racerjon1

It’s the time of year again where about 175 members of the church of the car make a pilgrimage to South Bend, Indiana for a week of sleep deprivation, vibration and noise known as the TireRack Cannonball One Lap of America.

May 3 – 10 will mark the twenty-fifth running of the “modern” Cannonball Run – now an event that instead of racing on public roads from New York to Los Angeles, competitors travel from track to track at reasonable (we hope) speeds while actually racing on the tracks themselves.

In the U.S. the twenty-fifth anniversary is known as the silver one and maybe we shouldn’t let any of the competitors know that four-time consecutive and defending champions Mark DaVia and Drew Wickstrom’s Porsche is still silver, and it is still in top form. Each year it has looked like someone would step up and drag the Porsche of the mountain, but they are still king of this hill.

Mark DaVia will be coming back to try for his fifth consecutive One Lap of America win.

If the words “annual pilgrimage” and “four-time consecutive winner” make you think this is a mundane road trip, think again. Last year two favorites were taken out within the first few minutes of the event and Brian Smith looked to be cruising to a win in the Hennessey Viper until an ill-timed clutch failure all but handed DaVia the win with only two days to go.

“Someone is going to come hang me,” said DaVia after Smith’s clutch broke, a failure that would allow DaVia to “just finish” and get the points needed to win the event.

This year the pack has the gallows ready, and instead of one hangman looking for a pair of boots, there are about 80 teams looking to drop the trap door under DaVia’s feet to earn their pay – a coveted trophy, bragging rights and their car headlining the One Lap of America web-site until it’s time to do it again next year.

As of this writing some of the favorites may not be coming back.

Brian Smith has been replaced in the Henessey Viper by Chrysler test-driver Chris Winkler. Multi-time winner Ron Adee may have to concentrate on his business instead of a crazy race week in his earth-crushing Viper.

Chris Winkler will be taking over driving duties in the Hennessey Viper from Brian Smith, it is unsure at this point if Brian will find his way into another ride or not.

Many of the favorites are back of course - the Canadian father/son Corcoran duo and Luke the, “Flying Floridian” Russell in the TopSpeed Subaru Brighton (an STI in sheep’s clothing) will be fighting for top honors.

Bringing up a strong wildcard contingent are a pair of 1980s IMSA GTP Corvette replicas campaigned by Mongoose Motorsports and driven by the previous two years’ NASA Time Trial “U” national champions Jon Krolewicz and Danny Popp. There is a Bimmerworld-prepared BMW 135i looking rather stout and a supercharged NSX piloted by multi-time SCCA and NASA national champion Joel Lipperini on the list as well.

Of the regular One Lappers, Chuck Veth and Manny Da Silva are back with stronger cars, and they were already threats for top finishes.

Last years’ third-place finisher Leh Keen is even rumored to be in something “fast and interesting.” Leh owns a Skyline GT-R and drives a Porsche for Farnbacher-Loles in the Grand Am Rolex GT series, so one can only guess as to what kind of machinery he may show up in.

In the “wow I can’t believe they’re doing that” category, the Honda Manufacturing Plant in Alabama is bringing back its turbocharged Odyssey minivan and two guys are attacking the event in a Smart car. If you don’t know what a Smart car is, let’s say if we were playing “20 questions” you might answer one of those questions by saying “smaller than a breadbox.”

The rest of the field is filled with interesting stories of course, the Car & Driver Magazine team is running a Nissan Skyline GT-R, and there is a slew of super-civics, rock-solid Subarus, Porsches, BMWs and little Neons that can ready to claw their way to the front.

One Lap of America attracts all kinds of cars and personalities from all over the US, Canada and even a few from Europe.

The 2008 route will start in South Bend, Indiana on a wet skid pad, and then hit Road America in Wisconsin, Mid America in Iowa, Texas World Speedway and Lonestar Motorsports Park in Texas, No Problem Raceway in Louisiana, Carolina Motorsports Park and the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina, Virginia International Raceway (You can guess where that one is) and BeaveRun in Pennsylvania before coming back to South Bend for the dry skid pad event.

