Overview
We love this race and have competed in it many times. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t in the cards for us to enter our own car this year. We are, however, working on something for next year that could be pretty special #fingerscrossed.
With no EDGE car in the race, 5 of our drivers did what they do; they found another team/car to race. Three of us found a ride in the Moorewood Creative #72 E2 BMW E46 330i Sedan and the other 2 got last-minute spots in the Oceanside Motorsports/Sovereign Garage #14 E3S BMW E30.
In brief, both cars won their class and it was a fun, exciting, and awesome weekend for both teams and EDGE Motorworks. The only thing that could make it better would have been if we ran our own car - #nextyear.
Moorewood Creative - #72 E2 BMW E46 330i Sedan
Driving for Moorewood Creative were EDGE drivers Shaun Webster, Kevin Moore, and Eric Moore. Just to clarify, the EDGE Moores are not related to the car owner, Larry Moore.
Qualifying
These three drivers have familiarity with Larry, Justin Ross the other driver, and the whole Moorewood Creative/Magic Developed team. We knew that the car was near perfect and set up beautifully and EDGE drivers all said it was incredibly easy to drive and fast. Eric Moore proved the statement by qualifying P1, almost 2 seconds ahead of P2.
The Moorewood Creative #72 E2 BMW E46 330i Sedan. Photo: @herblopez_71
The Race
The team chose Shaun to start the race, which was fortuitous as there was immediate drama, which Shaun loves. Because we qualified P1 and in front of the fastest E1 and E0 cars, there were only 4 cars in front of the #72. Consequently, when the leading LMP3 car spun on the out lap Shaun had to avoid that bit of drama. But, the drama didn’t stop there.
As soon as the green flag flew, a Radical in front of us, a different ESR car than the original spinner, started dropping fluid and smoking. Seeing this, Shaun moved track right to avoid the fluid. His position kept him on the outside through turn 1 where the leaking and smoking Radical ended up after spinning in front of him. After some quick reflexes and evasive driving in both the out lap and the first lap, Shaun was done with the drama and found himself 1st in class and 4th overall.
Shaun built a 40-second gap to 2nd place, the other Moorewood car (#73), after just one stint (approximately 35 laps). That first stop was a test to some of the new Moorewood Creative/Magic Developed team, which resulted in a fuel spill. That small mistake set back the #72 car 5 laps (the race used lap penalties instead of the long-standing time penalties). This deficit forced the team to focus and work the process, steadily reeling in the #73 car.
Fortunately, luck and the fact that the #72 car, being super well-setup and easy to drive, allowed each driver the ability to manage the race relatively easily and focus on the task at hand.
With a little shift in luck (bad for the #73 car, good for the #72 car), the #72 slipped into P1 in class just before the race was red-flagged at 6:30 pm because of excessive fog.
The race restarted at 4:30 am with Kevin Moore continuing in the car from the previous night (fun fact: Kevin was the only driver of 5 to drive laps in the dark). Kevin kept the #72 in 1st place during his triple stint, then handed the car off to his son Eric.
Eric not only kept the lead, but he also set the fastest race lap for the car and the E2 class. This kid is barely out of high school! It feels a little strange that Eric’s achievements did not garner much or any attention. Consider the much-heralded Teen Mazda Challenge car finished a distant 6th in E2, 34 laps down on the #72 car and with their fastest lap more than 3.3 seconds slower than Eric’s. Maybe we should write a story about it 😂.
Throughout the race, the team could choose to push the pace or save fuel. It was a dream to drive such a well-prepped car supported by a great team. To top it all off, Larry Moore, the car owner, personally took the checkered flag, finishing the race in P1 for the E2 class and 5th overall. A fitting result for such a well-prepared entry.
Shaun said it was the easiest 25 he had ever done. Thank you Larry!
The Moorewood Creative team after their well-earned victory
Oceanside Motorsports/Sovereign Garage - #14 E3S BMW E30
Andre Eisenbach and Anthony Zwain were called last minute to fill an open driver’s seat in the Pink Bomb when one of their drivers wasn’t able to make it. Neil Daly from Oceanside Motorsports called Andre the Tuesday before the race to see if by chance he was available to drive. Of course, he was available, but that got him thinking about always wanting to do the 25 with Anthony from EDGE. A quick call and Anthony was in. It’s like all they ever want to do is race ;).
The Car
Built as a Spec E30, the Pink Bomb is less than perfect for E3S when compared to the Miatas in class. It was possibly the worst/slowest car in E3S but speed isn’t always what wins endurance races and especially not The 25.
Qualifying and Race
Given the car’s pace and the length of the race, qualifying wasn’t important to the team and they ended up qualifying last in E3S. With 25 hours to race, nobody was worried about the less-than-stellar grid spot.
With one of the quicker non-EDGE drivers starting the race, they immediately got on plan with good solid consistent laps. By the time Andre got in the car, they were still on plan but not yet in the lead. Doing the math, Andre felt like he would definitely have a chance to be driving for the class win.
The pit crew was working perfectly! Changing tires on almost every stop kept them competitive and the incredibly organized crew made 0 mistakes. All of the stops were fast and more importantly, there were penalty-free. Penalties can wreck your race with 5-lap fines being not out of the ordinary.
The Oceanside Motorsports/Sovereign Garage pit crew executing flawlessly
Back to the race. Anthony’s BIG stint started just as it was going dark. With his experience in the 25, it made sense for him to be driving at night and he was able to put the car in the E3S lead. After about an hour in 1st, the race was stopped due to fog. We’ll never know if this was fortunate or not but it lasted for almost 10 hours.
Anthony used the opportunity to catch some Zzzzs. He kept his race suit on to be sure he was ready when the siren blew. The fog cleared around 4:00 am and Anthony got back in the car for the restart.
With perfect and consistent driving, Anthony kept the car in the lead. From then on, they cycled through drivers with Andre finally handing the car off to Neil so he would cross the finish line winning the class, as it should be.
Keeping it consistent throughout the race even with faster traffic
The fast and consistent drivers, along with the amazing crew, made for a winning team. Neil ran an incredibly tight ship with Crew Chief Devin Charters* keeping the drivers consistent and on plan. Add the amazing volunteer crew and this is why they were able to win with possibly the slowest car in the class.
The lighthearted, and fun attitude of the team made it such a pleasure too. BTW, the crew is made up entirely of volunteers, which made it even sweeter.
*Devin was Andre’s 1st driving instructor and having it come full circle like this was incredible for both of them.
WHAT A TEAM!!
#neverstop #camaraderie #edgefamily
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