Saini, C.J. Wilson Racing Hoping To Strike Out The Side In 2011

TOPEKA, March 31, 2011: When the 2011 SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup season opened in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a new team was on the grid with a very familiar driver.

Jason Saini, the 2007 MX-5 Cup Champion and 2008 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Rookie-of-the-Year, returned to the series with a fifth-place finish in the season-opener at Homestead-Miami speedway, driving the No. 28 C.J. Wilson Racing/Autobarn Mazda Mazda MX-5.

Some may have been surprised that a driver as talented and accomplished as Saini wouldn’t just walk away with race wins all season long; but then again, a driver as talented as Saini knows the competition level is high across the board in the series.

You see, Saini isn’t just a driver, he’s the team manager and principal for the newly-formed C.J. Wilson Racing, a joint venture between Saini, Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson, and Juliann Pokorny. Saini had worked in a similar role with Pokorny over the last several years with Team MER, and served as the team’s driver coach.

The return to the series was a two-fold process for Saini, with a large part of that attention focused on the development of C.J. Wilson Racing.

“It could be interpreted as a step back, but Mazda’s got the ladder which has helped me further my career,” Saini explained. “It’s just a matter of budgets and timing and there aren’t as many opportunities out there right now within Mazda; this allows me to stay in a Mazda.

“It’s one of those situations where I had a couple of opportunities this year, but in starting the new team with C.J. Wilson Racing, it made sense to start where our strengths are. Juliann and I are part of this new team, and MX-5 Cup is where our knowledge is. Part of the concept to go back is not just to be involved with the Mazda series and make an attempt at the championship, it’s also to get a good strong start for our new team, C.J. Wilson Racing, in an arena where we know really well how to achieve good results.”

As mentioned, the Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion will get a Mazda-funded seat in a different series for 2012. Defending champion Brad Rampelberg is currently running in Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge; Saini used his initial win to capture his World Challenge Touring Car Rookie-of-the-Year.

That’s not an easy prize to earn, however. The equally-prepared cars that the series features mean that everything that happens on the track comes down to driver skill, mistakes, and a little bit of luck. The Mazda MX-5 Cup traditionally features a mix of up-and-coming drivers that are oozing talent, and cagey veteran drivers who just know how to race. The 2011 season isn’t any different.

“The competition level, I definitely didn’t underestimate it,” Saini said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy pickings. It was cool, I had a really good battle with Justin Hall for the entire race [at the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway], who is somebody I raced against in one of my very first road races. It was fun, and good to be back in the seat. I was impressed with the level of the series, for sure.

“Getting back into the series, it’s just fun being out there in equally prepared cars. The last few years I’ve been driving in series where you’ve got a variety of makes and models. One car might have a strength at one track, another might be better at a different track. So to get back into a car where everyone is in the same equipment was fun.”

A bigger question might be how a World Series-starting pitcher and a sports car racer met up in the first place. That’s actually even simpler, after the race-car loving pitcher purchased an MX-5 Cup car to run in club racing events and used the Texas-based Team MER to prep and support it.

“C.J., probably three years ago now, bought an MX-5 Cup car to do some off-season enduros,” Saini explained. “He can’t, obviously, do MX-5 Cup because he’s throwing baseballs all year long.

“His passion and his dream was to get to the major league level [as a pitcher], and he’s achieved that goal. He’s sort of looking to the future to his next goal, and that’s to be involved in professional racing as a driver and a team owner. That goal kind of developed over the last three years, as he’s done more and more and done some of the endurance races in the off-season.”

While Wilson was looking to his future as a driver, he also was ready to get started with the first step right now.

“We were working with him on supporting his car through my previous team, MER,” Saini said. “When it came time to have discussions for this year, we just started talking about the possibility of starting a new team. He had been thinking about it already, and had even started a company and was ready to move forward with it.

“It all coincided, because at the same time, MER, who we’d had so much success with in MX-5 Cup, was making a step back away from racing to focus on customer work at the local level. So it all came together at the right time, and it was time for us to start a team and work towards his goal after he’s done pitching.”

In the meantime, the team is helping to raise money and awareness for CJ Wilson’s Children’s Charities, which focuses on providing video games and other entertainment options for hospitals, helping children faced with extended hospital stays have a more comfortable environment.

“The charity has been basically focused in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and the racing gives the charity an opportunity to have a more national reach,” Saini said. “There are opportunities to spotlight partners of the charity. We can promote them through the race team, and we’re working through more possibilities now. But the racing really extends their reach nationwide.”

In all, the Saini has three lofty goals for the C.J. Wison Racing this season – a championship, establishing the team and sending them on their way to a long career, and raising awareness for C.J. Wilson’s Children’s Charities.

And just like a good pitcher, all they really want is three up and three down.