The event will cover roughly 4000 highway miles through 18 states making stops in eight of them for 20 competition events. If it makes you exhausted thinking about it, think of how the teams will feel after a week of living in the cars, staying in hotel rooms long enough for a cat-nap and a shower all while sustaining themselves off gas station hot dogs, McDonald’s and the energy-drink of choice.

***schedule and people of interest to follow***

racerjon1

The Schedule:

Date -- Event -- Track -- Location
May 2 -- Sticker Day -- The TireRack -- South Bend, IN

May 3 -- Wet Skid Pad -- The TireRack -- South Bend, IN
-------- Time Trial -- Road America -- Elkhart Lake, WI

May 4 -- 2 Time Trials -- Mid America Motorplex -- Pacific Junction, IA

May 5 -- 2 Time Trials -- Texas World Speedway -- College Station, TX
-------- Low E.T./Bracket Drags -- Lonestar Motorsports Park -- Houston, TX

May 6 -- 2 Time Trials -- No Problem Raceway -- Belle Rose, LA

May 7 -- 2 Time Trials -- Carolina Motorsports Park -- Kershaw, SC
-------- Time Trial -- BMW Performance Center -- Greer, SC

May 8 -- 3 Time Trials -- Virginia International Raceway -- Alton, VA

May 9 -- 2 Time Trials/Autocross -- BeaveRun Motorsports Complex -- Wampum, PA
--------- Passage Control -- Design Engineering Inc. -- Avon Lake, Ohio

May 10 -- Dry Skid Pad -- The TireRack -- South Bend, IN


All of the tracks should allow spectators, in 2006 when we visited No Problem Raceway I think they charged a small fee. Other tracks may do the same. If you are coming out to visit, things will get started at 8:00 am - 8:30 am, there will be a break for lunch around noon, and then most cars will be gone by 3:00 pm.

***people of interest to follow**

racerjon1

Of course, going out to the event wouldn't be as big a deal unless you knew who to cheer for. Here they are, the Vettes, and the friends of Vettes. (If I missed anyone, let me know.. as I am sure I have)



The “Copmagnet” team – Mark Murnahan and Stephen Gerber. These guys were going to enter some other car, and then on a whim went and bought a C6 Z06. Not sure if there will be any goodies on it, but they will be doing live streaming video the entire event, along with GPS tracking. They will be fun to watch.


NO PICTURE
Dick and Jerry Clark. I don’t know too much about this ride, though I should as I am pretty sure they were at BeaveRun with me at the One Lap school. What I do know is they are listed in a Vette.



Dan and Kyle Corcoran. An annual staple of One Lap – The Corcorans’ Z06. Dan has been doing more fine-tuning on it, and he should run up front.

NO PICTURE
Steve Gray – Also listed as a Vette, and I don’t have a picture as of yet.


Rudy Arias, John Oliver. Another One Lap staple, and another who was at the recent school at BeaveRun. He might not be one of the fastest, but I think you will be hard pressed to find a nicer competitor and Vette enthusiast.

NO PICTURE
Steve Stubbs – I have pictures of him, but he hasn’t listed a Vette. He is listed as Big Bore, but last I heard he was trying to find a ride.


My ride.. I was also supposed to run this car last year, but it didn't get ready in time. This year I have a teammate, perhaps.


My Teammate – Danny Popp and Jeremy Herzberg. Danny ran the car at Mid Ohio last weekend, though there seems to be a lack of times from both the Mongoose guys and NASA.. either way, I wouldn’t bet on it being slow.

There they are.. come out, see the fastest street cars in the US fight for top honors, come cheer us on.

racerjon1

Of note.. websites to follow along on:

www.onelapofamerica.com

www.onelapper.com

www.racerjon.com/events/onelap08/intro.html

I will edit as needed to include more blogs, webcasts and video sites.



Jon K

Lawdogg

Thanks for the info. I did the One Lap in '03 with John Boos. That was the last year that Davia didn't win. Adee won that year in a Z06 and we finished 2nd in a Z06. Since that was the 50th anniversary year of Corvette, the outcome was sweet. Have fun!!!

