Life is Good Racing

Hi All,

I appreciate the help members on here have given on posts I've made here in the road-racing sectoin, so I thought you might appreciate an update on our results and accomplishments.

Our PorVette, just logged our 2nd consecutive class win (Super Unlimited) and 1st Overall Race Win, at the July 7th Western Endurance Racing Championship 3 hour day into night enduro.

Basic car specs:
LS1 engine (2001 camaro)
lightened flywheel, Exedy dual disc clutch
custom headers with straight exhaust
Corvette C5 torque tube, transaxle, rear suspension
LG Motorsports rear coilovers
LG Motorsports tranny/differential pump with coolers
2500 lbs. without driver or gas

Big thanks to Jim Pierce (www.PierceMotorsports.com) for building the car, to my co-driver Doug Baron, for putting it on the pole and driving an awesome, strong race and prepped the car and carried out a clean/no mistake pitsop.

Also big thanks to our sponsors:
Stoptech Brakes
Exedy Clutches
GT-Racing bodywork
Endura Paint

Race conditions were very tough throughout the weekend with air temps up to 108+ degrees. You can imagine what the road/car temps were, yet the car never got over 215 degrees water temp, and ran without a hitch.

Some of the competition we topped:
Mazda Renesis powered Sports Racer (1500lbs!!)
Viper Competition Coupe
BMW M3 (2004)
various other BMW M3's (earlier models)
Grand-Am Honda Research Acura Integras
others...

So in our last two races, we were:
June Thunderhill enduro - 1st in Class, 2nd Overall (lost to Mazda sportsracer)
July Willow Springs enduro - 1st in Class, 1st Overall

The car is still far from its speed potential and we're looking forward to making some significant improvements to get it there.

If curious, some photos are here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2640341

Sponsorship opportunities available for final 3 races plus 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Please contact Steve Rea at steven_rea@hotmail.com .

Thanks,

Steve
"Life is Good"

AMERICANMUSL

Wow! Not too shaby for a true hybrid...good job!!
You didn't perhaps come up against a Mercury Cyclone or 69 Z did you?? Would you mind posting some lap times?

Thanx---Ed

Olitho

Hi Steve:

Congrats on the win! So Doug Baron is your co-driver. Please say "Hi!" to him for me.

I am looking for many more wins from you guys.


Fastest Regards,

Oli Thordarson

Life is Good Racing

Thanks Ed...hmm, I don't recall either of those cars, but will keep an eye out if they head to one of the future ones. We have one 3 hr. night enduro at Buttonwillow in Oct., then a 4 hour at Infineon in November, ending the season with the 25 Hours of Thunderhill at the beginning of December.

I can share lap times, sure, though they're not really that fast yet. Our qualifying time was a 1:31:xx at Willow Springs on Toyo RA-1's 6/32 tread depth, and a 2:02:xx at Thunderhill on Kumho 710's (using the bypass). We had to use the Toyos since the kumhos were on backorder, and we weren't too happy with them. We were able to win by driving very consistently, only coming in for 1 pitstop, making it quick and clean, and having no mechanical issues. The reliability of the Vette drivetrain was the reason I went this route.

We have 2 main areas to improve, which will drastically reduce laptimes. Front suspension geometry is way off, because the control arms are at quite an angle with the car lowered, plus the brakes are getting significant pad knock-back. This makes for an inconsistent pedal, and the need to pump the brakes before each braking zone to get the pedal more firm. These will both be remedied in the next 3 months before the Oct. Buttonwillow race. In addition, we will be running wider slicks from now on.

We expect to be able to knock off a very health amount of time, and should be in 1:25-1:27 range or so at Willow Springs with our current power level.

Life is Good Racing

Hi Oli,

Did I see that you were getting into a Spec-944 with the POC? Did you buy one? I used to run that class, and it's a good group of guys. Then I helped start the Boxster-spec class and was the first to race one, which was great fun also. However, endurance racing is the most fun for me.

This was the first race Doug did with me, though he loved it and wants to run more, and he will be driving with us for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. We hope to put a strong team together. Mike Essa drove with me at Thunderhill and also did an excellent job of driving very solid, fast and consistent without any offs or mistakes.

Do you know Doug from the POC?

Olitho

Yes, I know Doug from the POC. I am kicking around getting a Spec 944 to run with POC. I want to rent a ride first to check out the cars and the class and make sure it is for me.

So far though this year things have conspired against me being able to do that. It seems like all of the POC spec races I could do have conflicted with my SCCA schedule. Getting my T1 car to the run-offs this October in Topeka have had priority over the POC schedule this year, although I miss running with that group. It is always fun, well run and a good group of folks at POC.

And yes, I do know Doug from running with POC. He is a good guy.


Fastest regards,

Oli

PS. I wanted to give you a heads up to keep some spare Corvette hubs/wheel bearing parts on hand. I see you are running the Corvette rear-end. Stock hubs work fine on the street, but when you put big sticky tires on the hubs and start racing around, well.... quite simply they just crack. On your pre-race check list replace all the hubs if the race is really important to you, or at a minimum, pull the rotors off and examine the 90 degree joint where the flange with the wheels studs meets the bearing/hub. Look very closely for cracks. They will break regularly under heavy use and I bet an enduro is just the trick to make that happen even if your Porvette is 600 lbs off of a standard T1 racer.

AMERICANMUSL

Thanx again for sharing...when I first read your post, I figured you should be up to the ASA guys with what you had described. A good testament to your project's finished product(best of both worlds) with the suspension issues you're experiencing. Endurance racing a car like that, wow, what a challenge...both driver and crew!

If I can't make it out to these events, do you have posted video's somewhere I can see the car in action?

Once again, great job!
I'll continue to follow your ventures.

Thanx---Ed

Life is Good Racing

Sorry Ed, no in-car video yet. There have been too many other priorities, but hopefully we'll get it in before long.

Oli,

I can understand how much of a time and financial committment it is to see one santioning body's season through the whole year. Good luck with that. Yes, I really enjoy the guys of the POC, as they're really just into the racing, which is cool. That's one of the reasons I did this car like this, as I wanted to be able to race with the POC guys, and the running costs of this car will be far far less than a Cup Car, while being able to be as fast as it or faster (996 Cup Car).

I seem to have heard about a different racing hub for the Vette? Do you know anything about that? The Speedvision and other pro race guys must not be using stock hubs if they're always breaking. What options exist now? I already have the Stoptech brakes for the Vette rears, but if need be, we can have new adapters made so the calipers can fit.

Thanks...s

Olitho

Unfortunately I must run stock hubs per the SCCA T1 rules, so I don't know anything about the after-market hubs. Hopefully someone will se this post and jump in. If not, I would call Lou Gigliotti and find out what they are running. You are right, I think those cars are running an aftermarket hub.

Oi