Author Archives: ChiefDuck

SCCA Spec Racer Ford 2023 Part II Finale

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The 2023 SRF season, the the Elite Autosports #59,  was intended to give Jason some practice driving in traffic and see where is stacks up against drivers with more experience.  He started the season with an H-pattern car gave him an additional hurdle to overcome.  For last race of the season, Grattan, the car finally got a sequential transmission and there would be some tough competition to test Jason and the car.  He’s now going to have to adjust again and quickly as everyone has had more time with this transmission.

 
He hasn’t been to Grattan since 2020 and that was a test day in a kart.  It’s notorious for being hard on the cars, especially the hill/jump into the esses followed by the toilet bowl.  Friday’s testing went very well and Jason was looking very fast in effectively different car a more or less familiar track.  When Saturdays qualifying arrived, Jason’s car had a dead battery at the grid and would not start.  After a couple attempts to jump the car, he and the car and had to be push up the hill to the garage for a jump.  He was able get out with 10 minutes left.  Despite the chaos of getting the car started he kept his cool and was able to qualify very well and will start the days race in second. 

Saturdays race was exciting.  The P3 driver was got a great start and pushed P1 ahead of Jason.  This forced Jason and P3 to fight for 2nd through the opening corners.  For a few laps Jason was stuck in third, until a small mistake allowed Jason pass for 2nd and speed away after the leader.  As the laps wound down Jason caught up and started battling for the lead and even take it briefly.   A couple of small mistakes in the last two laps drifted Jason back just enough to relegate him to 2nd place.  Post race the winner hand to make sure that Jason had the new transmission, there was a little surprise at Jason’s new found speed.

The last Spec Race Ford race for Jason’s 2023 season started off with Jason attacking from the start immediately battling for the lead.  Unlike Saturdays race, he had to attack the driver in front of him defend pass attempts from behind.  The three drivers ticked off laps with Jason occasionally leading.  While doing all of this Jason also had to contend with the gradual failure of his front breaks, every corner he had to make adjustments to keep it in balance.  In the final lap he was in second and had an opportunity to make a run for the lead in the closing corners when his front breaks failed completely and he spun off the track.  Once again, kept cool and recovered quickly and was able to drive his car over the finish line for 8th place.  Unfortunately, his 8th place finish was also just enough to prevent him from winning the SCCA Majors Norther Conference Championship by a mere two points.  Congratulation to Sandy on his well earned Championship, Jason in 2nd, and Jace in 3rd.

Thank you to Beau, the team at Elite Autosports, and the SCCA Spec Racer Ford 3 class for a great season of racing.

Next up will be F1600 Finale, plus some news for the 2024 season.

SCCA Spec Racer Ford 2023 Part I

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The 2023 season was intended to be a safe season after last years challenges.  We picked Beau and Elite Autosports to rent a Spec Racer Ford, becuase their impeccable reputation as a support team.  We also wanted to make sure that Jason had a large and competitive field to hone his skills in traffic.  The SCCA SRF3 met those requirements nicely.  The only down side was that he would be starting the season with an h-pattern car and it would be difficult to compete with the top drivers. Jason would get the sequential transmission sometime later in the season.  As it turned out, having the h-pattern for most of the season helped Jason learn to drive harder and take his race craft to the next level. 

After the excitement of the June Sprints the next race up, July 13-16, was Gingerman Raceway in Belding MI.  This of course wasn’t the first time racing at this track. He’s raced karts and FE2 race.  Fridays test day ended with his transmission giving up, but it was replaced over night and good to go for qualifying.  Jason’s Saturday was something to watch, he was pushed off early in the first lap moving to last, but the drove through the field to third.  Sunday was less exiting where the top three cars pulled away and he finished an uncontested third. 

July 21-23 brought Jason back to Road America and the Rodeo Cat Majors and our second home.  Once again Grandma brought all the luck he needed.  The transmission that was put in at Gingerman also failed during Friday’s testing. Yet another standard transmission was installed by the team, Thanks Guys.  After qualify second, Jason spent the Saturdays race battling in the top four until taking the lead in turn 6 just as the rain started causing the 3 cars behind him to run off track while Jason pulled away.  At turn 8 cars rear trailing arm broke and the car started to handle extremely poorly.  Knowing the cars behind could catch him, he pushed hard barely able to control the car though turn 9.  At turn 10 the rain and lighting caused a full course caution, Jason still had to keep a good pace as the field collected behind him and followed him across the finish line.  Sunday’s race was more of the battling this time the dry with Jason coming out on top again and winning the second race of the weekend.

