... tomorrow (Sunday) from Mid-Ohio. Same day coverage, just time delayed. 1pm EDT, I believe.

My team, #99 Tiger Racing, qualified 5th today just .2 seconds behind Heinricy in the 3rd CTS-V.

Go Team.

Here's me getting the driver ready at the Sebring race this past March



Speed World Challenge

Is that Tom Oates? I got to meet him when my friend Don Campbell was running a Vette in World Challenge last year at Sears Point. Really nice guy, and I like the tiger theme!

yep, that's Tom. The whole crew is a great bunch.

Here's another shot of us from Sebring. That's Tim coming in from the other side of the car.

Too cool! I wish you guys luck!!!

Getting the driver ready?

Looks like you have your hands on your hips checking out the babe next to the hauler.

I didn't even notice the "babe" (grrr...) until you mentioned that. By the way Mitch, I think Mike is the bearded man kneeling down.

Good luck Tiger Team, I'll be watching you guys on tape later tomorrow.

...just noticed the 3-D effect on the stripes. Schweet.

I noticed that air brushing as well ... or is that a graphic?

Whatever it is it's damned nice for a privateer race team. Looks great.

COOL! Looks like Tom has STEPPED IT UP BIG TIME THIS YEAR!!!

...good luck!....and tell him NOT to pull a Gigliotti on the start!

... that's young Adam checkin out the babe. He attends Penn State but is able to make it to most races. He's a good kid.

Tom does alright as a priveteer. He owns Tom Oates Chevrolet in Chester Springs, PA and has been racing since the early 90's. Even ran Motorola Cup with Heinricy at Daytona back in 95/96?

Thanx for the support, I'm hoping they do well today, too. Being 'Rookie of the Year' last year, he's working his way up this year, learning the new car. Tom knows this track fairly well, as he's spent some time on the Podium here during the Runoffs.

Well, it went OK until he and Culver gathered it up.

How 'bout that Heinrocket in that 3rd CTS-V?

Congrats to all the finishers.

It was a great race. I went through several rolls of film (but am without a slide scanner for the moment). I should pick them up tomorrow.

Mike, I asked someone on the team, if you made it this week, one of the guys told me that you couldn't make it (but said you called him this morning...not sure who I spoke to, but you may know).

It was an OK race ... not a lot of passing ...

It was comforting to know that those pesky Porsche cars get in other people's way as well.
I bet Tom was biting the steering wheel ...

Gigliotti has his splitter and nose knocked off in the turn one incident. So, everytime he got up on Archer's tail, the car picked up a HUGE push. At least he was in front of thaose Caddys ....

Notice the Saleen walk away from the Caddy on a straight? Come on ... sandbagging at it's most obvious.

....gotta agree with you there....OK race....not much going on.....

Can't believe that you believe the Caddy's are still sandbagging though... ....they BARELY qualified in the top 10....with a PROPERY classed car AND their budget, they should be TOP 5 EVERY WEEKEND! Lou himself OUTDRAGGED ANGELLELI ON THE RESTART and made him look like he was in my LOWLY ITE car! Just what do you think their PLAN is????? Lose EVERY race while Audi wins again and again and bring in 15 ringers on the last race????

It is the Audi's that I CONTINUE to be dissappointed with...they have been champion for a billion years in a row, and CONTINUE TO DOMINATE EVERY RACE THIS YEAR, and we STILL we hear about Caddy!

WHEN WILL WE SEE SOMEONE ADDRESS AUDI?????

I enjoyed the race...except I am sick of those Audi's.

Tom Oates was doing very well until the mishap.

I wondered if Lou got damage in the turn one banging.

i was really hoping for Heinrocket to at least split the Audis up... oh well, there are still plenty of races left

I agree, good race. Axoid and I watched from above the pits. It was funny to see all the Audi and Caddy team guys watching the monitors.

Randy ... I call it a martyr ... come on, getting out run down the long straight by a Saleen?

Sorry, I don't buy it ...

I rev my car tighter than that ... and I'm an old man!

Kevin, that would of been Chris, the crew chief and car builder.

