Driver blog: Austin Versteeg captures first IMSA Lites win at Sebring

I have been racing since I was 7 years old, starting my dream at Miller Motorsports Park in Toole, Utah. I raced karts all around the world and was fortunate enough to win many championships during my eight years in karts. I decided to really pursue my dream in 2015, jumping straight from karts to cars in the IMSA Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires series. I placed fourth in the Lites 1 points in my first year ever in cars.

After my first season in cars, I decided to join forces with JDC Motorsports for the 2016 Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires season.

Learning curve at Sebring

As always, I could not wait for the 2016 season with JDC and the season opener in mid-March at Sebring International Raceway. The weekend started with the promoter test day, and it was very positive. But as normal race weekends go, the practice sessions went by fast, and, sure enough, it was time for qualifying. I was fortunate enough to get my first career car pole position, and I was absolutely ecstatic.

Faster than ever, race one of the weekend came around, and boy, did I learn a lot. I made a couple of mistakes and ended up finishing third in the very competitive Prototype Lites field.

I'm not going to lie: I was upset with myself knowing that I made these mistakes. So after the podium ceremony, I sat down and talked to my driver coach, Jonatan Jorge, and another friend of mine, 2015 Lites 1 champion Kenton Koch, and we looked at the video. After we did that I knew all I needed to do in race two was drive and worry about nothing else but driving.

Race two came around the next day bright and early, and I mean really, really early. Our race was scheduled to start at 8 a.m., underneath the rising Sebring sun. I arrived at the track with my mind ready and focused.

To prepare for a race, I normally don't listen to music or sit in silence and not talk to anyone, like some drivers prefer. I like to talk, bounce around the grid, have small conversations with other drivers or my mechanics. As long as I'm myself on the grid and remember to enjoy myself, I feel calm and ready for a race.

So once we got the 10-minute warning before we rolled off pre-grid, I finished my small chats and said good luck too my three teammates and put my helmet on. This is when I am the happiest. I can't explain what I'm thinking when I'm getting strapped in, except for the words "just drive."

Race 2

I start to feel the adrenaline when sitting in pit lane, waiting for the words to start the car. All I’m focused on is the end of the pit lane; all I try to do is focus forward. This is really what keeps me calm during this period of time.

We got the one-minute call, and we all started our engines for race two, in which I started fourth. As the entire pack paired up, and I watched the pace car pull away, only two things were in my mind: "Just drive. Get to third place right at the green."

Fortunately, I was able to achieve my goal of getting into third place quite quickly. The outside row got a surprisingly good start, which allowed me to slip into the inside when I saw a gap right behind the third-place starting car. Going into the always-fast Turn 1 at Sebring, I was able to get side by side with the car that started second and completed the pass by the apex of Turn 1.

The first quarter of the 45-minute race was pretty harmless. The two leaders and I sized each other up, slowly gaining and losing and gaining ground on one another. As we reached the halfway point of the race, things got interesting in the top three. The two leaders starting going side by side through numerous corners and touching the occasional two fenders in a couple of corners, as well. During all of this, I was sitting about four cars back, just thinking to myself be patient and keep driving – then we will make a move.

As the leaders started to battle more, I started to see where I was a bit stronger in sections of the track. The leaders battled into Turn 17, and I was able to capitalize on it. I had gotten a better exit out of 17, which allowed me the inside line for Turn 1 and eventually allowed me to slip into second right behind my teammate Clark Toppe.

The gap between my teammate and I stayed about three car lengths until we got our first yellow just starting the last quarter of our race. My focus shifted to the restart, as the track workers cleaned up the incident pretty fast.

As I kept the tires warm during the yellow, I knew I had to make a move soon under green because the racing was coming to an end. As we went green, I lost some ground on the leader when I got some serious aero push in Turn 5. As the lap went on, I had stretched out about nine car lengths from third. My teammate also had just run wide in Tower Turn, allowing me to get a run and pass him before we reached Turn 14. At the start of the next lap, we went yellow for a long time. At this point, we didn't know if we were going to go green again. But as the laps rolled on, the lights went out on the pace car, and it was time to go.

First victory

With a very short time on the clock, it looked like we were going to have three or four laps until the end of the race. I was able to get a very good jump off Turn 17 and stretched my lead to about five or six car lengths. But the green flag racing didn't last long. As we headed down the back stretch, we went full-course yellow for the third time in the last 10 minutes. Under yellow, I took the white flag, and the entire lap I was clenching my teeth, just hoping nothing went wrong during this last lap under yellow. But I had nothing to worry about because the always well-prepared JDC Motorsports car took me around the track for the last time to bring me my first career win in cars, in only my second year in a car.

I have no words to explain the emotions that pulsed through my body, just pure happiness and adrenaline. After I celebrated on the track, there was nothing better that weekend than holding my hands up once I got the car stopped in pit lane. It was great to see all the guys on the team and give them high-fives and hugs.

I will never forget that feeling of standing on top of the podium at the historic Sebring International Raceway with my first career car victory! I want to thank everyone on the team for the amazing work, and everyone who supports me and helps me through every race weekend.