Z06_BluByU

We had to withdraw.. a major work conflict for both of us came up... we will be ready for next year and will be cheering all the friends of the forum on!!!

Good luck!! sounds like a tight field!!

racerjon1

That was my first year, I was in the Stock Lancer Evo (the one without the bra) yea.. I remember thinking, "wait, who talked me into brining a 270hp stock car to this event?"


Jon

varkwso

Good luck to all - the ugly world of work, school and economics did us in this year...

I ran with a lot of the "guys" at CMP for test days and a One Lap school.

The white FRC would have done OK - I think....maybe next year....

Ojustracing

Jon dont feel so bad, I still remember the comments from different fans along the way in 03. "Hey my MOM drove a Citation"

Ahh got love economy, have to start somewhere though

John

RogueVette

This truely is one of my favorite events. Every year has brought some very different memories. I honestly don't know If I have laughed more in my life then I did during last years OLoA. Great times at the tracks, great times on the roads, tornado's, cops, the occasional felony evading and eluding, female cops phone numbers, finding gas in Rural Wyoming on a Sunday, Mark and Angel in the C6 from Colorado to Oklahoma, ahhh Good times and even better people.

I'm looking forward to this year.

Jeremy

racerjon1

**Update**

So the rumblings and goings have mixed things up a bit with just 10 days until the 2008 One Lap of America.

The Super-Subaru of Luke Russell went to Gateway International Raceway this weekend and won the event with a time in the 1:02s. Somewhere in there the team decided that the car was "just too gnarley" for One Lap, and have decided not to go.

The semi-super-Subaru of the Battleground Engineering team isn't ready, and it will not make it.

Brian Smith was going to run an MTI customer's Viper, but the customer crashed it, and Smith will not be going.

Word from Smith backs up the news that Adee will not be there.

The 5th-place finishing Neon SRT4 had issues over the weekend, but should have parts on the way. If not, they will take co-driver's Evo.


So, what about good news..

Leh Keen, who finished 3rd last year has let some more information out about his ride:
1) It's a Porsche
2) It's underpowered compared to a Viper or the 996TT (which probably means it's 450hp...)
3) It doesn't have glass windows.

He hasn't had a test day in it and he hopes he gets one, but I can tell you he wont need it, he is going to be fast. To me it sounds like they are hanging a license plate on a Porsche Cup car.

I will be doign an update from the Mongoose test day shortly, and hopefully a prediction write-up within the next day.


Jon K

racerjon1

So it’s time for my annual TireRack One Lap of America prediction list – who is going to be at the front of the field, who I think is going to be strong, and who I think might surprise some people. Having actually started this list about a month ago, the surprises are more in who isn’t coming than who is. Ron Adee and his 800 whp + viper are not coming back. Brian Smith vacated the Henessey Viper and picked up a ride in a Motorsports Technology Incorporated Viper, but then it was crashed by the owner so he isn’t coming. A couple of drivers played musical chairs in the TopSpeed Subaru, but in the end with Luke Russell on the list the team decided efforts were better placed elsewhere.

Of course it would be easy to say, “Well, DaVia will win his fifth in a row for sure now,” but that’s not the case. What this leaves us with is more questions than usual. Yes DaVia is the favorite, but that hasn’t really changed in the past three years anyway, what changes is the cast of people who have a shot at knocking him off the top of the mountain.

So here it is, for better or for worse, the list of who I think will be at the top of the heap at the end of the week.



1) DaVia/Wickstrom, Porsche 911
I might have said it wouldn’t be easy to predict him as the winner, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t predict him as the winner. Last year I called him the tick-tock Croc, waiting for the faster guys to fall into his jaws for another taste of victory. With four wins in a row now, I can't say much different. DaVia is like erosion – always there, always taking place, and competitors don't know how much they have lost until the results are in the history books. He will have challengers in the form of speedy cars, but his track record and reliability over the inexperience and equipment of the people trying to knock him off leave me to put him on top again.

