LAP TIMES

Thursday Update... Beauty and the Beast

2011-05-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday is now in the books and we are passing through Nashville on our way to Joliet, IL. Today we raced at one of the most beautiful facilities I think I have ever seen - Barber Motorsports Park - and are faced with our most grueling (planned) transit stag of the race.

Yesterday afternoon Mary did an awesome job at No Problem Raceway - a course that was ideally suited for her. Her run was good enough for 31st overall and most of all showed that all of our fixes - axles, differential, brakes - were working as we had hoped. It's hard to hop in a car with brand new this and that and have the confidence to throw it around a race track at you have never seen before but we did and we were rewarded with a car that we know we can trust.

After leaving No Problem we had a relatively short transit stage (380 miles I think) to Birmingham, Alabama where we were able to catch up on some much needed sleep. The transit stage was not, however, without incident as we were having some intermittent issues with our trailer lights which, while not a huge deal, is worrysome especially when thinking about the long drive the next day. I think it is (was) a bad ground, we will find out tonight...

(9:40 update... It looks like the light issue is Rocky the Raccoon's revenge... When Mary splittered him, it looks like he not only took out the splitter strut but also walloped the Marquez running light. It's loose now so think we might have a ground issue up there... Fingers crossed we can get through the night).

This morning we had a short drive to Barber Motorsports Park and the best description that I can give is that it was like pulling up to an elite golf and country club. It is immaculately prepared with rolling lawns, trees, facilities, and what is supposed to be an awesome museum (that we didn't have time to visit). The track itself is even cooler although it is very intimidating, especially to those of use with more "conservative" abilities. It is far and away the most technical track that I have ever seen in person, let alone driven on. Most difficult are the multiple elevation changes which give you an interesting variety of blind turns - both uphill and downhill. We walked the track before heading out and I am glad that it was something that we been doing all week. Maps are great, notes are helpful, and video goes a long way to creating familiarity with tracks but nothing compares to walking it. Video didn't even come close to capturing the elevation changes and the pucker moments. When you a get instructions like "whatever you do here, make sure you are going straight when you crest this blind hill (at 90 mph)" you think about it a lot.

It turns out, I think I thought about it too much. When I went out in the morning for reasons that I can not explain I never really "got up" for the run. I was ready, and I was confident about the car and the track, but for whatever reason I never got in to the "gotta go" mentality. I think to some degree I was nervous about the run... We have 700 miles to drive tonight and a couple of hundred tomorrow - I know that preservation of the equipment this close to the end of the race was on my mind. We have locked up first in our class and are too far down overall (after missing Daytona and Gainesville) to recover - I know there was no urgency besides do well and represent the team and the car as best I could.

It was probably a combination of those things but when I got out I was way to tentative and nowhere near as aggressive as I needed to be. The braking zones are all very clearly marked and I gave them a lot of respect... Too much respect. If you have ever participated in one of Baer Brake's speed stop challenges you know what I am saying. You get hard on the brakes only to stop (or slow down) 100 feet too soon... And I just never pushed it like should have.

One of the greatest feelings about driving a car on the track is the surge of adrenaline you have after making that perfect lap, or turn, or apex... You get back in the pits and your whole body is crying out for more; you're shaking with the thrill of having done IT. I didn't have that feeling this morning... I ran my laps, pulled in to the pits and knew that I had been nowhere near the edge. Heck, I probably couldn't have even seen the edge from where I had driven. Bad feeling.

And it showed in my time, a disappointing but not unexpected 40 somethingth overall.

Mary on the other had, got IT. She went out after a solid days preparation (if you know Mary you will know what I mean) and she got on it from the start. She was second in her run group and made up 6 seconds on the car in front of her in the first lap. she got another 6 by the end of the second lap and was drag racing him down the front straight at the checkers. That's really impressive on a 2 mile course. It was amazing the number of people who came by afterwards and looked at Mary and the car in a little different light. The run itself was good for 38th despite being held up on her third lap.

Which more or less brings us to now... Somewhere on I-65 North between Bowling Green and Louisville in Kentucky making a bee line for Joliet. After Nashville traffic and a stop or two for gas we are looking at a 130 arrival at the hotel...

Long night coming.

Wednesday (?) Evening One Lap of America Update

2011-05-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday evening (at least I think it's Wednesday... the days are starting to run together now) and we are on our way from No Problem Raceway outside of New Orleans to Birmingham, Alabama. The last 60 hours have been a marathon highlighted by a roller coaster of highs, lows, anticipation, frustration, disappointment, and resilience. With no breaks (or sleep) in between.

Since we started the day Monday at Carolina Motorsports Park we have been able to sneak 2 hours of sleep, eaten at MacDonalds more times than anyone thinks is healthy, and have fought back from what we thought was the end of our race thanks to the help of our friends in the Pro-Touring industry and community.

After our break down on Monday night we were able to tow the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro first to Gainesville an eventually to Sanford, Florida where the Prodigy Customs gang was standing by to help us get back on the road if possible. When we finally arrived at a hotel that morning I took a minute to drive the car around the hotel parking lot and after listening to and watching the car, Mary and I optimistically but cautiously agreed that it didn't sound like an axle, but was more likely a bearing or differential problem. Neither are a whole lot better than the other but they were problems that we could fix... And that we could fix quickly.

When we got to Prodigy Custom's brand new facility in Sanford Frank and Michael immediately started working on the car and found the problem as soon as the first axle a was pulled. The bearing was completely destroyed. It looked like the axle seal failed and the gear oil leaked past until it was nearly dry and then the bearing quickly ate itself. The passenger side being showed advanced wear so the decision was made to replace both. When we pulled the center section out of the housing Mary found what she considers to be way too much debris for comfort so the decision was made to change out the 3rd member with the spare that we carried in the trailer with us.

Once the new diff was in and axles reassembled and installed we made the decision to replace the front rotors with the ones that DSE brought us the day before. That was done in short order and barely 5 hours after rolling in on a flat deck we were heading out under our own power.

It was 7 pm and we had missed the one event that Mary and I had been looking forward to more than any other... Daytona. Definitely a disappointment for both of us but at least we were back in the game. After Daytona the race stopped in Gainesville for some quarter mile action but that was wrapping up as we were packing up nearly 200 miles away.

Having missed Daytona and Gainesville Mary and I evaluated our options. At this point we hadn't slept for 36 hours aside from a cat nap and although our lead in Vintage American was secure, we had effectively taken ourselves out of the running in the overall points. It was 7 PM and we were nearly 800 miles from New Orleans and 500 or so miles from Birmingham so we had two choices... 1. Head back to Gainesville, properly breaking in the new rear end and brakes, get a good nights sleep and head on to Birmingham, meeting up with everyone on Thursday well rested and ready to head for the finish line or 2. Try to make it to No Problem Raceway for the afternoon session, grabbing a few hours sleep on the road.

After a brief but silent deliberation, Mary and I looked at each other, smiled and said "I am game if you are" and we chose option 3... Drive all night, make 800 miles in the 12 or so hours we had, and rejoin the One Lap first thing in the morning!

To make a long nights story short that is exactly what we did, making a banzai run across the panhandle through the night and arriving just time to unload the car and get a quick look at a track map before putting our now "broken in" parts to the test...

Tuesday Morning Update... And then things went bad...

2011-05-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late update - it's been a long night...

After Mary's excellent showing on at the BMW Performance Center last night we hit the highway for what we were hoping was going to be an uneventful if not late night drive to Daytona. The trip certainly got off well, with Mary getting us though South Carolina and well in to Georgia without a hitch. The car was running well and both of us were feeling remarkably good.

Some time after 11 PM with Mary at the wheel and me dozing in the passenger seat Mary shouts out... Well, never mind what she actually shouted out, you can use your imagination..

"I hit a raccoon," she exclaimed, "the bugger was in the other lane and ran right in front of me. I think I caught him with the splitter."

The car seemed ok after the bump but we were through the better part of a tank of fuel so we pulled in to the next available gas station for an inspection, a fill up, an a driver swap.

The inspection wasn't great... The raccoon had indeed hit the splitter on the passenger side - hard enough to break one of the support struts. ouch. No real damage but definitely a hard hit. When we got to the back of the car we were greeted with a film of gear oil costing the trailer, tail light panel, and gas tank. A quick inspection didn't reveal anything obvious so we filled up, ley everything cool off a bit and continued down the road, hoping that the non stop miles had simply overheated rear end and it was venting a bit of fluid.

About an hour down the road, just north of the Florida state line, we were cruising comfortably when the car shuttered and we heard what at first sounded like a tire rapidly going flat. Given the fact that we have run flats and the car was not shaking or pulling I quickly pulled over and we jumped out, hoping that it was a trailer tire. No such luck... All of the tires were up and the drivers side quarter panel was coated with yellowish gear oil, as was he wheel, the tire, and the underside of the car.

It is now 130 in the morning and we are calling triple A for a lift. While we wait for. Flat deck we start reaching out via the internet - forums, emails, social networking - to try to track down help for what feels like a serious issue. The tow truck arrived around 330 and we rolled in to Gainesville - the farthest we could get him to bring us - around 530.

We caught a couple of hours of sleep and at 830 our phones started ringing with offers to help.

We quickly decided to tow the car to Prodigy Customs just outside of Orlando. Frank and his team are some of the most respected builders in the business so we are hopeful that they cn help us get back on the road.

Which brings us to right now. We are in another flat deck just a few miles from Prodigy and hopefully moving towards getting back on the road.

We are down at this point, but not out. Daytona Motor Speedway was one of the highlights for both Mary and I on this trip and it hurts to be so close but not be able to run on the high banks. Hopefully we can get this together today and rejoin the race in New Orleans tomorrow... We will keep you posted.

James and Mary

Evening update - Monday May 2 (?)

2011-05-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a great day!

We are on I-385 heading south through South Carolina on our way to Daytona Beach (which the GPS promises we will reach shortly after 2 AM). We just finished up at the BMW Performance Center where we had our third competition stop of the day.

The day started with more sock adjustments, lead by some insight from the Team at RideTech. We keep getting closer and closer and I think that we have something that we can stick with for the rest of the race. James took the first run late in the morning and payed down a solid if not spectacular run. Mary too the afternoon run and positively lit it up with a great run that was good for 20th overall! I was great to hear Mary exclaim that the OLC felt as good as it ever has and that she was able to push the car harder than she every had before. I must be doing something right on the setup (finally).

We made the decision between the first and second run to call Stacy and Kyle at DSE to see if they had any spare brake rotors that we could grab. Our Baer brakes are doing absolutely great but we have developed a bit of a pulsation in the front so we'd like to rotate the rotors and keep everything running smoothly. DSE didn't have any spare inventory that we could borrow so they pulled the rotors off one of their own cars and sent one of their guys to Carolina Motorsports Park to deliver the rotors! WOW!!! I can not thank them enough!

We had planned on swapping them out before leaving Kershaw but we were the last (running) car at the track and had only a slim chance of making the transit to BMW as it was. We debated doing the work, missing BMW and rejoining the race in Daytona but decided that we could live with what we had for a little while longer and did not want a DNF for any event if we could avoid it. That being said we made the decision to motor to BMW, hopefully make it in time, and keep on running with the pack.

It was a harrowing transit stage but we made it to the Performance Center with about a half hour to spare. We quickly unpacked, threw two gallons of gas in the car, and Mary headed out on to the track in the second to last run group of the day.

Mary is definitely back - as she demonstrated with a fantastic 19th place overall finish at the BMW Performance Center! The car is running great and the drivers are finally finding a rhythm... We have improved to 43rd place overall and are hoping for a safe transit to Daytona tonight.

Until tomorrow...

Cheers

James and Mary

Huge Thanks to Kyle, Stacy, and Detroit Speed and Engineering

2011-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

We're sitting at Carolina Motorsports Park between rounds - James ran in the morning and Mary is getting ready to run in the afternoon session. This has been a day of attrition throughout the field and we are running in to issues of our own but thankfully we're only an hour away from Detroit Speed and Engineering and after talking to Stacy it sounds like we have Parts on way...

I'll post more details when we're not scrambling... But in the mean time...

