Congratulations That shiny new Penny is as much GO as Show.

awesome job Steve , David and Mary !!!!...can't wait to see more pics and info on this event...

Well... 41 hours of no sleep later, thrashing on various cars (Fuel, Penny, MotiV8r...etc) for the event on the night before and were still buttoning up things before any real sleep.

Mary ran a 29.xx and made it look so damn easy. But... it came down to Mary and Kyle (DSE) for the top honors... and Kyle nabbed a squeaker by a 0.020 edge for the win in the auto-cross event.

David ran 153.xx... at his first time at this facility. For a comparison, the instructors of the facility in their Z06 fleet that run this track every day run 151.xx. Not bad for Davids first time at this facility... as well as the first seat time he has had in Penny. David drove to the win by beating out Big Red, a Porsche GT3, the Optima Batteries Z06, a ZR1... and the list goes on. :hail:

Not bad... for a little ole street car ??



On another note... James had a blast doing the initial 'nut and bolt' of the OneLap Camaro... especially since it showed up to the event with nearly zero miles on the chassis and the car performed brilliantly without an issue.

And lastly... if there were an award for wagging the dog with the most brilliant recovery... it would go to Kyle. All I can say is I hope someone got video. Kyle was definitely in 10/10ths mode and drove the test car right to the edge... he came into the last kinks before the start/finish deep in the throttle and loose ass sideways coming onto the binders... and drove the wheels off of that car. Absolutely... phenominal... driving.

What a great event. Cant wait until next year...

My hat's off to Steve for putting together such an awesome ride. I think that it is important to point out that Steve DROVE Penny from Cali to the SEMA show and then DROVE Penny from American Touring Specialties to Spring Mountain for the Invitational at 5 am this morning.

David and Mary are unbelievable to watch and a driver can only hope to pick up a glimmer of their knowledge. Tyler did a lap with both of them and alternated between squeeling like a little schoolgirl and screaming like he was in a B-movie horror... Mary was also unbelievably helpful and I would like to thank her for her help and advice. I had never run an autocross event before and she took the time to walk the course with me beforehand and give me some of the benefit of her experience.

It was an unbelieble day and there were some awesome cars on hand. I feel priviledged to have been invited to participate and am pleased to be able to say that we were one of the 11 cars that completed the event unscathed.

Congratulations again Steve, David and Mary - a well EARNED honor! :bow:

Congrats to the three of you, awsome car and awsome drivers!

Steve, Mary, and David, Congrats to the three of you. I'm blown away. But I must say that this makes all the long hours working on Penny worth it. I'm sure you feel the same way Steve.

Oh, know lets see some video... :unibrow:

Hi guys!
Had a blast!

Thanks go out to Steve Rupp for building the Quickest Camaro I've ever driven. Steve was constantly telling us to go for it and don't hold back! We safely accomplished our goals and Penny is still in pretty good shape except for some oil mess that came out of the breather. It was great seeing Nick Licata again, we all felt like our own little race team.

Thanks to Mary for autoxing Penny to within mere thousandths of Kyle Tucker's time. She fought understeer but found a way to get around the course very well.

I think the PT crowd represented itself beyond expectations. A C6 vette and GT3 Porsche were beat by several of us.

Thanks go out to all the sponsors of this event and the volunteers who did so much. The internet community really made this event a success both in planning, timers and manpower.

I feel like Jeff Gordon when he won the Inaugural Brickyard 500!

I especially had fun taking Tyler on a ride for my second timed runs. He already had PT fever, but now he's got it really bad!
Thanks to Chicane67 for his help too!

It was great meeting James, and I feel sorry I lacked the time/energy to spend some time coaching him on the course. He has all the goods in that car, and with some track time, will be near the top of the heap I'm sure.

Video was taken by a production company and some clips may show up on Hot Rod's website. We are working on a deal to get copies at a reasonable price. Perhaps a group purchase can be arranged. Watch for a Poll thread where you can vote on it.

