KIKNVPR
Enthusiast
Gingerman Raceway: 72 Vipers, One Prevost and a lounge chair
By Seth Palatnik
Over 70 Vipers showed up for this year’s Gingerman Raceway’s event, June 14-16. For many of us, this was a father’s day present, a gift to go play with the Viper, with 70 of our closest friends. Of course, the word friend may be a bit of a stretch, when it comes down to the “red” Race Group, which competes in the Skip Thomas Viper Days Wheel to Wheel Series. There are no “Michael Schumacher” free passes near a race finish, and certainly not in the first turn.
Gingerman Raceway is a 6-year-old track, located in Southaven, MI., about 2 hours from Chicago. It is known as one of the safest tracks in the Midwest, with mostly clear runoff, among its 2 miles of track, and 11 turns. The best drivers consider this track a great test of skill, as the track is highly technical with fast approaching corners with short-straights. It is very ******* brakes, rotors, and any fluid in the Viper that needs to stay cool. This year, the track ate six transmissions, two engines, two differentials, and one differential bracket. Dodge will be sampling some of these challenged parts to find out what happened.
While lap times themselves don’t mean much in a race, I am amazed at how fast the front-runners have become. This year, nearly 30% of the field nailed qualifying times in the 1:27’s or faster, and one ran in the 1:25’s (Mike McCann)! Last year, only one car (Jimmy McCann) made in into the 1:26’s. Bottom line: the technology and skill of the drivers has notched up significantly. By way of comparison, the PVO test mule, Competition Coupe, with Tommy Archer at the helm, ran lap times in the 1:25’s. For all the naysayers, though, I’ve been told by PVO sources: don’t worry, the final competition coupe will be much faster!
I arrived at Gingerman mid-day on Friday to take in some afternoon test ‘n tune. Having personally logged in about a 1000 laps at the track the past 6 years (this is not a misprint), I’ve learned there is a big difference between lapping and “driving at the limit”. By the way, I do not profess to be anywhere near the fastest at this track, so if you’re looking for the secret formula, stop reading now. This would be my first Viper Days event of this season, as I was blessed with great family planning, with the birth of twins 3 days after the Mid-Ohio event, and 2 weeks before the Mid-America event. Needless to say, I secretly followed those 2 events via the cell phones of Howie Frank, Dave Held, and Mike Hartley.
Arriving at a Viper Days event is sometimes surreal. To the casual observer, it looks like a ALMS or Grand Am pro event. Last I counted, there were six, custom 18-wheeler race rigs, and enough duallies to haul an entire rodeo. I even spotted a cool million $ Prevost coach nestled along the track. What is different about Viper Days is the folks behind the fancy rigs and Viper haulers. A great bunch indeed. As I pulled up in my Durango, with Viper now in tow, it took me about 20 minutes just to make my way through the pits just to say hello to my dear friends I hadn’t seen in nearly 6 months. By far, this is the best part of Viper Days: the people. No less than 4 folks came to my rescue to unload the beast, make sure she fired up, and unload all the spares. What is striking is that each one of these nice folk have their own crews!
One of the best deals at Gingerman is that for $100 bucks, you can rent a 2-car garage for the weekend. OK, now that the secret is out, save one for me for next year. I shared this garage with fellow driver, Tom Shapiro, another IL native, who competes in the Challenge Series. He still owes me his $50 bucks. My plan was to sit in a nice lounge chair between races, enjoy the scenery, and listen to great music. I’ve watched Mike McCann do this, and he wins races. Also the garage came with electricity, and I was to get my money’s worth. Needless to say, for 3 days, I never did sit down, never did find any radio stations, and of course, didn’t win any races.