Up next is the last SRF3 race of the season and there’s still F1600 racing to report on. 

2023 SRF3 June Sprints

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June Sprints is probably one of the hardest SCCA weekends to race.  It starts on Tuesday afternoon with teams with teams unloading their cars and setting up their pit site for the weekends.  Wednesday and Thursdays are days of testing and practice, which is especially important since Road America has been repaved over winter and everyone needs to learn it again.  Friday are two qualifying sessions to set the grid for Saturday and Sundays races.  Add the heat of 90 degree days its a long hard weekend.

Our expectations for the weekend were muted but still pretty high.  The h-pattern transmission was going to be a limited factor on the long straights of Road America.  However, he’s still a very fast and smart driver and were still hoping to be in the top 20 if not higher. 

Jason had to work hard to find some speed in the car on the test days, but it really didn’t coming together.  Friday’s qualifying was also challenging since he was one of the few h-pattern cars as was going to struggle to draft.  In qualifying session one he landed in 23rd and in session two 26th, but in the end he would start Saturday’s race in 30th.  That was very quite discouraging and a change plan was in order. 

Saturday race was good Jason started 30th and moved up to 19th.
Onbaord SCCA Saturday SRF3
Live SCCA Saturday SRF3

Jason started Sunday’s race in 19th because many drivers decided they didn’t want to race in the rain.  Jason on the other hand was ready to go and had a plan.  He could get his car up to speed faster and was able to make key passes in the first few laps. 
Live SCCA Sunday SRF3

Bonus, Jason was invited to join the announcers to add color and commentary for the Race Group 7: P1, P2, and FE2. 

The next race is a bit of surprise, Jason will be returning to Road America the weekend of July 6-9 for his second Formula Race Promotion race in a F1600 once again with Rice Race Prep.  The race will be broadcast on speedtourTV.com more details to come.

Thanks to Elite Autosport for the great car and support.  Thanks to Gregg Ginsberg, Brian Bielanski, and DriversEye Live for allowing Jason the opportunity to join you in the broadcast booth. 

 

Formula Race Promotions F1600 Schedule

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Thursday’s testing was very productive Jason was quickly comfortable with the car and the team setting.  Friday will be more practice and working on specific strategies for qualifying.

F1600 Race Schedule
Friday
11:30 Practice 1
4:20 Practice 2
Saturday
10:30 Qualifying
4:30 Feature Race 1
Sunday
10:30 Feature Race 2
2:25 Feature Race 3

Weekend Full Schedule – Watch Racing Live on Speed Tour TV YouTube Channel

Follow live timing on FRP Road America on Race Monitor

Formula Race Promotions (FRP) is the East Coast’s premiere hosting body for formula car racing. From the highly competitive F1600 series to our our core F2000 series, Atlantic and informal Right Coast Formula Ford Series, FRP offers a wide array of championships for teams and drivers alike to partake in. Formed in 2006, we are sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing and hold events at some of the east coast’s most exciting and prestigious circuits. Discover our series in detail below.

 

Pribyl Joins Rice Race Prep F1600 at Road America

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Jason Pribyl Autosports is excited to announce that Jason will be joining Rice Race Prep(RRP) for the Formula Race Promotions(FRP) event at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.  The event will take place the weekend of July 7-9 and will consist of 3 separate races and will be broadcast on speedtourTV.com

“We have watched Jason mature and develop as he raced other cars over the last few years” reports team owner Greg Rice. “When we had a seat open up, we reached out and put together a deal for Road America.”

Jason Pribyl says, “Greg Rice’s has always had the most comparative F1600 program.  I’m thrilled and honored to have this opportunity to race with his team again.”

FRP Press Release
Rice Race Prep Press Release

Jason raced with RRP in 2020 in his very first car race.  Since then he has been racing a verity of cars.  In 2021 he won the SCCA Norther Conference Majors in Formula Enterprise 2.  In 2022 tested in USF Jr and USF 2000 and raced Spec-MX5 sports cars.   In 2023 he has been racing Spec Racer Ford and has just returned from Road America where he finished 8th in the SCCA June Sprints. 

Jason and #13 Rice Race F1600 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in 2020

RICE RACE is a race shop offering premium preparation service to formula car racers in the North East USA and Canada. For more than 30 years RRP has been preparing and racing  winning vehicles in Formula 1600 and Formula 2000. From preparation to vehicle maintenance and track support, RRP does our very best to provide quality and winning support.  