Thanks to Lateral-G for letting us represent YOU! :hail:
Gotta get some sleep.
Cheers, David and Mary

yes it was a killer event and i personally had no doubt they would win. and it was really cool to see the participants with most of them easily over 100k builds thrashing the cars. esp. jesse greening with his early 2nd gen!!!! the cars is a crazy crazy quality built with tons of custom detail... hell the car won the gm design award at sema its that nice. and he was driving just as hard as others!


watching dave and mary drive penny make you love penny that much more.
and for me seeing BIG RED RUN the track was so sureal!:D

So did big red finish or break?

Congrats to Penny and Crew:cheers:

Congrats Steve,
Your car just looked awesome. And congrats to Mary and Dave on your wonderful skills. Dave imo your driving looked so much smoother and it was very impressive. I did not get any dang video of that. I think I just was enjoying it too much. Also Mary your driving was just as wonderful. But perhaps the best thing is how humble Dave and Mary are. I would say there was alot of ego out there Today and if anybody deserved it would be you guy's, but what little I spoke you had none. Instead you were just happy to be there. Great People!
Here are a few pictures:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost17.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost13.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...erf/apost1.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x.../apost1231.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost15.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost12.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost14.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost19.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...rf/apost16.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...f/apost188.jpg
I have more and will upload later. The video I have is crap but I will try and figure out. I bailed early as it was along drive
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x...allenge001.jpg
A few more details. Pozzi's first lap was 1.53, GT3 was 1.54 and for some reason they stop giving out times? I went over and asked Kyle Tucker what his time was and he said he was told 1.58 (He was on KDW2's not R888's) He was also fun to watch and has great skills. It just looked like the tires were not gripping. I asked the owner of Big Red and he said he ran like a 2.0x something. He said mostly third gear because and the car was just too much power. The Roadster Shop Chevelle guy also said he thought he would be better with a 400 HP motor. He also drove the snot out of that car and it seems there a very little fans for them, maybe it is a click thing but I think they are making their name. It was a cool event and many drove their cars hard. I give them all credit for trying regardless of gremlins or not...oh except I could have done without the Lincoln SUV and the mini cooper.

It's 1:30am so I will keep it short. lol

Dave drove the road course
Mary drove the autocross
I was to drive the 0-60-0

The 0-60-0 was cancelled since thier people for the equipment didn't show... that sucked. So they added one more track session.

Fast facts..

Penny was faster on the road track than a Porsche 911GT3 on R888s.. by well over a second.

A driving school C6 Z06 with a good driver can do the track in 1:51.xx ... Penny's best lap was 1:52.xx

Mary is a freaking animal on the autocross track. She was VERY consistent. Kyle Tucker of DSE had first place by 2 one-hundreths of a second in the autocross. (29.5 vs 29.52)

Penny still has a LOT in her. We couldn't tune her so the part throttle fuel was all jacked up. The larger swaybar wouldn't fit and I found out the messy way that I need a better breather system.

Drove the car from CA to LV.. then from LV to the event and from the event back to ATS in Vegas... Sorta proud that I was one of the very few without a trailer.

Penny made me proud and I was very lucky to have Mary and Dave on my team.. and that's what this is, a TEAM win.

The last month has been a blur but I'm already planning how we are going to defend out title next year.

Oh, the Vette from CAR did very well on the big track. I think it got second place out there. Times and video will be posted later.

Also, I must of gotten nearly $5,000 in prizes (that I divied up with the Pozzi's) with the various wins (first track time, second place autocross, overall winner)... Didn't expect that.

It's a good day for the pro-touring community. :)

<--- going to bed

I think the look on Tyler's face sums up Dave's driving... :rofl:

http://picsorban.com/upload/tylerwtf.jpg

Congratulations!!
 

Congrats to all four of you (Penny included) you have all the reasons to be proud.

