Cannonball One Lap of America

[ViperGeorge]

Some of you may know about the One Lap of America (OLOA)but for those that don't here's a quick summary. OLOA is the descendent of the infamous Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, or more simply the Cannonball. In the 70's Brock Yates put on the race to prove that cars could safely negotiate the Interstate Highway system at speeds exceeding the then federal speed limit of 55mph.

The original Cannonball was run for several years but then faded into automotive history. It gained even more noteriety though when the movie Cannonball Run came out. Brock also wrote the script for the movie and all of it is based on real life events from the Cannonball. Even the part with Burt Reynolds driving an ambulance was true. Brock once attempted the Cannonball in an ambulance with lights flashing and his wife as a patient. They even had a doctor on board.

The OLOA is also put on by Brock Yates but is a legal version with racing confined to some of the finest race tracks in the country. Everyday teams compete against the clock and each other on the track. Once the track competition completes everyone packs up and heads to the next track. Often this involves drives of 5-6-or 7 hundred miles. Most of this done at night. As our bumper sticker says "Sleep is for the weak".

Myself and a friend are competing in this year's event in my 2006 supercharged FE Coupe. We're currently on our way to Nelson Ledges in Ohio. The event started last Friday at Tire Rack in South Bend, IN. The first event was a wet skidpad challenge (I sucked at this). Next we drove to Elkhart Lake, WI and Road America, a fabulous race course. This track has very long straights and favors a supercharged Viper. We did great here (at least great for us), you see some of the leading drivers are pros. I mean like Daytona 24 and ALMS pros. Winners even.

After leaving Road America on Saturday afternoon we drove to Pacific Junction, IA to hit Mid America. A fun course. After Mid America it was off to the Hallet Road Course in Oklahoma. Once we completed Hallet we drove to Tulsa drag strip for some evening drag racing. When we finished this we drove to Gateway near St. Louis. This is a roval course and was a blast.

Mid Ohio was the next stop, also a world class race course. From there it was to the new track in NJ - NJMP. As I write this we are on the PA Turnpike heading to Nelson Ledges for tomorrow's event and then we return to Tire Rack for a dry skidpad challenge.

The Viper has been good but we have had to fight a few problems. The first turned out to be a loose C1 connector into the PCM. Kept causing intermittant loss of cam and crank sensor pulses. Dan Cragin helped point me in the right direction so that I could find the loose connector. Next I had the Paxton control box fall onto the gas pedal on the out lap at NJMP. Got that fixed but ran into a problem on the very next time on track. My PLX gauge was flashing warnings about A/F ratios and the engine was running crappy. Turned out to be a loose C2 connector. I could have sworn I pushed them all in yesterday. Oh well.

Lastly we're still on the road because the welds on my trailer hitch broke. The trailer almost broke loose. I noticed it when we pulled into a rest stop for dinner and fuel. Had to pull it off in the parking lot and drive to the next town to get it welded. Then we had to back track to get the trailer. Our ETA to the hotel is 2:20am.

I will post more stories another day along with more pics. For now check out the "URGENT Help needed in OH" thread under the SRT forum

 

[Tusc]

Likewise, the Gumball 3000 Rally is wrapping up TOMORROW (well, today at this point) in NYC.

I had originally planned to head down and see the finale, especially after reading 'The Driver', but I've got too much going on to cut loose.

I'll have to catch it next time it's in this part of the world.

 

[plumcrazy]

good luck and keep us posted

 

[WOT!]

Good luck George! I never realized this event was so sleep challenged.

 

[Boxer12]

Hope you are having fun and remain safe, that's what its all about!

 

[ViperGeorge]

Well we are on our final leg, back to Tire Rack in South Bend. Today we spent the day at Nelson Ledges in OH. A real S##T hole of a track but extremely fast. Too bad that someone won't buy it and put some money into repaving it and fixing it up. It would be an awesome venue if they did.

Viper ran great today although we didn't finish too well in this morning's session. My co-driver needs more seat time in the car to be fast but in any event we're in it to have fun. We split the track events loosely on who knows what.

People sometimes ask "with a car like that how come you're not faster?", simple answer "I have too much to live for." Some of the competitors drive 10 tenths, others not so much. I swear some have a death wish. One competitor owns a chocolate company in Switzerland. He shows up every year with a big group, buys some cars and runs the event. This year he's got four teams running. He drives flat out all the time. Nothing seems to scare him. He usually ships the cars back to Switzerland as used cars. This I suppose saves him some green on taxes. His chocolates are to die for by the way.