Formula Race Promotions (FRP) is the East Coast’s premiere hosting body for formula car racing. From the highly competitive F1600 series to our our core F2000 series, Atlantic and informal Right Coast Formula Ford Series, FRP offers a wide array of championships for teams and drivers alike to partake in. Formed in 2006, we are sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing and hold events at some of the east coast’s most exciting and prestigious circuits. Discover our series in detail below. We hope to see you on the grid or in the paddock at our next event!

SCCA June Sprints 2023 Preview

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This weekend, June 24-25 is the SCCA Majors Road America; June Sprints; Elkhart Lake, WI.  This will be Jason’s third June sprints but his first in Spec Race Ford 3.  This won’t be his first June Sprints, this weekend was also a kart night race and was on his schedule for many years.  June Sprints was also the race that was the seed for Jason’s racing when Grandpa Joe went to his first June Sprints at Road America in the mid-sixties.  That led to Dad, taking Jason to the races and then finding karting.  

Happy Fathers Day to the Dad’s that made racing possible

Jason and the team will be arriving at the track on Tuesday in preparation for testing on Wednesday and Thursday.  The current entry list for SRF3 has over 80 drivers.    Here is the Full Schedule for the race weekend.  This being both a Majors and Super Tour race  there will be live feeds for the 3 day weekend so you can watch the racing.  It will be good to be back at our second home track.

Friday Schedule

10:25 AM SRF 3 Qualifying 1
4:35 PM SRF 3 Qualifying 2

Saturday Schedule 

1:40 PM SRF 3 Race – 25 minutes

Sunday Schedule

12:45 PM SRF 3 Race – 13 Laps

Watch Social Media for more live updates. 

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While you’re here checkout out the new Jason Pribyl Autosports Store

Mothers Day At Mid-Ohio

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In years passed we’ve been at Gateway for Mothers day and Mid-Ohio for fathers.  This year its Mother’s day at Mid-Ohio in the #59 SRF3.  Happy Mothers Day an thank you for supporting Jason and his racing all these years.

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The weekend would be a test of Jason’s skills against some of the top drivers in the country including 2 multi-year SCCA SRF 3 Champions, Bobby Sak and Sandy Satullo.  While he has performed well at Blackhawk the field this weekend was be stronger.

Saturday’s qualifying was wet which was good for Jason.  His car is a 5 speed h-pattern manual transmission and the really fast guys have 6 speed sequential transmission, the sequential allows the drivers to shift just a little faster.  The rain is a bit of an equalizer as Jason has great rain control and the all manual transmission will allow him to manage his car just a little easier.  He found the rain line very quickly and stayed out of trouble, mostly to qualify 4th.

The race was great,  Jason started in 4th and kept a good eye out for wet and drying spots for the first few laps.  He avoided them but was able to contrive to have other drivers to hit them and slow them for a pass.  He worked his way up to 3rd and battled hard, when a front car fell back moving him up to 3nd.  He and 3rd place battled nicely until Jason found a his own puddle and dropped to third.  Jason even used some of his kart road racing skills and was drafting and pushing the car in front just like he used to.  Race highlights are below or watch the full race. He did set the fastest last of the race, which was good setup for Sunday’s qualifying and race. 

Sunday Qualifying was great, the track was dry.  Everyone was fast but so was Jason.  He again qualified 4th, not quite as fast as he was on Saturday but still an excellent result.

Sunday race went a bit sideways.  A missed shift on the start dropped him back and then some banging with another car in the esses caused the body work to be wonky.  From then on, Jason, had to then manage his engine temperatures and drive back from 15th to up 7th.   Not the greatest result in the end but Jason showed a lot of grit and was very conscientious of his car and needing to get it to the finish with out hurting it and still move it forward.

All in all Jason was pleased with the weekends results. “I was eager to see how I would stack up  against some of the bigger names in SRF3.  While the weekend didn’t pan out how I would have wanted it to, it’s safe to say I’m satisfied with the bigger picture”.  He’s made an impression with the other drivers.

Next up is the Famous June Sprints at Road America.  This is the track where Jason’s grandpa came in the mid-sixites and eventually brought Steve, his dad, who then brought Jason to his first race at 6.

2023 The Mark Amenda Memorial Majors

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On the grid 2013

The last weekend of April was Jason returned his home track Blackhawk Farms.  He first3e race there at 8 years old in 2013.  Since then he’s visited at least once or twice a year.  He’s driven 1000’s of miles on the tracks and knows its every bump and ripple.  This was Jason’s third time running the SCCA The Mark Amenda Memorial Majors, the first in 2021 where he won in an FE2 race and the second time in a Spec Miata as part of 2022’s reset.  This race is the kick off of the Northern Majors now with Jason number 59 Spec Racer Ford 3.