The other Caddies had the weight penalties, Heinricy didn't, that's why the poduim finish. John has such a history at this track and as a GM engineer, several tons of seat time. He engineered on the F-Bodies, the C4 & 5 & (probably) 6, the CTS-V's and so much more. He and Jon Moss got a lot done for GM over the years.
And it was great to see John Young pull on the straights. He's a bit gun shy at times that's why he got shoved out of the way in 'Thunder Valley'.

Next race is Infineon July 17th, then Portland.

Young's car pulling the caddy was jaw dropping after seeing them at Sebring and LRP ...

300lbs can't swing things THAT much, can it? It was TOO much ...

Ahhh...younger guy, small build, light hair?

I've got a few pics of LG's car after the race. It was missing some of the door, the front end and such. I didn't see why, but it has a "doughnut" on the drivers door and some door skin missing. I stopped by the pits, but Lou had just left to catch a flight. One of these days I'll meet him....maybe.

Mitch...

UNLIKE the minor 100 lb. weight penalty to the Audis, Caddy got hit WITH MUCH MORE AFTER SEBRING....not only did they gain the weight, they lost 30% of their throttle body and had a MUCH LOWER rev limiter put on, and had to run a MUCH LESS efficient tranny.....that WOULD EASILY explain why you think you can OUTREV them....you PROBABLY CAN! Try putting on a 30mm throttle body next track day and lets see how your times do....

I think the move against Caddy at the time was right, but I think it is OBVIOUS at this point it has SEVERELY hampered their dominance! I mean a Caddy WITH NO REWARDS WEIGHT CAN'T TOUCH AUDI's WITH TWO RACES OF PODIUM FINISHES...Heinracy IS A GREAT DRIVER! The Audi's had no problem with him he DROVE THE CRAP out of the car to reach them at the end when their tires died....

THE QUESTION IS....WHY USE KID GLOVES ON THE AUDI...WHY NOT HAMMER THEM LIKE THE CADDY....AT LEAST THEN ALL THE PRIVATEERS WILL BE ABLE TO ANNOUNCE OPEN SEASON ON FACTORY TEAMS.....it will be THE END of the factory teams if they get beat with their big budgets, but maybe that is what some people want....

I also don't get how anybody can think Caddy would sandbag to a 9th and 10th place finish????? Can you explain that to me???? If Culver, Oates and a few others hadn't had "issues" the Caddies would have been 9-10.....

...oh, and the Saleen has the most straightaway speed OF ANY SPEED GT CAR according to insiders...

Audi was banned (the highest award for technical achievement) from road racing in some classes many years ago.....Hmmmm. (not that I want them to leave, competition is good, maybe add some equality)

OK a restirctor on the TB, lowered the rev limiter to "just " 7K and made them run a more conventional trans ... OK

Why are the Audi's REQUIRED to run a production based engine? Why are the Vettes REQUIRED to run a production based engine? Whay are the Vipers REQUIRED to run a productiona based engine?

When was the last time you saw a Caddy CTS with a 427 C5R motor? or anything that resembled it?

Given the Northstar base and the barn door aero of a CTS, Caddy wouldn't stand a chance. GM bought the chance and there are a lot of SCCA tech officials driving new "evaluation" CTSs.

Now, why are Audi's handled with kid gloves? Speed "World" Challenge ... no other import manufacturer supports for the series. There is a token Porsche ... but he's a privateer ...

It's business ...not racing. I don't like it, but I like even less the blind eye SCCA seemingly give a select few.

I agree with you there. Give Caddy the Z06 (LS6) drivetrain and tell them to "suck it up". I'm suprised to see GM abandon the 'Vette (that it has worked so hard to protect all these years) for the Caddy....

But, I think those Caddys are the ugliest things on the road (the whole product line). So, maybe I'm biased...

Anyone else notice to lone privateer GTO?

Stu Hayner? I drove a GTO ... I can understand why they are an "also ran" ...

Hi GUys,


It was a really fun race, with my "LG Pro Long Tube Special" Corvette Z06. (shameless plug)

My qualifying went bad when my 3 disc clutch gave up on the second lap and started slipping. So I just parked it and took a 10th place qualifying spot. The good thing was that I got a good start and went into turn 1 without losing a spot.

