Driving the road to success - on and off the track
James Gue of Miracle Motorsports
By Margot Orenchuk and Kate Shaw
Photos courtesy Jim DeFord
TORONTO, CANADA (September 16, 2004) -- When I was at University, a million years ago, we had a sign on the wall of our dorm room that read “If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you have arrived?” It’s clear that James Gue of Miracle Racing has taken this motto to heart. Not only is he a full time racing driver with Miracle Racing, in a neck or nothing race with team-mate Ian James for the P2 Drivers’ Championship in the American Le Mans sports car series, but he is also a full time student at the University of Georgia, taking a demanding degree in Italian and Economics. UGA fans and friends, and others throughout the South, are familiar with the concept of “student athlete”, although their mental picture is likely to be that of a football or basketball player rather than a race car driver. But unlike a lot of “athlete-students”, Gue gives equal weight to both his goals in life.

Like many who race for a living, Gue was immersed in the racing culture from birth; his father managed successful racing teams, and by the time he was eight years old, James had made up his mind that this was his goal. He began racing locally, building up his skills and assessing his abilities, and then at age 17, when most of his cohort were expressing their independence by dyeing their hair blue and hanging around the mall, he persuaded his parents to let him go off to Italy, by himself, and begin a two-year stint in the European World Championship Series. Clearly his parents had reason to believe him when he promised that he’d finish school when he returned home; and he didn’t disappoint. Not only did he forge successfully on in his racing career, winning the Skip Barber Scholarship, but also he found time to keep up with his education while in Italy, and he got his diploma when he got home. Having proved to his parents – and himself – that he could ‘ride two horses’ successfully, he’s continued getting an education as he pursues his racing dream with Miracle Racing.

RFM’s Margot Orenchuk managed to get a few minutes to speak with Gue at the Mosport round of the ALMS, to find out what he thinks of the Miracle team and how he views his season. “Miracle Racing is a good team,” he said enthusiastically. “It’s really a good bunch of guys. I’ve been on a lot teams where there’s been a lot of bickering and such, but here that doesn’t work. These guys do an outstanding job. They have been reliable from the start.”

The Miracle Racing team came together at the last minute, just before the 12 Hours of Sebring in the 2004 season, when American Spirit Racing unexpectedly folded; Miracle team owner John Macaluso purchased one of their cars and rounded up two drivers to drive with him, and somehow they won that race in their class. The long “Le Mans” break between then and the Mid-Ohio race gave them a chance to further refine their efforts, and not incidentally to give another look to a young driver they had worked with before in ‘another series’ as he diplomatically put it. “John had given me an opportunity to do a six hour race with the team in the Riley & Scott,” he explained, “and I did a bit of testing for them at Daytona, which went well. They seemed to like me; so he asked me to come back after Mid-Ohio and join their team”

James admits he didn’t even really follow the Miracle Motorsports Sebring race effort, but he’s more than pleased at the turn of events that have led to his being able to drive for the team today. And when I asked him about the difference as a driver between simply running with the pack and being with the “winning” P2 team he replied in a most diplomatic way “there is usually not a real problem between the P1 and P2 teams; they are both so much quicker than the others – sometimes well over a 10 second per lap difference. It of course changes from each place we go to.”

Being with a brand-new team under development is a new experience for James, but he doesn’t have any concerns about that. “You usually go with well-established teams that already have a good idea of where they are now and where they are heading. This is a unique situation for me.” But as he proved when he went off to Italy at age 17, unique situations are his bread and butter; and thus it is that his team finds itself in a lock for the driver championship in its very first year of operation. And for the man who clearly has a plan in mind, we can expect to see Gue rewarding the Miracle Racing team’s faith in him just as he proved to his parents that their trust was not misplaced.

And when he finishes winning the Championship and graduating from the University of Georgia with honours, perhaps he would like to settle the NHL strike, negotiate a television package for Champ Cars, and win the F1 WDC for Minardi.

James Gue is a man who knows what he wants in life, and he knows how he’s going to get there. I’m sure that the other members of Miracle Racing have placed his name prominently on their “It’s A Miracle!” top ten.