The 16th edition of One Lap started at Michigan International Speedway on May 15th, making stops at Heartland Park in Kansas, Pikes Peak International in Colorado, Texas World Speedway, Memphis Motorsports Park, and Road Atlanta on it’s way to the final track, Waterford Hills in Michigan on the 22nd of May. That adds up to about 5000 miles of transit and 15 timed events in one week.
The McLaren Automotive Group Dodge Neon, driven by Alan Smith and Dale Seeley, returned to defend the Economy Sedan title and to run with the Big Dogs of GT1 and GT2. Equipped with a prototype limited slip differential, the Gerodisc from McLaren, and a nitrous oxide injection system from The Nitrous Works, the Neon placed first in class in every time trial and ET drag race during the week. The Crane HI-6D2 ignition box retarded the timing and kept the spark plugs lit during the 30 second to two minute nitrous pulls without missing a beat.
Rules regarding car preparation in One Lap are simple. The car must have valid registration, insurance, and pass a street car oriented technical inspection. In other words, modifications are unlimited, cars are classified by their original purchase price. Top honors overall went to the Mosler Raptor driven by Kevin Wesley. Kevin battled closely with Shane Lewis in a Lamborghini Diablo and Gary Griffiths in a Porsche 911 Carrera the entire week, the final results dependant on the last event at Waterford Hills.
The transit legs of the event leave little time for eating or sleeping. Support vehicles and tire changes are not allowed during the event. When you find yourself a little too close to a tornado or you and your teammate are both too tired to continue, you start to realize why reliability and strategy are as important as having a really fast car and a hotshoe driver. . Finding time to repair a car and make it to the next track on time are exercises in resourcefulness and luck. The simple procedure of having the alignment adjusted in Topeka meant that our time to sleep in a building in Colorado was cut in half. Imagine what it would take to find and replace a head, radiator, fan, and thermostat in the middle of the night between Tennessee and Atlanta. One team had to do just that and made it to the track on time.
The Neon performed flawlessly throughout the week thanks to the efforts of several companies who worked hard to help us finish the car on time. McLaren Automotive Group installed the Gerodisc limited slip differential and tuned it to our preferences. Nemo Foss located the only performance clutch in the country, purchasing it back from one of his customers for us. Nemo also is responsible for the headwork on the engine. Unorthodox Racing sold us the aluminum flywheel and underdrive pulley that allow the engine to spin up quicker and with less stress than the OEM components. Crane Cams was able to locate the last HI-6D2 ignition box for us with less than a week to spare before the events started. Without the upgraded ignition, we would not have been able to adjust the timing while on the nitrous. Mark Grubelich, real life rocket scientist and very successful nitrous system designer, was called upon to put together a system that would increase horsepower on the stock Neon bottom end for long periods of time without damage. Mark put us in touch with Vic Moore of The Nitrous Works and soon the Neon had 50% more horsepower on demand.
The Michelin One Lap of America is a great way to spend a week of vacation. It is an event that differs from most because of the lack of rules and regulations. You’ll quickly become friends with your competitors, helping each other out and bench racing the day away in the paddock. Bring any car you like, with any level of preparation, and race it heads up against some of the fastest cars and drivers the world has to offer. The spirit of Cannonball lives on in One Lap, but there’s no need to break the speed limits any more. On the tracks it’s a different story. The One Lap motto holds true, "Run with the Big Dogs, or stay on the porch."
Sponsors:
McLaren Automotive Group www.ashacorp.com (734) 455-2331
Crane Cams www.cranecams.com
The Nitrous Works (562) 946-6820 ext. 133
Captain Nemos Neon Performance www.neonperformance.com (954) 584-9623
Unorthodox Racing www.unorthodoxracing.com (516) 253-4909
Modern Performance www.modernperformance.com (713) 954-2051
Shults Dot Com www.shults.com
McAllister Sign and Graphic (716) 671-7270