It’s not very often that I weigh in on my site personally. However, after getting back from the Performance Racing Industry tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, I thought I would share my experiences. We attended PRI on behalf of RAD (Race Against Drugs) and brought our show car down to put on display.

PRI for Onderko Motorsports started on Nov 28 as we left Pennsylvania headed for Orlando. It was an uneventful trip, but it was odd to be hauling a racecar and not actually going to race it. We rolled into the Orlando convention center, and we unloaded the car and finally got to meet Sharon, Gail, and Jenni- the driving force behind all of the good that happens with RAD. We rolled the racecar into to its new parking spot for the next few days and helped finish up.

PRI did a great job of putting on the show, with over 2,500 exhibitors and a reported 30,000 people who visited the event. I have never seen so much to do about Motorsports in one place. We met and talked to many different people in the industry. One of the coolest things that I was able to attend, was the PRI Roundtable. Originally developed by the great Smokey Yunick, the roundtable is a unique way for racing business people to openly discuss critical issues in racing today. Jeff Hammond, Former NASCAR crew chief, was the moderator, and in attendance on the panel were; Robin Miller, race journalist, SpeedTV- Dennis Huth, President of ASA- Gill Campbell, CEO & general manager of Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca- Carl Wegner, founder of Wegner Motorsports, oval track race engine builder- Gray Garrison, Promoter for Bowman Gray Stadium- Hugh Scully, MD, chairman of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences, prestigious race safety organization- Scooter Brothers, director of R&D and part-owner of Competition Cams, and organizer of the AETC, chairman of SEMA- Ray Wilkings, general manager of NHRA’s Atlanta Dragway- Brian Carter, CEO, World Racing Group. A variety of topics were covered, and the panel took questions from the audience.

As we plan to compete in the Mazda Road to Indy USF2000 Series next year, I was able to meet the Owner/CEO of the series, Dan Anderson. Mr. Anderson and I talked about the series in general, the directions of certain teams, and ways to promote Onderko Motorsports and the USF2000 Series itself. The Series had several representatives at PRI, from the front office, as well as a few drivers. We were also interviewed by Joe Castello, he is a seasoned radio veteran, he comes from XM and Sirius satellite radio networks. Joe is starting a new venture on the WFO.com radio network. He had us on his show on Saturday, and we had a great time spending some time with him.

Quite a few other RAD racers were down to represent RAD as well, it was nice to meet them and swap stories about what we do. Racers are racers, and it doesn’t matter what you race, we are all part of one big family. We talked about the previous year, and our plans for next year. We wished each other well, and parted ways until next year. I got to meet and talk to quite a few people from the industry during my time down at PRI. On a personal note, I got to talk to a guy by the name of Robin Miller. For those of you who don’t know of Robin, he covers open wheel racing and is very honest in his opinions. I’ve grown up watching him cover the sport, and one day, I hope he writes a story about me.

In only his second open-wheel start, Late Model Champion Justin Onderko was able to bring
another podium finish home at the BeaveRun Motorsports Complex. Competing in the Roos Racing
Series; Justin dodged the raindrops and the puddles enroute to a second place finish in as many starts.
The weekend started with a practice session at the BeaveRun Motorsports on Friday. The rains
had yet to move in, and Justin was able to get some time to learn the track while it was still dry.
Although he had never been to this facility he was able to turn some quick laps in the morning. In
between sessions Justin was talking with some other drivers and keeping a keen ear tuned for tips on
getting around BeaveRun. After the final session, Justin was able to creep into the top 5 for the day.
When asked how the day went Justin commented, “This is a fast course; I am feeling
comfortable with the car and my entry and exit points. We don’t expect to make many changes to the
car … I just hope the rain holds off, but if it doesn’t, I think we’ll be fine.” Grabbing the hand of his
new wife, Marisa, they both headed to the garage area. Justin’s first race was run in the rain at
Pocono’s North Course and finished 3rd.
Saturday morning arrived and so did the rain. Justin got to the track, and went to the paddock
to check on his car. After talking with the crew, he was able to get a ride around the track and soon
discovered that getting around BeaveRun in the rain was going to be much more difficult. Qualifying began and Justin struggled to find the speed that he had in Friday’s practice. Just
before the session was over, he was able to lay down a lap that would place him third on the grid for
the first race.