THANK YOU DETROIT SPEED and ENGINEERING

James and Mary

Good morning from Carolina Motorsports Park

2011-05-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Monday May 2, Kershaw, SC
Class standing: 1st
Overall standing: lower

Sunday Afternoon Update

2011-05-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

We'll it's 5:45 Sunday afternoon and we are ... Somewhere... on I-81 in... Virginia I think...

Summit Point this morning was a bit of a roller coaster. We played some more with the shock settings - resetting everything and starting from scratch and we were rewarded with a much happier OneLapCamaro than we had yesterday. The car felt goon on the track and behaved in a much more predictable manner today - it just goes to show that when in doubt double check everything.

Mary took the first run this morning with some trepidation after spinning yesterday... It's tough to get on a track with a potentially 150 mph straight away followed by a 180ish degree turn when you're not sure exactly how the car is going to respond. The good news, as I said earlier, is the car did very well and Mary's faith in the OLC was restored. Her cumulative lap time of 5:00 was only 15 seconds per lap slower than the Leh Keen's low time of morning so we're working ok. The bad news was that (as I mentioned in a previous post) this is a really competitive year and her time was good enough for 60th place on the day. This means that we will start in 60th position for the rest of the week although we will be able to move up in the ladder as we prove to be faster.

I took the afternoon session - from the now established 60th spot on the grid - and things were looking up. Until the rain came... With around 55 cars done and my turn fast approaching a drizzle quickly became a light shower... Nuts! I don't know if there is anything worse to see as you sit on the grid than rain drops on your windshield but that's what I had now... But it's not like we had any choice so I went out with a final piece of advice from one of the local hot-shoes... "beware of the concrete sealer... It gets slippery in the wet". Wonderful... When we walked the track earlier we found the new sealer to be both sticky and the ideal racing line for most corners... nuts.

Long story short... It was (slippery) but I was able to find my way around with only a couple of pucker moments and was able to eek out a 4:50 - good enough for 50th place in the afternoon and one of the best times posted on the wet track.

We're on our way now to Kershaw, SC - a comparatively short transit of 420 miles (well short compared to yesterday at least). With any luck we'll roll in to town around 9:30 tonight for what could be a decent night sleep before tomorrow's mini-marathon with South Carolina Motorsports Park in the morning (twice) followed by a 150 mile transit stage and one stop at the BMW Performance Center in the afternoon - followed by a 480 transit to Daytona, Florida. 630 miles and three competition events... It's going to be a long day!

Good news is that we remain first in our class although that's more luck than skill at this point.

Sunday Morning Update

2011-05-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

This morning we're at Summit Point in West Virginia and Mary is getting ready to run our first road course of the week. It was wet this morning but it's dried up nicely so were hoping for a good lap. Mary will run this morning and James will run in the afternoon then we have a "short" transit to South Carolina which will be a welcome change from yesterday's cumulative 600+.

We played with shocks this morning and are hopefully heading in the right direction. We're around 50% on rebound and 75% soft all around now.

Fingers crossed... We're beat but still pushing hard. We're first in class for now and will get a good idea over the next day how safe that lead will be but as we demonstrated last year anything can happen.

Cheers

One Lap of America Update

2011-04-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Friday morning - getting ready for the wet skid pad.
RideTech triple adjustable shocks set at +6 from full soft
Tires are set at 30 psi (down 6 psi)
Mary takes the wheel in a couple of hours

Friday OLOA Update - Registration, Tech, and more...

2011-04-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

Friday Update – Registration and Preparation

Friday April 29, 2011 20:10H

Ready to Go

Well this is the first “official” day of the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America and the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team is ready for action!

The day started “late” (9 AM) at Tire Rack Headquarters with registration and the usual race track paperwork, waivers, and chit chat being the first order of business. Mary and I, along with “Team JD” – Jimi Day and Stephen Kepler – headed over to the massive Tire Rack facility after what was probably our last decent breakfast for the week and found our spots amongst the motley collection of One Lap entrants. As we found our way to the registration tent in the biting cold (it was around 39 but the wind chill made it feel closer to freezing) we took in the variety of entrants who had arrived before us – there was definitely something for everybody. Porsche GT3 RS? Sure – got 5 of them here… Nissan GTR? at least 3 ready to go. BMW? Lots. Porsche? Yep… everything from a vintage 911 to a Panamera. Mustangs? You bet – Roush brough three brand new supercharged deals. Looking around it was apparent that we had brought a knife (admittedly a very cool knife) to a gun fight and there were some really big guns in this fight – as Mary put it “frigging cannons”.

As the oldest car in the parking lot we’re clearly playing in a different pond now.

Registration was quick an painless – Brock Yates has the administration of the event down to a science – and in no time flat we had a pile of stickers to put on and a tech check list to review one final time. Putting the stickers on the car, however simple sounding an undertaking, was anything but quick and painless.

Mary trimming a decal

Somehow we needed three hours to get the car ready for tech.

James trying to do another…

Yes, there was a lot of talking while we worked – the One Lap of America is as much a social event (at this point) as anything – but before we knew it we were rushing to finished and get the car teched so we could relax and get organized because tomorrow morning we needed to hit the ground running.

Stickered up and ready for tech

Tech was as painless as registration – lets face it, the One Lap has basically no rules and if your going to drag your tin half way across the country for a week long even at the very least you should be able to pass tech. We did.

After tech was the drivers meeting and a quick snack and then we were “done” – at least at Tire Rack. We quickly hooked up the trailer and headed back to the hotel and started in on some mechanical issues that had come up over the course of the day. One of the trailer lights had to be replaced, the clutch pedal needed a quick adjustment, and we’re already chasing an electrical gremlin (sigh). When we pulled in to Tire Rack this morning I shut the car off and walked away to tend to the trailer. A few minutes later Jimi came over to tell me the headlights were on and they looked pretty dim. Trouble was, the headlights weren’t on… at least according to the switch. Yet they were. Hmmm… not a great omen….

Anyways, Pizza’s here and were going to try to get one last decent nights sleep. Tomorrow morning we kick things off on the wet skid pad followed by an autocross in Peru before heading to West Virginia tomorrow night.

Cheers for now.

James and Mary

Thursday Update - The 2011 One Lap of America Starts Tomorrow!

2011-04-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 28th, 2011 2315H

The 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America officially kicks of tomorrow with Registration, Tech Inspection, and our marching orders from Brock Yates Jr. and the One Lap crew!

Today Mary and I made a short drive from Chicago to FM3 Performance Marketing's facility just south of town to pick up the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro. The car was a bit beat up from a rough trip east from the Long Beach Grand Prix:

In a fluke accident a fluorescent light broke off the ceiling and fell on the car – scratching the rear cowl and deck lid and making a general mess of the passenger side quarter panel. No time to fix it before we leave so it will have to wait until after the race and then get some love from the Ring Brothers. Oh well… if that's the worst thing that happens to the car this week…

Anyways, after warming up the car and hooking up the trailer we were on the road for a 200 mile shakedown run to South Bend, Indiana. The weather gave us a little bit of everything for the drive – cold, dreary rain… colder, drearier sleet… and even colder and more unwelcome snow. What a great way to get things rolling…

We took the opportunity to make sure that the live GPS Tracking was working on our website – www.OneLapCamaro.com/live - (it is) and to check out a new iPad GPS app called Navigon – an alternative to (or hopefully just a backup for) our trusty but dated Garmin GPS. It worked well but really chews through the battery – a lesson hard learned when the iPad ran out of juice just 2 miles from our pitstop – the exotic Super-8 Motel just a few minutes from Tire Rack Headquarters.

At the end of the day we are all here safe and sound and ready to take on the day tomorrow…

Cheers!

2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America Update

2011-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Friends,

On Saturday April 30^th Mary Pozzi and I will be departing South Bend, Indiana in the 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America; themodern evolution of the Cannonball Run – a coast to coast, pedal to the metal race across the country. Today the race is “legitimate” for lack of a better word – consisting of 3,600 miles of highway driving and 18 individual competition stops at some of the most famous and challenging race tracks in the country – all over the course one week.

We’ll be starting at Tire Rack Headquarters in South Bend, IN on Saturday morning and we’ll be in Peru, IN that afternoon for an autocross competition before heading to Summit Point, WV on Sunday for two time trials on the road course. Monday morning we race twice in Kershaw, SC before the day’s third event at the BMW Performance Center in Greer, SC that afternoon. Tuesday morning we race on the high banks of the world famous Daytona International Speedway before driving to Gainesville, FL where we compete on the quarter-mile dragstrip in a low time drag race followed by a full on bracket race. Wednesday we race twice in New Orleans, LA and Thursday we race twice at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL before making a 700 mile trek north to Joliet, IL of Blues Brothers Fame. After two final road course time trials at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet we make out last transit stage back to Tire Rack Headquarters in South Bend, IN; one week – 3,600 miles.

We’re doing all of this in the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro – a custom built 1967 Camaro RS that brings together some of the best products, technology, and engineering available today. Powered by a modern LS7 engine making over 600HP and backed by a 6-speed manual transmission our 44 year old muscle car should be more than capable of performing along side with the foreign and domestic supercars which dominate the event. Right now it looks like the Camaro will be the oldest car in the field but we won’t know until the green flag drops on Saturday. Regardless we’ll have some tough completion as we fight to defend our Vintage American ClassChampionship that we won by a scant 5 points last year.

Why do we do this? Why do we spend more than 100 hours behind the wheel of vintage tin over the course a single week? I have no idea… I guess the same reason that people climb mountains, jump off bridges and swim across channels… because it’s there? Maybe… But I know it sure isn’t because it’s good for us…

This year though, one of the reasons that we are doing the race is the goal of raising money for a worthy charity – Autism Speaks / Cure Autism now. We’ve set an aggressive goal of raising $5,000 for this very important cause and we need your help to meet this goal. Please take a moment to give what you can at the 2011 OneLapCamaro – Aurism Speaks website. This is a registered charity and all donations go directly to the organization.

Over the week that we’re racing we’ll be updating our website – www.OneLapCamaro.com/live - with real time GPS tracking and blogs. We’ll try to update everyone with Live Video on the site http://qik.com/onelapcamaro - we’ll postvideo timing on our blog and, technology willing, should have some very cool updates throughout the week. Even if the “live” video aspects proved elusive, we’ll have recorded HD video updates daily if we can stay in one place long enough to upload the video; we’ll have links on our blog and our Facebook page – www.Facebook.com/TheOneLapCamaro.

I hope that you’ll tune in over the week and hope that you will show your support for The OneLapCamaro Team through a donation to Autism Speaks.

Please forward this email to any car buff that you know and we’ll try to let everybody feel our pain over the week. Right now, it looks like the weather will ensure an interesting few days…

Thanks

James Shipka

Mary Pozzi

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team

Car #65 – 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America

Thanks to Our Sponsors!

2011-04-27T16:24:00.000-07:00

As Mary and I get ready to head to Chicago to pick up the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro and do one final shakedown run to South Bend for the kick off the 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America on Friday I wanted to take an opportunity to thank all of our sponsors who make this all possible:

OPTIMA Batteries - www.OptimaBatteries.com

Baer Brakes - www.Baer.com

FM3 Performance Marketing - www.FM3Marketing.com

Hellwig Products - www.HellwigProducts.com

HRE Performance Wheels - HREWheels.com

RideTech - www.RideTech.com

Camaro Performers - www.CamaroPerformers.com

Marquez Design - www.MarquezDesign.com

Rick's Stainless - www.RicksHotRodShop.com

VaporWorx - http://vaporworx.com

Spectre Performance - www.SpectrePerformance.com

SpeedTech - www.SpeedTechPerformance.com

Carter Hickman Designs - http://www.carterhickmandesigns.com/wordpress/

Problem Child Kustoms - http://www.problemchildkustoms.com/

Iron Works Speed and Kustom - http://www.ironworksspeedandkustom.com/

Heighton Auto Restorations

International Aero Products

Follow the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro...

2011-04-27T16:10:00.000-07:00

We'll be trying as best we can to keep the live updates coming over the next week. Check out our LIVE site at www.OneLapCamaro.com/live for 24 hour Live GPS tracking, blogs, and video updates.

And if you're keeping track, here's next weeks route and schedule...

