Daytona Disappointment For Paul Fix And #4 Corvette
November 19, 2014
(Team Release) Daytona, FL (November 17, 2014)- For Paul Fix and the #4 Stopflex.com/Tony Ave Racing Chevrolet Corvette the final race of the Trans Am Series season began and ended the same, not as well as hoped for. Fix’s weekend of racing began with an unfortunate racing incident during Wednesday’s test day. The ensuing damage was extensive and required the Tony Ave Racing crew to pull an all-nighter to repair the damage in time for Thursday’s official practice session.
“I came into the ‘bus stop’ and must have gotten into something slick under braking,” said Fix. “The car broke loose and snapped around. At that point, I was merely a passenger.”
While Fix escaped unscathed, the same could not be said of the car. The #4 Corvette impacted the tire wall resulting in damage that necessitated the team replace a bevy of parts.
“I cannot say enough about what a yeoman’s job the entire crew did in putting the car back into a competitive state,” said Fix. “By the time Thursday’s practice sessions started, we were right back at the top of the time sheets.”
After a day’s worth of practice and shaking down the freshly rebuilt machine on Thursday, Friday’s qualifying ended with Fix third on the grid. “I got held up in qualifying with traffic and yellow and Red flags. I held on to the pole but then we pitted for a quick tire pressure bleed down. Mean time, Amy got a tow from Doug and they set quicker laps.”
Saturday’s race would prove to be another test of resiliency. Fix starting third was held up at the start by the slow starting Pole car. Then, a fluid leak coated the windshield, making vision nearly impossible. The result was an off track excursion and yet another meeting with the barrier on lap 12 of the 29 lap event. The impact pushed body work onto the hot exhaust creating a fire. Fix exited the #4 Corvette and finished the day a disappointing tenth in class.
“I got held up at the start by my team mate, Doug Peterson. Amy got around him and I was tangled in traffic,” offered Fix. “I fell back to sixth and put down some killer laps and was attempting a pass for second place when I got caught behind a lap car. While Gregg passed him in turn one with no penalty I lost the gap. Then I fought a smeared windshield and missed my braking point and had the wall impact. I guess we can take solace in that we set FTD (fastest time of the day) during the race.”
Said Tony Ave, “This certainly is not how we planned to end the season, coming off back to back victories coming into Daytona. I feel bad for Paul.”
While the season finale may not have created the desired results, Fix put his mark on the 2014 season with convincing performances at Lime Rock Park and Virginia International Raceway; eight consecutive session fast times, two straight victories. A performance that has the Trans Am paddock taking notice.
Fix will announce his 2015 season intentions in the coming weeks.
You can follow Paul Fix at www.facebook.com/paulfixii for updates and photos and on twitter @paul_fix.
About Paul Fix: Paul Fix is a professional racecar driver based in New York, he has been competing in the SCCA Pro Trans-Am Series since 2000, started racing in 1992. Fix was several wins, podium finishes and championships in his career.
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