Rich Wesorick
Enthusiast
For Immediate Release
ARCHER FINISHES SECOND AT 2003 SCCA JUNE SPRINTS
Ft. Worth, Texas - June 26, 2003. Defending T1 race-winner Bobby Archer and his ViperSpeed teammate Dr. Deborah Loth returned to the four-mile monster known as Road America for the 2003 SCCA June Sprints on June 20-22 with high hopes for back-to-back victories for Archer and another podium finish for Loth. Instead, Archer ended up in second place despite taking the checkered flag while in the lead in the caution-filled 8-lap race, while Loth found herself happy to be in one piece following a hard collision with the wall outside Road America's fabled "Kink".
Archer's No. 2 SuperClubs/Hoosier/ViperSpeed Viper and Loth's No. 28 Bobby Archer Motorsports/Hoosier/ViperSpeed Viper represented two of the eleven T1 cars entered in the 2003 June Sprints. Both Archer and Loth were looking forward to racing on the long and fast Road America track, and were interested to see how their Vipers would compare to some of the better-prepared T1 Corvette Z06's. After the two qualifying sessions, Archer's best time was a 2:29.127, which was second fastest behind the Z06 of Scotty White who qualified on the pole with a 2:28.984. Loth qualified in sixth place behind the Z06's of Cindi Lux, David Roush, and Peter Looby, respectively.
Sunday's race took place under mostly sunny skies and balmy temperatures. A total of 48 cars (T1, T2, AS, SSB, and SSC classes) took to the track for the race. As the front row of Archer and White rounded the final turn (14) to take the green flag, White and Archer bumped. From his outside position, Archer turned into Turn 14 to make sure he was in the racing line and able to get good traction to head uphill for the start of the race. White, who was driving curiously slow behind the pace car, saw Archer move up around the outside and accelerated, which is when the two cars collided. Archer's front fascia was dislodged by the contact, but both drivers continued on up the hill to the green flag. In typical Archer fashion, Bobby got a better jump than White at the start and led into the first turn. White quickly closed the gap though Turns 2, 3 and 4 and was in position to challenge for the lead after the long downhill straight-away going into the slow left-hand Turn 5. Using the superior braking of the Z06, White was able to brake later than Archer going into Turn 5 and White moved to the inside of Bobby to make the pass. After passing Archer on the inside (drivers left), White moved back to the right into the racing line, which is where Archer was. Archer was on the brakes as hard as possible but could not slow his car any faster without locking up the brakes of his Viper, which did not have ABS. As a consequence, the front of Archer's car made contact with the rear of White's car, causing White to go off track and into a gravel trap. Meanwhile, Cindi Lux and David Roush drove right by the White/Archer incident and into the first two positions. Notwithstanding White's feelings to the contrary, the contact was unavoidable, rather than intentional, by Archer, who was willing to concede the pass since it was so early in the race.
Two laps into the race and after several other offs and collisions among the 48-car field, a caution came out and bunched up the field. Following the re-start, Loth lost control of her Viper in a most inopportune location - the blindingly fast Kink. The car hit hard and slid back across the track, causing AS driver Andy McDermid to showcase his car control skills to avoid her. Subsequent inspection indicates that the accident may be been caused by a broken part in the rear end of Loth's car. Shortly after Loth's misfortune, Lux had a tire go down, ending her race. This left Roush in the lead with Archer in second and on the hunt. Archer dogged Roush for several laps and finally got around him on lap 9. That lap, SCCA red-flagged the race due to a large number of accidents, which had resulted in too many cars stopped in precarious positions and lots of debris on the track. Archer drove into the pits believing he had won, as he was in the lead when the red flag was thrown. Later, Archer was informed by SCCA officials that the car positions would be returned to where they were on lap 8, meaning that Roush would get the victory. An unhappy Archer protested the results, and also filed protests for White's driving and an alleged pass of an SSB car by Roush under yellow. None of Archer's protests were successful however and, to add insult to injury, he was handed a four race probation for rough driving based on disputed accounts of the incident with White.
As with many of the T1 competitors in the June Sprints, the ViperSpeed team left the track dissatisfied with what went on there. Archer thought he had won the race, only to find out later that he had been bumped back to second place. Loth's car had sustained heavy damage and will require significant work to repair. Further, the weekend proved that, with their required inlet restrictors, the Vipers have only a very small horsepower advantage over the lighter Corvette Z06's. The Z06's have always had a distinct advantage in braking over the Vipers, but the biggest difference between the two cars now appears to be the substantially wider front tires that the Z06's are allowed to run. Another source of dissatisfaction is the unsportsmanlike conduct that ensued both during and after the race between the T1 drivers, including personal threats and inappropriate physical contact by an overzealous Scotty White. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail in the future and the T1 class can return to friendly competition. With regard to further competition, Archer and ViperSpeed are hopeful that the SCCA will see that the Vipers do need some competitive adjustments to keep pace with the allowances made for the Z06's.