Registration and Tech at Tire Rack HQ – Friday April 29th

Event 1 – Wet Skid Pad – Tire Rack HQ, South Bend, IN – Saturday AM
Transit 96 miles
Event 2 – Autocross – Grissom AFB, Peru, IN – Saturday PM
Transit 566 miles

Event 3 – Time Trial – Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point, WV – Sunday AM
Event 4 – Time Trial - Summit Point Raceway, Summit Point, WV – Sunday PM
Transit 465 miles

Event 5 – Time Trial – Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw, SC – Monday AM
Event 6 – Time Trial – Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw, SC – Monday PM
Transit 154 miles
Event 7 – Time Trial – BMW Performance Center, Greer, SC – Monday PM
Transit 482 miles

Event 8 – Time Trial – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL – Tuesday AM
Event 9 – Time Trial – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL – Tuesday PM
Transit 115 miles
Event 10 – Drag Race – Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FL – Tuesday PM
Event 11 – Bracket Race - Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FL – Tuesday PM
Transit 545 miles

Event 12 – Time Trial – Circuit Grand Bayou Road Course, Avondale, LA – Wednesday AM
Event 13 – Time Trial – Circuit Grand Bayou Road Course , Avondale, LA – Wednesday PM
Transit 370 miles

Event 14 – Time Trial – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, AL – Thursday AM
Event 15 – Time Trial – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, AL – Thursday PM
Transit 700 miles (!!!)

Event 16 – Time Trial – Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL – Friday AM
Event 17 – Time Trial – Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL – Friday PM
Transit 105 miles

Event 18 –Dry Skid Pad – Tire Rack HQ, South Bend, IN – Saturday May 7th AM

Join the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team!

2011-04-25T16:00:00.000-07:00

I have been asked a couple of times over the last week if we will be looking for help and support like we did last year… if we will be selling T-shirts again… if there is any way for people to follow our progress as we race. To answer those questions…

Volunteers - We are definitely looking for potential volunteer support during the event. This is a long race and knowing that there are forum members somewhere nearby - on the off chance that we need their help - goes a long way for our peace of mind. You can check out our route map here – 2011 OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Route Map – and if you are close to where we’ll be running, feel free to collaborate with the map and drop a pin with our member name, real name, or email. Also please email your name, address, and contact information to james@onelapcamaro.com. We’ll keep your information with us and if we run in to problems will call you if we’re in the area.

T-Shirts - We will be doing T-shirts again – we’re just a bit behind right now but will hopefully have something to show everyone soon – we’ll keep you posted.

Live Tracking - You can follow our progress during the race live this year at www.OneLapCamaro.com/live/ - we’ll have real time GPS tracking and regular blog entries on the page and we hope to have live video feeds from time to time – cell service permitting. The Live page is still being finished up but should be done Monday or Tuesday next week - be sure to check it out and stay tuned!

Donations - Last year we were fortunate to have a number of friends and forum members who helped to offset our costs – food, gas, etc. - and this year we are hoping to turn that generous show of support to help a very worthy charity –Autism Speaks / Cure Autism Now. We would appreciate it if you would show your support of the OneLapCamaro Team by making a donation here - Autism Speaks - 2011 OneLapCamaro – and help to find a cure for Autism. We’ve set an ambitious goal of $5,000 for this year and would really appreciate your help to reach it.

2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

2011-04-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro was privileged to have been invite to attend the 2011 Toyota Grad Prix of Long Beach - not only to show off to the 200,000 or so enthusiasts in the manufactures midway but to actually lead the World Challenge field to the grid for their race on Sunday! This was a really cool opportunity for us and we were blown away by the non-stop crowds who were definitely "wowed" by the OLC.

After a couple of days in the convention center we were ready for our turn on the grandest stage in motorsports that weekend... kicking it with the World Challenge field while the Indy Cars did their thing...

...and when they were done it was our turn to do a lap on the incredible Long Beach street circuit.

It was definitely a rush to be running on the same track as the ALMS, Indy Lights, Indy Cars, and World Challenge, even if it was for only at parade speeds.

Here are a couple of videos from the parade lap:

SplitterVision - following Bob Bondurant...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQioz3cPTdY

SpoilerVision for a slightly different perspective...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QL6--06na8

The best part is that we are going to do it again at Mid-Ohio this summer!!!

Countdown to the 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America

2011-04-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Tire Rack One Lap of America is now a week away and the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team of Mary Pozzi and James Shipka is getting ready to take on the challenge of long miles, serious competition, and – by the looks of things this week – the weather. This year’s event will cover over 3,650 miles in 8 days with 18 individual competition stops including wet and dry skid pads, an autocross, some drag racing, and lots of road course racing. Starting in South Bend, Indiana this year’s course will take us down the East Coast as far south as Daytona Beach before heading across the panhandle to New Orleans and finally turning North for a couple of long days crossing through the Mid West to return to South Bend just a week after we left.

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team has made a lot of changes over the winter, hoping to take our performance up a notch without sacrificing reliability:

We’ve installed a new Rick’s Stainless fuel tank featuring Carl Casanova’s VaporWorx fuel pump and controller; with the multiple pickups and surge tank design we’ve been able to run the OLC hard in testing with less than 2 gallons of fuel in the tank with no starvation issues.

We’ve switched over to RideTech’s new Triple Adjustable coilover shocks, softening the shocks while increasing the spring rate to make the car more compliant and increasing the range of adjustability.

We’ve installed massive Baer 6R brakes on all four corners, the 6-piston calipers and 14 inch rotors giving us additional stopping power with better pedal feedback for a more confident braking feel.

We’ve moved to new C93 style wheels from HRE Performance Wheels for reduced weight and increased strength. The 18” fronts and 19” rears will allow us to use state-of-the-art supercar tires and look simply awesome on the car.

We’ve incorporated new ZR1-style wheel bearings up front; SpeedTech Performance was able to modify the low-deflection hubs to work with their ATS Spindles and we’re ready to take on the high banks of Daytona with confidence.

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team has also had to scramble a bit due to some unforeseen carnage in the months and weeks leading up to our departure. While bedding our new Baer brakes a valve stem attached to our TPMS system broke, flattening a front tire. Fortunately the Run-On-Flat feature worked as advertised (saving our new HRE wheel) but the passenger side front tire needed replacing with less than 50 miles of use. Then, just a couple of days later our clutch was reduced to a smoking, warped hulk at the Editors Challenge Autocross at the Goodguys show in Del Mar. The unexpected destruction left us with only seven days to rebuild and nut-and-bolt the car before heading to the Long Beach Grand Prix – our final stop before loading the OLC and trailer up and making the long journey east.

And now, with only a week to go Mary and I are left to think – or over think – the race ahead of us and question our mental, physical, and mechanical preparation… After running our parade laps at Long Beach before the World Challenge race we found a couple of trickles of coolant pooled on the splitter… is this something? nothing? a leak or just some residual fluid? Have we forgotten anything in the trailer… our spares list is pretty extensive but is there something missing? Are wereally prepared to run on these tracks… our exposure to them is more or less limited to ESPN, Trackapedia, and YouTube. What is the weather going to do… and how are we going to deal with it?

The ultimate question though is… are we ready for this… I hope that we are.

Looking back on the 2010 Silver State Classic Challenge

2010-09-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Silver State Classic Challenge has come and gone and while this remains one of our favorite events, this years outing was really disappointing. After what felt like a great run down Highway 318 in Nevada - and a day full of challenges and complications - the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is, as it stands right now, sitting with a DQ for apparently crossing the finish line too slow. The results are under review but at this point it’s not looking good.

If you are not familiar with the Silver State Classic Challenge it is one of the few true Open Highway races left in the world. Twice a year Nevada Highway 318 is closed from Lund to Hiko – a 90-mile stretch of desolate two lane blacktop in what feels like the middle of nowhere. Cars are sorted in classed based upon target speeds – the average speed that they are attempting to maintain over the entire 90 mile run. This year the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro, with James driving and Mary navigating, was competing in the ultra-competitive 120 mile per hour class. 120 is always a packed class because (a) 120 mph is pretty comfortable in just about anything with pneumatic tires and more importantly (b) the math is pretty easy. At 120 you are covering a mile every 30 seconds so, in theory, it’s not all that difficult to calculate waypoints and timing milestones – this was a huge benefit this year as you will soon see…

During the race the entire length of the course is manned by an incredible crew of volunteers who watch out for our safety and take station at several checkpoints along the course. There are a total of nine checkpoints along the route with three of them being “major” checkpoints where the race can be restarted in the event of a red flag or other issue. Between these checkpoints, every mile or so, you’ll find a volunteer keeping watch and cheering the cars on as they make their banzai run across the desert. A heck of a way to spend your day – especially under the September desert sun.

The race starts early Sunday morning after a cruise from Ely, Nevada – the official host town of the event – to Lane’s Truck Stop out side of Lund where the cars are pre-gridded by their speed class before heading to the starting line on the other side of the small town of Lund. This year there are 130 some cars competing in speed classes from 90 mph to the truly wild Unlimited class. From 90 to 150 mph classes are divided in 5 mph increments; the 150 mph class is run first and cars head out in their respective classes in 1 minute intervals until the last 90 mph car has gone. The track is then “swept” for debris and then the Unlimited Class cars are run, followed by the 180, 170, and 160 mph classes.

This year one of the highlights of the event is the Polly Motorsports (http://www.pollymotorsport.no/) 1986 Pontiac Firebird. This 1400 HP, 252 mph monster has come from Norway to take a shot at the 207 mph (average speed) record and the odds were about even that he would leave with the record this year.

The race started promptly at 8 am and Mary and I found ourselves heading towards the starting line shortly before 9:00 AM. The OPTIMA Batteries Z06 Corvette driven by Steve Keppler and navigated by Jimi Day was one of the first cars out and was already approaching the finish line as we prepared to start our run; behind us waiting for his turn in the 160 mph class, was the third part of Team OPTIMA – Cameron Douglass and his incredible Winston Cup ARMY Car.

As Mary and I sat at the starting line we watched as the electronic timer counted down to 09:00.00. With 10 seconds to go we activated our ultra exotic Radio Shack egg timer… With 5 seconds to go I reset our Garmin GPS… at :00.00 four thumbs started four stopwatches and we were heading down the road, accelerating steadily to 125 mph – our target speed for the first 30 miles of the run. Why 125 mph?

There are really four parts to the run down that make up the 90-mile course. The first part, if you really want to call it a part, is the first mile. Since the race is from a standing start your average speed for the first mile is half of your instant speed at the end of the mile. So, using the easy math, at 120 mph your average speed in the first mile is 60 mph and at the end of that mile you are effectively 15 seconds behind – 15 seconds that you have to make up to maintain your perfect average. So you need a couple extra miles per hour to get caught up.

The second part of the race is basically a 70 mile transit to “the Narrows” – which is the third stage of the race and is a couple of slow speed miles through a valley cut that is most comfortably taken at speed below 100 mph. To make up for those two or three slow miles through the Narrows you need to have some time “in the bank” before you have to slow down (our goal was to have 30 seconds “in the bank” before the Narrows – in hind sight that’s about 10 seconds too much for us). This cushion allows you to drive through the Narrows at a safe, comfortable speed and, ideally, be exactly on time exiting the twisties. To do that you need a little bit of extra speed during that second transit stage – about 125 mph for most of it was all that was required. At least that’s the theory.

This year the second half of the 70-mile transit was going to be especially challenging… Nevada 318 has been undergoing an extensive repaving project and the mile markers - from about mile 35 through mile 65 - were MIA. There were some makeshift markers set up along the course but during our recon run the day before we could tell that they would be difficult to rely on. We had to shoot to be right on when the started and hope to maintain our speed through them and, with some luck, would be on time when we got to the next “proper” marker at the start of the Narrows. In our minds the first 30 miles were critical, the second 30 miles were going to be useless, and the final 30 miles were going to be where it all came down to business.

If you’re still following all of that, with the Narrows being the third part of the race – basically just a low speed pucker and run – then the final 17-mile stretch is the fourth and final leg of the journey. The goal in the final few miles is to methodically zoom in on your time and, in an ideal world, cross the finish line at a perfect 45:00 minutes (in the 120 mph class that is).