2) Herzberg/Popp, Mongoose GTP
This car can be fast. Danny Popp can be fast. Mechanical issues kept him from clinching the top spot in 2005 and 2006 but he was running up front when his car was running. Now he is coming back in a mid-engine LS7-powered car. I kept bouncing around as to where to predict this team would finish, but I can’t justify putting them anywhere else in the top ten other than here or first, since it’s the cars first One Lap, it’s going here, though I honestly believe if it finishes, it will be a spot higher.

3) Keen/Barnes, Farnbacher Porsche Cayman GT-R
This hasn’t been officially announced yet, but I have done some digging and this will be the entry. Because there hasn’t been an announcement, I am not sure how much of the driving duties will be shared by each, but both drivers are very good, Leh with lots of Porsche experience and the third place at One Lap in 2007. The car is 400whp, and the effort is sponsored by Farnbacher-Loles, so the prep work should be immaculate, and the driving top-notch.

4) Corcoran/Corcoran, Chevrolet Corvette
The usual rock-solid top-five contenders had some issues last year, one in the form of a Mid America tire barrier. I expect that we will see a more solid effort with more development time this year on what was his new-for-07 suspension setup, which should net the Canadian father-son team a top five. This is also the team that scares me. Dan hasn’t run fast enough to win before, but he went faster in pre-season testing than anyone, and has the experience to run a smart event. If Dan can come in and get the win, you can bet it will be a crowd favorite.

5) Clarke/Lipperini, Acura NSX
Crazy man Lipperini and car-owner Clarke are coming back this year in an Acura NSX. In 05 they ran a GT40 kit, in 06 a near-stock STI, and in 07 were on the list in a Lotus that never showed up. Lipperini's One Lap schmorgasboard isn't any different than his roadracing In the wheel-to-wheel stuff Lipperini runs FWD, RWD, and anything in between and wins championships. Whatever he is driving you can bet it will be at its limits.

6) Da Silva/Da Silva, 2001 Porsche 996TT
This pair is back for 2008, and they are bringing back a “sister car” to DaVia’s. They are usually in the top ten, and with more horsepower I am probably missing the call on this one. They may very well be in the top 5 and even competing for top three.

7) Krolewicz/Krolewicz, Mongoose GTP
...and we come to me. This is the car I was supposed to drive in 2007 that didn't make it. It is "Version 1.0" of the Mongoose GTP, and has a 4-speed automatic transmission, stock LS7 and an aluminum monocoque. (compared to the composite chassis of Popp's car) That doesn't mean this car is a slouch. It is still sub 2800-lbs, and is putting 404 horsepower to the rear wheels. It still has the super-slick downforce-producing prototype bodywork, and still blew the field away at the 2007 Kit Car Run N' Gun. Just because it isn't the faster of the two GTPs doesn't mean it will be among the "all remaining cars" group – that being said, looking at testing times they seem to put me in the fifth and sixth place range.

8) Veth/Adam, 2004 Porsche 911 GT3
Chuck Veth has run a few One Lap of America events, in a much less prepared Porsche, and usually came home at the back of the teens. He has also co-driven with Mark DaVia (2003) so he knows what he is doing, and knows what it takes to run up front. This year he has brought a Porsche GT3, and was running very fast at the BeaveRun One Lap school. If he shows the same speed daily that he did at the end of the weekend at BeaveRun, he may finish a couple of spots higher.

9) Winkler/Jones Dodge Hennessey Viper ACR.
This is a strange one on the entry list. This is factory ACR test driver Chris Winkler at the wheel of a Henessey Viper, a ride that Brian Smith usually took. Chris knows his way around a Viper, and around a racetrack. Chris is soft-spoken which in much of my experience will make him terror on a track. If he had more One Lap experience, I might place him higher.

10) Hall/May/Clay, BMW 135i
Speed World Challenge driver and One Lap veteran James Clay is joining the fun this year by joining up with One Lap veterans Alex May and Victor Hall in a BMW 135i that Clay told me, “has just enough power to be reliable.” I know that these guys have divided up the tracks to pre-run, and are going for as much blood as they can collect. It’s a strong group, in a strong car, with a smart approach. Could be fun to see what happens.


