Rich Wesorick
Enthusiast
VIPERSPEED’S KNOX HOLDS HIS OWN IN T1 RACE AT MID-OHIO
In preparation for the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs next month, Texan Dan Knox brought his T1 Viper to the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course this past weekend for the annual SCCA Buckeye Sprints. As a relative newcomer to T1 competition, Dan needed one more start to get qualified for the Runoffs, and also wanted to get in some extra seat time at the highly technical Mid-Ohio track. Dan found the track and the competition to be quite challenging, but is glad he made the trip north for the race.
Dan’s first trip onto the Mid-Ohio track in his recently completed No. 10 Bobby Archer Motorsports / ViperSpeed Viper was run under wet conditions during Saturday’s first practice session. The wet track did not really allow Dan to find the fast lines around the track. During the qualifying session on a dry track later that day, he was able to push the car some and managed to qualify 26th out of the 44 cars (T1, T2, and AS) entered. With the front runners in T1 and AS having qualified several seconds per lap faster than him, Dan knew he would have to pick up the pace a bit to finish in the top ten, which was his goal. At the front of the field, defending T1 National Champion John Heinricy had the pole, with veteran T1 drivers Scotty White, Tom Lyons, Tom Oates and Steve Zink, respectively, completing the top five. Interestingly, the top five cars in the race were all Corvettes, and Dan’s Viper was the only non-Vette in the 12-car T1 field.
The race was started along the front stretch in front of the pits, meaning that much of the field was not even through the final corner when the green flag was waved. Heinricy took the lead and Oates moved past both White and Lyons to take the second spot. Knox was boxed in by a bunch of cars at the green flag and was bumped in the rear end by another T1 car. The bump upset Dan’s Viper a bit and cost him a few positions. It took him a few laps to settle in, but Dan then began to move forward from his 26th starting position. By midway through the race, Dan was turning laps three seconds faster than his qualifying time and had caught up to the leaders in T2. He would eventually get around the T2 leaders and went on to finish 10th overall (8th in T1). Not bad for a rookie driver with less than 30 laps at Mid-Ohio prior to the start of the race. Meanwhile, as for the T1 leaders, each of whom have logged hundreds of laps at Mid-Ohio in the past, Heinricy ran away from the field and lapped everyone outside of the top ten cars. Heinricy’s teammate Tom Lyons drove a terrific race and was able to hunt down and pass both White and then Oates to finish in second place.
All in all, Knox was satisfied with his result at Mid-Ohio and is looking forward to coming back, along with his ViperSpeed teammates Bobby Archer and Dr. Deborah Loth, for the Valvoline Runoffs during the week of September 16-21. It should be interesting as an epic battle between Archer and Heinricy for the T1 National Championship appears to be shaping up. More information on Bobby Archer, Dr. Loth, and Dan Knox can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
In preparation for the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs next month, Texan Dan Knox brought his T1 Viper to the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course this past weekend for the annual SCCA Buckeye Sprints. As a relative newcomer to T1 competition, Dan needed one more start to get qualified for the Runoffs, and also wanted to get in some extra seat time at the highly technical Mid-Ohio track. Dan found the track and the competition to be quite challenging, but is glad he made the trip north for the race.
Dan’s first trip onto the Mid-Ohio track in his recently completed No. 10 Bobby Archer Motorsports / ViperSpeed Viper was run under wet conditions during Saturday’s first practice session. The wet track did not really allow Dan to find the fast lines around the track. During the qualifying session on a dry track later that day, he was able to push the car some and managed to qualify 26th out of the 44 cars (T1, T2, and AS) entered. With the front runners in T1 and AS having qualified several seconds per lap faster than him, Dan knew he would have to pick up the pace a bit to finish in the top ten, which was his goal. At the front of the field, defending T1 National Champion John Heinricy had the pole, with veteran T1 drivers Scotty White, Tom Lyons, Tom Oates and Steve Zink, respectively, completing the top five. Interestingly, the top five cars in the race were all Corvettes, and Dan’s Viper was the only non-Vette in the 12-car T1 field.
The race was started along the front stretch in front of the pits, meaning that much of the field was not even through the final corner when the green flag was waved. Heinricy took the lead and Oates moved past both White and Lyons to take the second spot. Knox was boxed in by a bunch of cars at the green flag and was bumped in the rear end by another T1 car. The bump upset Dan’s Viper a bit and cost him a few positions. It took him a few laps to settle in, but Dan then began to move forward from his 26th starting position. By midway through the race, Dan was turning laps three seconds faster than his qualifying time and had caught up to the leaders in T2. He would eventually get around the T2 leaders and went on to finish 10th overall (8th in T1). Not bad for a rookie driver with less than 30 laps at Mid-Ohio prior to the start of the race. Meanwhile, as for the T1 leaders, each of whom have logged hundreds of laps at Mid-Ohio in the past, Heinricy ran away from the field and lapped everyone outside of the top ten cars. Heinricy’s teammate Tom Lyons drove a terrific race and was able to hunt down and pass both White and then Oates to finish in second place.
All in all, Knox was satisfied with his result at Mid-Ohio and is looking forward to coming back, along with his ViperSpeed teammates Bobby Archer and Dr. Deborah Loth, for the Valvoline Runoffs during the week of September 16-21. It should be interesting as an epic battle between Archer and Heinricy for the T1 National Championship appears to be shaping up. More information on Bobby Archer, Dr. Loth, and Dan Knox can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