Anyways, the clock ticked down to 09:00.00 and we were off. Since your time is based off the clock at the start the most important thing is to have your timing equipment bang on – which we thought we hit pretty well – and you can actually start any time after you’re ready. The final stopwatch started clicking and two seconds later we were hauling ass down the highway.

The first 20 miles felt great, the weather was perfect – calm and warm – and we were cruising comfortably at 125 mph. The OneLapCamaro was turning around 4000 RPM in 6th, oil pressure was rock steady at 60 and the temperature was a constant 177. It felt like a picture perfect run until we crested a slight hill before checkpoint two and were greeted by a huge red flag being waved at the side of the road by one of those aforementioned volunteers. We immediately pulled to the side of the road and, after a couple of minutes of panicking regarding timing and what we needed to do with the four different stopwatches that we were relying on, we turned on our emergency radio to find out what was happening.

The news was bad – one of the 150 mph cars had suffered some kind of failure and had gone off course at the Narrows. The car had apparently rolled several times but the driver and navigator were out of the car and in good condition. After an hours delay to deal with their evacuation and to clean up debris we were instructed to drive to checkpoint three where our race would be restarted.

A restart is not anything that we had even remotely considered and the balance of our waiting time was spent trying to recalculate our waypoints and targets. Checkpoint three is at mile 30.1 so we had 59.9 miles to go… at 120 mph we calculated that we had 29 minutes and 57 seconds to reach the end of the course… now all we had to do was calculate our waypoints… That is about the time that we realized that we had no waypoints – at least nothing that we could 100% rely on – until we hit the Narrows. And that is about the time that we realized that we still needed our 30 seconds in the bank when we got to those same Narrows… only now we had half the distance to do it. The next ten minutes as we waited to be restarted was a lot like your first big math assignment in high school – frantic calculations and a whole bunch of “tell me if this is right”… we think we were close…

The actual restart itself was the next rude surprise… there was no clock this time, instead there was a beam and a rough count down. Unlike the start, now our official time would start when the car crossed the beam – but where would the car break the beam? Heck of a question. No time to worry about it now as the checkpoint worker counted us down and waved us through. We did our best and again we think that we were close…

We averaged 130 to 135 running up in to the Narrows. More than once Mary asked how the car felt… the calm conditions had been replaced by a stout 35 mph headwind and the Camaro was feeling just a bit loose from time to time… I told her it felt fine and concentrated on driving smoothly. When we hit our first reliable mile marker we had almost exactly 30 seconds in the bank. The run through the Narrows at 90 mph felt like a slow motion cruise around the block and when we emerged from the Narrows we were just about 10 seconds fast.

As the miles clicked down so did our excess. With 10 miles to go we were three seconds fast… 5 miles out we were just over a second fast… 2 miles out and we were right on… 1 mile to go and we were perfect.

As we tear up the last mile Mary starts counting the seconds down. She starts at 10 seconds to go and right away I see a problem… she’s just started counting and I can already see the Finish Line. When she reaches 5 seconds I let off the gas and the car is coasting towards the finish. When she reaches 2 seconds I stab the brakes, trying to scrub more speed. In a blink of an eye we’re across the finish line and, if we’re right, within about a second of our ideal time.

At the awards ceremony that night they announce that a disproportionate number of cars were disqualified for being too slow crossing the finish line and right away Mary and I seem to have the same thought. We both replay it in our heads and agree that while it’s possible we doubt it – we would have to be going slower than 90 mph at the line to be DQ’d and we were certainly going faster than that when we crossed. When the top three finishers in the 120 mph class results are announced we’re not there and again we’re thinking about the finish.

At the end of the day we averaged 120.127 mph against a perfect 120.000 target; the 0.127 mph means we were just 2.85 seconds too fast over 90 miles. Had we not been DQ’d that would have been good for 6th place in our class – not great but better than a DQ to be sure. Looking back at it now we didn’t have a choice at the end – we were fast and to win we had to slow down; as it was we didn’t slow down enough.

At this point in time the results are still being reviewed. Mary and I have in car video that shows the GPS but, unfortunately, it’s less than crystal clear (think Mr. Magoo on acid and that might put it in context) but it looks pretty clear that the speed clicks down from triple digits to double digits right as we cross the finish line. I don’t know if the video will help but it makes us feel better nonetheless. We won’t push the issue but instead will be back in the spring to take our chances on 318 once again…

As for the Polly Motorsports Trans Am… he didn’t set the record this year. Engine troubles kept his speed down but he still crossed the finish line with a 183 mph average (the highest of the event) and his trap speed was 207 mph – also the highest of the event. He too will be back next year to take his shot at the record…

SSCC 2010

2010-09-19T12:29:00.001-07:00

OLC - checking in from the finish line
We made it
No clue on time
Race was red flagged
Had to restart @ mile 30.1
James and Mary

2010 Silver State Classic Challenge

2010-09-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is heading to Ely, Nevada for the 2010 Silver State Classic Challenge - one of the most exciting and revered motorsports events in North America. This is the 23rd year for the Silver State Classic - where cars, drivers, and navigators of every description take their turn running down the 90 mile stretch of Nevada Highway 308 - and we're hoping that our third time is a charm!

This year James will be driving the OneLapCamaro with Fast Mary Pozzi handling the navigating duties. We'll be competing in the 120 mph class meaning that we'll be shooting for a 120.000 mph average speed over the 90 course with nothing more than a couple of stop watches and (hopefully) some decent course notes. In May of 2009 James made his first run down 318 aided by navigator and self professed media personality Steven Rupp. There average speed of 104.987 mph on a 105.0 mph target netted a fourth place finish with a time variance of only 0.377 seconds - not bad for a couple of rookies! The OneLapCamaro was back in September of 2009, this time with Jimi Day taking on the navigation duties. The results last fall was a 2nd place finish with an average speed of 115.051 vs a 115.0 mph target.

On Sunday September 19th we hit the highway... we'll keep you posted as the weekend progresses!

And the results are in...

2010-05-08T10:34:00.001-07:00

8 days
3,500 miles
zero excuses

... First Place!

We're done!

2010-05-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

4 Camaros started... And 4 Camaros finished! Great run...

Made it!

2010-05-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Back to Tire Rack Headquarters
3,528.9 miles round trip in 8 days. Final event the dry (wet) skid pad coming soon...

OLoA - Saturday May 8th

2010-05-08T04:08:00.001-07:00

In a couple of hours the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America is going to come to an end following the final event - the dry skid pad. At least it's supposed to be dry... as of right now it looks like we're going to be running a moist skid pad. We're hoping to replicate or better our results from last weeks wet skid pad and hope that the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro has a few more miles in it...

Cheers

Route Update - May 7th, 2010

2010-05-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

We've made it back to South Bend, IN and we have one event left in the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America. The GPS shows 3,520 miles and only a few more to go. Here is our updated route mapping...

The 2010 One Lap of America Route - through May 7

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

The final stretch...

2010-05-07T14:09:00.001-07:00

Friday is winding to a close and we're midway through our final transit stage. The good news is that we are "only" 177 miles from South Bend, IN; the bad news is that we are driving into some pretty ominous looking clouds.

We're also suddenly worried about our clutch... It's been on our minds since we left but has only given us a hint or two of trouble... Until about a half hour ago... It slipped pretty hard in 6th gear on the turnpike and now... well... now we baby it and hope it hangs in for another 3 hours.

Sound so simple.

We're waiting for results from track today... We know that David picked up 5 points in the morning - beating Mike and the '78 by 5 or so seconds. This afternoon Mike had a DNF (did not finish) but David had a miscue on his final lap and we don't know how things will shake up. With luck we're still in it heading to the final event - the dry (?) skid pad...

Ready to roll at Nelson Ledges

2010-05-07T07:08:00.000-07:00

David is strapped in and ready to roll at Nelson Ledges. The track just got oiled down when one of the newer Mustangs blew up on the back stretch but the show must go on...

STICK!!!

2010-05-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

Nelson Ledges Road Course - kind of like an 8 hole par 3 built because they had the land anyways... Neat course and will be challenging for sure. Today we need the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro to stick like never before!!!

OLoA - Friday May 7th

2010-05-07T04:18:00.001-07:00

This morning sees the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro in Newton Falls, OH on our way to the Nelson Ledges Road Course for the final track events of the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America. Bad weather is on its way today and tomorrows scheduled dry skid pad could end up being another run in the wet. Hopefully the storms hold off and we can drive the OLC to the finish line tomorrow!

Our progress... through Thursday May 6th

2010-05-06T19:43:00.001-07:00

Our progress thus far... Thursday May 6th and we're back in Ohio...

2010 One Lap of America - though May 6th

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

A tough day in New Jersey...

2010-05-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

The competition runs for day 6 of the 2010 OLoA are history and the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is once again heading West on our penultimate transit stage to Ohio. David drove this morning and aside from brushing the grass on the very tricky, fast, and blind turn 1 posted a good lap. The guys in the '78 though looked right at home and grabbed a win - locking us in dead heat for first in Vintage American. James drove the OLC in the afternoon and spun the first lap in turn 6. "I took the turn a bit too hot and downshifted a hair too late... I unsettled the back end and when I got back on it it came around". No harm to the car though and we finished the session although about 20 seconds slower than we needed to be.

Regardless, another beautiful day - thanks to all of the supporters who cames out to see us today! - and with luck we'll roll in to town with enough time to eat somewhere with chairs...

Cheers

OLoA May 6th Update

2010-05-06T08:10:00.001-07:00

We're at New Jersey Motorsports Park running the Lightning Course. David put down what looked like a good set although he did get a couple wheels in the dirt as he felt out the traction in turn 6 (?).

Another great (hot) day and the car is running well. We had some electrical issues last night with the trailer but found the $1.00 problem and its all good. We had a couple of other issues but remain first in our class by 1 position (5 points). It's going to be close as we head in to the final events...

Day 6... Millville, NJ

2010-05-06T04:15:00.000-07:00

Almost ready to head out to run the Lightning track at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The road is catching up to us now; two more transit stages...

Updated Route Mapping... through Wednesday May 5th

2010-05-05T08:03:00.001-07:00

Link to out updated route... HERE

and the map itself...

2010 One Lap of America - Wednesday May 5

Share your Adventures with SpotAdventures

OLoA - Wednesday Morning Update

2010-05-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

7:00 AM and we're in mid Ohio - about to head to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course. We're now over 2000 miles in - with neary 900 of them yesterday - and the car is running really well. We split our runs yesterday with our competiton so we remain in 1st place - albeit only by 5 points...

26 mpg on the highway...

2010-05-04T16:23:00.001-07:00

With our charging issues resolved it's like a new car. Mileage is improved, it's happier at idle and we're making headway...

Heading to Ohio!

2010-05-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

OLoA Update - Tuesday May 4th

2010-05-04T10:36:00.001-07:00

LONG night

We left Tulsa last night after a frustrating evening on the drag strip at Tulsa Raceway Park. The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro was having idle issues most of the day yesterday and the bit us - hard - in the evening.

The drag strip portion of ther race was divided in two parts - a low ET challenge and a bracket race. James was driving both and had a tough pass when he was running for low ET. First and foremost we wanted to be easy on the car and not stress the drivertrain any more than necessary. When James left the line on his first pass the OLC bogged - to the point of stalling - before making a tire smoking run of 16 (!) seconds - not good. This threw away the power advantage that the car had left us with no idea what to dial for the first run of the bracket event. I'll spare you the details but James made it three round with a best ET of 12.3 hazing the tires through third. We left the event at 8:30ish - maintaining our 1st in class position - and that is where the good news ends.

We got about three blocks from the track when the car backfired and shuddered as we came to a stop before entering the highway. No immediate issues were apparent and we tried to move on - caravaning with the Ferrari, Corvette, and Charger of Mr. Angry's crew. We got about 3 miles before it came apparent that we had a charging system problem. A problem that forced us off the road just outside Tulsa.
We pulled off and found an O'Reilys auto parts and tried to swap out alternators which didn't resolve our problem. As night took over we wound up in the driveway of the O'Reilly's manager where we continued to work on the charging issue. Finally - at around 1:30 - we thought we had everything sorted out and hit the road. To no avail. As soon as we got down the street the problem was back... Turn around and stop at a well lit gas station on the edge of town... After a half hour of poking a prodding we found the issue and were ready to head out... On a 400 mile trek to St. Louis.