So there it is, my prediction at the top 10.. as I look at it, there are another five or so that I would put up there. With the very front being a bit odd, the race for sixth place on back can be insane. We might easily see the next five reversed with the ones I just put up there. So what’s a nervous hack of a fortune teller to do to cover his butt? Put up 11-15 of course.


11) Swan/Seelhorst, Nissan Skyline GT-R
The magazines rave about it so what better way to prove it than by handing it to Car & Driver hot shoe Tony Swan. Tony has given some very good runs in much lesser equipment, and we have seen him put in top-10 caliber runs at individual events. With the strength of the Skyline, he can knock on the door to the top-10 and maybe even get invited in for a drink.

12) Heuschele/Gilles, 2008 Challenger SRT8
Erich “Hollywood” Heuschele is back after a year off in 2007. He is usually in a Dodge, and he is usually going fast. He has class wins and a few top-tens in this event. I am putting the team in twelfth because that’s where I think he will run daily, but when people in front of him break, he will move up. This is more of a “won’t finish any lower” prediction than a “will finish here” prediction.

13) Lier/Stewart, Porsche GT3
Peter Lier teamed up with Adam Breakey in 2007 to finish sixteenth even with some issues. This year he is bringing a different car, and different co-driver Ian Stewart. Don't expect teething problems from this team though, Lier and Stewart have been autocrossing this GT3 together for the past few years, with Ian bringing home an SCCA Solo National Championship in it in 2007. Ian now also has some roadracing under his belt, including a National win at Roebling Road in March. If Ian combines his newfound roadrace maturity with his autocross ability to be fast out of the box, and Lier can put up good times at the tracks he knows, this team might make me look very wrong by tearing their way into the top 10.

14) Johnson/Midgley, Honda Civic
The H.A.R.T. Civic that captured 5th place in 2006 and suffered a bad-luck failure in 07 is back. If not for an over the road camshaft failure caused by a loose bolt these guys might have grabbed another top-five last year. Like with 2006, I don't think they will have the speed to outright run up front, but they should have consistently solid runs. If the wet stuff falls or the big boys start breaking, these guys will be climbing up.

15) Braun/Creasy, VW Beetle TDI
At one point I looked at a results sheet with these guys up front and I thought, "where the f**** did they come from." In 2006 we heard about this car being a 12-second TDI, and in 2007 it found the speed... and a guard rail. To add insult to injury Braun also found a guard rail in his replacement car, and he is excited about the chance to improve on his 2007 results.

So there it is, and writing it what I have realized is that though the front of the field might have thinned a little in terms of known teams, it has made the prediction about the rest harder. Many strong top-20 guys have come in with faster cars, and I think the density is going to be high in the eighth to twentieth place range. Expect to see close lap times and mistakes as this group pushes each other looking for the top-10.

Again, every time I look at the field, I see a field compressed to fusion-levels for the top 10.. It really is going to be fun to watch, and in the interest of still covering those I think will be players, here are some others to watch:

??) Warren/Kahn, Ultima GTR
Carl snuck into the top five last year with the help of some attrition, but also with improvement in driving from 2006. To say the Ultima is a formidable car wouldn't be doing it justice, and even with no attrition Carl may have improved enough to land longtime Lap Dog Don Kahn's car in the top-10 for the second year in a row – so be on the lookout.

??) Rankins/Kornhaus/Dunnaway, Subaru STI
My last-minute ride from last year, Rankins is coming back for his third One Lap of America, and looking to improve on the tenth place overall that he and I fought to get last year. Can Rankins do it? I think he can, but I also think that he will still need some help from the attrition that the event saw in 2007.

??) Wind/Clancy, Neon SRT4
The little Neon that can. Though this isn't the car that I coined that term with, this one is the one that backed up the title last year by bringing home a fifth place - outrunning some very fast Subarus to take the class win in Mid Priced Sedan as well. This year Doug Wind is coming back with one of his 2007 co-drivers, Devin Clancy, and this pair will be assaulting the tracks that fit their styles and trying to improve on last year's results.