The event is grueling on both man and machine. Things go wrong that you can't plan for. Like last night when our hitch broke. However, where there is a will there is a way. It is amazing how many things you can accomplish when the chips are down and you are determined. Take Howard. He's run the event for many years. On the first day, at the first event at Road America, he overcooked "Canada Corner" and went airborne over the wall and upside down. Fortunately he was ok but his Cadilac CTS-V was a total loss. Did that stop him? No. He went and bought another car just so he could travel around with the group. He ended up with a Chrysler Crossfire. He isn't eligible to score points anymore but he can still run each event and hang with everyone else. This is the second car he's had to buy over the years on One Lap. He toasted another car a few years ago and bought another.

Today an 05 Mustang making 650 HP at the crank blew his motor. Looked like that Volcano in Iceland there was so much smoke. He plans to trailer his broken car to South Bend and run the final event, a dry skidpad challenge, with the car on the trailer. Ok, he won't get points but this is in the spirit of the event - "Press on Regardless". That's the bumper sticker on the Dodge Stealth that the owner of Road America runs in the event with his daughter.

One more day and then its over. Then the planning for next year begins. What to bring? How can we improve our standing? You know the drill.

 

[plumcrazy]

good stuff. glad youre having fun.

the only thing that would stop me is being afraid to break MY car. if it was someone else's and they didnt care what the repair bill was, id be dangerous....lol

keep us posted

 

[Leslie]

my mechanic/good friend suggested we do this sometime, it would be a lotta fun!

had you driven all of those tracks before? that would probably be my one thing, getting on a track for the first time during an event like that.

 

[ViperGeorge]

my mechanic/good friend suggested we do this sometime, it would be a lotta fun!

had you driven all of those tracks before? that would probably be my one thing, getting on a track for the first time during an event like that.

Not knowing the tracks is one of the biggest challenges of One Lap. I knew NJMP, MAM, and Road America. My co-driver knew Hallet, and Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges a little. Neither of us knew Gateway. The other challenge is that the top 5 drivers or so are often pros. This year's winner races in Grand Am and I believe won the 24hours of Daytona in a Porsche. He was driving a GT2 and he was incredibly fast.

There is however room in the top 10 for grassroots racers. Two kids from Canada came with a tricked out old Honda Civic. It had both a supercharger and a turbocharge. Their intercooler consisted of a cooler in the trunk filled with ice. They placed 8th overall. Top 10 in this event is quite an accomplishment.

We could and should have done better given our car but we need more seat time and a little better luck. The loose PCM connectors cost us some power as the car was missing some on the track early in the week. Once they were secured the car ran great.

I'm home now and am exhausted. Quite a grueling event but a real blast. You meet the best people on this thing. Friends that you make for life even though you may only see them once a year. I seriously recommend the event to anyone here. I'd love to see some more Vipers out there. Just remember to arrive with the right expectations. You'll be competing against pros in cars that are anything but stock. They are all worked, some to an incredible level.

 

[plumcrazy]

whats the entry cost for this event ?

and id love to hear a total cost if you wouldn't mind, it would be interesting. if not, i certainly understand.

 

[Leslie]

Not knowing the tracks is one of the biggest challenges of One Lap. I knew NJMP, MAM, and Road America. My co-driver knew Hallet, and Mid-Ohio and Nelson Ledges a little. Neither of us knew Gateway. The other challenge is that the top 5 drivers or so are often pros. This year's winner races in Grand Am and I believe won the 24hours of Daytona in a Porsche. He was driving a GT2 and he was incredibly fast.

There is however room in the top 10 for grassroots racers. Two kids from Canada came with a tricked out old Honda Civic. It had both a supercharger and a turbocharge. Their intercooler consisted of a cooler in the trunk filled with ice. They placed 8th overall. Top 10 in this event is quite an accomplishment.

We could and should have done better given our car but we need more seat time and a little better luck. The loose PCM connectors cost us some power as the car was missing some on the track early in the week. Once they were secured the car ran great.

I'm home now and am exhausted. Quite a grueling event but a real blast. You meet the best people on this thing. Friends that you make for life even though you may only see them once a year. I seriously recommend the event to anyone here. I'd love to see some more Vipers out there. Just remember to arrive with the right expectations. You'll be competing against pros in cars that are anything but stock. They are all worked, some to an incredible level.

wow sounds amazing. I completely forgot you guys were here in South Bend at TireRack, I need to remember that next year.

my hat's off to you for running the event, it takes a lot of stamina and willpower to go through all of that

soooo.....if you are at an 'unfamiliar' roadcourse, do you just try to learn the line as quick as you can, or are you allowed to have people who run that course regularly be there to help you out? I would imagine you probably watch a lot of in-car video before huh? 'codriver'....you both switch off driving?