Which we made! We rolled in to the track at 830 am - just in time for the day to start.

James ran the Roval - a half oval half half road course - this morning and finished 1st in class but lower overall than he had hoped. This keeps us in 1st place in Vintage American with a scant 10 point lead. We're back on the track in an hour and then off to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course...

OLoA Updated Route Map

2010-05-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

We're making headway...

2010 One Lap of America - Monday May 3rd

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Link to Larger Map - OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Route through May 3rd PM

OLoA Update - Monday 3:30PM

2010-05-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

We're sitting in the parking lot (pardon me - the pits) at Tulsa Raceway Park waiting to run the drag strip at 5 so we finally have some time to post.

David did great this morning. His first run at Hallett was a 4:39.396 which was good for a 14th place finish overall and first in Vintage American; his afternoon run was a 4.39.805 which was 19th overall and first in Vintage American. This moved us to first in our class and 29th overall. Hopefully I can make up some of that this evening but it's going to be a tough balance between hooking and going and frying the clutch. The plan is to "ease" it off the line and run the snot out of it on the back end... Hopefully we don't have any serious issues - once we're done in Tulsa we have a 400 mile transit stage which should put us in St. Louis around 1 am (I hope).

OLoA Update - Tulsa Raceway Here We Come!

2010-05-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

We're finished at Hallett and loaded up on our way to Tulsa to run the quarter mile dragstrip - both in a low ET challenge and a good old fashioned bracket race. I would like to say that I have high hopes for this event but we're going to be easy on the clutch and driveline - we're barely half way through so we need to save parts to finish at the end.

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is running really well but the long days and constant running is taking it's toll; the idle is all over the place and it's getting just a bit finicky from time to time. Four and a half days to go...

Hallett Morning Results

2010-05-03T09:23:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update from Oklahoma... David had an awesome run this morning finishing 14th overall and 1st in our class. Now that he knows the course he's going to see if he can crack the top 10 this afternoon!

OLoA Update - Hallett 10:30 AM

2010-05-03T08:44:00.001-07:00

The first session at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit is in the books and David had a great run in the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro! This is a really challenging track with lots of elevation changes and blind corners; several cars went off in the Birdhouse corner but David drove a safe line and posted what should be a competitive time! Kicker car stereo is buying us lunch today before we head out and see if we learned anything this morning...

OLoA Update - Monday May 3

2010-05-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

The is morning sees the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma. The car is running great and it's a beautiful day at what looks like an incredible facility and a challenging course.

David is reviewing some last minute track videos and will be heading off for our first track session on the day. We'll run twice here before packing up and heading to Tulsa for some drag racing and then to St. Louis where we'll spend the night before hitting the roval at Gateway International.

Thanks for checking in!

One Lap of America Video Update - Event #2

2010-05-03T04:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of David's run in the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro on the long course at Road America on Saturday. This was David's first run on the famous road course although he had been to the track previously as a spectator.

LINK TO THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

Thanks - more updates coming soon...

One Lap of America Video Update - Event 1

2010-05-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

Video from the wet skid pad event at Tire Rack Headquarters Friday April 30th
David Pozzi driving the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro

LINK TO VIDEO

GPS Update - 2230H May 2nd, 2010

2010-05-02T20:35:00.001-07:00

Direct Link to Updated GPS Tracking

2010 One Lap of America - The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro

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OLoA Update - May 2nd PM

2010-05-02T12:25:00.001-07:00

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is done running the Mid America Motorex and is on the highway heading south to Stillwater, Oklahoma. The skies stayed dry for our time on the track and a few drops are falling as we head out.

David's time this morning was good for 26th (?) overall and first in our class - tieing us for 1st after 4 events. James ran the track in the afternoon and when times are available we'll post an update.

With three tracks, five events and nearly 1000 miles in the books attritian is starting to be a factor. Yesterday two cars - a Cadillac CTS and new ZR1 Corvette - fell out of competition (the first following a scary off track excursion in the Canada corner and the second with an apparent mechanical issue). Today the defending One Lap of America champion's Nissan GTR suffered from mechanical woes and may not continue.

Mr. Angry's 68 Charger had fuel pump issues which he was able to resolve with a 100 mile wide trip but he back up and was running on course as we pulled out.

For now we have a 400 mile transit to our hotel and will start tomorrow at the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit before heading to the Tulsa Raceway for some quarter mile action in the evening.

Cheers!

OLoA Day 2... or is it 3... A nice morning Mid America

2010-05-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

May 2nd sees us at the Mid America Motorplex and another sunny morning. The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is running mid pack overall right now and second in the vintage American class behind the long time Lap Dogs in the '78 Camaro. One of the many things that is becoming apparent is that there is no greater advantage than experience and we are fighting an up hill battle to learn new tracks and hit them hard right out of the shoot. The car continues to run well but last nights 9 hour run has led to a new sound here and there.

Here is David strapped in and ready to go for his first run at Mid America...

and here is as running through the short, technical course...

Thats all for now. James will run the course his afternoon then it's off to Hallett Oklahoma - a short 480 mile jaunt across the heartland of America

OLoA - Sunday Morning

2010-05-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

After a long drive last night we're getting ready fo fill up and head to the Mid America Motorplex. We'll have two shots at the road course there before heading East towards Oklahoma.

OLoA - Road America - and the long drive...

2010-05-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ohhh... my

We made it to Council Bluffs, IA without incident - 525 miles from Road America to the hotel. The car is great on the highway and doesn"t even notice the trailer.

As I said earlier - David did great on the long course at RA. I got around ok but not as well. Larry snapped this in the Canada corner..

which ate a couple of cars today..

Long day - working on the technical issues with the GPS. In the morning. Must sleep now...

You can see our progress HERE

2010 One Lap of America

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OLoA Day 1 - our first laps at Road America

2010-05-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

David did a great job this morning on the long course at Road America!

Here he is on the grid before his run...

and here his wide open on the front stretch

Next James is up on the short course...

On the grid at Road America

2010-05-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

OLoA Day 2 - Road America

2010-05-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well after an all too brief sleep we are out at the historic Road America! In the first session this morning David will be running the long course and James will be driving the short course in the afternoon. After rain from Chicago to Plymouth the weather is great and we should hit the track in about an hour!

One Lap of America - Day 1 is in the books!

2010-04-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Great day at Tire Rack Headquarters in South Bend, IN. After making it through tech David was staged and ready to go on the wet skid pad

He then made two laps counterclockwise

and two laps clockwise

his official time was the overall overall average for the four laps - unofficially aroun 0.76 g.

Once we were done on the skid pad we had a quick 4 hour transit through Chicago and Milwaukee on our way to our stop for the night in Plymouth, WI.

Tomorrow we're on our way to Road America!!

OLoA Day 1 - heading for Plymouth, WI

2010-04-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

The wet skid pad is done and we're off to Plymouth for the night and Road America tomorrow!

OLoA Day 1 - Teched and ready to go

2010-04-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is through tech and ready to go in South Bend! The car is ready, the team is ready and all that's left is the starting gun.

OLoA Day 1 - Friday Morning

2010-04-30T05:32:00.000-07:00

08:30 and the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team is in South Bend, IN for the start of the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America. The weather is great this morning and maybe - just maybe - the forescast storms will hold off for a while. We have to finish registration this morning, go through tech, and then it's off to the wet skid pad competition.

Before we leave - A big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us so far!

2010-04-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

With the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America officially upon us, I wanted to take a brief moment to thank all of the people who have generously extended offers of help along the route. The people listed below have made David and I feel both welcome and relieved to know that if we encounter difficulties along the route we have a name and a number of someone who can possibly help and certainly point us in the right direction if they can’t. That goes a long way to our piece of mind, confidence and says a lot about our community.

I have been trying to thank each and every one of you individually (and hope to have done that before we leave on Friday) but I wanted to thank you again – publicly – for your help. We could not do this without you and you have our sincerest thanks.

James Shipka
David Pozzi
The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team

THANK YOU!

Tim Moon - Chris Reed - John McCormick - John Conde - Ray Thompson - Frank Rossi - Jeremy Vega - Scott Stites - Doug Dietrich - Buddy Pawloski - Jonathan Niezing - Eric Barth - Brian Davis - Steve Koebe - Bill Hamilton - Jason Badley - Steve Rivett - Mike Buchanan - Tom Lindley - Jarrid Elder - Shane Grinnell - Garry Roberts - Scott Romszewicz - Tony Walch - Scott Shanks - Tom Heyer - AJ Meade - Greg Jennings - Jared Vanderhoof - Jeff Van Buren - Rich Marshall - Rob Roessler - Jason Shald John Poggiolo - David Evans - Michael Lara - Dale Eicke - Paul Shroyer - Lee Westrope - Maj RJ Cilurso - Troy Criscillis - Ed Dellis

and

Robert Phillips - Dave Beddome - The Source - John Wright Anthony Rapin - Aaron Newbold - Greg Weld - Tommy Allred - Larry Callahan - Ronald Poirier - Albert from Toronto - Tracy Weaver - Jimi Day

and our Sponsors

OPTIMA Batteries - Hellwig Products - ISIS Power

Camaro Performers Magazine - Currie Enterprises - Heighton Restorations - Speed Tech Products

Spectre Performance - FM3 Performance Marketing - Pozzi Racing - Problem Child Kustoms - Mothers Wax's and Polishes

Once again - thank you all for your support!

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Route...

2010-04-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here is a breakdown of our actual route for the 2010 Tire Race One Lap of America

The overall route starts and finishes at the Tire Rack Headquarters in South Bend, IN

Breaking it down day by day...

Starting at Tire Rack Headquarters on April 30th, we make our way to Road America on May 1st where we run the long track in the morning and the short track in the afternoon:

After leaving Road America we make our way to the Mid America Motorplex where we run once in the morning and once in the afternoon on their 2.23 mile Road Course:

Once we're finished at Mid America we make our way to the Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Jennings, OK where we run their Road Course twice before making a short hop to Tulsa Raceway and their quarter mile dragstrip:

From the straight lines of Tulsa we make our way through St. Louis to Gateway International Raceway with its unique Road Course actually includes part of their NASCAR oval track:

From Gateway International we head to the Mid Ohio Sports Car Club in Lexington, OH where we have another morning and afternoon session on their 2.4 mile Road Course:

We leave Mid Ohio on Wednesday evening and make our way to the New Jersey Motorports Park where we will run the Lighting Course twice on Thursday.

New Jersey is our most eastern stop of the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America; once were done there we head back west, stopping at the Nelson Ledges Road Course in Garrettsville, OH

Before making the final transit back to Tire Rack Headquarters in South Bend, IN

and there it is...

8 DAYS

3,500 MILES

ZERO EXCUSES

We're on our way!

2010-04-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America starts this Friday and the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro is loaded up and on it's way to South Bend, Indiana!

David put in a huge week and I think we can safely say that we are as prepared as we can be at this point. After fabbing up the trailer hitch and taking car of the routine maintenance - change the oil, bleed the brakes, etc. - David aligned the car one last time and tweaked the corner weights before going over the car with a fine tooth comb. A couple of small issues came up but nothing major - we've gone too far to let anything slow us up at this point. The last thing to do before packing up was a final test drive...

Thankfully, no issues and we're on our way!

Del Mar Pictures

2010-04-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro was in Del Mar for the 2010 Goodguys Del Mar Nationals, splitting our time between the OPTIMA Batteries Display

and the Street Challenge Autocross

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro gets a whole new look...

2010-04-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Big changes this week as we work through our final preparations for the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America. First and foremost - a whole new look...

Order your OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro 2010 T-Shirt Today!

2010-04-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro 2010 T-shirts are now available and have started to ship out to anyone who has paid via Paypal. We hope to have all of our existing orders shipped out over the next few days and encourage anyone who has expressed an interest in them to order them while supplies last.

You can follow the link below and order via Paypal or, if you don't like Paypal, email us and we'll get you taken care of.

http://www.onelapcamaro.com/shirt2010.html

Goodguys Del Mar - Here we come!