It’s now Friday, about 2 pm, the skies are clear, with perfect 65-degree temperatures outside. I put on my race gear, and up walks Dave Held, who tosses me his keys to his ’01 race prepared ACR, in a newly designed Autoform body. He says, “you drive”. I grab my headset, strap in, and off we go. We head out on the track, and I’m thinking to myself, “better drive only at 80%, since I can’t really reach the pedals too well”. As we enter the track, I quickly see the Arizona boys: Frank Parise, Phil Delao, and Johnny Yuma. These guys are flying, and its only Friday practice. If you hauled your car 34 hours to a track, I suppose you wouldn’t waste any time either. I remember thinking; this is a sign of what is to come. Dave’s car handles magnificently: awesome brakes, smooth on the transitions, and squats coming off the corners. Great grip and handling. We make about 4 laps, and I figure best to quit before something might happen. Dave smiles as we drove through the pits, as he thinks I shared with him a few secrets.
Just after climbing out of Dave’s ACR, up walks Challenge Series driver, and Oklahoman, Tom Atherton, who requested a quick “line” ride around the track. I grab my headset and helmet, and off we go (this time as a passenger), in his red ’98 Viper. He tells me he’s been out only one session so far, and needs to learn the line. Well, holy molly, Atherton can drive! My first reaction in the car was: why did I not bring my HANS device with?? In 7 years of attending track events, I can say Tom is one of the best streetcar drivers I’ve seen. This guy is talented, and he did in fact scare me. He knows how to drive at the limit. Smooth. Fast. Just when you think he would spin, with effortless car control he brings the car back. He later tells me this comes from 3 years of racing in Skip Barber open wheel rides. (Tom went on to win his class at this track event).
It’s 3 pm, and I jump into my car for some hot lapping. Within 2 laps, I can sense something is not right. By lap 3, my senses were correct, as the car veered off the road in a sweeping carousel. Funny thing, though, I never did turn the steering wheel the direction the car headed. After off roading carefully through some grass, I slowly drove back to the pits, to find out what is wrong. The Autoform guys were great, as they put my car up on their lift, pulled the tires, to find loose control arms!!!! Wow!! Add that one to the safety checklist. I had an alignment performed back at home, and apparently, not a good one. Fortunately, Archer Racing saved my weekend, as they did a complete Alignment, set-up and safety check late Friday afternoon, and by 7 pm, the car was fixed. So much for a test ‘n tune day to drive at the limit.
On Sat. morning, I arrive at the track by 7 am, uncover the car, fuel up, and get ready for the day. The red race group would have 2 practice sessions, followed by a qualifying session, and lastly a 12-lap race at the end of the day. This format is especially beneficial to new folks to learn the track, and set-up their cars, as you can have nearly 90 minutes of track time, prior to the race. For me, after the second practice session, the car felt good, tire pressures seemed to be worked out, and the rest would be up to me.
Because Gingerman is a relatively narrow track, Sat.’s qualifying was split into two groups. I was fortunate to be the last car with the first group, and qualified 12 out of 24 cars, which I was happy with. This year the front-runners are now running 1-2 seconds per lap faster than last year. WOW!! After a late afternoon drivers meeting, we line up at the race grid, in hot pit lane. 24 cars are in this race, including guest hot shoes Ron Misjak, Jr. and Tommy Archer, in the competition coupe. Tommy would start in the back.
As the flag dropped in the middle of the front straight, 24 cars charged into the first corner. Unfortunately, the track could not handle 3 wide into the first turn, and as a result, Phil Delao was hit, spun across the track, and about 6 cars went off-roading to avoid further incident, including me. During my 4-wheel adventure, I avoided further contact, but scooped up quite a bit of dirt, hay, and grass, which stuck in the nose of the viper, causing some overheating, and slowing of the vehicle. I quickly went from 12th to 20th from this incident and fought back to around 13th by the end of the race. The remainder of the race was run cleanly, with Mike McCann finishing 1st, Rob Foster 2nd, and Jim McCann a close 3rd. The PVO car made it close to the front-runners, but intentionally dropped out, not to interfere with the competitors. It was pretty cool when Tommy Archer came up to pass me; he paused, looked into my eyes, nodded, and zoomed by.
