bloxham

The on-track experience in England will be hugely useful in my future career – specifically the Walter Hayes Trophy, where I got to race in the lead pack throughout the entirety of my heats and semis and was constantly battling for the lead. I gained a handful of new skills when it comes to racing in packs after battling so hard against so many talented people in each and every race. The Formula Ford Festival was amazing; just being granted the opportunity to compete in such an event means a huge amount. The racing over the pond was and is amazing, and I hope I get to go back someday soon.

Lastly, Scott and I were lucky enough to end up behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Super Trofeo EVO (pictured below) run by the US RaceTronics team in California. It was an amazing experience, getting to drive something with that much power and aero – as well as weight. Though our one-day program was a little bit stunted because of the rain, it was still a bountiful experience getting to thrash around Buttonwillow Raceway Park in a 620hp Lamborghini race car. A huge thank you to the US RaceTronics team as well as Chris Ward of Lamborghini Squadra Corse for making all of this possible.

In the end, though, it was an amazing experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life and my racing career. I can’t thank all those who backed the scholarship, including Mr. Shaw for all that they’ve done for me thus far. It’s been such an amazing time, and I can’t wait to share my future with each and every one of you.

-Josh Green

About Team USA Scholarship:
The program has been providing opportunities for talented American race car drivers at an early stage in their careers since 1990. Supporters include AERO ™ Sustainable Paint Technology, Doug Mockett & Company, the Road Racing Drivers Club and SAFEisFAST.com, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Chip Ganassi Racing, Mazda, Lamborghini Squadra Corse, US RaceTronics, Robertson Racing, Lucas Oil School of Racing, PitFit Training, RaceCraft1, Sparco USA, RACER Magazine, Speedstar Management, Styled Aesthetic and Manifest Group.

For more information, please visit www.TeamUSAScholarship.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Team USA Scholarship