2010-04-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro finally gets to debut it's new look at the Goodguys Rod and Custom event in Del Mar, California. Scott at Swifty Signs in Rancho Cucamonga has spent the last three days wrapping the car and today it will hit the streets for the first time (the wrap is so fresh that we haven't even had a chance to see it ourselves)! After David and James get done putting the newly widened HRE Wheels on this afternoon it's off to Del Mar where we'll be kicking it under the OPTIMA Batteries awning on vendors row before trying our luck on the Street Challenge Autocross.

Run To The Coast - Results Update

2010-04-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Well the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro Team was off to Irvine, California for the first annual Run To The Coast yesterday and we had a great time! The three part event included an Autocross Course, a Road Course component, and a Speed Stop Challenge - essentially a 0 - 100 - 0 shootout. James was driving the Camaro in the Vendors Class - representing OPTIMA Batteries while David was driving in the open competition.

When the dust cleared after an awesome day in the sun David finished in Second Place overall in the Open Class with a First Place finish on the Road Course (with top time in both Open and Vendor classes) and a Second Place finish in the Autocross. And while David had some technical issues in the Speed Stop Challenge, James demonstrated the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro's abilities with a Third Place finish in the Vendor Class, missing First by less than a tenth of a second. Mary finished in Third Place overall in her '73 Camaro (The Best Car in the Whole World).

It was a great day and a great final test for the OneLapCamaro Team and validated the work that we've put in the car over the last year.

Hopefully we'll be able to get some pictures up soon!

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro.... trailer?

2010-03-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes... a trailer. The rules for the Tire Rack One Lap of America state that for the duration of the event you are not allowed any chase or support vehicles and that all of your supplies must remain with the car for the week so over the past few years a lot of the teams have turned to small tag along trailers to help with the load and we're no different. The challenge of fitting a weeks worth of 'junk' in the car, plus tools, plus spares, plus - and this is a big plus - tires just isn't possible so we made the somewhat painful decision to tow a small trailer behind us. It was the tires more than anything that put us over the edge... a 335/30-18 just doesn't fit in the trunk no matter how hard you will it in there.

David started working on the trailer over the last couple of days... after hunting around for a few days he found this one literally in his own back yard. It needs a repaint so David took the sand blaster to it yesterday:

It should do the job once it's cleaned up and a couple of minor issues are addressed. Best part is that it has two enclosable, lockable compartments and should be able to fit all of our gear, tools, spares, and supplies.

Work on the hitch for the Camaro will resume after Del Mar.

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro - rendering by Jason Rushforth

2010-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Jason Rushforth (Rushforth Wheels) for putting this rendering together for us!

OPTIMA® Batteries to sponsor the OneLapCamaro in the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America!

2010-02-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OPTIMA® Batteries to sponsor the OneLapCamaro

in the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America

February 22, 2010 (MILWAUKEE) – OPTIMA® Batteries and the OneLapCamaro Team is pleased to announce the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro, a highly-modified 1967 Camaro RS, will participate in the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America, one of the most challenging motorsports events in the world. On April 30, 2010, James Shipka and David Pozzi will start the eight day, 3,600-mile cross-country rally with competition stops at some of America’s most challenging race tracks.

The OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro was built and designed specifically for sanctioned public highway competitions such as the Silver State Classic Challenge and the multi-discipline Tire Rack One Lap of America endurance competition. Powered by an LS7 engine and backed by a six-speed manual gearbox, the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro combines classic muscle car styling with modern technology. The vehicle will be in its element as it traverses 3,600 miles through 13 states over the course of 8 days and will compete twice daily at more than 11 unique venues.

“OPTIMA’s relationship with James Shipka and his OneLapCamaro team will prove that our batteries are made to exceed the rigorous demands of racing and street driving,” said Cam Douglass, Director of Product Development and Marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “This entire effort is anchored by a top-notch team of motorsports enthusiasts, also including David and Mary Pozzi, who are veteran participants of our annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational.”

The OneLapCamaro Team’s goal is to not only complete the 2010 Tire Rack One Lap of America, but to do it in a way that ensures as many people as possible can become personally involved in the adventure and join in the excitement and the challenge of the Tire Rack One Lap of America. The team’s website, http://www.onelapcamaro.com/, will include live updates throughout the event, tracking the Camaro’s progress with real time GPS mapping and daily event summaries with commentary, pictures and video.

The Tire Rack One Lap of America is the modern evolution of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining Sea Memorial Dash dating back to the early 1970’s. Now in its 26th year, the event evolved from a 48 state “Cannonball Run” to its present format which starts and finishes on the skidpad at Tire Rack’s headquarters in South Bend, Indiana. On April 30, 2010, the competition will begin on Tire Rack’s wet skidpad and then will make a 3,600 mile circuit with stops for time trials at Road America, Mid-America, Hallett, Tulsa Raceway Park, Gateway Raceway, mid-Ohio, New Jersey, and Nelson Ledges before concluding eight days later on the dry skidpad. There are very few rules for the One Lap event, except no chase or support vehicles are allowed and competitors must drive from event to event through the week, making it the ultimate test of endurance, reliability and performance.

Support for the 2010 entry in the One Lap of America comes from OPTIMA Batteries (Milwaukee), as well as Hellwig Products (Visalia, California) and ISIS Power (Chicago). Rounding out the OPTIMA Batteries OneLapCamaro team is a unique network of volunteers from across North America.

About OPTIMA® Batteries
OPTIMA® Batteries are like no other battery in the world. The unique SpiralCell design offers the most advanced technology and provides a strong and clean power source that far surpasses any of today's filled lead-acid batteries. With OPTIMA® under your hood, you can count on a longer lasting battery life under starting and deep-cycle applications. Stop by your local retailer or visit http://www.optimabatteries.com/ for more information.

About Hellwig Products
Track tested and street proven, Hellwig Motorsports Sway Bars provide modern technology for your vintage muscle car and leading edge performance for your modern performance vehicle. Hellwig Motorsports Sway Bars are precision engineered and 100% American made at our ISO9001 certified facility in Visalia, CA. Hellwig is the only aftermarket manufacturer that offers solid, tubular, and heat treated sway bars to match any suspension requirement. On the web at http://www.hellwigproducts.com/

About ISIS Power
The ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System was the first multiplexing wiring harness to make high-tech OEM technology available to the broad automotive aftermarket, ranging from street rods and off-road trucks to resto-mods and kit cars. The ISIS Intelligent Multiplex System is unique in that it employs a plug-and-play modular design and computerized power distribution to reduce the amount of wiring, improve flexibility and increase performance. http://www.isispower.com/

2010-01-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational Broadcast To Air On SPEED TV

A broadcast feature, produced by BCII, will showcase OPTIMA Batteries post-SEMA Invitational to air January 30 and 31, 2010 on SPEED

January, 2010

January 21, 2010 (MILWAUKEE) – OPTIMA® Batteries, the title sponsor and creator of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational, presented by RideTech and K&N Filters, has partnered with Brentwood Communications International, Inc. (BCII) and SPEED™ to produce a one-hour television special. The show reveal will be an exclusive competition designed to exhibit and test the performance, durability and styling of up to 50 of the finest street machines in the world.

The program will air nationally on SPEED on January 30 at 11:00 a.m. ET and again on January 31 at 4:00 p.m. ET. This never before seen footage will cover several of the intense vehicle builds in the days leading up to the competition, driver and vehicle appearances at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association (SEMA) trade show and focus on all of the event racing excitement, proving what these specialty vehicles and aftermarket products are capable of.

“The OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational is designed to show off the best of the best builders, drivers and aftermarket products in the performance automotive world,” said Cam Douglass, director of product development and marketing for OPTIMA Batteries. “The television special airing on SPEED will give viewers a front row seat as these world-class vehicles are built, shown on the SEMA floor and, most importantly, driven in three events that truly demonstrate the best that the performance aftermarket industry has to offer.”

The invitation-only event took place right on the heels of the SEMA Show on November 7, 2009. Held at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, this Invitational challenged up to 50 of the finest street machines in the world, showcasing the quality, performance and talent of the country's top builders, manufacturers and vehicle owners.

To view the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Broadcast trailer, visit: http://optimabatteries.com/OUSCI/

The OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Broadcast Sponsors Include: Brentwood Communications, Inc.; FM3 Marketing; K&N Filters; MagnaFlow; Carbon Kustoms; Keisler Automotive Engineering; Dynamat; Ridetech; Baer Brakes; Original Parts Group, Inc.; Pink’s Hot Dogs; Hint Water; Tecate Beer; Asombroso Premium Tequila; Pit Stop Furniture and John Force Race Station

World Premier of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational in Hollywood!

2010-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Despite rain earlier in the day the incredible event had an awesome turn out of celebrities, participants, industry “big wigs”, and enthusiasts who got a private screening of the program highlighting the

2009 OPTIMA Ultimate Street

Car Invitational which had been held the Saturday after SEMA. The OneLapCamaro had the perfect parking spot – at the start of the Red Carpet.

I’ll keep the highlights of the program under wraps for now but suffice it to say that Dave and Mary Pozzi steal the show! Be sure to check it out on Saturday January 30^th or Sunday January 31^st on SPEED TV!

Here are some pictures from the event:

The OneLapCamaro on Hollywood Boulevard - front and center for the World Premier

Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top was on hand for the show

As was Bill Goldberg... hmmm... I wonder how the OLC would fair in the Bullrun?

It was a rainy afternoon but a great evening!

Auto Magazine (Israel) Coverage of the Silver State Classic Challenge

2009-11-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

It's always great when the OneLapCamaro gets a little press - and I'll be the first to admit that it's been a great year for us - but it's really great when we find ourselves in the last place that we expect. This is from coverage of the 2009 Silver State Classic Challenge in Auto Magazine published in Israel.

Keep your eyes out for the February 2010 issue of Camaro Performers for a full feature on the OneLapCamaro; it should be on store shelves in late December or early January!

OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational - Final Results

2009-11-15T11:51:00.000-08:00

The 2nd annual OPTIMA Batteries Ultimate Street Car Invitational presented by RideTech and K&N Filters featured the hottest street machines in the world. This year, it was performance that won big at the event held November 7, 2009 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada as Bruce Cambern and his ’66 Shelby Cobra swept the three performance events on his way to taking down the coveted title of 2009 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car.

Cambern and his Cobra were named the winner of the Invitational after he posted the fastest time in all three performance events, including the Baer Brakes Speed Stop Challenge, the RideTech Street Challenge Autocross and the BF Goodrich Hot Lap Challenge.

While initially it looked like Steve and Bad Penny had pulled off the repeat it wasn't in the cards and, after reviewing all of the timinimg and scoring for the day Bruce and his awesome '66 Cobra took home the overall prize.

We had a great time with the OneLapCamaro at the event and, although we were not in competition (we were fortunate to be there as an exhibition car this year) the car performed extremely well and posted some impressive times in the autocross and speed stop challenge! It was great to be able to participate in an event like this and hats off again to OPTIMA Batteries, FM3 Performance Marketing, K&N, Ridetech and all the sponsors for putting such a great event together!

The OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational

2009-11-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

First off - congratulations to Steve and Dave on Bad Penny’s repeat as winner of the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational; regardless of any other considerations, Steve and Dave worked their butts off on Saturday and the month before to get Penny ready and at the end of they day they pulled it off. David first noticed that the power steering pump was going away on the orientation laps and when Steve hit the autocross it was done; while the autocross course was not as demanding (from a steering point of view) as some of the others that Steve has tackled, it was still a ton of work to drive with no power assist. That they were able to (a) find a power steering pump in Pahrump and (b) get it changed in time to run the road course and finish the event was a testament to their dedication and in the end their hard work paid off. Great job!

