Emotional highs and lows punctuate Bradley’s Petit Le Mans experience.

October 20, 2003. Braselton, GA. For eight and a half hours at Road Atlanta the Essex Racing team and it’s drivers, Scott Bradley, Jason Workman, and Andrew Davis, were at the top of their game competing for the LMP675 Class victory at the Petit Le Mans. Victory hopes would be dashed with less than two hours remaining in the event however, when an oil line failed and forced the car out of the lead and out of the competition.

“I have not felt such an emotional drain in all of my racing career. We were a little bit more than an hour away from the finish and an almost certain win,” a disappointed Bradley said.  “It was really tough knowing how close we came, and with the effort everyone at Essex had put into this weekend made it even tougher.”

Running with Essex Racing in his third American Le Mans Series event of the season, and his career, Bradley had nothing but praise for his fellow drivers and the team throughout the weekend. “We all got along great and Andrew proved to be extremely quick and worked well with both Jason and I,” Bradley explained. “We worked through the practice sessions making the car better and finding ourselves a good balance that would allow us to run a consistent pace during the race. Qualifying went very well and we started the race 10th overall.”

Workman climbed behind the wheel for the start of the race and brought the Essex Racing Lola Nissan through the field and up to second in class by the time it was Bradley’s turn to take to the track. Once on track Bradley continued the push to the front and by the halfway point of his first stint he had moved into the class lead. “We had a great battle with Intersport from about the 3rd hour of the race all the way through until the 8th hour,” Bradley said. “They would lead for a while then have to pit and we would take over then eventually we’d have to pit and turn the lead back over to them. For myself being new to endurance racing this was amazing!”

As they entered the latter stages of the race Bradley knew that the Intersport car was having trouble with a water leak, which was creating overheating problems, forcing the team to add water at every stop. At the same time the Essex Racing had been performing flawlessly and could maintain it’s pace through to the checkered flag, barring some unforeseen problem.

Unfortunately, the unforeseen problem reared its head as Davis was keeping the car on pace, when a wisp of smoke appeared at the back of the car. Hopes that it was a minor problem were dashed when the car emitted a giant cloud of smoke. Davis brought the car into the pits where it was confirmed that the problem, an oil line failure, would end their race. “One of the oil lines that was inaccessible without almost completely tearing the car apart had broken,” Bradley explained. “We couldn't fix it in the time remaining so the team pulled the car behind the wall and officially retired from the race.

Despite being forced out of the event, Bradley was emphatic in his appreciation of the Essex Racing team. “We may not have won this round but Mike Gue and Tony Dowe did a tremendous job, and barring that failed oil line, I’m certain we would’ve been celebrating a victory,” Bradley said. “I also have to thank those that have made it possible for me to finish out the season with this organization. In addition to Mike and Tony, I have to thank Alex Graas at M3 Motorsports, Seacliff Technologies, and my fellow drivers Andrew and Jason.”

With a strong showing in the three events he competed in, Bradley finished the season tenth in the final points standings for the LMP 675 class. “Again I have to credit the team for their work at giving us drivers a great car to work with,” stated Bradley, “Hopefully we’ll get more opportunities working together next season.”