We made it home again.

Well, we finally made it back to

Lancaster County and get to sleep in our own beds again. As much as I enjoyed the adventure, it is nice to be home. One amazing statistic is that we went in completely different directions after leaving South Bend compared to last year and all different tracks, but ended the trip with 3 more miles than 2009. Our total mileage including to South Bend and back was 4864 miles. The vast majority of the mileage was transit miles between the tracks, with only about 200 or so track miles. The furthest west was Hallett, Oklahoma and as far east as Millville, New Jersey. Many of the regulars talk of doing the "Big Western Run" again where the transit mileages can grow to 800 plus miles in a day/night. That would also probably add another 1500/2000 miles to the total. This is a very challenging and grueling event and that would make it more so for both man and machine.

We can probably give you a pretty good run down on the menus at Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King and Denny's. The track food for the most part consisted of hamburgers and hot dogs along with the brats in Wisconsin. To make the finances work we also looked for the more budget side of lodging, but we found out paying more did not guarantee a better shower. It is amazing how interesting the shower restrictors are in some of the motels.

The pictures above show the Yellow Corvette driven by Danny Popp the multiple SCCA national autocross champion. "The Dog Bone Car" of Brian and Harry raising money for their local humane league and the 2006 Lotus that had a little off track excursion that damaged the front valance and left some tire marks along the side. Check back for any final thought I may come up with.

South Bend, almost the end.

The last event of the week is at South Bend, Indiana. This morning we competed in the Dry Skid Pad competition and finished 23rd. This gives us an overall finish of 26th for this years event. Last year we finished 15th and felt we might be able to improve slightly on that effort. This year when we arrived and saw a lot more awesome cars it looked like it was going to be a little tougher and it was said by one competitor that it seems like "twice as many top ten teams showed up this year".

After our DNF at Road America and dropping to 39th place, my goal changed to a 25th place finish. We got close and finished in 26th, not quite a win but a great experience and with many new friends made. With our exploding pulley problem on Saturday it really looked like a possibility of losing a day or two to get things fixed. As I mentioned in a previous post, without Joel Huibregtse's help we might have been stranded over the weekend and lost several events until getting the car fixed during normal shop business hours on Monday and still the problem of finding the right parts to make the repair. Joel is a Corvette Restoration Specialist with CSI Performance in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and they were closed for the day since One Lap of America was at the local track, Road America. Fortunately for us, Joel was standing near Danny Popps car when I went looking for other Corvette guys who might have any spare parts that might help us out. While standing waiting for Danny to come out from under his car Joel made some comment that made me ask him if he was local and a mechanic. Many, Many thanks to Joel for his helpfulness and friendliness in our time of need. For more details on the Road America events scroll down to the Road America entry.

Only 600 miles back to Lancaster County and we can call this adventure completed.

Nelson Ledges Sports Car Course

Nelson Ledges Sports Car Course is considered the fastest 2 mile road racing course in the country. It is located near Warren in northeast Ohio. The track has not been paved in quite a while and is extremely rough in many areas. They are now under new ownership and things are beginning to improve but much still needs to be done. The track is so rough that one of the cars had the side curtain air bags go off while in the middle of their run. The driver said it sounded like a shotgun going off and startled her but she kept going and finished the run. One other major problem at the track that day was a supercharged Mustang blew its motor in turn 10 just in front of us who were watching from the tower. While checking the track for debris a safety worker found a wrist pin that had blown out of the engine. With a hole in the block the Mustang was finished for the week. One other incident for the day was when the Lotus went off the track and did a little bodywork alteration when it contacted the tire wall. Just cosmetic damage that a few thousand dollars will cure, but still able to continue on. The track was new to both of us and we kind of slipped a little on this day, not quite getting the finishes we were hoping for.

This will be a short drive today with only about 300 miles back to South Bend to finish out the week with a dry skid pad competition. Maybe we can get a good nights rest so that after the banquet we can still make the 600 mile trip home and get there for Mother's Day.

New Jersey Motorsports Park, Thursday

Thursday we ran at New Jersey Motorsports Park on the Lightning circuit. This course is 1.9 miles long an has 10 turns. Two of the turns have blind track outs over the crest of hills which adds to the challenge. It is a very fast course and I got a 20th place finish in the morning and was able to improve by 2 seconds in the afternoon run but still finished in 20th. We moved up one more spot in the overall to 27th position. The spot are a little harder to earn this late in the event but we are still trying, With only 3 events remaining I am hoping for a 25th place overall but we need some good finishes to make that happen. You need to take your successes where you can and I think that would be a great comeback after dropping to 39th with our power steering pulley problems and the DNF at Road America. After finishing up at Lightning we will have a short 427 miles to Nelson Ledges race course near Warren, Ohio.