Second – hats off to OPTIMA Batteries for putting on the event and to all of the sponsors that made it possible. All of the controversies – tires, drivers, invitees, scoring, and anything else – aside, the fact is that this was only the second time that the event had been held and it was a TON OF FUN! The quality of the cars there was awesome and – for the most part - they were being driven to their very limits. It was great to see guys like Larry C. driving the absolute butt of Motiv8r and loving it. To see Bill and Yancy and Mark and Charlie and a host of others driving their cars to the very limit was incredible and without FM3 and OPTIMA stepping up to organize the event and sponsors like Ridetech and K&N it never would have happened.
Third – it’s a competitive event and we (pro-touring) remain the cream of the crop. Throughout “the week” there were opinions galore on who would win and why. There was discussion about practicing, new vs. old, race tires vs. street tires, and pro’s vs. joes and in the end OLD JOES won the day. But a couple of big worries were disproved – new cars don’t automatically have an advantage over our old cars and professional drivers are not a magic bullet, nor are pre race practice sessions. Some of the best drivers IN THE WORLD were in attendance at the race and they did not dominate the competitions where they were expected to… Paul Tracy put some fast road course laps down in the F/M 2010 Camaro but he did not walk away from the field at all… nor did Tanner Faust dominate on an autocross course that was seemingly designed with drifting in mind. The Nissan GTR was not a factor, nor was the AMG Mercedes or any of the other new cars. Pro Touring and vintage G Machines truly ruled the day. And everyone was pushing hard – as shown by the attrition and off road excursions. It was really cool.
I think it was a great day and want to congratulate everyone who was fortunate enough to participate – both as competitors and volunteers. And I think that the volunteers need to be recognized as well – they worked tirelessly throughout the day and were also a big part of making the whole deal possible.
We had a lot of fun and it was great seeing everyone there. For my part I want to thank Robert for the ride to Pahrump on Saturday and (as always) Dave and Mary for the help getting the car ready.

We're on our way to the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational!

2009-11-01T11:25:00.000-08:00

In just under a week the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational presented by Ridetech and K&N will be held at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV and we are officially on our way! Dave and Mary loaded the cars up late last night and are making the trek to Las Vegas right now.

Mary and the TBCITEW Camaro

But the news isn't all good - we found a couple of issues with the OneLapCamaro yesterday that could give us some trouble in Pahrump... the clutch seems to be slipping in third and fourth gear and the power steering is acting up (definately puzzling considering the car has sat since the Silver State Classic Challenge in September - Dave thinks its haunted). Regardless - we are going to give it everything we've got next Saturday! Hopefully the clutch holds together for one more day and we can have some fun - we'll see in a week!

Here we come - The OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational

2009-10-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

In 2008 OPTIMA Batteries held the innaugural OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational presented by Hot Rod - a unique event which pitted some of the hottest new muscle cars against one another at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV. Many of the cars (ourselves included) were fresh off the SEMA Show carpet and as a group we jumped at the chance to show that modern muscle cars were more than capable of performing as well as (or better than) they looked. The first annual event - combining lap times on the Spring Mountain road course with autocross performance and style points - was won by Steve Rupp's 1968 Camaro "Bad Penny" and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that 40 year old tin is more than capable of performing as well as many modern supercars. We were fortunate to have been invited to participate in the first OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational and finished 10th - plagued by new car gremlins that kept us from really showing what the OneLapCamaro was capable of.

The OneLapCamaro at the first annual OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational

The event is back for 2009 and we are again fortunate to have been invited to attend - even though this year it's as an exhibition vehicle. The format is similar to last years event with the winner determined by the best combination of three laps on the road course, three laps on the autocross, a 0 to 60 to 0 challenge, and the always important style points. While we aren't in contention for the title this year we are excited to be able to join some of the increadible new builds that will be competing on the track in Pahrump!

For more information on the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational presented by Ridetech & K&N visit their website at http://www.optimainvitational.com/

Recovering from the SSCC

2009-10-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last month at the Silver State Classic Challenge but with SEMA and the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational coming up in November the first thing on our "post race" checklist was cleaning up the car - which looked like it had been used as a getaway car in a cheap horror movie. Fortunately, Mary had the right tools to get the job done...

Other fall out from the race seems minor - the fuel pump sounded like it was pretty hot after we got back from the return run and I really need to get the AC hooked up before we go for any more long cruises in the desert...

Thanks again to Dave and Mary for their help before, during, and after the race!

Looking back at The Silver State Classic Challenge

2009-10-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

The Silver State Classic Challenge is one of those increadible events that almost every serious gear head has heard of and is on the "bucket list" for many. It is a true grass roots event that turns the small town of Ely, NV into a high performance mecca every September. The format is simple - Nevada Highway 318 is closed for the day to local traffic and competitors race 90 miles from the small town of Lund to the equally small town of Ash Springs; no traffic, no speed limits, and no radar detectors to distract you. The race is run as an open road rally and competitors race against the clock in average speed "brackets" where the goal is to average your target speed over the entire 90 mile course. We were running in the 115 mph class after cutting our teeth in the 105 mph class in the spring race earlier this year.

Sunday morning started with a 35 mile cruise from Ely to the pre-stage grid at Lane's Truck Stop in Hilo, NV at the start of Highway 318. It was just before 6 am and still dark when we set off... which would have been less of an issue if we hadn't taped the hide-aways shut for the speed runs the day before. It only took a couple of minutes to figure out the problem and fix it but it was a big distraction first thing in the morning.

7 am - Lane's Truck Stop. It's hard to imagine a greater cross section of cars in any one place...

And from Lane's it's a short 2 mile drive to the final staging area on 318

This is most of the 115 mph class - starting with the 2006 Mustang at the top of the picture we were joined by a 2003 350Z, a '69 Olds Cutlass, an '08 Subaru WRX-STI and a '65 Shelby clone. I think that our class probably had the oldest average age of any group running.

Team Optima was there representing:

The OneLapCamaro running in the 115 mph class with Jimi Day handling the navigator duties.

Cameron Douglass was driving the 2006 NASCAR Chevrolet with Craig Wibbert navigating in the 150 mph class.

and the Kepler brothers driving this awesome 2006 Z06 - also running in the 150 mph class. Steve was driving while his brother Mike was navigating; Mike is also drives the incredible Optima Batteries rig.

Cam and Craig were the first of the three to hit the open highway...
followed by Steve and Mike...
We weren't far behind...

90 miles... 115 mph average... 46 minutes 57.39 seconds...

Our strategy was to put 25 seconds in the bank heading into the narrows which meant spending much of the first half hour somewhere between 120 and 130 mph. When he banked our time Jimi told me that I had to drop down to our target... it was tough... the car was great at 125 and I could have stayed there for the whole race. We took the narrows at a comfortable 95 - 100 mph, exiting 8 seconds or so fast. With 10 miles to go we were withing a second of our target and with 1 mile to go we were only 0.07 seconds away from our goal.
When it was done the car had performed perfectly and the only problem we had was a couple of bugs on the front of the car...

other than that the car ran flawlessly and it was a comfortable drive.

As soon as we were done Jimi and I drove down to the gas stop as Ash Springs where I filled up with gas for the return drive to Lund while Jimi and Cameron and the rest of the Optima crew headed to Las Vegas. The return trip was 115 miles of desert at what seemed like a painfully slow 70 mph(ish). I admit that I did speed up a bit through the narrows but that was about all...

When it was all over, as you know, we finished a respectable 2nd in the 115 mph class. We were 1.2 seconds off our time (fast... my fault - I must have misjudged the hill beween the final mile marker and the timing lights) but still managed to bring home the hardware. This was Jimi's first time navigating although he had run the event six times before as a driver. This was Jimi's first podium finish (and obviously mine as well) so we were both stoked despite being slightly off the pace.

Steve and Mike wound up finishing 4th in the 150 mph class, only 0.197 seconds off their target; Cameron and Craig wound up 8th, 0.443 seconds off the pace. Most importantly, everyone finished safely and without issue. We all ran the High Noon Shootout (results are not officially out yet) and completed the 90 mile run without a hick-up so that is a success in itself.

I have to thank Cameron Douglass and Optima Batteries for their support over the weekend and Jimi Day for his awesome navigating and advice. Most of all I have to (once again) thank David Pozzi for his support and great car preparation. A lot of effort went in to getting the car ready for the event and David was there every step of the way. Thanks everyone - It was a great time and a great result.

Next time we'll shoot for the 130 mph class (or so) and see how we do... should be fun!

SSCC 2009 - The Result are In!

2009-09-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

Jimi is at the SSCC Awards Banquet in Las Vegas as David and I haul the OneLapCamaro back to California after a long long day. I just got a text message that we finished in 2nd Place in the 115 mph class!!! We were off by a little over a second at the finish (I don't know if it was slow or fast but my guess is fast based on our thoughts after the race) but still got the job done!

I am really pleased with how the car ran and how we were able bring home a second place trophy - lots of hard work and a great result for our second time at the Silver State Classic Challenge.

Thanks to OPTIMA Batteries for making this happen and thanks to Jimi for his awesome navigating and David for his support and prep help. Hat's off the the SSCC organizers and to all of the volunteers who made the event possible!

I can't wait for next time when we'll look to move up to the 130 mph class! Woo Hoo!!!

For now we're going to call it a night - once I get back to Calgary I'll try to collect some thoughts from the weekend and reflect on another great weekend!

SSCC - WE MADE IT!!!!

2009-09-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

At the finish line!

Jimi did a great job... We're close...

We'll find out how we did tonight - for now we'll cool off for a bit then fuel up and drive back to Ely...

What an awesome run!!!

SSCC Day 3 - The Race

2009-09-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

After making it through an inspection of our safety equipment and tires we hit the starting line and waited for out shot down the daunting 90 mile stretch of Highway 318.

90 miles of two lane highway across the desert...

Putting our plan into action we cruised across the desert at 120 to 130 mph for the first 40 miles - putting nearly a half second 'in the bank' for our 'slow' cruise through the narrow at just under 100. Once we were through the narrows I tried to hold our speed at exactly 115 mph. At the final mile marker we were within 0.07 seconds of our ideal target... but as we crossed the finish line we seemed to be a second or two off our target (?) I'm not sure what happened but it could be close...

SSCC Day 3 - Race Day

2009-09-20T06:59:00.001-07:00

0645H - Lane's Truck Stop, Lund, NV

Pre-Grid at Lane's Truck Stop

38 miles south of Ely we've topped up with race fuel and are on the pre-grid where all 135+ cars sort themselves out before a final drive to the grid area at the starting line. The cruise down was uneventful and a nice way to warm everything up and sort through some last minute strategy with Jimi.

___________________________________________________

0830 H

Final Grid - Highway 318

After a short drive from Lane's Truck Stop we're gridded on Highway 318 waiting for our turn down Highway 318. Nothing to do now but finalize our plan and put on our safety gear.

Our strategy is to run the first 2/3 of the race 'fast' and bank some time before hitting the narrows where we'll slow down to just under 100 mph before finishing the last 10 miles right on our target time of 115 mph.

SSCC Day 3 - Race Day

2009-09-20T06:01:00.001-07:00

0545 - We're in the car and getting ready to caravan out to the starting grid. Our preparations are done and Jimi has his course notes prepared so we are as ready as we can be. One thing that I had not taken into account though was the dark... When we first set off this morning - no headlights (we had taped them shut the day before for the high noon shooutout). I guess one of the things to do when we get back to the shop will be to align them... Oh well... Some headlights are better than no headlights.

Next stop - Lane's Truckstop for pre-grid and a last splash of fuel.

SSCC Day 2

2009-09-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

Final preparations at the Jailhouse Hotel in Ely... Jimi and I are doing a final fitting and making sure all of the electronics are working and we have a plan of attack... They are and we do!

SSCC Day 2

2009-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Optima High Noon Shootout - Standing Mile - Run #1

First Run - 161 mph on GPS - a great improvement over our 148 mph results in May. The engine stayed lit for the entire run and was pulling hard at nearly 7000 RPM in 5th gear through the mile marker.

Second Run - 160 mph on the GPS. Spun the tires hard off the line (and through most of first gear). Again no issues. 160ish seems to be where we are at so it's going to be two and out. I don't want to risk hurting anything today that would keep us from competing in the main event tomorrow!

SSCC Day 2

2009-09-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Silver State Classic Challenge - Day 2

Pre-Staging for the Optima High Noon Shootout

We're is the staging lanes for the Optima High Noon Shootout - a standing start mile top speed challenge. In line with us are several ZR1 Corvettes, a couple of Vipers, and two NASCARs.

