Mixed Bag for Schmied and AOA Racing at ViR

June 20th 2023 – Alton, VA.

Kenny Schmied and the AOA Racing #14 BMW M2 CS Racing traveled to Alton Virginia over the weekend for rounds 7 and 8 of the 2023 Touring Car America season. With no official Thursday test day, Schmied would have just two 30-minute practice sessions on Friday to prepare for the weekends races. Schmied would qualify the #14 in 6th position with a time of 2:01.067, 1.25 seconds off pole-sitter Lucas Catania. At the green flag of Race 1, the battle ensued and Schmied would move up to third position making an opportunistic move on the #09 Fast Track Racing BMW of Maddie Aust, before falling back to fourth several laps later. With two laps to go, Schmied’s car would run out of fuel and need to be retired, ultimately finishing 8th in class.

Schmied would again start sixth in Race 2, but contact with the #24 Rigid Speed BMW of Joseph Catania in turn 1 on lap 1 would ultimately cause a DSC failure, leading to a loss of ABS and a right rear toe issue, causing Schmied to lose 4mph on the straights. Fighting hard for the race, Schmied couldn’t take the fight to the leaders, but managed to keep his spots gained at the start to bring the #14 AOA Racing BMW home in fifth place.

MB8_6808 “ViR was a challenging race. There wasn’t a test day, so we only had an hour of running before we set off for qualifying. Unfortunately my fastest qualifying lap was compromised by another driver, so I felt like we could race better than we qualified. In Race 1, we were on for a great result, but the racing Gods weren’t smiling on us, and we ran a little short on fuel, costing us an opportunity for a P2 as the two front-runners collided on the final lap. I took some good energy into Race 2, but some early contact put us on our back foot. I lost ABS after the hit, and my right rear toe was knocked out, causing me to lose a good amount of speed on the straights. Unfortunately it meant I couldn’t really take the fight to the leaders, but I’m happy I was able to maintain my P5 for the finish. Overall it was a tricky weekend, but we gave it our all. One of these days the chips will fall in our favor“.