If it's Mid Ohio it must be Wednesday

We kind of lose track of what day it is. After a couple of days things start to run together and you have to stop and think what day it is. This morning we arrived at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, just a little north of the center of Ohio. This is one beautiful course, very well maintained and a neat park setting. I think the track surface is one of the best I have ever seen on a racetrack. This is a 2.4 mile course with a very fast downhill staight and lots of elevation changes. The gravel pit runoff area at the end of the front straight is called China beach. I don't know where the China comes in but it does look like a beach. It is a very challenging course to get right, but we don't have that chance, we do the best we can. After the one recon lap you are then flagged on for your competition laps, most drivers come back in saying "How much better I could be if I had some time on that track.

Only 527 miles to go and we will arrive in Millville, New Jersey to run on the Lightning 1.9 ten turn road course. After New Jersey it on to Nelson Ledges Road Course in northeast Ohio, then on to South Bend, Indiana to finish the week.

Gateway International Raceway

On Tuesday we went to Gateway International Raceway outside of St. Louis. We even got a chance to see the Arch from pretty close when we drove through the downtown on the way to the track. Similar to other Speedway tracks, Gateway is a very fast banked oval track. The track also has an alternate layout which utilizes the Speedway from NASCAR turn 3 through turn 4 and down the front straight and then transitions into the infield with several twists and turns to make up a road course for sports car racing.

Scott finished 22nd in the morning event and I ran just a couple of tenths slower per lap in the afternoon but it was only good for 32nd place, but I was thrilled to be that close. The One Lap of America format is extremely challenging with just one reconnaissance lap to learn the track. Immediately after your recon lap you line up at the start/finish line and get the green flag at about 10 second intervals. Typically we do many 20 minute session on a track over a day or two to learn the track and get fast. After the second session we moved up to 28th place overall.

As soon as we are finished I change out of my racing suit and we load the car as quickly as possible and head out for the next track. Tomorrow we will be at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course outside of Lexington, Ohio. The distance this evening is only 478 miles, then we get some sleep and arrive at the track before 8 am.

Monday day is Hallett, and Tulsa Oklahoma

We are climbing the ladder and making up a few positions after our DNF at Road America. Scott earned a 17th place finish at Hallett and I got a 32nd place finish in the afternoon. We are at a distinct disadvantage since we share the events at each track. Many of the teams use one driver for all track events with the other team member helping with the driving on the highway between tracks. Other teams have one driver do all the driving at one track, so he gets some experience in the morning and will likely be faster in the afternoon. We share the driving at most tracks so we both get the experience tracks all over the country.

Hallett is a neat 11 turn track that is about 2 miles long with lots of elevation changes. It is located just west of Tulsa Oklahoma only 483 miles from our last stop in Pacific Junction, Iowa. That doesn't count the extra 17 miles each way through the back country to get to our motel. After Hallett we went 50 miles over to Tulsa Raceway Park for the Drags.

That's all for now, must get some sleep. I will give more details soon. Keep checking back.

Mid America Motorplex

The blogs are a little tougher to keep up with this year. If it isn't getting to the motel at 2am it is a problem with the motel wireless connection. Last night the connection was so slow and I kept losing connection that I could not upload any pictures.

Mid America Motorplex is in extreme western Iowa. It was a fun track, but with mixed success. Scott was able to get a 22nd place finish in the early event. I went out in the afternoon and only got a 42nd place finish. With both finishes added in we did move up to 34th place from the 39 place after our DNF at Road America.

Just a side note on my 42nd place finish. I can get around a track pretty fast after just one session but the One Lap format is just one recognizance lap then 3 hot laps. I seem to have a little slower learning curve and and the One Lap format is very challenging to me. I also think the responsibility of racing someone else's car hold me back just a little. More news tomorrow from Hallet Oklahoma.

The picture above is just a litte humor from the Viper guys.

Problems at Road America

We had problems on Saturday at Road America. Scott went out to run in the first Qualifying session, which would set the order for the next session. The second session set the seeding order for running for the rest of the event. During the 3rd lap the power steering pulley disintegrated and in doing so also took out the power steering pump reservoir and the serpentine belt that runs the water pump and alternator as well. Because of this failure the temperature went up quickly and Scott to shut down and abort the run. As a result we ended up with a DNF for that event which stands for "Did not finish". With a DNF you receive no point for the event and we dropped from 14 th place overall to 39 th place.

The good new is that when I went looking for help and could not find anyone who had a pulley. I stopped at another competitor's car and was waiting to ask him about a pulley until he was finished working on a problem part. While standing ther I heard the fellow say something next to me that gave me the idea he was a local mechanic. I started to tell him of our problem and he told me he works for a local Corvette performance shop but was off today to come to the track for the One Lap event Joel was absoloutely great and went above and beyond in helping us get the car back together in time to get in the last group for qualifying.

