Motorsport Ranch 10,11

Tuesday May 8

Events 10,11 - Motorsport Ranch Speed Trails

The Olthoff/Lee team continues to run strong, posting a 4th place finish in the first event and 4th in the second event. 

The Kline/Roxbury team finished 42nd in the first event and 32nd in the second event.

The #10 Viper ACR of Spencer Geswein and Brian Smith finished 1st in both events.   Spencer and Brian have found a way to escape sleep deprivation.  They are pulling an aluminum trailer with sleeping accommodations for two.  This is quite the reverse of folks trailing their car to events.

The ever surprising #57 Corvette GSR of Aaron Quine and William Hoskins finished 2nd in both events.  Quite the opposite of the Viper, they never have a roof over their heads.  Their stamina is to be admired.

The #13 Nissan Skyline GTR came back from turbo troubles at Heartland to post a strong 6th in the first run.  However, it DNF'ed the second run and is out of the top 10.

Final Standings To Date

The #10 Viper ACR has built a commanding lead of 140 points over 2nd place. Short of a malfunction, this is looking like the team to beat. The #8 Dodge Viper, #4 Superformance Mk III, and the #32 Mustang are in a very tight race for 2nd place at this point with only 25 points separating them.  The 5th place #49 Porsche is 80 points behind 4th.  With the top contenders doing well every time, gaining even 5 points an event is difficult.  This is the halfway point. There are only 7 events left.

The Olthoff/Lee team is running very well.  After a (relatively) slow start with a 13th and 10th in the first two events, they have reeled off a string of top 10 finishes: 1st, 6th, 6th, 2nd, 4th, 4th, and 4th.  Speed and consistency are both essential to overall victory.

The Olthoff/Lee team continues to build their first place lead in the Super Tuner class.  The Kline/Roxbury team has increased their second place lead over the third place #58 Mustang in Vintage American. The Corvette GSR continues to lead.

Commentary and Photos from John Russell

Mike and all,

My son, John Jr. (11), Gary Sharapata, Drew Baird and I just returned from MotorSport Ranch in Cresson Texas after spending the day in support of our two teams in the One Lap. What a blast, and both teams seem to be moving up, but no one there seemed to know what yesterday’s results were.

John Jr. and I met our two compatriots in North Dallas this morning just before 7:00am, and set off for our trek to the track (in a Van people hauler and "stuff carrier"), arriving about 8:15am. We quickly found Dennis and Barry, and checked for problem areas and for any needs that has popped up on the way in from Topeka. We found everything in really good shape (except for a 2^nd. gear problem with Dennis’ 6 speed).

The first run ended up with Dennis in fourth, and Barry was just learning the track, but had a respectable showing. We all pitched in during the sessions around the wash area, and the support group washed and waxed both cars, but the drivers both promised faster lap times in the second set due to the vastly decreased wind resistance. We took plenty of pictures of both cars with drivers and we managed to horn in on the shots, and I hope I got some good "action" shots as they flew around the track.

Dennis improved his time by 7 seconds, and we "think" this may have boosted him into 2^nd place overall, and it appears that Barry has a stranglehold on 2^nd in class. After the run, we helped the warriors load up for the little hop of about 950 miles to Atlanta, and kicked Dennis out of town about 12:45, so they might make it in by about 1:00am or so.

I had a WONDERFUL day in support of my "Superformance team", and I really enjoyed sharing it with my friends and my son. He broke his collarbone last Saturday night-for the second time in a month, and I think this was a day the "Dr. ordered" for him. I/we will find out Thursday at 3:00.

I wish we all could have driven our cars over in support, but we did what we could and were able to carry more equipment/towels/ice water/speed shine/soft drinks this way that probably proved to be more beneficial. Oh, if anyone can meet them in Atlanta with a few bottles of Uniglide it would be beneficial.

GO GET ‘UM SUPERFORMANCE from Texas!!

	A wash and wax for the rapid #4, then a group photo for posterity. From the left: Dennis Olthoff, John Russell, Drew Baird, Barry Kline, Gary Sharapata, and John Russell, Jr. in the car.
	Then its #2's turn. What a wash job! From the left: John Russell, Jr., John Russell, Gary Sharapata, Drew Baird, and Dennis Olthoff.
	Dennis getting ready to "Smoke 'em!"
	Barry strikes the classic "racer with car" pose.
	Dennis at speed down the back straight.
	Barry crossing the finish line.

John Russell SP 586