Page 1 - History of the car. YOU ARE HERE.
Page 2 - Video files

Here is the 2007 Ultimate track car Challenge sponsored by Grassroots motorsports and Cardomain.com.  Best lap time 1.44 on VIR North.  On page 2 you will find several more videos including passing and getting passed that includes many of the cars from the 2007 Ultimate Track Car Challenge.  Thanks for everyones support to be part of this exciting event. 
 

The drive train in this LT4 is mostly stock. The smog pump and exhaust recycling has been removed along with the AC system while leaving the pulley in place to retain the stock belt. The Exhaust has been changed to long tube headers and 3" pipes, with the elimination of the catalytic converts. The engine has been expertly tuned to 95 octane. On the dyno the rear wheels develop almost 330 rwhp, in Las Vegas AT 105F degrees ambient air temp, compared to the stock rating of 330 flywheel horsepower.

The suspension remains stock with only a revalving of the stock Bilstein shocks to stiffen the chassis, and providing better cornering ability. The upper A-arm connecting brackets were modified to allow negative chamber adjustments to a maximum of -4 degrees. This adds additional -1.5 - -2.0 degrees of chamber to the stock providing a great flexibility to various race tracks. A proportioning spring was changed in the brake master cylinder to help transfer more braking force to the rear of the car. The typical upgraded brakes to the C5 calipers on the front have enhanced the stopping power significantly. This force is applied through hawk blue pads to clamp onto the cryo-treated and slotted rotors front and rear. The front brakes have 2.5" cooling ducts to help remove the heat and keep the rotor temps to around 1000F degrees. The rubber that putts all of this power to the pavement is the Hoosier R6 315/35/17 on all four corners. The rubber is mounted to the stock grand sport 17" x 11" rear wheels at all the corners. The 315/35/17 is original rear wheel size for the grand sports and is an increase from the 275/45/17 and 17"x 9.5" on the front. Original to the collector edition were 17" X 9.5" on the rear with 275/45/17 and 17" X 8.5" on the front with 255/45/17. A full 12 point NASCAR roll cage was installed after most of the interior and unneeded accessories were removed.

Other safety equipment includes the cockpit and engine bay halon extinguisher, and Sparco Evo II driver and passenger seats that restrain the occupants with a 6 point harness. The roof, doors, hood, and rear window were replaced with light weight fiberglass and lexan. This has produced a current weight of 3100 lbs. (there are plans this spring to drop another 100 lbs.) This weight is beautifully balance front to rear with the driver in place at 51/49 with a slight driver side bias. This balance provides for a wonderfully neutral ride on the track that is very predictable.

That's the basics. Now for the modification that makes this car stand out from the rest of the crowd. First off, I had a traumatic accident in '82 and lost my left leg above the knee and my right leg has very limited ability. YES, this is a manual. The transmission has remained stock but the clutch operation has been moved from the foot pedal to the shifter. A Guido simplex clutch system has been added. This system provides a fully proportional lever at the front of the shifter that in turn will operate an electro-hydraulic pump to engage the clutch. The clutch operation is easy to learn and becomes very intuitive to operate and is able to produce rather quick clutch action for rapid shifts. I have never found myself at the speed limitation of the clutch.

Both the brake and gas pedals have been modified to be easier for me to use on the track. Finally, as we all know a problem with many sports cars is their inherent lack of head room. These cars have difficultly handling driver over 6'2". Now consider being tall and adding a helmet. I was hitting my head all over the roof. To eliminate this obstacle the floor pans on both sides of the car were reposition 2" lower. If you look closely at these pictures, you will notice that from the side, the floor pans are the lowest part of the car.

I've spent time at tracks in California such as Button Willow, Willow Springs and Laguna Seca. In Nevada at Spring Mountain, and Las Vegas Speedway, and most currently Virginia’s Fabulous VIR. I've been able to turn respectable times and continue to improve after each day on the track. One final note, I'm the driver, mechanic, and crew chief. I enjoy setting the car up for each event, and spending time tailoring the suspension to each track. Half the battle is building and driving a car. The other half is setting up a car for the track your running. The proper suspension setup will make the difference between two spec cars with equal driver. It’s all on the preparation before you race that will take you to the winners circle. GOT SPEED?

Check out my other week day car. It’s a blast as well. A Black supercharged Chrysler 300 SRT-8 with 650 cranking horse power.

Good luck to you all. See ya' at the track. I'll be there for the NASA weekend that will follow.

Page 1 - History of the car. YOU ARE HERE.
Page 2 - Video files