On the grid 2023

The started weekend like all race weekends started with Friday practice.  The weather was cool but dry, perfect for getting re-acclimated to the car.  Elite Autosports, who specializes in SRF3 cars, prepared a great car.  Jason was very quickly up to speed and flying around the track.  

Saturday arrived with a cold and wet track but an eager and ready Jason and car.  They both seems to have taken a liking to each other.  During a crowded and busy qualifying session he whipped the 59 around a wet and slippery track earning his first ever car pole by nearly a second.  As the day progressed the track dried and Jason lost his wet driving advantage and would have to find some new tricks to stay out front.  At the green Jason jumped away and let the field into turn one.  As the laps ticketed down the #61 car caught and began pushing Jason and his cars limits.  With just a few laps to go the tires where pushed over the limit and the car started to loosen and bobble.  Going into turn one it bobbled enough that Jason’s lost a touch of moments and the #61 made the pass for the lead.  Jason was able to keep up but did not find an opportunity.  He finished 2nd, unfortunately, his early jump at the start earned him a one position penalty for 3rd place.  The good news is Jason set the fastest lap of the race which meant that baring a faster time during Sundays qualifying he would start on the pole again.

Like Saturday, Sunday was again cold and wet, so most folks, including Jason skipped qualifying as there was nothing to gain and a great deal to risk.  Jason was still the fastest and started the race on the pole.  This time made sure to wait for the green flag. There was a little bumping into trun one and then he zipped away from the field at a steady even pass in the wet.  At about the halfway mark he was 20 seconds ahead but was slowed by a yellow flag and safety truck doing a hot pull of a injured car reducing seconds gap to 8 seconds.  Once cleared he resumed his pace and stared to accelerate just a little.  By the end of the race he was more than 40 seconds ahead of second and had lapped all but 5 cars of the 21 car field.  When asked about his weekend, Jason said, “I came to the track and did exactly what I wanted to do six months ago, win.  To be fast with not track time for months is a very good sign for the rest of the season.”  Congratulation on putting on a great show during your first race of 2023.

Thanks to Elite Autosports for the great car and Grandma and Aunt Karen for coming out to support the team.  Next up is SCCA Ohio Valley GLRoC Majors at Mid-Ohio and the track first drove a race car.  We are going to keep an eye on the weather and hope for a little rain to give him a little advantage.

2023 Schedule Announcement.

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2023 Jason Pribyl Autosports Schedule
Races, Testing, Practice Races. Media Events
2023 Hospitality Opportunities

We are excited to announce that Jason will be racing a Spec Racer Ford 3(SRF3) with Elite Autosports in the SCCA Northern Majors conference.  The Spec Racer Ford 3 is a purpose build race car supported by SCCA Enterprises.  It has a tube frame chassis and a full fiberglass body.   The power comes from a 135 HP factory sealed 4 cylinder Ford engine and either a 5 speed manual or a 6 speed sequential transmission. The SCCA Northern Majors Conference will take to a familiar tracks in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.  In addtion to the SRF3 racing Jason will continue to test in USF2000, other cars, and we expect that he will enter at least one endurance racing.

2023 Schedule

  • Testing in Various cars to be announced
  • March 11, Young Drivers Show – Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame
  • April 28-30 SCCA Majors Blackhawk Farms Raceway, South Beloit, IL
  • May 12-14 SCCA Majors Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Lexington, OH
  • June 22-25 SCCA Majors Road America; June Sprints; Elkhart Lake, WI
  • July 13-16 SCCA Majors Gingerman Raceway; South Haven, MI
  • July 21-23 SCCA Majors Road America; Elkhart Lake, WI 
  • Aug 18-20 SCCA Majors Grattan Raceway; Belding, MI
  • USF Series Test Indianapolis Motor Speedway

More about the Spec Racer Ford 3

  • 135 hp, 150 mph top speed
  • Ford Sigma 1.6L, sequential fuel-injected, DOHC 16-valve, inline 4-cylinder Ford
  • 5-speed manual H-Pattern or 6-speed SADEV sequential transmission
  • Hoosier radial-ply spec slick tire, dry and rain versions available.
  • Cockpit-adjustable brake bias
  • 92 in (2,337 mm) wheelbase
  • 1560 lb GEN3 SRF3, including driver
  • Fuel: commercial pump fuel only, usually 93 to 100 octane