October 26, 2006
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Laguna Seca Round 10 World Challenge Speed GT race report
Laguna Seca, Ca, Round 10 9/22/06
the 2006 Speed World Challenge GT Championships
It’s race 10 at Laguna Seca, it’s the SPEED World Challenge Finals. The piranha tank is frothing, minnows are scarce. Teams whisper strategy, engines curiously get friskier, chassis tuning more creative, and when you think there’s nothing left, the cars get faster. This is good ole boy racing, right? No pressure. Think that? Then you need to get to a World Challenge race. The 2005 lap record got broken by 21 of the 34 race cars in the GT field. The finish line separated the first and second car by .03 second. In spite of being 1.5 seconds quicker than last year, the Woodhouse Performance /Kicker /Dodge Viper Competition Coupe #13 qualified 11th.
Dodge Viper fans if this were an old western, it would have been called a “Bad day at Black Rock”. Dodge came into this final round leading in manufacturers points, and left it, the 2006 Championship to Porsche with Cadillac in 3rd. What a scrap it was, this game of strategy, of preparation, of chance, of risk, of skill.
Dodge did not have the fastest cars here, after practice and qualifying we were behind the Corvettes, Cads and Porsches. Our biggest gun, and best finish was Tommy Archer. He started 8th and finished 6th albeit with a wounded suspension..
The standing start found me staring at the back of Andy Pigrims’ 9th gridded Caddy when the lights went out. You usually can’t catch Andy napping but something kept him there. When the light went out, our #13 Woodhouse Auto Family Viper slid up between him and the pit wall accelerating up the hill. As we came side by side the power in our snake began to falter. Geez of all the times to pick for an engine gremlin, this wasn’t it. On again off again like a light switch instead of a throttle we ended up at the #2 turn about where we started. click here.
If I turned left the engine would kill, then back to life as the wheel straightened. I radio’d crew chief Rick about this alien presence. Not that he could wave his wand but I needed a friend to talk to, Oprah wasn’t handy. So deal with it. Each left turn the strategy was; go in till she quits, then wiggle, then charge out. We were struggling for momentum when the full coarse yellow came out.
“OK, Rick, lets get this re-start right” Right, heck, we nailed it, he sounded like NASCAR… “green green green” he yells and I punch the throttle while the brake lights are lit on the Lawson AXA Porsche in the windshield. A smile builds, as the acceleration advantage catapults me past two cars heading under the bridge toward the start finish line. In front of me are the #16 Caddie and the #5 Red Tommy Archer Viper. The lane I am in narrows as the cars bend left under the starter bridge. Room, plenty, a foot more than needed to get through when O’Connell, the #16 Caddy sees me coming, he moves left, I am beside him.
Like squeezing a hazelnut with a pair of pliers. Pop, with nowhere to go the front of the car jumps two feet into the air as the concrete and Cadillac jaws squeeze sending shards of body flying. It was like the gates of hell exploded under the front end. Due to the forward speed (about 100 mph) the cars had no option but to continue on. Click here.
From this point forward I struggle to make sense of all this. I’m feeling like a low flying water fowl above an outdoor Ducks Unlimited Convention: An engine that chooses when it wants to run. A suspension that is handling erratically after the nutcracker special and I can’t get Rick to answer the radio.
Flinging the car off the outside of every corner now; elevating myself to idiot status. Note to self: “Get a grip”. In the midst of note, I discover a disconnected ear plug cord. Conveniently a full coarse yellow allows me to drive with one knee to get re-plugged just in time to hear Rick, in a highly motivated voice, tell me to get my undeniably ignorant self to the pits and pronto. It takes him 30 seconds to replace the left front tire that was flat due to rim damage on the concrete wall.
Back out we go with but one of the three issues left. This time it takes one straight-away for that problem, the engine dyeing, to manifest itself. No amount of steering and shaking will revive her and I roll dead stick to the inside of turn three.
Relegated to spectator status I sit buckled in watching a bit of the race flashes across the turn in front of me. 20 minutes have gone by now and every five or so I try the starter. This time it fires. Fans have placed themselves along the inside fence observing the fate of the #13 Viper. When it fired I could hear their screams. Cool, I’m with ya on that one. It ran long enough to get back to the pits where Rick tugged on all things electrical until he discovered and plugged in a loose connector.
Out we go again. Four laps left. Rick says “Keep your eyes on your mirrors, you have leaders behind you.” Not to worry the car was all it needed to be, they advanced no ground.
Our team goal was to bring back a top ten for the year. We finished 7th. Eight finishes were top ten, four top 5 and a podium. We get to say we finished all ten.
Race teams get asked to vote for the crew of the year. In the TC series congratulations go to the hard working 3R team. In the GT Series, Rick and Nancy, our little crew on the #13 Viper Competition Coupe received the honors. A more meaningful recognition you could not bestow. Nancy is still flushed with excitement.
Some of the hard working, caring folks that support this:
Woodhouse Auto Family we deliver nationwide. 800 889 1893 www.woodhouse.com
Kicker livin loud. www.kicker.com
Dodge Motorsports www.dodge.com
Charity of choice www.alexslemonade.com
More info at www.speedtv.com or www.world-challenge.com
broadcast time
Saturday, October 28,
TC at 1 and GT at 2 p.m. Eastern on SPEED
Bless you all.
