The ChumpCar "L.A. Freeway Enduro" was held last weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Here are the twenty-one cars and their stories as they competed in the two seven-hour enduros.
ChumpCar ran two separate endurance races for $500 cars during the weekend on the twisty but fast infield road course of Auto Club Speedway. The two race format gave teams the opportunity to come back from a tough first day and win some cash on day two. After over 750 miles of clean racing, here is the finishing order for each day, best lap times and bonus/penalty lap counts for the competitors.
38 - Krider Racing / Big Sausage Pizza Delivery
Car: Acura Integra
Sunday: Winner First Place
Saturday: Second Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +3, Cheatin' -3 Total: +5
Best Lap: 1:33.963
Some thought that the Big Sausage Pizza Delivery Machine of Krider Racing might be cursed. It was leading, rolled over and came in second at Buttonwillow. It was leading Infineon, got a flat tire, lost a CV joint and finished again in second place. Then on Saturday at ChumpCar it was leading by three laps with thirty minutes to go and ran into an electrical problem causing it to finish, you guessed it, second.
The team refused to quit and were determined to get over their second place rut and win ChumpCar. Sunday afternoon they had an insane six lap lead with twenty laps to go when the power steering and alternator belts decided to suddenly leave the engine. They turned off every electrical component they could (fans, radio, cool suit) in an attempt to conserve juice. Three laps before the race was over the battery was nearly dead and the car began to sputter. The team figured they may finish an agonizing second again. But Lady Luck leaned their way and the car spit and spat itself across the finish line underneath the glorious waving checkered flags. The ecstatic crew jumped into the back of the car to go to victory lane and the car almost didn't make it that far. It was close but Krider Racing finally got back into the top spot.
14 - Zoom-Zoom… BOOM
Car(s): Ford Escort GT / Mazda 323
Sunday: Second Place (Mazda)
Saturday: Sixth Place (Ford)
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +4, Theme/Engineering +5, Cheatin' -0 Total: +9
Best Lap: 1:35.083
Special Awards: Best Theme (For doing some belly dancing during tech inspection)
Zoom-Zoom… BOOM wore their tires down to the cords on Saturday. But they weren't done there. They actually used up an entire car to finish Saturday's race. But like any good race team they had a spare car on hand and brought it out for Sunday's race. With a fresh ride they were able to finish in second place.
48 - Cheetors / 60 - Badagascar Racing
Car(s): Nissan SE-R / Acura Integra
Sunday: Third Place (Nissan)
Saturday: Sixteenth Place (Acura)
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +3, Cheatin' -0 Total: +8
Best Lap: 1:34.076
Having two cars on hand appears to be the way to go, as it also worked for Cheetors/Badagascar Racing –team name depending on which car they were driving. Their Acura gave up a head gasket on Saturday but their Nissan SE-R held on for third place on Sunday. A pretty outstanding feat if you consider that they started the race on Sunday with an empty tank (yes, they forgot to check that) and had to come in for an unnecessary pit stop.
07 - Lotus Vegas
Car: Dodge Stealth
Sunday: Fourth Place
Saturday: Seventeenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +1, Cheatin' -0 Total: +6
Best Lap: 1:37.969
Special Awards: The Maytag Spin Cycle Award (Self explanatory, it's when you drive with your anus in front of your testicles)
You have to give this team credit for a fourth place finish in a Dodge product. The car was backwards a few times but the team never quit and picked up a decent finish on Sunday.
65 - Black Iron Racing
Car: BMW 540i
Sunday: Fifth Place
Saturday: Winner First Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +3, Cheatin' -6 Total: +2
Best Lap: 1:31.662
Black Iron Racing in their big power/lightweight BMW won Saturday by a mere 34 seconds over Krider Racing / Big Sausage Pizza Delivery in a nail biter race. But in their attempts to win on Saturday they destroyed a full set of tires. They ran around Fontana Saturday night looking for some more massive rubber for their hack sawed 5-series Bimmer. At the last minute they found some 300 treadwear tires. The different tires hurt on Sunday as their times slipped some as well as their finishing position.
74 - Leftover Parts Racing
Car: Mazda RX7
Sunday: Sixth Place
Saturday: Seventh Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +2, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +4
Best Lap: 1:34.944
This little RX7 got around the track great. They ran good and clean all weekend long giving them respectable finishes both days.
812 – Geo-U812
Car: Geo Metro
Sunday: Seventh Place
Saturday: Fourth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +0, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -6 Total: -4
Best Lap: 1:30.940 (fastest lap of the event)
The Metro-Gnome was blistering fast all weekend. It set the fastest times on the track both days. It was driven with precision and just couldn't be touched on course. Unfortunately some mechanical issues gave them some grief and they were unable to capitalize on their raw speed.
46 - Team Tango
Car: Volvo 740 Wagon
Sunday: Eighth Place
Saturday: Eleventh Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +1, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +3
Best Lap: 1:43.252
Special Awards: The Chump Award (Best team, best sportsmanship)
A team of great guys from Argentina and Mexico who spoke Portuguese very fast all weekend long (yet drove quite slow in their Volvo). They were even kind enough to give out some much needed gasoline to Krider Racing on Saturday and absolutely refused to be repaid.
