Doing the Sebring Double

I actually started racing with the Nissan GTP team late in 1988, while I was still racing Indycars. I was brought in to support Geoff Braham’s championship effort, and met them in Phoenix for a test at Firebird. My first race was the street race in Columbus, Ohio, and I went out and put the car on the pole. After clutch issues, I ended up finishing 7th there as Geoff won in the team car, and my next race was at Del Mar where I finished 4th.

I drove the 1989 season in Indycars, and then, when I stopped Indycars, I went full-time with Nissan in 1990. The season opened with the 24 Hours of Daytona, but both our cars suffered engine failures. At Sebring that year our main competition was the Jags, the Porsches, and the Toyota, though the Toyota wasn’t as strong that year as it would become, so it was essentially the Jags and the Porsches. Chip Robinson had qualified the No, 84 car on the pole, but I started the race in it, and Bob Earl started fourth in the No. 83. The reason for that was that Geoff was going to pick whichever would be the best car to jump into for championship points. I was leading after my first stint, so that’s the car Geoff chose, but it later sprang a leak in the radiator, and that delay ultimately caused them to finish 2nd.