 

[ViperGeorge]

whats the entry cost for this event ?

and id love to hear a total cost if you wouldn't mind, it would be interesting. if not, i certainly understand.

The entry fee is $2700. Then you have to buy street tires from Tire Rack although you get a 25%. For my Viper that was a net of $1345 including shipping for PS2s. Hotels run between $60 and $100 per night depending on how nice a room you want. So figure that's another $700 or so. The only other cost is gas. My car got about 17 mpg over the road and some much lesser number on the track. We were towing a good sized trailer otherwise the mileage would have been higher. Total mileage including driving to and from Tire Rack was about 5000 miles. We therefore used about 350 gallons including the track stuff. That's about $1000 in gas. Total then is $2700+$1345+$700+$1000 or $5745. I left out food because you have to eat anyway and most of the time it was fast food.

When I did it in my stock 03 Viper we got 28 mpg on the highway so that saved a bunch of gas money. Also excluded from these numbers are any car prep or repairs that you have to make. Our repairs this year totaled about $40 to have someone weld our trailer hitch.

 

[ViperGeorge]

wow sounds amazing. I completely forgot you guys were here in South Bend at TireRack, I need to remember that next year.

my hat's off to you for running the event, it takes a lot of stamina and willpower to go through all of that

soooo.....if you are at an 'unfamiliar' roadcourse, do you just try to learn the line as quick as you can, or are you allowed to have people who run that course regularly be there to help you out? I would imagine you probably watch a lot of in-car video before huh? 'codriver'....you both switch off driving?

My codriver and I switch off at tracks depending on who knows what. We're doing it for fun so we both want to drive on the track. The top teams including the winners used a single driver for all track stuff.

The format of One Lap is that you are sent on to the track in run groups based on your qualifying time in the first event. Original car order for the qualifying run is based on Brock's best guess as to the capability of the driver and the car. That's really only used for the first event though, after that it is based on your qualifying time. Run groups vary in size depending on the track. Long tracks have more cars but usually not more than 7. Mostly run groups are 5 or 6.

Each car leaves the pits at about 10 second intervals. You get one lap to familiarize yourself with the track and then you stop at the Start Finish line until all cars in the group are stopped. You are then sent off one at a time for 3 hot laps. Passing sometimes occurs if one car has a bobble or one of the drivers knows the track much better than the others. Passing however slows both cars down some. Your score is your total time for the 3 laps. After you get the checker you get one cool down lap and then you're done. Two events are usually run at each track, one in the morning and one after lunch. Once you finish your second event you pack up and drive to the next track (or hotel).

Since you might not know the track the best thing to do is turn in late and hammer it down the straights. In car video from youtube is also very helpful, I watched a lot of it.

 

[ViperGeorge]

Leslie, one more thing. If you get to the track early enough you can walk it, rollerblade it, or bike it. No motor driven vehicles allowed. Walking it helps.

 

[plumcrazy]

i figured it would be around that. great info, thanks !

 

[Leslie]

My codriver and I switch off at tracks depending on who knows what. We're doing it for fun so we both want to drive on the track. The top teams including the winners used a single driver for all track stuff.

The format of One Lap is that you are sent on to the track in run groups based on your qualifying time in the first event. Original car order for the qualifying run is based on Brock's best guess as to the capability of the driver and the car. That's really only used for the first event though, after that it is based on your qualifying time. Run groups vary in size depending on the track. Long tracks have more cars but usually not more than 7. Mostly run groups are 5 or 6.

Each car leaves the pits at about 10 second intervals. You get one lap to familiarize yourself with the track and then you stop at the Start Finish line until all cars in the group are stopped. You are then sent off one at a time for 3 hot laps. Passing sometimes occurs if one car has a bobble or one of the drivers knows the track much better than the others. Passing however slows both cars down some. Your score is your total time for the 3 laps. After you get the checker you get one cool down lap and then you're done. Two events are usually run at each track, one in the morning and one after lunch. Once you finish your second event you pack up and drive to the next track (or hotel).