1 - Priapism Racing
Car: BMW 325i
Sunday: Ninth Place
Saturday: Third Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +7
Best Lap: 1:31.911
Priapism Racing drove this 325i hard and fast around the track. This car was driven to the limit for two days straight earning them a podium finish on Saturday but also earning them some mechanical woes on Sunday.
10 - Red Rhino Racing
Car: Mazda RX7
Sunday: Tenth Place
Saturday: Tenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +0, Theme/Engineering +0, Cheatin' -0 Total: +0
Best Lap: 1:33.909
These guys probably didn't know it when they decided to number their car the number 10, but they sealed their fate. They finished coincidentally tenth on both days.
00 - GTFR (GT $500 Racing)
Car: Ford Mustang
Sunday: Eleventh Place
Saturday: Twelfth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +4, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -4 Total: +2
Best Lap: 1:36.961
Special Awards: The Old Faithful Award (For losing radiator water and refilling it every 15 laps)
This team was full of great guys and when their car was on the track this old Mustang could move!
17 - Uber Shinkansen
Car: Porsche 944
Sunday: Twelfth Place
Saturday: Thirteenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +7
Best Lap: 1:36.258
Special Awards: The Die-Hard Delivery Award (They drove their car to the race)
These guys drove their car to the event, beat the living hell out of it and then towed it home with a U-haul. It wasn't the endurance race finish that Porsche is used to but hey, just finishing one of these races is an accomplishment in itself.
62 - Team Bean
Car: Austin Mini Cooper
Sunday: Thirteenth Place
Saturday: Nineteenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +4, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +6
Best Lap: 1:42.787
Special Awards: The Mechanical Excellence Award (Three, count ‘em, three motor swaps in one weekend)
Team Bean worked hard all weekend with their three motor swaps. They missed the green flag on Sunday, but got the car running for when it mattered, for the checkered flag.
321 - Corvette Madness
Car: Chevrolet Corvette
Sunday: Fourteenth Place
Saturday: Eighth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +0, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +2
Best Lap: 1:36.568
This eighties Corvette was quick when it was on the track, but ole GM hasn't done this team any favors when it comes to reliability. Mechanical issues sidetracked them to the pit lane too many times to be a threat. The car was also a bit squirrelly and found itself backwards on track a few times.
15 - Top Gun Mavericks
Car: Ford Mustang
Sunday: Fifteenth Place
Saturday: Fourteenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +7
Best Lap: 1:38.842
This 5.0 ‘Stang sounded great on course and looked good in the corners too. But like the Corvette, big V-8 takes big brakes to stop and the Top Gun Mavericks spent some time underneath the car, instead of the driver's seat.
76 – POSRacing.com (F'ed Up)
Car: BMW E30
Sunday: Sixteenth Place
Saturday: Fifth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +3, Cheatin' -0 Total: +8
Best Lap: 1:35.718
The F'ed Up boys are usually in contention in every race they attend. Early on Saturday they we an obvious threat for the win but a few issues pushed them back to a fifth place finish. Sunday they started fast and strong and then a fatal mechanical failure unfortunately put them on the trailer after only a few laps.
98 - Smokey & The Banditos Racing
Car: Pontiac Firebird
Sunday: DNS (Did Not Start)
Saturday: Ninth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -6 Total: +1
Best Lap: 1:32.389
Smokey & The Banditos and their Burt Reynolds Trans Am were wicked fast on course. Their lap times were absolutely astounding for how large that ‘Bird is. Unfortunately a junked transmission kept them from starting on Sunday.
30 - Pendejo Engineering
Car: Jaguar XJS
Sunday: DNS
Saturday: Fifteenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -3 Total: +4
Best Lap: 1:34.117
This V-12 Jag keeps getting better and better, in regards to performance, but same-same when it comes to its British car reliability. Regardless, Pandejo Engineering keeps marching along, fixing it and heading to the next event.
93 - Clergy MC
Car: Nissan NX2000
Sunday: DNS
Saturday: Eighteenth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +4, Cheatin' -0 Total: +9
Best Lap: 1:35.425
We thought this Nissan would have done better since it appeared to be on a mission from God. I guess Auto Club Speedway isn't Catholic.
16 - Top Gun Down Under
Car: Ford Mustang
Sunday: DNS
Saturday: Twentieth Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +7
Best Lap: 1:49.376
The reason the photo of the Top Gun Down Under Mustang was taken in the garage is because that is where it sat most of the weekend. An early mechanical problem left this car sitting in a pool of fluids.
70 - Calzone Racing
Car: Opel GT
Sunday: DNS
Saturday: Twenty-first Place
Bonus Laps: Cash Donation +5, Theme/Engineering +2, Cheatin' -0 Total: +7
Best Lap: 1:49.726
This Opel had a sweet V-6 swapped into it and a great group of guys who were working on it. We were all hoping for good things. But the motor had other ideas and it was a smoke machine on the course. Again, this was one of those cars that wasn't even on the track long enough for us to get a picture of it moving, hence the garage shot.
The race pace at ChumpCar was fast. The entire race went with almost no car-to-car contact or black flags. The flagging and safety crew at Auto Club Speedway did a great job and deserve everybody's gratitude.
Congratulations to Black Iron Racing for their Saturday win.
Congratulations to the crew of Krider Racing for finding the little bit of luck they needed to win on Sunday.
Outstanding race photography was provided by Marco Maggiora. Teams who would like pictures can contact him at: marco@spaghettiblender.com