This week we have Tommy Coury, 2017 SCCA B-Spec Northern Conference and NE-Ohio Regional Champion. Tommy lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a junior at St. Edward High School. I first met Tommy at the 2017 June Sprints at Road America. It was quite an eventful weekend to say the least.
Tommy, tell us a little about yourself and what makes you tick.
I’m a junior at St. Edward High School. I have taken some of their best engineering classes, which has helped me fine tune what I have a passion for. Throughout my life my passions have been pretty consistent, just on increasing levels of speed and complexity. It all started with Legos when I was little, then moved up to go-carts, racing karts, then now racing cars. My passion is engineering and cars. I have been working on cars since I was about 12, and have moved to now trying to use my knowledge to develop a business with my friend just flipping cars to fund our personal cars.
What’s your first memory of motorsports and what was it that first caught your attention?
I am not sure if it was my first memory, but the memory that stuck in my head the most was watching European Rallycross. It caught my attention because I thought those guys were insane for doing that, but I loved watching it. In my eyes rally is one of the most insane types of racing, and I loved it. I saw a Fiesta Rally Car and instantly went, “I want to do that!” It looked so fun and so fast.
How did you get started, what drew you in?
I got started when my dad went to one day of the Mid-Ohio racing school and met Robby Buhl. Robby lives in Cleveland, and after the school we scheduled to meet with him to talk about racing.
We had the meeting and I asked the question, “How do I get into racing?” He said the best way is racing karts. We then found Brian at CRP Racing in Medina and he talked us into starting with racing a Top Kart in Jr/Sr Yamaha. I was only 15 at the time so I could race both classes. After a year of kart racing, my dad got me a 3-day Skip Barber racing school for Christmas. I was already hooked on racing, but this school sealed the deal. The biggest draw for me was the speed and competitiveness of the sport. I had done other sports before, but nothing compares to racing.
Do you have a mentor or mentors? If so how did you approach them? What have you learned from them?
I don’t really have a mentor as much as I have a bunch of people that really contributed to who I am now. In terms of getting me started, the two guys that really helped me get going was Ted Sahley and David Daughtery. Ted was the one that got me off of the Spec Miata track onto the B-Spec track. 
He said B-Spec was a lot friendlier to a newbie like me. We bought the car from David and he helped us the whole way with any questions I had about anything. Also, there was the now Prototype car racer Robert Alon. I was able to text him whenever I needed to for advice. I was really nervous about my second race ever which was at Road America. I was struggling with the track and asked him if he had any advice and sure enough about 10 min later he had some help for me. The next session out I dropped a good bit of time. Also at Road America, I met Fritz Wilke. We were involved in a bad racing incident and he came up to me afterward and we had a very good talk that I am so thankful I had. He has helped me along the way and every race we have together it is always so close. Racing with Fritz is always such a blast and makes every race together interesting and really enjoyable.
What was it about the way you started that prepared you to go road racing?
I started by going to a racing school, and for me, that was the best way to start. I learn the best just by trial and error. I need to jump in and get started. I was very scared to start in a car, but having instructors around and other supportive people made a great combination for me. Skip Barber ramped us up slowly, and helped us along the whole way. For racing, to get the most comfortable and to get good, surround yourself with people that are all better than you. If you want to get faster, why would you surround yourself with people you are already better than? In order to make the best and quickest progress, you must be beaten over and over until you figure out where your weakness is and fix it. The way I started was very simple. I was immersed into environments where most of the other people were better, and I observed and learned from them.
Tell us about your Road Racing career and the transition to Road Racing?