Once again it seems like we have brought a knife to a gun fight...

Anything over 150 mph will be an improvement over May - we hit the highway in about half an hour so we'll see soon!

SSCC - Day 1

2009-09-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Silver State Classic Challenge - Day 1 - Tech Inspection

0900H - Going through tech

SSCC Day 1 - on location in Ely, NV

2009-09-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

THE SILVER STATE CLASSIC CHALLENGE!

2009-09-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

WE’RE OFF!!!

It’s been a really tough month but I think that we are ready for the Silver State Classic Challenge – a 90 mile long Open Highway race that takes place every September on Highway 318 just outside of Ely, Nevada. We’ll be running with the team from Optima Batteries in the 115 mph class on Sunday. Jimi Day, a Silver State veteran and the brains behind FM3 Performance Marketing will be my navigator for the race and he’s got some pretty big shoes to fill – trying to better our the Camaro’s rookie outing in the spring with Steve Rupp navigating us to a 4th place finish just 0.37 seconds off our mark. I hear that there might be a small wager or two going on behind the scenes but I am focusing on the driving and letting the two of them work things out between themselves.

David Pozzi has been instrumental in getting us ready for this weekend – working tirelessly to prepare the car for the last five weeks (ok… let’s be honest… David got tired of it about four weeks ago – he’s just too nice to say so). Since our trip to Best of Show Coachworks in San Marcos, CA we have replaced the old transmission with a new T-56 Magnum, swapped out the old driveshaft for a new aluminum piece from Inland Empire Driveline, repaired some nagging electrical gremlins and given the car it’s first really good tuning on the dyno at Turnkey Engine Supply. When we got the car off the dyno David became concerned with the rear differential – and rightly so – discovering that the differential was midway through a catastrophic failure. With the help of the great guys at Currie Enterprises we were able to quickly replace the failed Platinum Track for a near bulletproof True-Trac differential and salvaged the aluminum 3rd member housing and 3.89 gear set. David installed the new rear on the weekend and took the car for a test drive yesterday to break the gears in and verify that everything was good to go. Of course… it wasn’t… his critical eye noticing that one of the valve cover gaskets was leaking. A quick trip to the parts store and we are back in business.

David is cleaning up the last few details as I ‘speak’ and we’ll be heading to Ely, Nevada first thing tomorrow morning.

I am going to use this event as a test run for live (or nearly live) updates on our progress through the weekend. Hopefully it will give us some ideas on how best to provide comments from on the road that we can use for the One Lap of America in the spring. Please check back over the weekend for live updates!

Our first competition will be the Optima High Noon Shootout on Saturday morning where we will try our hand in a one mile top speed challenge. It should be a good indication of our progress since spring – when we ran the event in May we were troubled by engine gremlins that shut us down at a GPS indicated 148 mph… hopefully those problems are behind us – we’ll know in a couple of days.

ROAD WARRIORS

2009-09-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

ROAD WARRIORS by Steven Rupp
Camaro Performers Online

It seems only fitting as we finish our preparations for the Silver State Classic Challenge this weekend that Steven Rupp's article from the September 2009 issue of Camaro Performers magazine is now available online.

If you haven't had a chance to read it, it's a really entertaining article and captures the spirit and adventure of our race in the spring.

Check it out:

Link: Camaro Performers - Road Warriors

Nothing is Possible Without Good Friends

2009-09-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have always said that custom cars - of any description - are rarely built without the help, support, and input of others and the OneLapCamaro is certainly no exception. I have benefitted greatly from the hard work of many creative, knowledgable and talented people over the last four years but none so much as David and Mary Pozzi. That's not meant to in any way diminish the contribution of the many others who have helped and influenced the project - everyone's help every step of the way has made a difference - every idea, product, and drop of sweat has made the Camaro a better and better car and I think it shows.

Over the last six months David and Mary have really helped to turn what was a really nice car with raw potential into (what I think is) an awesome car that can stand with the best anywhere. The same applies, I think, to me as a driver as well - although instead of 'stand with the best anywhere' maybe I should say 'able to hold my own with a lot of others'... or the very least I'm game to try.

Rather than risking to somehow diminish their contributions while putting them in to words, to David and Mary I will simply say Thank You from the bottom of my heart for your friendship, expertise, support, advice and hard, hard work. It is appreciated more than you can imagine and I only hope that one day I will be able to return the favor to you and that I will be able to use your example to mentor others.

James

Three Steps Forward

2009-09-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Well after a monumental effort we are 'done' in Southern California - finishing up at Turn Key Engine Supply and heading towards "home". It's been a long three weeks but we are winding it up on a high note (* or so it seems). When David brought the car down to San Marcos our first stop was Best of Show Coachworks where they looked over some touch-ups on the passenger door and scoped out a plan of attack.

From Best of Show David headed down the street to Turn Key Engine Supply where Kory started working on a calibration for the ECM but almost immediately found some issues. First and foremost - there was no mapping for an idle or intermediate circuit; this explained the erratic idle and hard starting when it was warm. This was an easy fix but led to another discovery - the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) signal has an erratic 'burble' that seemed related to the harness or ECM. Changing the TPS yielded nothing, confirming that the issue was internal to the system; the meant that no matter how close Kory was able to dial in the idle, it wouldn't be stable or predictable. While we pondered that problem Kory did an initial power pull and found our third major issue - under even light load there was a significant voltage loss that was hindering the calibration throughout the power band and was probably responsible for our 148 mph engine cut-out issue that we encountered at the Optima High Noon Shootout at the Nevada Open Road Challenge. That marked the end of our first day on the dyno - it was back to Best of Show to lick our wounds, get started on the door, and install our new Magnum T-56 transmission from Classic Chevy 5-speed.

Work at Best of Show started quickly and in no time the door was in primer and the new transmission was in place. The first issue we found with the transmission swap was the shifter location - we knew that the Magnum relocated the shifter slightly but we got a brand new Hurst shifter that was supposed to position the shifter in a 'standard' position. It didn't... Best of Show quickly began working on some modifications to the shifter and handle and in no time Chris was able to get us back in business. The second issue that we found was the driveshaft - the one we had was too long. While this was expected, what was not was the fact that out old driveshaft could not be modified... we needed a new piece made up. For this we turned to Inland Empire Driveline who built us a new 3 1/2" aluminum shaft the next day. Unfortunately... it was 1" too long. David quickly turned around to LA and waited while the driveshaft was shortened and rebalanced. With the transmission in place and the door cleaned up, Dave and Best of Show focused on addressing the wiring issues that we encountered on the dyno the week before. A couple of days of hard work and we were on our way back to Turn Key for another dyno session.

Tuesday morning David rolled in to Turn Key with high hopes. A new, beefier power wire had been run for the alternator and a ground was added to ensure that it was charging to its full potential. A relay had been added for the ECM power supply and everything seemed to be in order. First look - the TPS irregularity was still there... strike one. That hurt but once again Kory decided to do a power pull while we evaluated our options for the idle tuning. Fourth gear... get on the gas... clutch is slipping... strike two? more like a bean ball... we're toast. We hadn't had any issue with it before and were stumped with the problem now.

An hour earlier we were expecting to wrap the day up and get David home... now we were contemplating our next step and wondering if we were going to able to make the Silver State Classic Challenge. What a demoralizing turn of events...

Back to Best of Show and up onto the lift... where Dick quickly found the problem - the hydraulic throwout bearing was stuck and maintaining pressure on the clutch. We were able to pry it off the clutch and the guys quickly noticed that the clutch pedal/master cylinder was binding and needed a simple adjustment. Thankfully they were able to resolve it quickly and, after a quick test drive, a third dyno session was arranged for Wednesday morning. In the mean time one of the techs at MSD/Painless replied to my question about the TPS... maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel...

By noon Wednesday Dave and the Camaro were back at Turn Key Engine Supply and to nobodies surprise the TPS tick was still there. After looking at a couple of options Kory's focus turned to the Wideband O2 sensors. Following the techs advice the widebands were disconnected and immediately the TPS issue was resolved. With some quick tuning to clean up the idle it was time for a power pull... success - no clutch issues, no voltage issues, Kory was clear to work on some final tuning. When he was done the car was running like a top and had made 475 HP at the rear wheels with 447 ft.lbs. of torque.

With that David was finally able to pack up the trailer and was on way back home. It had been nearly three weeks but we had made some tremendous progress and by all accounts the car was far better than it had been before... or so we thought...

Open Highway Racing with the Silver State Classic Challenge and Optima Batteries

2009-08-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

In May we attended our first Open Highway race - the Nevada Open Highway Challenge - the annual spring run on Nevada Highway 318 held by the great people at the Silver State Classic Challenge organization. We had been hanging out with the guys from Optima Batteries at the Goodguys Rod & Custom event in Del Mar in April and mentioned that the Silver State was on our wish list of races to participate in this year and a week later we were signed up with Optima's support. With Steven R. from Camaro Performers magazine navigating and Dave and Mary P.backing us up, we were able to finish fourth in the 105 mph class with an average speed of 104.987 mph - only 0.37 seconds off of our target.

Camaro Performers magazine has published a great article about our adventures on Highway 318 in their September 2009 edition. Steve did a great job in capturing the spirit of the event and it makes for a really entertaining story. If you haven't seen it already - I suggest grabbing a copy - it's well worth it (although I am admittedly biased).

In September we will be returning to Ely to run in the annual Silver State Classic Challenge - this time in the 115 mph class. This will be our first opportunity to try live(ish) updates from a race event here so stay tuned!

Getting everything together - with the help of some great friends!

2009-08-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

The Camaro has been at Best of Show Coachworks in San Marcos, California for the last week and, thanks to the great crew at BoS - and an increadible effort from David P. - the car is just about ready for it's return to Turn Key Engine Supply for some final tuning. The old rockland transmission has been swapped out for a new T-56 Magnum thanks to some help from Classic 5-speed, a new Hurst Blackjack short shift shifter is in, and a custom shift handle has been fabricated to work with our Marquez center console. Inland Empire Driveshaft has built us a new aluminum driveshaft and everything seems to be coming together.

For the last three days, David and the guys have been cleaning up some bits and pieces - first and foremost working to solve some of the electical issues that showed up on the dyno last week. Nothing seems simple or obvious - we're really chasing the last half volt to ensure that our 148 mph engine issue is a thing of the past.

It's increadibly hard to be 2,000 miles from the action but thanks to David's dedication I know that we're on the right track. I've always said that projects like this wouldn't be possible without the help of others and it's never been more apparent than the last week.

David, Dick, Jon, and Chris - thank you so much... none of this would be possible without you.

Dyno Tuning at Turn Key Engine Supply

2009-08-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

We brought the car down to Southern California this week for some quality time at Best of Show Coachworks in San Marcos, CA and decided that it was worthwhile to swing by Turn Key Engine Supply for some long overdue dyno tuning. We had been having some lingering idle issues and were still looking to resolve our 148 mph engine cutout problem that plagued us at the Nevada Open Road Challenge in May. After searching for someone who was comfortable with the MSD MEFI4B ECU, our good friend Steven Rupp put us in touch with Kory at Turn Key.

David drove the car from Best of Show to Turn Key on Tuesday morning which gave him an opportunity to test the steering changes and arrived on Turn Key's doorstep at 9 am, ready to go. After getting the car secured Kory started working on the idle circuit and found, as expected, several issues in the calibration - the worst being that there was no map at less than 2000 rpm. It turned out that the calibration we had from Katech had a power run only an nothing for idle or intermediate driving. After some work Kory had the engine purring like never before and, after nearly a year of testing, we finally had a car that would idle reliable and without drama. We do still seem to have a lingering issue with our TPS sensor (or wiring) but will work on that over time.

With the idle calibration in place Kory moved on to some power tuning and immediately found an issue with the charging system. David and I had been chasing down a low voltage issue for a while and Kory brough it to the forefront as soon as he loaded the car and started a pull. After working through some wiring options, we decided to take the car back to Best of Show to add a relay for the ECU to try to isolate the power as well as start working on our transmission swap.

We'll be heading back to Turn Key next week to finish our tuning and hope for some great results!