HUNTERSVILLE, NC – The TA2 Class in the Trans Am Series had its season
opener at Sebring International Raceway this past weekend. And, for
rookie Darin Mock, he certainly took an interesting path to his 16th , of 47
entrants, place finish in his No. 51 AAN Adjusters Ford.
Starting 31st , after some unforeseen mechanical circumstances during practice and qualifying, he didn’t get as much track time as expected. Once the race started, Mock quickly realized he had a great car to drive around the Sebring road course. Right from the start, he began picking off positions and moving forward through the field.
“Hats off to the team, they prepared a fast car for us,” Mock said. “Once I knew what I had, it was fun to start passing other cars. I wish we could’ve started closer to the front, would have been interesting to see how we would’ve finished."
“I learned a lot during the race, my crew chief and I had some great communication and he was able to make adjustments from the feedback I provided. This team doesn’t give up, and I like that a lot.”
After starting in three TA2 Class races last season, Mock knew how competitive the class could race. Committing to run full time this year, he was quickly reminded of the task at hand while racing at Sebring.
“The field of teams and drivers is really competitive in TA2,” Mock said. “I
thought it was tough last year. But this year seems like its going to be even more competitive. I like that, its going to make me a better driver.
“We learned a lot and will now have great notes when we go back next year. We’ll also have good notes to build off of for this year.
“It was definitely good in building my confidence as we head to the next race at Charlotte on March 19.”
The next race for Mock and team is the Roval Course at Charlotte Motor Speedway the weekend of March 18 to 20 at the Concord, NC track.