I started racing by racing a Top Kart in Jr./Sr. Yamaha. That was a great way to figure out how to race and how racing in general works, but it does not come close to the feeling of car racing. My first time in a car on a racetrack was at Monticello in a Spec Miata. I was instructed by Stevan McAleer. Once I figured out the basics with Stevan on the access roads of Monticello I hit the track and loved every moment of it. I then took a 3-Day Racing School with Skip Barber in December of 2016, the same year as Monticello. Enjoyed every moment and got my SCCA Novice License. We talked to a few guys we knew and decided to race B-Spec. We bought our Mazda2 from David Daughtery, and my first race was planned to be in June at Mid-Ohio. However, in April I took another racing school at Mid-Ohio to help me with the first event. There, I met Max Gee, Scott Harrington and Brian Till, who were all such a huge help to me. I was the youngest one there and felt like I fit right in. After that, I was at a NASA event which I drove our Mustang and got a chance to go on track with an instructor. Luckily Ted was there and he was in the car with me. That was a huge blast but it was by no means racing. After that it was waiting until the first race at Mid-Ohio. The first race at Mid-Ohio was better than I could have ever imagined it would have been. I finished the weekend with a 3rd and a 2nd. After Mid-Ohio we followed the Northern Conference SCCA Majors Tour events. I raced the June Sprints at Road America, the Gingerman and finally Grattan. At every single event I learned a lot and tried to better myself as a driver. After Grattan, we had to make the decision—do I go to Runoffs or not? We made the decision to go to Runoffs at Indy and it was amazing. Some of the best and most exciting racing I have been involved in yet! Looking back on my whole year, I am so glad that I did not start with Spec Miata. The whole B-Spec gang is a great group of people to race with. I couldn’t have felt more welcomed and it was by far the best way to start racing cars competitively.
What advice would you give people who want to make that transition?
For people that want to make the transition, please do not do it alone. Starting to race a car, at least for the first time, should never be done alone. There are so many people out there that are very willing to help, find one of them. I never would have been able to do this without my dad and Ted Sahley. 
Even with them at my first race, and racing with Ted, I felt extremely nervous, scared and anxious. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I felt like a little kid lost in a huge store trying to find my way out. Now, keep in mind it was not that bad because I was surrounded by race cars, which I absolutely love, so I was enjoying every single minute of it, even though I was overwhelmed. Also, make sure your first event goes the way you plan. If you are constantly overwhelmed and frustrated, you will never enjoy it and if you do not enjoy it, STOP. Please make sure you enjoy every minute of racing, because if it gets to the point where you are annoyed at the idea of going to the track, it is a huge waste of your time and money. Make sure you have someone that knows what they are doing, make sure everything goes to plan, and please make sure you have fun, because that is what racing is all about…oh and make sure you read the supplemental rules every single race because at Mid-Ohio that threw both Ted and me off, but luckily my ignorance helped me get that 2nd place.
What’s the best advice you ever got? The worst?
The best advice someone has given me was to focus on your opponents and how they drive. By doing this, you can find their weak spots on the track and conserve your own car, all while letting them battle it out with the people in front of them. Once they run out of tires, use their weak spot to your advantage and pass them. The worst advice I ever got was to not race. Racing is the best and most enjoyable think I have ever done. It is such a great sport and the people are awesome to get to know. My life would be so boring without it.
What was your best day in racing?
My best day in racing was at the race at GingerMan. I was in third place and had to come off my line to avoid hitting a car from another class, and Fritz was right behind me. He took advantage of my mistake and took third. There were two laps to go. We battled so hard for that position. It was some of the closest racing I have ever done. We were back and forth for the second last lap, and finally on the last lap I got him. Racing that close gives you a feeling like nothing before, and it just made my day.
What’s next for Tommy?
For the next season, we are going to be racing a Spec Miata in the Northern Conference. The car is built by East Street Racing. We decided to make the move to Spec Miata to push me to my limit and make me learn as quickly as possible. We are looking forward to the next year of racing and hopefully I will progress to become an even better driver.
Big thanks to Tommy for doing this and please check out his website: www.burningriver-racing.com
and facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/burningriverracing/?ref=br_rs
Good Luck in Spec Miata next season!