??) Eadeh/Fuchs, Ford GT
Fast car, fast drivers. They got into the top 10 in 07, and I expect them to run in the teens and be ready to sneak up there again this year depending on how fortunes go.

??) Hagopian/Ramirez, 2005 Dodge Neon
Fast last year for sure, this team can also play for the front. They had a mid-week intercooler hose issue that set them back some last year, and then a crash that finished them off.. if luck goes better, so will they.


So, discuss, throw things, argue, whatever.. for better or for worse, there is a starting point

racerjon1

Jon K update time...


This past weekend my dad and I ran a mini-one lap test, and it went a little something like this:

Friday April 18: Left Columbia, SC at 7:30pm to drive 700 miles overnight to New York, New York. I drove from 11:30pm until 5:30 am. We Stopped in a rest area for two hours, pulled into my Great-Grandmother's house in the Bronx at 7:30 am.

Saturday April 19: Spent the day in NYC with my Great Grandmother, I stayed up until 12:30am watching the IndyCar race.

Sunday April 20: Woke up at 4:30am, drive 1.5 hours to Lake Waramug Connecticut, drop my dad off so he can run a 62-mile footrace. I drove to Statford and participate in an Autocross, winning the street tire pax class driving an H-stock Chevrolet Cobalt. I drive back to pick up my dad who is just finishing up his 62 miles.

We leave Connecticut at 8:00 pm, heading for Nelson Ledges Racecourse in Ohio 447 miles away. I drive till roughly midnight.

Monday April 21 3:30 am, my dad needs sleep so I get up and finish the drive to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio to meet the Mongoose guys at the shop. We load up the new Mongoose truck to head over to Nelson to do a test day.


The Mongoose Motorsports 18-wheeler in the Nelson Ledges paddock.

We get to Nelson about 10:30, and unload to go test. I wish I had more pictures, but I stayed too busy. Dean, one of the car builders, takes the yellow car out to test the transmission and new tune (417whp) and it stops running on course, he needs a tow-in. The Yellow car would spend most of the rest of the day being worked on.


Mongoose GTP 2.0 - teething issues continue on the brand new car.

I worked on the brakes of car 1.0 for most of the day. It's building too much pressure in the booster, and giving me very little brake feel. It stops, almost too well without giving me the ability to modulate, and the "soft" pedal is not very confidence inspiring. I try closeing off the booster and uh, that didn't work. I try crimping the line, but it still build pressure slowly, and I finally settle for removing the check valve in the vacuum line it works better, but still not great.

About that point they finished figuring out the yellow car, and the report is that the brakes feel good, so I go take it out. I run 4 or so laps in it and decide that I should stop, as the car feels very different than the orange car, and I don't want to go bulding bad habits that might hurt my speed in the orange car. Overall the Yellow one is faster in a line, and feels like it has more overall grip, with not as much understeer. The brakes also feel better, and overall I think despite its teething issues, it's going to be a faster car.

I did run decent times though, times good enough to run top-15 the last time One Lap of America visited in 2005.

At that point I decided to put on the One Lap tires and scrub the release mold stuff off of them, and then decide to do a One Lap simulation.. warm-up lap, then three hard laps from a standing start.

Two things became apparent as soon as I launched - 1) I am going to have to leave a note on the dash to remind me to start in first.. I forgot to go back to the lowest gear and launched in 4th. It doesn't make for speed. It also disrupted my rythm as I hunted for the right gear over the first few corners.

I sucked it up, got my head back in it and turned my two fastest laps of the day still leaving a decent amount of the table. I could speculate on where it put me, but I did get practice so it wouldn't be a *true* test. I will stand by the fact I feel that unless I really pull out some good stuff, I will be 6th or 7th daily.


Out of the seven cars testing at Nelson on monday including an IT7, a BMW club racing M3, a Formula Ford, a very fast Honda Civic and the other GTP that was there, only this Formula 2000 turned faster laps than the GTP Version 1.0.