At the start, I got hit in the left door in turn one by a BMW that got hit by Phil Mclure. My car turned sidways and I was hit again on the left front by another car and straightened me out. At least I was able to keep going.

The damage took away some of my front downforce so the car was a little "Pushy" all race. Even though, I was able to get a run out of turn 1 on Angelelli. He blocked me for 3 for 3 laps but I finally got my nose in on his right rear bumper and made room for my self. I passed him entering turn 2 on the right along the grass. There was just enough room for my car and a sheet of paper but we pulled it off. Then we got a yellow flag for the smoking Viper.

On the restart I worked on the McCann Viper's mirrors until he made a mistake, then I got past him. There is no way that a C5 can pass the Viper on the strait unless they mess up the corner before. The Corvette does seem to work better in the corners than the Vipers but they have 8 liters, and that is hard to pass.

Then I set my sights on the next two cars. Oat's Corvette and a Porsche. I was catching them by nearly a second a lap and I think that info was passed on to the drivers. The C5 made a low percentage pass attempt and they hit each other and spun. This put me in 5th chasing the Viper of Tommy Archer.

I was catching him by 1/2 sec per lap, I set the 4th fastest time of the race, at a 1:29.805, ( the fastest lap of the race was a 1:29.657) but as they say, Catching and passing are two different things. I made some gallant tries but could not pull it off without crashing us both. So I settled for a 5th place.

All the while I had Angelelli just 2 seconds behind me, just waiting for me to make a mistake.

As for the Caddy and Audi domination? Well put it this way. There has not been another make of car on the podium all season. Were it not for the Audi, holding back and controlling the pace to just finish ahead of the Caddy, then the Caddy with no rewards weight of Heinricy would have left the field. So there is still work for SCCA to do to get the cars equal at their base weight, then the rewards weight will do it's job and let any make car able to win on any day. That is their goal, and their mission.

I could only pull 1 car length on the Caddy of Angelelli who had 120 pounds of rewards weight. that is like carrying your girlfriend with you during the race, and they were still FAST.

The Corvette is supposed to be the "Baseline". So we have to wait for the SCCA to pull the Caddy and Audi down to our level or let us do some work to the Corvette to step up our performance. Until then, we will do what we can to stay up in the fight.

Next race is Sears point on July 18th. Hope to see some of you there.

Good to see the interest in the Speed World Challenge here.

Thanks,
Lou Gigliotti LGM

Lou, glad to have you drop in. It's always nice to hear what happened from the guy behind the wheel.

I stopped by the pits to say hello and just missed you. That hit you took in the door looked like a rough one (by looking at the car). Glad to see that the damage had "minimal" impact on the performance of your Corvette.

There is definately interest in the WC cars, at least around here.

Randy, I just read your posts on SCCAProracing.
I now understand your rant better ...

Tough break for the Tom Oates ...

Glad Lou finally got a whole race in ... although the the start could've been better ...
Were you talking with Louis or something?

Why were the Vette's chosen as a baseline? Just lucky?

Also Kevin Chambers was doing OK ... till he decided to park and watch for a lap or 2 ...

Well i missed the race (maybe it is time for cable TV)

Lou, are you comign to the PIR race in a few weeks, being as i don't have cable, and i hardly watch TV, my best chance to get to see you and the vette run, would be at PIR.

Mike, Kevin Mixon (Tom's friend from T1) here glad to meet you this weekend. Too bad about Culver. Tom was holding his own out there. Good showing for the team. Angela was hot!

Yes,
We will be at Sears and PIR next month. Hope to see you there.

The vette was chosen as the baseline just because they wanted that level of performance, and they felt it was not going to be too hard to bring the other cars down to the level of the C5.

In reality, trying to manage a 4 wheel drive twin turbo, with adjustable torque bias front to rear, is harder than they thought. And with the Caddy, they let them go too far in the beginning with a C5R block and destroked crank with a 90mm tb and big manifold, the engine was moved back 12" from the stock location and the transmission is 22" back from stock. That is why the Cadillac is so hard to make equal since it is not in line with the other cars in the class. and add to that a 4 wheel drive twin Turbo Audi and you have a mess on your hands at SCCA.