Congratulations Steve!
 

It's always cool to drive in Kick some a%# then drive out while others are loading theres back on a stretcher.

I love seeing Big Red, the car that basically started it all.

congrats
 

steve

looks like the hard work and great drivers payed off..:thumbsup:
kicking some serious a$$ with the names of vehicles on that list.
doesnt sound like you need to do anything with your suspension setup.
very cool.


radrambler

Congrats on the win Steve, Mary and Dave. I think Penny is a great combination of form and function. It looks great and it performs. What were the dyno numbers on the engine re-do? Were you able to dyno it before you left for SEMA?

Congrats to Penny, it was fun to watch people push their cars to the edge literally. Seeing Big Red on the road course was awesome. Congrats to all the guys and gals that brought their car for all us spectators to watch. Also what an unbelievable facility. Look forward to next year.

Congratulations to Steve, Mary, and David! Well done, and I'm working a plan to be able to see the event next year. Sounds like fun was had by all.

And good for all the competitors that brought their SEMA iron out and traded California Car Dusters for tire pyrometers. Nice!

I'm glad nobody wadded their car up... it was a legitimate concern.

jp

I wondered about your breathers when I saw the pics posted Steve. A remote breather will definitely keep the oil off the valve covers, headers, firewall, everywhere. I found out the same way at the track.

Congrats Steve! Your car performed flawlessly! :thumbsup:

They had tuning issues most of the day. Carb'd big block didn't like the thin air. Plus, they didn't compete in the auto cross.

Out with the old..in with the new. This is going to open some eyes and can only help the value and our hobby.:cheers:

The King is dead! Long live the King!

jp

Congratulations to You, Dave, Mary, the Cat, and a great team effort. Well deserved.:thumbsup:

whoa whoa whoa... big red will always be the ****... the car just wasent setup for this kind of driving... what that car has acomplished im sure would still be a feat for others to do... plus none of the other cars there have went 200+

I wasn't there.....but a car that can make the trip from California, drive to the show, out run it in the cones and road course is the new king. Not to mention the looks department. Top speed is great, but it's more difficult to out run porsches and corvettes on the road course than go 200 with 850 hp.

Is there any doubt Badd penny is the baddest Pro Touring Car on the planet! Frickin awesome, and wait till Super Chevy comes out!

Congrats to the team.

All in fun, but it seems Big Red wasn't up to the competition.

It's time we recognize that the latest generation of Pro-Touring cars has surpassed earlier generations. It's a good thing. It's what our hobby is all about.

jp

Plus it was disqualified for no brake lights and shaved tires (so I heard)... It's really not a "streetcar" anyways.. but it sounds insane when it starts up. Nice to see some rolling history.

Like I said, Penny still has stuff that needs addressing. More bar, less springs, better breathers, properly tuned. Also, I never had time to get a more aggressive alignment dialed in so I was just on my street tune... stuff like that. I need to go defend the title next year. Maybe in that time I can get some more seat time (and maybe I won't have to work the event).

I'm real proud of how she did on the big track. It was her FIRST time on a real track and Dave was pretty happy. He said that the harder you pushed her the better she did and if you just went balls out then she did the best. Tyler can tell you, Dave went 10/10ths in her and that's what I wanted, the car driven to it's potential.

Very true.. The ZR1 could have but nobody else.. Big Red is freaking history and the very best at what it does.

Wow, Wow, and Wow:yes: What a car! Congrats to all involved. I would love to see Penny run someday. I hope to be at that facility in '09 for some training-driving.

Wow! I knew the car would work well, and that the driver staff would kick booty, but didn't expect them to win overall! Would've been nice if Kyle was on the same tires, would have been a better comparison on the road course.

The really interesting thing is the measure of the cars that didn't win. GT3!?! Z06!!?!?! That's pretty serious company. It is tough to get an absolute assessment of the Pro Touring cars, because until now, they have typically been compared to each other, but not some other established benchmark. I mean, all of us in the Pro Touring community "knew" how competent a well set up PT car can be, but this really seals the deal. Incredible.