The drivers were called to their cars for the first race and they began strapping in. The call to
start the engines was made and the drivers made their way onto the track and got ready for the green
flag. As the green flag dropped Justin got up to speed and settled into 3rd place. As the field headed
into turn 4, the second place car got sideways and spun off the corner. Justin tried to avoid the car and
went to the outside, which was the wrong way. Although there was no contact, Justin lost 5 positions.
He spent the remainder of the race getting those positions back. Some consistent driving saw Justin
claw back to third as the first race concluded.

The final race of the day was nearing and Justin climbed into the car. As he buckled in, he
remarked, “I finally got comfortable at the end of the first race, I just need a clean start.” A clean start
was exactly what he got, and he settled in behind the leader. Over the first half of the race, the gap
between Justin and the leader opened and closed. Around halfway, Justin got into turn four a little hot
and almost spun. Although he had a great save, one that would make the highlight reel, he lost a
tremendous amount of time to the leader. However, over the remaining laps Justin would cut that
distance down to just over 1 car length as they crossed the finish line.
Although the racing may be over for the year, plans and negotiations are underway for the
2012 racing season. As a national spokesperson for RAD, Justin and the Onderko Motorsports team
will be attending the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando, Fl. to help promote the
National Center for Prevention and Research Solutions Race Against Drugs program message
of “Fueling a Drug Free Future”. If you’re in the area stop by and say hi, Justin will be signing
autographs, the Race Against Drugs Late Model #58 Show Car and the entire RAD Racing Team will
be on hand Dec 1-3, 2011.

After completion of the Bertil Roos Road racing program held in mid-August, Justin climbed into a Roos Series F2000 car at Pocono’s 1.3 mile North Road Course.  Competing against 16 other drivers, most of which have spent years in the series, and have been racing many years in open wheel, Justin could not be more of a true rookie as he was at the beginning of that day.  The cars were rolled into the garage and preperations began for practice.  Today was a day of firsts for Justin, not only was he making his open-wheel debut, but he was going to have to do it in the rain.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, which was responsible for major flooding up and down the east coast, made its presence known at the race track.  Practice started early in the day and Justin was pacing himself through the rain, something he had never done before.  “We don’t even get our cars out of the trailer on days like today,” Justin stated to the other drivers in the paddock after the first round of practice.  Although not the quickest on the track, Justin made it through the first round of practice  without knocking the wheels off of the racecar.  Second round practice was going to have to be better, Justin was going to have to find some speed no matter what mother nature threw at him..  As he climbed into his racecar and belted in, the rains were falling hard as it had been all day.  Justin pulled out on the speedway and got to work.  The times were quicker and Justin rolled out of Pocono’s pit lane and soon was finding his groove.  The day finished with Justin ending up mid-pack on the speed charts, tomorrow would be qualifying.

After a quick round of practice to shake the car down, and finally a dry session, Justin readied himself for qualifying.  15 minutes is given to the drivers to lay down the quickest lap they can, and that is how the drivers are gridded for the race.  Justin was able to qualify 3rd, not too bad for his first qualifying start.  Justin would start 3rd on the grid for the first race.

The green flag fell and by the time the cars came out of Big Ben Justin jumped into second place and was on the gear box of the leader.  Justin stayed close for a few laps, but was passed for 3rd place on lap 8.  Justin was able to pass back up to 2nd but several laps later spun going into the chicane off Big Ben, and found himself last after a pitstop to check the car.  Justin would start in the back of the field for the final race of the day.

The final race of the day was approaching and the sun was starting to set.  Knowing what he had to do, Justin needed a podium finish for the day, he had far to go to make it happen.  Calling on the experience he used to win his Championship last year, the green flag fell and Justin started his march to the front.  Lap after lap, car after car, Justin methodically moved to the front.  By halfway Justin found himself running 3rd, and running the same lap times as the leaders.  Knowing that without a full course caution, or a small miracle, Justin was going to finish 3rd for the day which he did.

Podium finish the first time in a open wheel race car !!!

With another race slated Sept30-Oct1, at the BeaveRun Motorsports Park near Pittsburg, PA. Justin is looking forward to making his second start in the Roos Series and hopefully a second straight podium finish.. ]]> http://justinonderko.com/onderko-moves-to-open-wheel-at-pocono-international-raceway/feed/ 0