Since you might not know the track the best thing to do is turn in late and hammer it down the straights. In car video from youtube is also very helpful, I watched a lot of it.

wow kewl thanks for responding, that describes it pretty good. my buddy is naturally fast at learning the line, so we are thinking we will try to hit some of the new tracks the year before if we can...if not, you tube is our friend

 

[Viper ACR]

Very good info sounds like a great time . I would really enjoy doing this some time . Glad you had a great time . Thanks for sharing

 

[ViperGeorge]

I think the best thing about this event are the stories you have when you're done. In 2001 we ran the event in a 1965 Mustang with a supercharged fuel injected 5.0. We kept throwing belts on the blower. In Kansas at Heartland Park my co-driver threw a belt on the track. The belt hit the fan, the fan hit the aluminum custom radiator and cooked the motor. We didnt' know that the motor was cooked at the time though.

I got on the cell and called 411 I asked for a welding shop in or near Topeka. They connected me with Scottie's Welding. Called them and asked if they could heli-arch aluminum. Scottie said yes but they were closing soon. He said he would wait if I could get the car there in the next 45 minutes. Called AAA and had the car flat bedded to Scottie. Several One Lap cars (twp Porsche 930s and one BMW 530) followed us to Scotties in case we needed further help. While waiting for AAA I removed the radiator so Scottie could work on it quicker. Scottie and his wife ended up spending 4 hours repairing our custom aluminum radiator. When we asked him how much we owed him he said "nothing, I'd just like a picture of the cars in front of the shop". He knew we were raising money for Make A Wish and he thanked us for our effort.

We got on the Kansas Turnpike and headed out towards Texas and the Motorsports Ranch. Got about 70 miles and realized that the motor was not running right. We opened the hood and saw oil everywhere. We called AAA again and got flatbedded to Emporia Kansas. Sent our friends on to Texas as there was nothing more that they could do.

While on the flatbed, the driver says "did you hear that?" We didn't but he did. The radio had said that two Porsches traveling at high speed had gone into a lake. We called our friends, who casually answered the phone, asking if they were ok (I mean come one how many Porsches were there in Kansas late that night?). They said they were fine but one of them had thrown a belt and they were on the side of the highway near a lake. We told them to call 911 and explain because EMS was rolling towards them. Just then a State Trooper came roaring over the road towards them with his lights flashing. A case of poor communication.

Meanwhile we were towed back to Emporia Kansas. Next day the shop informed us that our motor had toasted cylinder number 8 and it would take three days to get the engine rebuilt. We said "time for a new motor". Called Ford Motorsport who connected us with Arrow Automotive in Topeka. Arrow ordered a new engine for us from Ford and had Ford overnight it to us in Emporia.

Got the engine installed and drove to VIR to rejoin One Lap. Missed a couple of events but we were able to finish. This is a fairly typical story of One Lap. Again "Press on Regardless".

 

[Boxer12]

You might be interested to hear that Rumpke blew his motor at Putnam yesterday. Guess it had just had enough. He mentioned that he could hear your supercharger all the way around the track...and thought it was cool.

That's two motors since last Sept for him. I told him to get a Viper...Another guy out here has been through 4 motors with his C6Z. The dry sump system isn't perfected yet.

 

[XTREMDRM]

George
Sounds like you are creating some great momories.
Sitting around the garage and having a beer with you sure sounds pretty interesting.
Good Luck ...."May The Force Be With You"....

 

[SCLSSRT10]

This event is WAY TO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! I have done it in an 06 SRT8 MAgnum in '06. Good luck I hope you guys had fun. I will be back next year in an '08 Magnum.

By the way I own a car that was in the 1975 orginial CANNONBALL it is a 1974 Trans AM SD455 4 speed, we also did the Cannonball Classic which was the 20th Anniversary of the last running of the Cannonball in 1999 in the orginial '74 T/A. Yeh I drove a 100 point show car across the country. I would do it again tomorrow.

The One Lap is very fun and very sleep deprived, I strongly suggest it to anyone who enjoys driving and having fun on a race track.

It is about the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

I hope you guys had a ball.

Steve L.
VRL # 007

 

[ViperGeorge]

This event is WAY TO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!! I have done it in an 06 SRT8 MAgnum in '06. Good luck I hope you guys had fun. I will be back next year in an '08 Magnum.

By the way I own a car that was in the 1975 orginial CANNONBALL it is a 1974 Trans AM SD455 4 speed, we also did the Cannonball Classic which was the 20th Anniversary of the last running of the Cannonball in 1999 in the orginial '74 T/A. Yeh I drove a 100 point show car across the country. I would do it again tomorrow.

The One Lap is very fun and very sleep deprived, I strongly suggest it to anyone who enjoys driving and having fun on a race track.

It is about the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

I hope you guys had a ball.

Steve L.
VRL # 007

If memory serves we were in my 03 Silver Viper in 06. I remember the Magnum. The event is a blast and we did have a ball. Hope to see you next year.