Huge News from The OneLapCamaro Team!

[James OLC]

With the 2012 Tire Rack One Lap of America just over 4 weeks away The OneLapCamaro has some huge news!

This has been a challenging year for us for a lot of different reasons and running the One Lap of America is nothing short monumental undertaking - even with a car that is reasonably prepared and sorted out. The commitment in time and resources is pretty significant as is the mental preparation and the pre-race organization required to at least get to a handle on everything before we even start. I know that on more than one occasion I've looked at where we are - where I am - and said "what the heck am I doing?" or... probably more to the point "why am I doing this again?"

At the end of the day we always come to the same conclusion - because we get to have a ton of fun spending a week doing what we truly love to do and we get to hang out with some awesome people. We've all made some great friends at the One Lap and we've even convinced some of our friends to join us. I think it's safe to say the David, Mary and I have some memories - of both victory and defeat - that we'll have for the rest of our lives. We've overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable at the time and we have been more than fortunate to be able to say that we've won our class not once, but twice in the two times that we've entered.

At the end of the day - that's why we do it. Fun. Memories. And like that mountain... because it's there. It's the ultimate driving adventure.

Unfortunately, sometimes life gets in the way of our fun. We dodged some bullets over the last couple of years and we have been fortunate to have been able to find a way to the finish. Usually our challenge seems to come on day 3; this year it's happened before we even got out of the gate.

Unfortunately this year Mary won't be able to co-drive as planned (and David said "heck no, not again" a long time ago). We had been discussing this possibility for a couple of weeks now and today we made it official..

When we first started talking about this we started a search for possible replacements. For reasons that I don't quite understand there aren't a ton of people prepared to drop everything for 10 days and drive around the country, getting little to know rest, in a 45 year old car with no radio. Some guys, Paul Tracy for instance, wouldn't even return my calls while other, less experienced (but incredibly enthusiastic) drivers didn't have the qualifications or equipment needed. It's not like the requirements were overwhelming... some track experience, some familiarity with early Camaro's, a decent personality, some time, and a clean driving suit... and that's when it hit me...

Please join me in welcoming The OneLapCamaro Team's newest member and my co-driver in the 2012 Tire Rack One Lap of America.... "Hollywood" Carl Casanova!

[Ron in SoCal]

Oh yeah baby! Great choice James. Carl can even fix things in tight spots up bigger guys can't reach...

Have fun Carl!

[Chad-1stGen]

Wow Sweet!!!

Congratz Carl. I'm envious of you guys.

[SLO_Z28]

Sounds like fun, good luck guys!

[camcojb]

great pick!

[ironworks]

James - I'm not sure you can put the words HUGE news in your title when talking about the addition of CarlC to your race team. Here are 2 average sized humans holding up what seems to be either Carl's driving suit or some 4 year old's "JAMMIE'S" without the feet booties at Buttonwillow last year.




Did you hire Carl for his talent or the Hype just like Tony Stewart did with Danica? Sometimes sponsorship power is more important then actual performance on the track.


- I bet the price on my Vaporworx products just went up with this post.

[GregWeld]

Perfect combination!

Now I'm doubly happy I kicked some extra into the pot this year! You two will have a great time.

[CarlC]

Originally Posted by ironworks

- I bet the price on my Vaporworx products just went up with this post.

You should have ordered those parts when we talked on Saturday. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance......

I just got off the phone with David Pozzi after discussing the finer points of no sleep, dehydration, nasty weather driving, no sleep, cars breaking, no sleep, sunburn, bad food, no sleep, etc. Sounds like fun!

I'm really excited to go. I can't replace Mary, I can only try to hold up my end of the bargain and do the best I can. It's a heck of a Bucket List item for me, and to do it in one of my favorite cars is incredible. I'm very fortunate to be able to have this opportunity. A big thank you goes out to Mary and James for considering me for the "job."

Eight days. 19 events. 11 different venues. 3297 miles. I have a lot to do to get ready and only 30 days to get my act together. If anyone has one of those Rosetta Stone courses for OLoA, I'm in.