For a control test, we sent Dean out in the Yellow car to do a One Lap run, and his times would have put him 27th - 29th in 2005, depending on if it was run 1 or 2.

At that point I was done for the day, opting to put the car away and save it for One Lap.

We then left for home at 6 pm, and arrived home at 3:05 am Tuesday morning. I drove from 6 pm till 10:30 pm, and then from 1 am till 2 am.

For those paying attention, from the point I got up at 7 am on Friday until I woke up Tuesday morning at 8 am, I had slept roughly 18 hours over four days, which is hopefully less than One Lap. I was more tired than I would have liked, so we will see how the full week goes.

varkwso

You must have been the X11 entry I talked to at CMP that year...

1lapRacer

Very nice assessment of the comp for 2008. As it does every year, problems, attrition, weird happenings and luck will play a large part in who finishes in the top 20. Us "all remaining cars " don't worry so much about the luck part in terms of position rather in terms of did we finish all of the events.

If the Mongooses hold up for the whole week, which is a hard for seasoned cars from the worlds best car makers, I expect one if not two of them to be on the podium or very close proximity. It is high time that Danny C. do well as he is a super driver and a nice guy to boot.

The lack of Adee, Smith and the uber subie will change the mix a bit and plenty of people will be in the hunt to occupy those spots.

Our team will miss this year and I will be grumpy with everyone for the week while living vicariously through the internet postings.

Jon, Danny and the rest of the Vette guys, please drive careful and run hard! Keep us posted of all the fun stuff via your blogging.....

Bink

Poppcycle.

Everett Ogilvie

Enjoyed your posts, and best of luck! The two cars look great!

RogueVette

Jon,

I am surprised you would put yourself that low. The Brown car even with it's Aluminum Monocoque is still vastly lighter then the yellow car so it's power to weight is better, has assisted steering and you have lightyears more seat time in it then Danny does. I believe well driven both these cars are capable of a 1-2 finish.

Not taking anything away from Mark/Drew, Danny/Kyle, Manny/Christine, Joel/Buzz or Leh/Don. I also think you may be under evaluating Eric the the Challenger. We all know that car will be far from what rolls off the showroom floor and Eric can flat drive. Because on any given day with any number of circumstances any of those teams can win/place.

I don't know about you, but we have a desire to win this thing. Putting the car that this company entrusted us with at the top of the rankings. No disrepect but sounds like you are already making excuses for not doing well. Odd coming from someone so confident in his abilities in everything from a Honda Civic or Chevy Cobalt to whatever it was you drove at Daytona.

Now I'm not going to give away specifics, but the Yellow car with less power to weight ran faster at Nelson with traffic and debris on the track at the set up point for the kink then Dan's winning time in 05, and that was WAY ahead of the other cars that ran that year. Plus the Yellow cars launch was poor where we know the Brown car just squats and goes.

Certainly the 4 speed auto hurts in some instances over the 6 speed auto, but by 5-6 positions given the brown car has a better power to weight and with the assisted steering can better counter steer?

That's why I am saying we will go 1/2. I know what these cars are capable of.

VBP

THIS IS GOING TO BE THE YEAR DANNY TAKES FIRST!!!!!!

I am going to keep watching even though I will not be at VBP anymore. Who knows, I might make it to South Carolina.

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A NO. 1 FAN AND FOREVER WILL BE!!!! I have appreciated all of the help Danny has given me over the years and wish him only the best and more and more success. I KNOW THERE ARE MANY, MANY MORE FIRSTS AND TRACK RECORDS COMING IN THE FUTURE!!!!!!


Danny, thank you so much for everything and I will not say I am going to miss you and all my Corvette friends because I am going to keep in touch. GOOD LUCK AND ALWAYS BE SAFE!!!!

Pattie

varkwso

we will all miss you...

Breakage and luck will determine some even finish OLOA...there will be some who should be there - that won't change the line up at the end....

Brian Smith had it sewn up last year until the clutch at Indy...