Sunday’s race is known as the “main event”, while Saturday’s race is considered a “practice” race. For Sunday’s race, two more hot shoes would join the festivities: Eric Messley, who would drive Johnny Yuma’s car, and John Grecco, who would drive Jeff Johnson’s car. John was the Viper Days WTW Champion in 2001, who happened to be in Chicago, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to drive. Qualifying was again split into two groups, and the race was set for a 1:30 pm start, with sunny skies, and 70-degree temps. To minimize the potential for problems in corner #1, the flag stand was moved to the end of the front straight. I gridded again 12th for the start of this race, but knew it would be tough even to hold my position, as two hot shoes would be starting from the back.
As we entered turn #1, the race start was clean but with qualifying times so close from car to car, there were 3-4 groups of cars that ran closely together. This race was to be 25 laps or about 45 minutes long. In the first lap, both Sonny Whelen and Frank Parise shot up, gaining significant ground, from their mid-pack positions. Unfortunately, Sonny had mechanical problems, and had to drop out after about 6 laps. Skip Thomas, who also was running alongside with Parise and Sonny, broke his tranny, giving way with laps still to go. I still don’t know why Sonny is called a “Rookie”. He is way too fast and such the gentleman. Even though he lost a motor and rear-end this weekend, he still walked around smiling and entertaining his family.
The top drivers managed to put some distance on the rest of the pack, with John Grecco and Eric Messely gaining ground. With two laps to go, John experienced brake difficulties and went way deep into turn 3, visiting the Southaven, MI brush. He later would be towed out. As the race finished up, the Tiger Woods of the WTW Series again swept the podium, with Mike McCann 1st and Jim McCann 2nd. Eric Messley fought his way up to 3rd place, with steady and swift Joe Bliss 4th, and Frank Parise 5th. Yours truly managed to snake up to 7th place.
After packing up the Durango, and loading up the trailer, I headed home for a wonderful father’s day evening. I think I continued to smile for a week. I never did, though, sit in the lounge chair.
By Seth Palatnik
Over 70 Vipers showed up for this year’s Gingerman Raceway’s event, June 14-16. For many of us, this was a father’s day present, a gift to go play with the Viper, with 70 of our closest friends. Of course, the word friend may be a bit of a stretch, when it comes down to the “red” Race Group, which competes in the Skip Thomas Viper Days Wheel to Wheel Series. There are no “Michael Schumacher” free passes near a race finish, and certainly not in the first turn.
Gingerman Raceway is a 6-year-old track, located in Southaven, MI., about 2 hours from Chicago. It is known as one of the safest tracks in the Midwest, with mostly clear runoff, among its 2 miles of track, and 11 turns. The best drivers consider this track a great test of skill, as the track is highly technical with fast approaching corners with short-straights. It is very ******* brakes, rotors, and any fluid in the Viper that needs to stay cool. This year, the track ate six transmissions, two engines, two differentials, and one differential bracket. Dodge will be sampling some of these challenged parts to find out what happened.
While lap times themselves don’t mean much in a race, I am amazed at how fast the front-runners have become. This year, nearly 30% of the field nailed qualifying times in the 1:27’s or faster, and one ran in the 1:25’s (Mike McCann)! Last year, only one car (Jimmy McCann) made in into the 1:26’s. Bottom line: the technology and skill of the drivers has notched up significantly. By way of comparison, the PVO test mule, Competition Coupe, with Tommy Archer at the helm, ran lap times in the 1:25’s. For all the naysayers, though, I’ve been told by PVO sources: don’t worry, the final competition coupe will be much faster!
I arrived at Gingerman mid-day on Friday to take in some afternoon test ‘n tune. Having personally logged in about a 1000 laps at the track the past 6 years (this is not a misprint), I’ve learned there is a big difference between lapping and “driving at the limit”. By the way, I do not profess to be anywhere near the fastest at this track, so if you’re looking for the secret formula, stop reading now. This would be my first Viper Days event of this season, as I was blessed with great family planning, with the birth of twins 3 days after the Mid-Ohio event, and 2 weeks before the Mid-America event. Needless to say, I secretly followed those 2 events via the cell phones of Howie Frank, Dave Held, and Mike Hartley.