Of course nobody local had the pulley or reservoir in stock. The fix Joel helped to come up with was a pulley from his C4 which fit but didn't have the grooves on it like the orginal. We got the pulley on and glued the reservior in time for qualifying, but then discovered it was still leaking and dripping on the serpentine belt. Joel suggested using the C4 Corvette reservoir but it was too large. After everyone else had left for western Iowa Joel guided us to the local Fleet and Farm store where we bought hoses and fitting and mounted the reservior remotely back by the master cylinder so we could still close the hood. A few cable ties to hold everything out of harms way and we were leaving for Iowa. Another big THANK YOU to Joel. It is nice to know how much some one you never met before was willing to be so giving and helpful to get us back in the game. When we get home we will have to mail Joel his borrowed parts and tools back to him.

Of course we didn't get to Pacific Junction, Iowa until 2 am and got some much needed sleep. One Lap of America is certainly an endurance contest of both man and machine.

Some success on the Wet Skid Pad

Competition started today with the Wet Skid Pad competition. I didn't win but I am smiling. I came in 14th place out of 68 registered entrants. This was a major improvement from last year showing of 52nd place. Last year it was the first event ever for me in One Lap and I was probably a little consertive. I certainly didn't want to spin out and make a fool of myself so I didn't push real hard. Add to this that our tire choice last year was great in the dry but not so good in the wet and the two things left us near the bottom of the group after the first event.

The one picture above show them stenciling our tires. All tires are branded and stenciled to be sure you keep the same tires on for the entire event. Several factors come together to do well at One Lap. Good vehicle preparation, good tire management, personal endurance and of course some ability to get the car around a track quickly. The second picture is of Scott putting on the final stickers on the car before we took it through tech.

Tomorrow is Road America in Elkart Lake Wisconsin. I won't promise an update tomorrow since after we finish tomorrow afternoon we have a 583 mile trip to Pacific Junction, Iowa. Tomorrow also sets the seeding order for our run groups for the rest of the event.

We are on our way!

We are on our way. Not much else to report. The only picture I took today was of the flag at the left that was hanging in the rest area food court on the Ohio Turnpike. We put about 600 miles on today and we are right outside of South Bend, Indiana. Tomorrow we will register, have the car teched, put on the rest of the national sponsor decals have a welcoming dinner and have our first competition, the wet skid pad event. For the wet skid pad we get two laps around a 200 foot circle in one direction then through a keyhole turn and then two laps in the oposite direction. They will take our best lap in each direction and calculate our average G forces. Points will be awarded. We will have a final count tomorrow but it looks like about 70 entrants. Points are awarded from the 1st place finisher down to the last in 5 point increments. If there are 70 entrants it would be 5 points X 70 entrants, so 1st place would get 350, 2nd place 345 and so on down to last place with 5 points. All of the events will be scored the same. Other than the wet skid pad event at the start and the dry skid pad at the end, we will have 2 events at each of the racetracks. Tomorrow is game on. Wish us luck.

Two weeks ago I spent some time at Pocono International Raceway to get in a little practice for our One Lap of America effort. The event was a drivers school where I was instructing for the Cumberland Valley Corvette Club. We had about a dozen members from our Lancaster County Corvette Club. Everyone from our group didn't get in the attached picture since some were out

on the track at the time. I'm hoping for little better weather for One Lap since it was cold and windy for our weekend and we even had an overnight snow shower and we woke up to lightly snowed upon cars.

Unlike our regular track day events where we use competition tires, we will be using street tires for the entire One Lap event. The tires are branded and stenciled so they can be easily identified, and you need to take care of your tires so they last the entire trip. If you injure a tire on a road hazard you may be able to substitute a tire if it does not give you a competitive advantage.

We will be leaving shortly and I will try to do nightly updates so check back often during the first week of May. For those new to the blog, be sure to scroll down a few pages and read some of the stories from last years event.

Some early pictures of the car

Just wanted to post and show a couple of the pictures of the car with some of the new sponsors on it. I'd like to welcome Two Cousins Pizza of Mount Joy as I already announced as the Title Sponsor, The Mount Joy Diner,SSC Tint and Graphic and Mick's All American Pub. These four are new to the effort this year. I would also like to thank our returning sponsors. Jones Family of Dealers, Jim Roberts' West Main Auto, Auto -Locator, Rutt's Appliances, Krunch Kritters, and Brady's High Performance. The rest of the decals should be on in a couple of days, and when we get to South Bend we get to add the National sponsors that are part of the overall event. Can you believe it is less than a week until we leave for South Bend.

We have already received some checks donating to our charity Spina Bifida Resources of Greater Pennsylvania. Please feel free to start a pledge form and sign up your friends to help us raise money for Spina Bifida, we have a long way to go to match last years effort.