At any rate, we are going racing and we will do whatever we can to make it interesting.

Thanks
Lou G

I'm hoping to make Sears and watch you guys. Any way you could swing a pit pass or two for the local gal here? PM me if at all possible.

....now THERE you have something I can agree with Mitch....Caddy should have NEVER been given so much, so soon as they were in developing that car....in fact, I was on the Speedvision website bitching about this very issue when I FIRST saw the photos back in Nov/Dec last year.....They SHOULD be running production based stuff just like everyone else!

But THAT was not your point....your point was Caddy sandbagging...I think that is a little far flung. I also don't get the conspiracy theorist comments from all the folks who have all SCCA driving new Caddies....STILL WAITING FOR MINE ...I think the SCCA got HOODWINKED good by REALLY WANTING CADDY IN THE SERIES, and bent over backward for them, but WHAT did Caddy PAY FOR???? Upper mid pack finishes???

Caddy got one over on the SCCA FOR SURE....and the car was NOT built the way it should have been....BUT, they were HAMMERED after the Sebring race, and HAVE NOT been the same since. My question is Audi is OUTPERFORMING EVERYONE....much less the Caddies....WHY HASN"T THE HAMMER COME OUT ON THEM....and if SCCA is worried about losing the "world" title....how about AT LEAST a rubber mallet????

Hey Lou,

Thanks for dropin' by and lettin' us know what is up!

I ALREADY have my passes for the Sears Point race.....if only my lowly ITE car could run with you guys and me not get run over and killed in the process...

See you there!

Lou, Good strong run! I thought you were going to get Archer. Any lap times? It looked like you had him every lap and he was holding you up a bit.

I agree with most of what's being said about the politics of WC racing... I'm skeptical on the sandbagging but as we all know, if you don't get caught it's not cheating. Tho sandbagging, as the Caddies or Audi's both may be doing, isn't directly cheating it gives the same impact. It's just not quite as ethical in a racer perspective(not that cheating is either but i'd rather be caught cheating than sandbagging).Either way it's not something that will continue for more than a race or two max I would assume. What driver would have fun doing that?!?!

On the brighter side, good run Lou, even with that turn 1 entanglement you got trapped into! Tell them speedvision bastards to pan the camera once awhile! Sure would be nice to see what's happening outside of the top 3. Lastly Lou, you need to get one of those cockpit cams for broadcast going in your LG C5R(I can't rmember the rest of your plug right now)!!! That beast has one mean soundin motor!

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
SCCA SPEED GT Championship Round Three Results with fast lap

Fn St # Driver/Hometown Sponsor/Car Pt Purse Lp Gap Fast Time Speed
1 1 2 Michael Galati/N. Olmsted/OH Audi Certified Pre-Owned/Audi RS 6 Comp 34 13000 24 1:29.801 90.52


2 2 1 Randy Pobst/Gainesville/GA Audi Certified Pre-Owned/Audi RS 6 Comp 28 7700 24 -0.249 1:29.647 90.68

3 4 12 John Heinricy/Holly/MI Cadillac/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose/Cadillac CTS-V 26 3000 24 -0.777 1:29.672 90.65

4 7 22 Tommy Archer/Duluth/MN 3R-Racing/c3controls/Viper CompCoupe 23 2800 24 -8.764 1:30.470 89.85

5 10 28 Lou Gigliotti/Dallas/TX LG Pro Long Tube Header/Corvette Z06 21 1700 24 -10.412 1:29.805 90.52

6 9 16 Max Angelelli/Monte Carlo/MC Cadillac/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose/Cadillac CTS-V 20 1400 24 -12.467 1:30.354 89.97

7 12 8 Andy Pilgrim/Delray Beach/FL Cadillac/Mobil 1/Motorola/Bose/Cadillac CTS-V 19 1800 24 -20.815 1:30.626 89.70

8 16 44 John Young/Woodside/CA Apex Racing/Saleen SR 18 1200 24 -22.607 1:30.054 90.27

9 6 82 Mike McCann®/Canton/OH McCann Plastics/Viper CompCoupe 17 2100 24 -30.888 1:30.678 89.64