Arriving at a Viper Days event is sometimes surreal. To the casual observer, it looks like a ALMS or Grand Am pro event. Last I counted, there were six, custom 18-wheeler race rigs, and enough duallies to haul an entire rodeo. I even spotted a cool million $ Prevost coach nestled along the track. What is different about Viper Days is the folks behind the fancy rigs and Viper haulers. A great bunch indeed. As I pulled up in my Durango, with Viper now in tow, it took me about 20 minutes just to make my way through the pits just to say hello to my dear friends I hadn’t seen in nearly 6 months. By far, this is the best part of Viper Days: the people. No less than 4 folks came to my rescue to unload the beast, make sure she fired up, and unload all the spares. What is striking is that each one of these nice folk have their own crews!
One of the best deals at Gingerman is that for $100 bucks, you can rent a 2-car garage for the weekend. OK, now that the secret is out, save one for me for next year. I shared this garage with fellow driver, Tom Shapiro, another IL native, who competes in the Challenge Series. He still owes me his $50 bucks. My plan was to sit in a nice lounge chair between races, enjoy the scenery, and listen to great music. I’ve watched Mike McCann do this, and he wins races. Also the garage came with electricity, and I was to get my money’s worth. Needless to say, for 3 days, I never did sit down, never did find any radio stations, and of course, didn’t win any races.
It’s now Friday, about 2 pm, the skies are clear, with perfect 65-degree temperatures outside. I put on my race gear, and up walks Dave Held, who tosses me his keys to his ’01 race prepared ACR, in a newly designed Autoform body. He says, “you drive”. I grab my headset, strap in, and off we go. We head out on the track, and I’m thinking to myself, “better drive only at 80%, since I can’t really reach the pedals too well”. As we enter the track, I quickly see the Arizona boys: Frank Parise, Phil Delao, and Johnny Yuma. These guys are flying, and its only Friday practice. If you hauled your car 34 hours to a track, I suppose you wouldn’t waste any time either. I remember thinking; this is a sign of what is to come. Dave’s car handles magnificently: awesome brakes, smooth on the transitions, and squats coming off the corners. Great grip and handling. We make about 4 laps, and I figure best to quit before something might happen. Dave smiles as we drove through the pits, as he thinks I shared with him a few secrets.
Just after climbing out of Dave’s ACR, up walks Challenge Series driver, and Oklahoman, Tom Atherton, who requested a quick “line” ride around the track. I grab my headset and helmet, and off we go (this time as a passenger), in his red ’98 Viper. He tells me he’s been out only one session so far, and needs to learn the line. Well, holy molly, Atherton can drive! My first reaction in the car was: why did I not bring my HANS device with?? In 7 years of attending track events, I can say Tom is one of the best streetcar drivers I’ve seen. This guy is talented, and he did in fact scare me. He knows how to drive at the limit. Smooth. Fast. Just when you think he would spin, with effortless car control he brings the car back. He later tells me this comes from 3 years of racing in Skip Barber open wheel rides. (Tom went on to win his class at this track event).
It’s 3 pm, and I jump into my car for some hot lapping. Within 2 laps, I can sense something is not right. By lap 3, my senses were correct, as the car veered off the road in a sweeping carousel. Funny thing, though, I never did turn the steering wheel the direction the car headed. After off roading carefully through some grass, I slowly drove back to the pits, to find out what is wrong. The Autoform guys were great, as they put my car up on their lift, pulled the tires, to find loose control arms!!!! Wow!! Add that one to the safety checklist. I had an alignment performed back at home, and apparently, not a good one. Fortunately, Archer Racing saved my weekend, as they did a complete Alignment, set-up and safety check late Friday afternoon, and by 7 pm, the car was fixed. So much for a test ‘n tune day to drive at the limit.
