Conversation with Ernie Francis Jr.
Ernie Francis Jr., the most recent winner in the Trans Am Series at Laguna Seca, qualified second for today’s Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. Francis has found success during his young career with five championships.
“I think we all just seem to click around here. The whole team, we’ve been working together for years. Since the beginning, racing in Trans-Am, me and my dad, my dad’s a team owner here, me and him have been racing for I mean, he got me started and racing my whole life. So we all kind of work together very well. And it seems to help us out here. We had a rough start of the season, the first two rounds at Sebring, and Road Atlanta had a chance to win those races and just had some mechanical issues take us out. Laguna Seca went really well, it was needed for us to help kind of boost our morale and get us a good finish that we needed out here. And I think the car’s running good, it’s fast. I think we have a good shot today here at Lime Rock.”
The 1.5-mile, natural terrain road course is a short circuit compared to others in the series.
“This track is nuts. It’s a I’ve been doing a few NASCAR things. I’ve been running some late models. And this thing feels like a short course. It feels like a little short track right there. We’re just it’s tight. The track’s narrow. You run laps really quick around here and you catch up to lapped traffic really fast. And yes, a lot of fun. In these cars, it’s fast. We’re lapping here so quick. It’s one of the highest average speed tracks that we go to. So it feels fast and it’s exciting. every lap.
Tire wear was a concern at Laguna Seca earlier this month, but Francis feels Lime Rock will not be as abrasive.
“Certain tracks are worse about tire degradation. Laguna Seca was one of the ones that was really bad for us there. We had to really conserve This place seems to be a little bit better. I think we should be all right here. So I kind of want to push that 100% the whole race we’re going to take it easy and cruise and maintain, try and get the lead or just chase (Chris) Dyson and follow right behind him and hope we can make a move.”
Francis has made limited appearances in NASCAR in the XFINITY Series road races, with multiple starts last year for Rev Racing in K&N East. He returns to the drive for diversity NASCAR program this season.
“Should be doing a few of you late model races towards the end of the year and some more k&n races. Just trying to get me out there, get some more seat time on the oval track side of things and figure it out.”
Francis wants to add oval racing to his stock car resume as well.
“I think I’d like to try and try and do it more often. I did some road course racing with NASCAR did the K&N road course race in New Jersey last year finished second out there qualified on the pole. Raced there at Watkins Glen. And then I did an XFINITY race at Road America a few years back. So I’m liking the NASCAR stuff. It’s a lot of fun. And I’d love to get out there and run some circle track events with them.
The powerful Trans Am cars have fit Francis’ style despite the lightweight and power.
“They’re extremely fun, they have to be one of the coolest cars that I get to drive. And I’ve driven everything from Indy lights, cars to DTM, cars, GT 3 cars. But these things are just raw and they just have some speed to them. That’s unbelievable. There’s so much horsepower, and they don’t weigh anything. And there’s really no driver aids to help you out in the car. So you really are the one driving the car and wheeling it around there. And there’s nothing like it.
Francis grew up around the sport as his father is a team owner and former driver.
“It’s a big help being able to grow up in a family that’s about racing, and especially my dad being able to support me for it and wanting me to go out and race more. it’s tough because we both want the same goals and the higher level to get the harder it gets. It’s all about bringing funding now and we don’t have the budget to run out here and pay for ourselves. So I mean, it’s all about trying to get sponsors now. And we have sponsors on the car with Frameless Shower Doors keeping us running for the past two years. it’s been a great help with them and really just trying to move up to the next level.”
Francis wants to continue to compete in a variety of cars.
“For me, I have goals I go to race pretty much everywhere that I can. I want to go race the 24 hours of Le Mans. I want to race at Daytona for the 24 I’ll pick a bunch of the endurance races I really love those. And a few other series I’d love to go do like Australian V8 supercars, stuff like that. Just I want to race everything in anything.”
Only half a second separated pole winner Dyson from Francis during this morning’s qualifying session.
“The competition’s definitely stepped up over the past two years from where it was before to where it is now. There’s a lot of fast drivers out here with Chris Dyson, Tomy Drissi. Lawrence Loshak isn’t out here this weekend, but he’s always fast. Amy Ruman and there’s drivers out here that are quick and will have a chance of winning and we see it in qualifying. Our spreads are pretty close. Everybody’s fairly tight with each other and especially in race time. It’s gonna be a good battle.”
The feature starts at 1:25.
by: Nicholas Teto, YankeeRacer.com