Faster than a speeding bullet… More powerful than a speeding locomotive… Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Its…
The tall buildings part is a bit of a stretch, but there is no doubt that Dennis Olthoff and Doug Reed did a super job in the 1999 One Lap of America, bringing their Superformance Mk III (SP116) home first in class and fourth overall.
The narrative is from conversations with Dennis Olthoff and Doug Reed. The course maps are from Dennis’ route book - the one provided to each competitor and the only course description provided. Dennis had run at Road Atlanta on an open track day. Other than that, neither Dennis nor Doug had ever seen any of the tracks used for speed trials. There were no practice laps. The first "hot lap" for each event was the "go to school" lap for each course. So let’s take a ride with our guys on the One Lap of America.
Ann Arbor
The One Lap of America 1999 kicked off in Ann Arbor on Sunday evening, May 16th at 4:00 PM. Dennis and Doug cranked up SP116 and headed 39.1 miles down the highway to Michigan International Speedway for the first event.
Michigan International Speedway
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Dennis and Doug arrived at 5:00 PM. The time trials kicked off at 5:30 PM.
The time trials at each event began with a standing start and were three consecutive
"hot laps" with the total time for the three laps being used to determine
ranking and points. The cars ran in groups of ten and started at discrete intervals. The objective was to give everyone essentially an open track to put down their best time, and to avoid passing (and collisions) if possible. The groups were based on "seeding" to keep cars of similar speed potential in the same group. The Superformance Mk III, an unknown in One Lap competition, was seeded 87th at Michigan. The speed trials were held on the 1.9 mile road course that combines the infield track with turns 3 and 4 of the banked oval. The track was nice, but a little bumpy. An abrupt exit from turn 5 would bring one in contact with the NASCAR shower building. Caution was required to avoid an "all wet" excursion. Turn 7, a hard right, brought the competitors up on the NASCAR banked oval. The banked turn could be taken flat out - Dennis could wind out 3rd and 4th on the bank and shift into to 5th. He held the revs to 6500 since the motor was new. He was able to pull 165 mph on the front straight before the blunt shape of the Mk III made itself known. The fastest cars were hitting 200 mph on the front straight. Nevertheless, skillful driving brought the Superformance in 8th overall and 1st in class after the first event. |
Number |
Entrant |
Class |
Position After MIS |
Points After MIS |
2 |
1998 Mallett - Chev Corvette | SSGT1 | 1 |
510 |
5 |
1997 Mosler Raptor | SSGT1 | 2 |
505 |
10 |
1998 Lamborghini Diablo | SSGT1 | 3 |
500 |
1 |
1997 Mallet - Chev Corvette | SSGT1 | 4 |
495 |
29 |
1997 Dodge Viper | SSGT1 | 5 |
490 |
16 |
1993 Ford Mustang | SSGT2 | 6 |
485 |
3 |
1994 Mercedes Renntech SL600 | SSGT1 | 7 |
480 |
87 |
1965 Superformance Mk III | Vint Amer | 8 |
475 |
9 |
1998 Mallett - Chev Corvette | SSGT1 | 9 |
470 |
7 |
1975 Porsche 911 Carrera | Vint For | 10 |
465 |
People were nothing short of amazed at the Superformance. Was it real or was it a fluke? Doug and Dennis left for Heartland at 7:30 PM to answer that one. They passed through Des Moines and the Holm’s Radiator checkpoint at about 2:30 AM. Competitors who failed to pass the checkpoint within the allotted time were penalized 50 points. Eight competitors took that hit.
Doug and Dennis split the highway driving miles, swapping when they took on gas. The route took them west through South Bend, East Chicago, Davenport, Des Moines, and then south to Kansas City and west again to Topeka. They completed the 797.3 miles to Heartland Park, near Topeka, Kansas, at 6:00 AM. It rained most of the night.
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