On Sat. morning, I arrive at the track by 7 am, uncover the car, fuel up, and get ready for the day. The red race group would have 2 practice sessions, followed by a qualifying session, and lastly a 12-lap race at the end of the day. This format is especially beneficial to new folks to learn the track, and set-up their cars, as you can have nearly 90 minutes of track time, prior to the race. For me, after the second practice session, the car felt good, tire pressures seemed to be worked out, and the rest would be up to me.
Because Gingerman is a relatively narrow track, Sat.’s qualifying was split into two groups. I was fortunate to be the last car with the first group, and qualified 12 out of 24 cars, which I was happy with. This year the front-runners are now running 1-2 seconds per lap faster than last year. WOW!! After a late afternoon drivers meeting, we line up at the race grid, in hot pit lane. 24 cars are in this race, including guest hot shoes Ron Misjak, Jr. and Tommy Archer, in the competition coupe. Tommy would start in the back.
As the flag dropped in the middle of the front straight, 24 cars charged into the first corner. Unfortunately, the track could not handle 3 wide into the first turn, and as a result, Phil Delao was hit, spun across the track, and about 6 cars went off-roading to avoid further incident, including me. During my 4-wheel adventure, I avoided further contact, but scooped up quite a bit of dirt, hay, and grass, which stuck in the nose of the viper, causing some overheating, and slowing of the vehicle. I quickly went from 12th to 20th from this incident and fought back to around 13th by the end of the race. The remainder of the race was run cleanly, with Mike McCann finishing 1st, Rob Foster 2nd, and Jim McCann a close 3rd. The PVO car made it close to the front-runners, but intentionally dropped out, not to interfere with the competitors. It was pretty cool when Tommy Archer came up to pass me; he paused, looked into my eyes, nodded, and zoomed by.
Sunday’s race is known as the “main event”, while Saturday’s race is considered a “practice” race. For Sunday’s race, two more hot shoes would join the festivities: Eric Messley, who would drive Johnny Yuma’s car, and John Grecco, who would drive Jeff Johnson’s car. John was the Viper Days WTW Champion in 2001, who happened to be in Chicago, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to drive. Qualifying was again split into two groups, and the race was set for a 1:30 pm start, with sunny skies, and 70-degree temps. To minimize the potential for problems in corner #1, the flag stand was moved to the end of the front straight. I gridded again 12th for the start of this race, but knew it would be tough even to hold my position, as two hot shoes would be starting from the back.
As we entered turn #1, the race start was clean but with qualifying times so close from car to car, there were 3-4 groups of cars that ran closely together. This race was to be 25 laps or about 45 minutes long. In the first lap, both Sonny Whelen and Frank Parise shot up, gaining significant ground, from their mid-pack positions. Unfortunately, Sonny had mechanical problems, and had to drop out after about 6 laps. Skip Thomas, who also was running alongside with Parise and Sonny, broke his tranny, giving way with laps still to go. I still don’t know why Sonny is called a “Rookie”. He is way too fast and such the gentleman. Even though he lost a motor and rear-end this weekend, he still walked around smiling and entertaining his family.
The top drivers managed to put some distance on the rest of the pack, with John Grecco and Eric Messely gaining ground. With two laps to go, John experienced brake difficulties and went way deep into turn 3, visiting the Southaven, MI brush. He later would be towed out. As the race finished up, the Tiger Woods of the WTW Series again swept the podium, with Mike McCann 1st and Jim McCann 2nd. Eric Messley fought his way up to 3rd place, with steady and swift Joe Bliss 4th, and Frank Parise 5th. Yours truly managed to snake up to 7th place.
After packing up the Durango, and loading up the trailer, I headed home for a wonderful father’s day evening. I think I continued to smile for a week. I never did, though, sit in the lounge chair.
