Press Releases - All Eyes on Austin | American F3 Series Qualifying

All Eyes on Austin | American F3 Series Qualifying

The time for words has finally past and the drivers are making their final preparations to qualify for the Season 10 openers across the globe at all levels. In particular a strong buzz has settled around Austin, where a brand new F3 team will run it's first Series Race qualification.

RAGE Motorsports has made headlines in the late stages of Season 9 and during the brief break before Season 10. Aside from rookie sensation Brandon Knight taking 4th in a Rookie Series that included 2 seasoned veterans on the podium, the team has made plenty of headlines away from the track. Drivers and managers alike have weighed in on the 4 RAGE drivers and their new team all over the world.

Our Jason Anderson, who will call all stages of the American Series for United States viewers, luckily caught up with Wheeler in the garage area as he stepped away from his machine for a few minutes.

Jason: Nick! You've been unusually quiet since the RAGE announcement. Any particular reason?

Wheeler: A lot of folks decided to weigh in on the team. Several took some unreasonable shots at Drummond, and I have no interest in saying something stupid out of defense of my teammate. It hasn't been my style to keep my mouth shut to this point, but now it's not just about me. Brandon, Bruce, and Drummond are all a part of everything I say and do now and it wouldn't be fair for them to be labeled the way I was in Season 9.

Jason: Fair enough. So... what do you think? You're just over 24 hours away from strapping into the machine. Where do you and your team stand?

Wheeler: We're in a fantastic place right now as a group. Brandon got an incredible win in Japan at the end of Season 9. Set the track record in qualifying, and dominated the race. I saw that as a statement to all those guys who decided it was their place to call the drivers on this team unworthy of single or elite level racing. By beating several strong drivers and a clever rookie with room to spare, I'd say the critics should have received Brandon's response. And the rest of the team, aside from my broken machine, finished well.

Jason: So what of F3 America. How do you see tomorrow playing out?

Wheeler: Well, Brandon has demonstrated himself as the strongest RAGE qualifier so far. The 3 of us have been targeting his efforts to try and squeeze the team into top 5 positions and it's been working pretty well. 3 of us qualified Top 5 in Japan. I imagine he and Hansson will be the marks, though I've not seen Hansson qualify well in Single Racing, so I'm not sure what to expect from him. Maybe Springer who looked pretty good in testing. He was also the only driver to test over 100 laps besides myself. Granted Brandon and Bruce haven't tested yet.

Jason: Can you speak to team tactics?

Wheeler: We really need to focus on qualifying as individuals. Once we see the grid, we'll regroup and see which of us has the best shot at the front. Until then, it's all about the data and tenths and hundredths we can take off between now and qualifying. Speaking of which, I think I've had enough fresh air. Time to head back in and embrace the fumes. See you on the track tomorrow.

Jason: Thank you. So there it is, a seemingly level-headed Wheeler in the garage area the day before his first regional series. Maybe this whole team thing is having a calming affect the fiery rookie we knew last season and bringing forth a more reserved driver off the track. We'll see tomorrow as the season begins in Austin.