Frank put it correctly. Knowing Steve personally, his desire, determination, and persistance on this project have been more than anyone can imagine. Yes, lots of help from some really capable folks, but he's the one that keeps pressing on, relentlessly.

Sorry I missed it, and all of the folks who attended. Would have certainly beat sniffing welding fumes all day yesterday!

Well deserved congratulations to all, that is just terrific. And yes, Dave looks as cool as a cucumber in that shot, note his eyes looking for the apex.... Sounds like Mary nailed it too, very cool!!!

Get some rest, sounds like you all need it. Hope you popped open some well deserved champagne last night!

Mark

P.S: Kevin, does the vette you guys brought from CARS run an IRS setup, or a stick axle? More pics?

Mark

And now for the most important thing: :_paranoid

How well did the fuel venting system work? :question:

jp

David Pozzi drove the wheels off that car! It was amazing how much speed most of the cars carried through the corners. Perfect end of a long week! It's amazing to see all these super builds get out there and tear it up!! :unibrow:

I'll post some pictures in a few.

Thanks to all those, especially Optima Batteries, for making this event possible.

A few pictures until Tony gets his uploaded
 

This was the who's who event for Pro Touring (for me anyways) Really outstanding showing (DSE, Air Ride, GForce, Big Red (RJ, was great to meet you guys--thanks for the time) Roadster Shop (Phil Gerber) Campbell Auto Restoration (Shelby Wright), and all the others.

A couple of things;

1. Big Red was very cool and a dream come true to see it in person--let alone see it on the road course. I spoke with RJ for awhile and he admitted it wasn't going to be setup for an auto cross event. The car was built to go fast on the open road. He was dropped from the overall competition and subjected to exhibition runs only. I think this car was the prerunner to the movement we call protouring now.

2. It was obvious who the professional drivers were. I would have liked to have seen Mary in every car on the autocross and her husband (can't remember his name) in every car on the road course and see where the points fell. Mary did climb in quite a few cars for the autocross. Every car she sat in went faster--amazing to see. It appeared anyone of the cars could have taken the title. The fastest lap time on the open road course was from a 66 or 65 Shellby Mustang with leaf springs (Not sure if this ended up being the fastest lap after the second round)

3. The guys from G-Force design did everything they could to stay in the hunt. We had some laughs while they adapted the oil cap from the rented Escalade to a radiator hose and fastened it with worm clamps to the valve cover to overcome a leaky oil cap. I should have taken a pic--too funny and a cool bunch of guys.

4. Kyle and Stacy--a class act all the way as usual

5. Air Ride lost the tranny and only had 1st and 2nd gear. Bowler Trans guys tried to get a fix on it, but to no avail.

I spoke with Scott from Ultima --they are planning for next year--come if you can--really, really cool. Tony, Todd and John--was great to meet you guys.

I have some crappy videos from the camera I can load if no one else has anything better.

Doug

The Mustang had the second fastest lap time of the day... unfortunatly it broke (oil issue?) after the first timed lap.. that thing HAULED ASS...

The guys at G-Force are NUTS.. they did crazy things to get Fuel ready for the event including rebuilding most of the car the night before in the ATS shop. They should get big respect for going 100% and that car gets the piss driven out of it.

Air Ride and DSE are always class acts.. The Roadster Shop's Chevelle is killer and they have been working hard to tune it for the track.. and it shows in thier ever improving lap times.

The Fairlane was beautiful as was the black second gen. Both look like top shelf show cars but the owners brougth them out and ran them VERY hard. Made me proud to see.

The Corvette from CAR was great and sounded like hell unleashed. Great car and one hell of a driver.

An amazing event and the best part was getting to talk with some many gearheads.

Oh, and if you have video post it up...