10 18 92 Stan Wilson®/Mt. Juliet/TN Carbotech/Viper CompCoupe 16 2000 24 -31.333 1:31.479 88.86

11 15 34 Tony Gaples/Lake Forest/IL Black Dog Racing/Corvette Z06 15 800 24 -34.377 1:31.459 88.88

12 5 99 Thomas Oates/Chester Springs/PA Tiger Racing/Corvette Z06 15 700 24 -34.926 1:30.530 89.79

13 14 83 Jim McCann®/Canton/OH McCann Plastics/Viper CompCoupe 13 600 24 -49.844 1:32.500 87.88

14 3 14 Michael Culver/Westport/CT First Racing/Porsche 911 Cup 13 650 24 -50.112 1:30.166 90.15

15 25 5 Stu Hayner/Yorba Linda/CA GMAC Cmrl Fin/Trenton Forging/Pontiac GTO 11 600 24 -56.933 1:32.814
87.58

16 17 65 Jon Groom/Boonton/NJ AXA/Porsche 911 Cup 10 450 24 -58.235 1:31.226 89.11

17 23 81 Sonny Whelen®/Old Saybrook/CT Whelen Engineering/Dodge Viper 9 400 24 -58.63 1:32.692
87.70

18 20 56 Rich Marziale®/Tempe/AZ /Viper CompCoupe 8 375 24 -1:02.68 1:32.627 87.76

19 28 53 Mike Hartley®/Cherry Hill/NJ Dezigns Inc./Dodge Viper GTS 7 350 24 -1:12.64 1:34.102 86.38

20 27 51 Lenny Diller®/Garden City/NY King Cole Audio Visual/Viper CompCoupe 6 300 24 -1:13.037 1:33.445 86.99

21 29 76 John Bourassa/Jupiter Island/FL TeamHurricane Rcng/DiamondStar/Porsche 911 T 5 24 -1:19.504 1:33.676 86.78

22 19 6 Leighton Reese/Minnetonka/MN Banner Engineering/Corvette Z06 4 24 -1:23.948 1:32.888 87.51

23 33 02 Adel Elsayed/Boonton/NJ Brisar Delvco/Automoblox/Viper CompCoupe 3 23 -1 laps 1:35.325 85.274

24 24 67 Kevin Chambers/Menlo Park/CA Portola Valley Training Center/Corvette Z06 2 20 -4 laps 1:32.111 88.250

25 8 13 Bob Woodhouse®/Blair/NE Woodhouse Auto Family/Viper CompCoupe 1 19 -5 laps 1:31.361 88.974

26 32 10 Carol Hollfelder/Covina/CA Ford Advanced Powertrain/Ford Mustang 14 Mech. 1:35.009 85.558

27 30 9 Adam Malmquist®/Chicago/IL Pepsi Cola/Douog Rippie Mtrspt/Corvette 12 Mech. 1:33.721 86.734

28 21 33 Tim Wiens/Westminster/CO 1st Interstate Inns/3R-Racing/Viper CompCoupe 4 Engine 1:32.641 87.745

29 22 21 Jameson Riley/Wilton/CT McMillin Mtsprts/Riley Mtsprts/BMW M3 4 Mech. 1:32.356 88.016

30 31 03 Warren Diller®/Garden City/NY Kin Cole Audio Visual/Dodge ViperComp 3 Mech. 1:35.137
85.443

31 13 73 Phil McClure/Floris/IA Aggregate Industries/3R-Racing/Corvette Z06 1 Crash no time

32 11 20 Jeff McMillin/Erie/PA JJ's Snacks/Red Line Oil/BMW M3 0 Wheel no time

33 26 31 Keith Videtto®/San Ramon/CA KEV Inc./LG Por Long Tube Hdrs/Corvette Z06 0 Mech. no time

Updated - 06/27/2004

We do agree ... Caddy was given too much and Audi is hands off ... why? I dunno ....

Randy, I guess my issue about "sandbagging" boils down to a couple of points ...