Title Sponsor is Two Cousins Pizza, Mount Joy

We are very happy to announce that we signed the title sponsor to our One Lap of America effort for this year. For 2010 it will be Two Cousins Pizza in Mount Joy. They will have their company name and logo prominently displayed on the hood of our 2002 Zo6. Time is getting close and it is less than two weeks away until we are on our way to South Bend, Indiana to start the competition.

Last year we were able to raise funds for Spina Bifida Resources of Greater Pennsylvania and decided to try to raise funds for the same charity this year. With the challenging economy most charitable organizations are having a very difficult time, so it is even more important this year. I was very pleased at our Lancaster County Corvette Club meeting last night that several members came forward to donate or to make pledges for our Spina Bifida effort. Anyone that would like to donate to Spina Bifida Resources please make your check out to SBR One Lap and send to Jim Roberts, 14 W. Main St. Mount Joy, Pa. 17552. If you would like take pledges or donations from your friends, we anticipate completing nearly 5000 miles so people can make a per mile donation or just an outright donation.

This years field is up to 73 vehicles in several different classes. Our class is the SSGT1 Big Bore. At last count there were 12 cars in our class which includes a Ferrari F430, a Viper, a couple of the larger displacement Porsches, an Ultimate GTR and a few other Corvettes. The entry list is truly international with several teams from Canada and even a few teams from Europe.

Modifications are almost unlimited except the tires must be street tires of 140 tread wear and above from a list of approved brands. No track tires are permitted since the tires must last the entire event and also be used for the transit distance between tracks. This event is a challenge to personal stamina, vehicle preparation and durability and driving skills on the track as well as a little strategy thrown in. At each track you get one lap to recon the course then three hot laps and a cool down lap. The total time for the three laps count and the scoring is similar to NASCAR with the top finishing team receiving 365 points (73 entries X 5 points each). The second place for that event would get 360 and so forth down to the last place vehicle which would get 5 points. A DNF (Did Not Finish) would get 0 points.

Several Sponsors committed to the effort

Just a quick update. We have signed up several sponsors, some that are returning again this year, including Auto-locator, Rutt's Appliances, Krunch Kritters, and new for this year the Mount Joy Dinner. I would just like to say thanks to those who have signed on, and say we still have space for a few more. It is amazing how fast the time goes by, we will be leaving for this years adventure in just about three weeks.

As last year, we decided to add a charity component to this amazing adventure. We are listing as our charity Spina Bifida Resources once again. Just like last year, charities of all kinds have suffered greatly from the reduced giving due to the tough economic times we are in. We expect to log nearly 5,000 miles in this years effort, from leaving Lancaster County, Pa. to returning home again. Some donations last year were of the cents per mile type (1 cent per mile for example rounded out to about $50), while some just made a check out to an amount of their choice. All donations are greatly appreciated. Please send any donations to Jim Roberts 14 W. Main St. Mount Joy, Pa. 17552. Make your check out to Spina Bifida Resources. Above is a picture of my grandaughter, Adaline, who has Spina Bifida. You can see it is a cause that is very close to me. She will be 4 years old in May and in the past year has started school and now has her very own wheelchair.

Don't forget, just scroll down to see some of the stories from last years adventure. Also be sure to check back often, I will be trying to post each days news once we start the trip in early May.

One Lap -----One More Time

Well, here we go again. Scott Breneman and I have decided to do the One Lap of America again this year. In a little over one week we expect to put on nearly 5000 miles between tracks and on the roadrace tracks we visit. Each track we visit we will compete in two Time Trial events.



The route this year will take us from Lancaster, Pa. to South Bend, In. to Road America in Elkhart Lake Wi. then it's 583 miles on to Mid America Motorplex near Pacific Junction Ia. Another 482 miles puts us outside of Tulsa Ok. at Hallet Motor Racing Circuit, then a quick jaunt to Tulsa Raceway Park for 2 drag strip events. After Tulsa we are headed to Madison Il. to the Gateway International Raceway not far outside of St. Louis. By the next morning we are due at the Mid Ohio Sportscar Course in Lexington Ohio. After Mid Ohio it's off to the New Jersey Motorsports Park near Millville where we will compete on the Lightning track. Back to Ohio near Garrettsville in northeastern Ohio to the famous Nelson Ledges Road Course and then a quick 300 miles over to South Bend and we are almost done. Only 596 miles back to Lancaster County, Pa.



As in last years event we are actively looking for Sponsors and donations/handouts etc. Our plan is to decorate both Scott's Zo6 that we are taking and also clone my yellow coupe with the same graphics.



Wish us luck and follow along with this blog. For those new to our adventures you can scroll down a few pages and see my postings from last years competition.

Jim Roberts