ERDA, Utah — Veteran performer and race-car driver Mick Blue took first place in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) SE30 class over the weekend at the Utah International Motorsports Campus, becoming the 2024 national champion.
Blue also competed in the TT6 and ST6 classes, obtaining third and fifth place respectively.
The SE30 class is for BMW 325 E30 cars built between 1987 and 1990. All cars have the same specs and a minimum weight of 2,700 lbs. including the driver after the race, and a maximum of 160.90 HP/TQ output on the rear wheels.
Speaking exclusively with XBIZ, Blue shared that his SE30 victory was especially meaningful to him because all of the cars are on equal footing.
“Everyone races with the same equipment to make it more fair,” he explained. “So the race determines who’s the better driver instead of who has the better car.”
The NASA Championships are a one-of-a-kind opportunity for a driver of Blue’s standing, he added.
“It only happens once a year, and all racers throughout the nation and from all 50 states come together and race each other to see who is the best in the country in each category,” Blue said. “You have the whole weekend to compete. For each class, you do a qualifying race on Friday to determine the starting position for the race on Saturday, and then on Saturday, you have the 30-minute race and whatever is your finishing position determines your starting position on Sunday for the actual championship race.”
As XBIZ reported, Blue became the Southern California champion in November 2023, when his Bad Dragon-sponsored BMW won the 2023 NASA SoCal SE30 Championship at the Track or Treat event held at the Chuckwalla Valley Raceway.
Blue already had a NASA National Championship under his belt, having won the timed TT6 category in 2022, the same year he was crowned Male Performer of the Year at the XBIZ Awards.
“That one was about who sets the fastest time, but we don’t really race each other. It’s a different strategy,” he noted. “This weekend’s race has a lot more stress, and a lot of strategy plays into it. If the car breaks down on Saturday, you’re not going to race on Sunday. You are racing humans, who can be predictable or unpredictable. You don’t know how fast they are on the day of the event.”
Blue also thanked his sponsor Bad Dragon, “for making everything possible,” JMP Autowerkz in Canoga Park, which helps him prepare his cars for races; and refrigeration company Cool Boxx.
“Cool Boxx has a system that pumps water into my shirt as I’m racing to keep me cool,” he explained. “Otherwise, you lose focus, as the Utah track is at 4,500 feet of altitude and the temperature there was over 90 degrees.”
For more details about the event, visit DriveNASA.com and follow Mick Blue on Instagram.