I believe Cadillac had 2 major objectives for the 2004 season ... win the first race they fielded cars and win the season manufacturer's championship. Fielding a 3rd car got them another podium (more manufacturer's points and running mid pack will get some rewards points relief. Like any other team, they are reading the rules and using the rules to their advantage.

I also believe, like most every other series, a certain amount of drama draws attention. And I think the SCCA is playing the fans both on the track and off track battle. In any drama, there are those who pull for the good guys and those who cheer the bad guys. I'm not saying either side (pro caddy/Audi or anti-caddy/audi) is the good guy or the bad guy ... just making a distinction between 2 camps. And that distinction is what will draw media coverage, which equates to attendance and ratings. Looking back at the race, how much TV coverage did Stu get for coming up so far in the standings? How much coverage did Archer/Gigliotti get for their battle? Very, very little ... the Audis and the Caddys stole the show ... even from 9th and 10th place, they got airtime. And being in the media biz, it's all about airtime, brother ... while listening to a scanner one time, I heard Ken Schrader ask if he should blow up the motor, in the closing laps of a Texas race, so Skoal could get a little more air time.

It happens ...

AHA!

Another thing we can agree on....bad TV coverage focusing on just a few cars!

But I WILL NEVER believe that the Caddys are stragizing (sp/word?) to finish 5th through 10th each and every race ALL THE WHILE AUDI FINISHES 1-2 with the idea that they can win ANYTHING CLOSE to a championship this way.....got some confused GM people if they are thinking this way....'course it wouldn't be THE FIRST time GM engineers got confused....

Just remember, if the Audi gets 75 pounds and Caddy takes off 15, that is a 90 pound swing. Then if the Audi get some adjustments for blowing the field away, then you can add that to the mix. Then if Caddy lobbys enough they might get some weight off. The bottom line is that the Caddy will be able to control the outcome for the rest of the season.

Sounds pretty smart to me.

LG

We shall see. I just don't buy conspiracy theories in general...until proven that is! For all I know YOU ARE SANDBAGGING LOU...you qualified outside pole at Sebring didn't ya.....hmmmmmm... Just kidding!

I agree with THE WORLD that the Caddies were GIVEN EVERYTHING THEY ASKED FOR AND MORE to start the season....AND, that this was wrong!!! But I just don't see them TRYING to finish in 5th through 10th! They got magazine ads to print to justify all that money they are spending....magazine ads ONLY LOOK GOOD with podium finishes!

IF THEY ARE SANDBAGGING, who REALLY CARES if they choose to spend $9 MILLION to finish mid pack....I say DAMN GM....that's $9 Million they COULD have spent on a new Camaro design.... I will wait to see them BLOW BY the nearest competitor with ease like they did at Sebring before I jump on their case again....now Audi....hmmmmm....they get NONE of my sympathy....they aren't even a GM product!



Keep up the good work Lou!

... wait 'til everyone gets to Road America and has the Viper's to contend with.

Way to keep everything in perspective, Mike ...

Randy, you are obviously not a child of the 60s ...

I was BORN In the 60's....THAT counts doesn't it????




Seriously, I was right in line with you all about the Caddies and how much was wrong on how they were brought into the series. I just can't stand in line when we talk of BIG $$$ intentionally setting the rev limiters down 1000 RPM and throwin' races BADLY...so that they can STORM back in the final races and take the crown from Audi who, AT THIS POINT, looks to smoke their way to 1-2 EVERY race! If for no other reason that Caddy HAS TO SEE THAT Audi is DOMINATING.....we can.....so don't you think they would be looking to finish in 3rd through 5th instead of STRUGGLING to make the top ten??? They are smart enough to know they will need a few more points.....

I would BE SO VERY HAPPY to see Vette's and Viper's on the podium the next race!

No ... it doesn't. You were heavy into disco, I can tell. "It's all good, baaabeee."



I don't suppose you believe Ferrari team orders to let Micheal win, either ... even though it was plain as day, Barachello lifted and Schumacher was embarrassed.

Reubens foot slipped and Michael hit that 500 shot of nitrous ...

It's all good, baaaabeee ...

I'm gonna get 5 rockers out of this thread, yet!

LOL ... Randy has over 10% of all posts on this board today.

What do you do for a living again????

You post whore!!