Next up for Archer and ViperSpeed is an SCCA National at Texas World Speedway in early August, followed by the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs at Mid-Ohio in mid-September. More information on the ViperSpeed team and drivers can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
ARCHER FINISHES SECOND AT 2003 SCCA JUNE SPRINTS
Ft. Worth, Texas - June 26, 2003. Defending T1 race-winner Bobby Archer and his ViperSpeed teammate Dr. Deborah Loth returned to the four-mile monster known as Road America for the 2003 SCCA June Sprints on June 20-22 with high hopes for back-to-back victories for Archer and another podium finish for Loth. Instead, Archer ended up in second place despite taking the checkered flag while in the lead in the caution-filled 8-lap race, while Loth found herself happy to be in one piece following a hard collision with the wall outside Road America's fabled "Kink".
Archer's No. 2 SuperClubs/Hoosier/ViperSpeed Viper and Loth's No. 28 Bobby Archer Motorsports/Hoosier/ViperSpeed Viper represented two of the eleven T1 cars entered in the 2003 June Sprints. Both Archer and Loth were looking forward to racing on the long and fast Road America track, and were interested to see how their Vipers would compare to some of the better-prepared T1 Corvette Z06's. After the two qualifying sessions, Archer's best time was a 2:29.127, which was second fastest behind the Z06 of Scotty White who qualified on the pole with a 2:28.984. Loth qualified in sixth place behind the Z06's of Cindi Lux, David Roush, and Peter Looby, respectively.
Sunday's race took place under mostly sunny skies and balmy temperatures. A total of 48 cars (T1, T2, AS, SSB, and SSC classes) took to the track for the race. As the front row of Archer and White rounded the final turn (14) to take the green flag, White and Archer bumped. From his outside position, Archer turned into Turn 14 to make sure he was in the racing line and able to get good traction to head uphill for the start of the race. White, who was driving curiously slow behind the pace car, saw Archer move up around the outside and accelerated, which is when the two cars collided. Archer's front fascia was dislodged by the contact, but both drivers continued on up the hill to the green flag. In typical Archer fashion, Bobby got a better jump than White at the start and led into the first turn. White quickly closed the gap though Turns 2, 3 and 4 and was in position to challenge for the lead after the long downhill straight-away going into the slow left-hand Turn 5. Using the superior braking of the Z06, White was able to brake later than Archer going into Turn 5 and White moved to the inside of Bobby to make the pass. After passing Archer on the inside (drivers left), White moved back to the right into the racing line, which is where Archer was. Archer was on the brakes as hard as possible but could not slow his car any faster without locking up the brakes of his Viper, which did not have ABS. As a consequence, the front of Archer's car made contact with the rear of White's car, causing White to go off track and into a gravel trap. Meanwhile, Cindi Lux and David Roush drove right by the White/Archer incident and into the first two positions. Notwithstanding White's feelings to the contrary, the contact was unavoidable, rather than intentional, by Archer, who was willing to concede the pass since it was so early in the race.
Two laps into the race and after several other offs and collisions among the 48-car field, a caution came out and bunched up the field. Following the re-start, Loth lost control of her Viper in a most inopportune location - the blindingly fast Kink. The car hit hard and slid back across the track, causing AS driver Andy McDermid to showcase his car control skills to avoid her. Subsequent inspection indicates that the accident may be been caused by a broken part in the rear end of Loth's car. Shortly after Loth's misfortune, Lux had a tire go down, ending her race. This left Roush in the lead with Archer in second and on the hunt. Archer dogged Roush for several laps and finally got around him on lap 9. That lap, SCCA red-flagged the race due to a large number of accidents, which had resulted in too many cars stopped in precarious positions and lots of debris on the track. Archer drove into the pits believing he had won, as he was in the lead when the red flag was thrown. Later, Archer was informed by SCCA officials that the car positions would be returned to where they were on lap 8, meaning that Roush would get the victory. An unhappy Archer protested the results, and also filed protests for White's driving and an alleged pass of an SSB car by Roush under yellow. None of Archer's protests were successful however and, to add insult to injury, he was handed a four race probation for rough driving based on disputed accounts of the incident with White.
As with many of the T1 competitors in the June Sprints, the ViperSpeed team left the track dissatisfied with what went on there. Archer thought he had won the race, only to find out later that he had been bumped back to second place. Loth's car had sustained heavy damage and will require significant work to repair. Further, the weekend proved that, with their required inlet restrictors, the Vipers have only a very small horsepower advantage over the lighter Corvette Z06's. The Z06's have always had a distinct advantage in braking over the Vipers, but the biggest difference between the two cars now appears to be the substantially wider front tires that the Z06's are allowed to run. Another source of dissatisfaction is the unsportsmanlike conduct that ensued both during and after the race between the T1 drivers, including personal threats and inappropriate physical contact by an overzealous Scotty White. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail in the future and the T1 class can return to friendly competition. With regard to further competition, Archer and ViperSpeed are hopeful that the SCCA will see that the Vipers do need some competitive adjustments to keep pace with the allowances made for the Z06's.
Next up for Archer and ViperSpeed is an SCCA National at Texas World Speedway in early August, followed by the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs at Mid-Ohio in mid-September. More information on the ViperSpeed team and drivers can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
