Daytona 2025 Race Debrief From Jay Saito

Daytona is a fabulous place to go racing but it always feels like it is too early in the year. It is often cold and this year the rain decided to come into the mix just as the teams were setting up and opening the transporters.  It clearly is the same for all, but it probably affected us more than most due to the crew size. The consequence was wet equipment all over the place, total chaos and, as a consequence, on day 1 of track activities, we were constantly behind. The crew was only able to release the cars just in time for practice 1, however most of us didn’t make it into the pits until after the start of practice. 

Practice 1 was a little wet and we took a conservative approach with the drivers by releasing on wet tires since there wasn’t any reason to chase headline times. We treated it as a system check and focused on car balance once the track had dried a bit more. We didn’t learn much, but we were reassured that the car balance was good and the cars were quick.

Practice 2, we were a lot closer to making it into the pits on time but still behind schedule by less than a minute. This was sign that we were recovering but there were radio issues which made communication with the drivers almost impossible for some crew members. 

We decided to run on new dry stickers to verify that the balance would still be good on new tires and to get an idea of what was going to be possible for the qualifying session the next day. Both cars had small mechanical issues with the sway bar linkage which forced them back into the pits for assessment and repairs. Unfortunately, Ethan’s car was not repairable, and his session was cut short…not ideal for a rookie driver. Ethan was unfazed and in good spirit, showing mental resilience of which I took note. Nate was able to carry on with the practice and by the end of it, both drivers had the same feedback (again a good sign for set up direction) of a slight understeer on corner exit but both were pretty happy, promising for qualifying.     

Qualifying:

Qualifying at Daytona is not terribly important, more like a point of pride and bragging rights. Both drivers were very quick but here is where Nate Cicero delivered an outstanding performance and a nice present to the team, our first pole position. The lap was a master class lap in a very chaotic session. The delta to the rest of the field was a staggering .07of a second. Thank you Nate, you didn’t get me anything for my birthday but a Daytona pole made up for it nicely, thank you very much!!! Ethan also had a great qualifying finishing in P4 but unfortunately, he was forced into a slow lap due to other drivers mistake that forced him to exceed the 107% rule and that meant a penalty that would see him start race 1 from P 19 in car 19 (that perhaps was a good sign too). Most drivers would have been very upset by having to give up their two fastest laps but, there’s no denting Ethan spirit or confidence and there’s no give up, again unbelievable showing of mental strength.

Race 1:

Race direction declared the race as a wet race and everyone was forced to start on wet tires, however the track was only lightly wet. We had a team conversation on what the optimal race strategy might look like and how to minimize time loss during the pit stop, should we be forced to change back to dry tires. Nate led the field to green and was comfortably in the lead for the first few laps. The track dried and the decision was made to change to dry tires as that seem the optimal race strategy with a 66.6% chance of success vs staying on wets only having 33.3% chance of success. The crew did an excellent job and got him back on track without losing a lap. The strategy would have worked had there been a yellow flag at any point during the race or had the race continued without any further rain, there were no yellows and it started to rain pretty hard with 17 minutes left in the race, needless to say luck wasn’t on our side. I repeat, no yellows in our series and in variable conditions, really? Yes, really!! No draft, no hope, and faith was sealed for Nate’s car. 

Ethan was a lion, cut through the field and nobody was going to stop him from coming to the front. He continued to gain on the lead pack while passing other drivers and reached the front where he battled for several laps like a consumed professional driver at the old age of 15. He dispatched of drivers who had spent years in the series for years and reached P2 with only one car to pass, that of our friend and last year’s driver Tyler Gozalez. I was in Monaco in 1984 when another Brazilian only had to pass the professor to get it done but the race was red flagged. Maybe history repeated? Just as Ethan was going to start attempting passing maneuvers, the yellow flag came out and robbed him of 2 laps worth of chances. Hard to say if he would have been able to pass Tyler….Tyler is one of those hard but fair drivers and it would have been fun to watch a couple of attempts, but a second place on debut, was good enough for the team/ The only one wanting more was Ethan, though I must admit that a Daytona P1 trophy would have been pretty cool. 

I believe he is the highest finishing rookie in MX5 cup history, so we can call that a great day. Thank you, Ethan, we really appreciated your efforts. What a drive, I only wished they had given you real champagne on the podium instead of whatever they give 15-year-olds…well at least it was better than milk, unless you are in the Indy 500 of course.

Race 2:

Finally a nice weather race with a lot of promise ahead for two quick drivers in quick cars….oh no, I forgot this is MX5 cup, what about making it look better by creating a huge and expensive parking lot on the main strait and maybe get the cars to weave through it at speed….do you think some will make it? I don’t know but why don’t we find out? Feels like that sums it up. 

Nate was unaffected starting from pole again and leading every lap till the last two, Ethan wasn’t as fortunate starting from P24 but, with a little bit of luck, good judgment and great situational awareness, was able to thread the needle and come through on the other side with damage but not yet terminal damage. It took two pit stops for the crew to patch his damage but finally we were able to release him back into the race and still on the lead lap. While Nate was leading at the front and comfortably dominating the field, Ethan was nursing his car at the back with compromised engine cooling end no front right brake cooling. Both were doing a great job and as soon as I knew that Ethan was going to be ok, my attention reverted to Nate. Sorry Nate, we weren’t ignoring you, we were simply trying to make sure that Ethan’s car was going to be ok too.

Nate you were simply too good the whole race and therefore you had a huge target on your back, our back…that’s why the seas parted and you were left with no one helping you. We all felt the pain but, all in all, let’s just use the fact that we didn’t collect the results we deserved as motivation for the rest of the season.

We have ground to make up and stiff opposition, let’s just dust off and get back in there with renewed motivation for the remaining race events till the season is over.

We served the field with notice of intent, let’s go do our collective best.

A special thanks has to go to: Cory, Niki, Chuck, Frankie Kez, Dave, Dee, Alex, Elivan, Matt, Sergio, Frank. None of this would be possible without your support and dedication. The heroes behind the scenes, Rob and Zach and most importantly our partners, that make a difference every day for countless people:

Vail Veterans Foundation – Rangers Road Foundation – CKG Hospital Thank you for your support and allowing us to represent, with pride, your name in this field, we are simply honored