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Video online from the TSN special shown in late November and early December on the Challenge Cup series, from our third-place win, with Steve accepting his award on the podium.

Steve accepts his award

Video online from Mosport, May 14th 2000: We qualified second last due to front end setup problems. By the mandatory pit stop we were in second place. We received a stop and go penalty for leaving the pits too fast (the engine was overheating). We spun the car at corner 5, finally finishing in 6th place. View ten minutes of the sixty minute video here:

Mosport - High speed connection - 300 kbps

Mosport - Low speed connection - 100 kbps

I got into racing when Janine's former boss Steve asked if I would be interested in helping crew on his car. He told me he had a Corvette that he raced. I figured it was a street-legal car that he had converted into a racing car.

I was wrong.

The Corvette at Mosport

This is what I was greeted with when I first saw the car. It is obviously not a production Corvette. In fact, there is only one part in the car that actually came from a real Corvette, and that is the windshield. We have two engines for the car, and over the 1999-2000 winter season, both engines have been converted to high-compression. This is a very fast car.

Corvette Interior

Inside, there is seating for one, and the interior is obviously spartan and functional. We have dual electronic ignition, as well as crank-derived ignition (driver switchable).

Crew Names

Notice my name on the back of the car! Our crew has actually changed since then, and it will be different for the 2000 season as well.

Bob works on the Corvette

Even being used to airplanes, it was still a surprise at just how much maintenance is required in order to run the car for a very short time. It seems to be more like a fighter aircraft - ten or twenty hours of maintenance and preparation on the car to get it to run a one-hour race.

Me, warming it up

Here I am at Mosport, sitting in the car and running up the engine to get it warm. There is no amount of money you could pay me to drive this car on the track. I know my limitations, and this car is far beyond them. In the background is a silver, million-dollar Porsche which was destroyed later in the day in a crash.

The Corvette in action!

And of course, this is what it is all about - running in front of all the other cars and winning races. Which we plan to do a lot of this year.

At the end of the 1999 season, as a thank-you to everyone who had helped crew on the car all year, Steve, the owner/driver rented us one of Phil Strudwick's Camaros, an instructor, and a day at Shannonville to drive it. Bob (another crew dog) and myself flew to Shannonville and spent the day driving this beast! It was eye-opening, and I think gave us valuable insight as to just what is happening inside the race car when it is on the track, something we can't always glean from the pits. I have put the pictures from our day online for your viewing pleasure.