It's TTAC Vs. R&T And Jalopnik In A Race Of Some Sort

This weekend will be the inaugural race for the new American Endurance Racing (AER) series. It’s a run-what-you-brung, take-no-prisoners approach to low-cost endurance competition that welcomes everything from prepped SCCA racers to the cheaty-est of LeMons Class A rides.

As you might expect, former Editor-In-Chief Jack Baruth will be there — but this time, he’s the enemy.

Or maybe not.

Hi. I’m Sam Miller, and despite the photo you see below, I try not to be a crappy driver.

I’ve raced a variety of classes and done a fair amount of professional driver coaching. I’m also a long-time TTAC reader and friend of the Texas TTAC crew. So when the call went out for someone to represent this site against Jack (driving for R&T) and Travis Okulski (driving for Jalopnik) I was at least one of the choices.

This weekend, we’ll be running on the New Jersey Motorsports Park “Lightning” course in a couple of Spec E30 race cars, which are old BMWs with a surprising amount of motor and grip to them. Once we all arrive at the track, we’ll be assigned to our cars and sent out to do battle. It’s possible that they will actually make me team up with Jack while putting Travis together with pro driver Randy Pobst in an unbeatable combination we’ve already nicknamed “Randy Travis”. In which case, look for me to thoroughly humiliate my aging teammate with a series of untouchable laps before handing the car over to him for a lackluster finish.

Yesterday, Jack and I drove from Powell, Ohio to Baltimore in a brand-new Buick LaCrosse eAssist. He says there’s a review coming and something something auto-stop. All I can say is that the back seat is very comfortable.

Today’s practice and qualifying. You can find out more at the AER website. Live timing and scoring will also be available. And if you’re in the area, come out and say Hi!