“Coming off of another strong showing at Gridlife Atlanta with a double podium in Streetmod for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ, I was feeling all the momentum and all the confidence heading into my 10th Gridlife Midwest, the event that started it all for me! The energy at Gridlife Midwest is just unmatched in every way, from the massive crowds to the festival vibes throughout the weekend, it’s always been my favourite event making a podium here just that much more meaningful. This is Gridlife’s Indy 500.”

“This weekend proved to me more of a challenge that I could have ever expected though. Right at the first corner of the very first session, my ABS failed, making each braking zone incredibly challenging. While racing a car designed without ABS is relatively straightforward, racing one without it that’s designed to have it is nothing short of dangerous.”

“Because of this, I was far off of the pace I needed to be fighting at the front, and potentially too far off to even put it in the top-5 for the podium sprint. I knew that if I wanted a podium, I needed to give it my absolute everything to at the very least make it into the sprint in order to give us the chance to fix our ABS issues, and I was able to do just that! Modulating my SR-21 pads and focusing on perfecting each and every braking zone, I got us into the sprint by just over a second! This gave us a full day to chase whatever electrical issue was causing our problems. Thankfully, Gridlife is a paddock full of the most helpful people, and after getting help from a couple mechanics on a Rush SR team, we found the blown fuse, and the ABS was back to working as it should! 

“Come Sunday, I knew what I had to do, and now that I could actually lean into the full potential of my ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ brakes, I knew I could give it my everything to go for my third podium in a row for the season! Although I missed out on second place due to fuel cuts from the car getting little too hot waiting in the pits from an incident on track, I was able to secure third, and with Eric Dewitt in first, this was yet another double podium for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ! After such a challenging event, to be able to come home with a podium is something I’ll forever be grateful for. Next up we’ve got Watkins Glen, one of my favourite tracks and a place that the Mercedes really shines at! The last time we were there, not only did I set the Streetmod record, I was also able to get the overall record! I’m so hyped to see what we can do this time!â€�

“Going into this weekend, fresh off of a strong result at Gridlife Carolina coming in P2, I had so much confidence to give it my everything one of my all-time favourite tracks: Road Atlanta. To start out the weekend, I was met with some traffic during my flyers, so initially I wasn’t able to show what the true pace was. With this being a two-day, traditional time attack weekend with a limited schedule, the pressure was on to put together a perfect lap. On top of that, we had rain in the forecast for Sunday, potentially limiting us to only 3 dry sessions.”

“Road Atlanta is a very high-speed track, with the car hitting speeds of over 165 mph, putting the braking performance on centre stage. My SR-21s performed at their best, giving me the confidence to carry as much speed as possible into even the heaviest of braking zones, without a single ounce of hesitation, just full confidence. Ending the day on Saturday, I still never got a truly clean lap catching traffic on a track that is incredibly difficult to pass at, but even with this, I was able to put us into P3 going into Sunday.”

“Come Sunday morning, to my surprise, we had no rain! I knew exactly where I needed to find the time, and I did just that. Battling back and forth up until the last session, I ended the weekend in P2, with Eric Dewitt in P1, also on ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵs! Just like Carolina, this was an ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Streetmod 1-2, and on top of that, in ClubTR, the entire podium was swept by ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ equipped cars! I couldn’t be prouder to show represent ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ in such a strong showing against such a strong field at one of the most difficult tracks in the world.â€�

Historically, the team have been trying to get by with what was readily available as the options were limited. This meant they were throwing spent pads away every weekend and trying to drive around a lack of bite. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Racing to offer its all-new SR-Series sintered brake pads, as these not only have a huge wear life but also plenty of braking torque available – ideal for endurance events.

They were eager to try the new pads as it was another opportunity to improve upon the car while utilising more of those ever-sought-after, high-quality solutions.

Endurance racing is unique as it requires a brake pad that can last hours upon hours of hard braking, but still provide enough stopping power to slow even the fastest race cars. Not only that, but it must provide enough modulation and consistency that to be compatible with multiple drivers. The last thing you want is to be worrying about your brakes over a two-hour stint, as your concentration needs to be on apexes and watching for traffic.

Trial by fire was the path taken by Venomous Racing and they decided to throw SR-21 pads in the front axle and SR-11 pads in the rear in for the Road Atlanta weekend. This was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the elevated stopping power, as Road Atlanta only has a couple passing zones – one being Turn 10 that some cars will decelerate by around 100mph in a very short distance.

The pads took no time to bed in and immediately, all four drivers noted the vast improvement in bite and modulation, commenting there was ‘no comparison’ to what they had been previously using. After hours of lapping, the brakes were inspected and showed little to no wear, with a uniform transfer layer deposited on the rotor and an ideal surface finish – ready for hours more of racing.

The team from Tim Lally Chevrolet have chosen to stick with SR materials going forward and will continue to receive support from ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Racing as they make their way through the field.