Category: Chevrolet

While we all had fun watching the 3.0 CSL Beemers on this side of the pond, the Yankees made their racing with well wide Chervolet Camaros and the like. Both were typical of the aera in which huge sideburns, bellbottom pants and oversize shirt collars where also of supposedly good taste!

There are many things that have to be taken into consideration when building a competitive race car, some more important than others…………………

The priority for any race car is driver comfort and safety. While it is important to have lots of horse power and good brakes in a road racing car such as our Corvette, it is even more important to be sure the driver is comfortable and safe when driving the car. In the photos hereafter I will point out some of the specific items built into our car for the purpose of driver safety and comfort.

In this photo you can see many items specific to the purpose of driver safety and comfort……………..they include,

a removable sterring wheel for quick exit in case of an accident, side impact bars protecting the driver from a side hit from another car, a heat proof shield floor mat keeping the drivers compartment as cool as possible, the two way radio for communication to the pits, note the mounting is within arms length to the driver once strapped into the seat to allow volume control, etc., the red "push to talk" button is mounted on the steering wheel itself eleminating any need to remove a hand from the wheel to communicate to the pit, the dash board is built in a manner that is easy to read for the driver to see at a glance while on the track, the electrial kill switch is within reach of the driver in case of emergency all electrial current can be shut down quickly. These are but a few of the items just in this photo, check out the next photo……………

Perhaps the most important piece of safety equipment on any race car is the fire equipment. Our Corvette is no exception, we have a fire system plumbed to the engine compartment and the driver compartment. Note in the photo the "pin" located just below the panic button, this allows the bottle to remain in the car at all times, the pin is removed when the car hits the track, then replaced when returning to the pits.

Another item seen here is the extra heat and sound pad over the tunnel area. In our Corvette the exhaust pipes run under the floor pan and beside the transmission just below the tunnel, as a result the cockpit can fill with extreme heat, this pad eleminates a vast majority of the excess heat and in turn keeps the driver more comfortable and alert while on the track.

Another item seen here and in our next photo, sometimes taken for granted, is the drivers seat.

Note that the seat if formed to fit the driver and to keep the driver in a comfortable and stable position when in a heavy "G" force corner. When racing such a car as our Corvette there is a tremoundous need to keep the driver in a position centered on the steering wheel to maintain complete control of the car.

It is very important when driving a race car the driver become one with the car, it is impossible to drive the car to a win if the driver is simply "in" the car. He must "be one with the car", know every inch of fender, know when and where he can make a move to pass and when he cannot, he must be able to "feel" the car, impossible if he is sliding in the seat when driving. A good well fitting seat is but one piece of safety equipment but a very important one, great care should be taken when considering the purchase of a race seat. 

There are many good vendors all over the US and Europe for safety equipment, make your selection very carefully when considering safety equipment for your race car. Here are but few of our suppliers for the safety gear seen in these photos ………….

Summit Racing, Racing Electronics, Sparco  

using these links you can get a good idea of what equipment is availble for driver safety and comfort.  

We are scheduled (and excited) to run the upcoming SCCA race in Portland, Oregon on April 18th and 19th with our Corvette. We will give you a full report complete with a few track photos on our return.

Here's to good safe racing, see you around the next corner !

Following the tradition started by our good friend Christophe Schwartz for the Le Mans Classic events, our 2009 Sponsor Party was a success.

On Friday evening we hosted our 2009 Sponsor party in the airplane hanger owned by team driver Jeff Powell. All those in attendance had a good time, got to meet the drivers one on one and had a great chance to see (and hear) the car personally.

Dick explains tire width requirements to one of our guests.

Dorothy and Donna, enjoy a good time at the party.

Special Guest Maddie Pust gets a chance to sit in the 1996 Corvette Race Car, a special treat for "the future race driver". We're always looking for "new talent" !

For those in attendance later on in the afternoon we had a special little treat, a quick run of the car for a couple of laps in front of the hanger. All were impressed with the speed, acceleration capability and braking capacity of the car in such a short distance. We received lots of nice comments on how good the car looked, ran (and how loud it was) and impressive it looks at a distance. 

A good time was had by all in attendance. Final plans were made for the 2009 season, the tracks we will be racing were announced and travel plans were discussed. Looks like we will have a great year this season, a few sponsors announced they will be attending the events to help with the car and suppport our efforts, which is always welcome. It never hurts to have more help there is always something to do in the pits during race weekend so I doubt anyone will find themselves without a job (or two) during race days.

Next up: Our 2009 race schedule – watch this blog for the upcoming schedule.

Our new Corvette race car is really something !

This is its younger cousin in Le Mans:

Now that the racing season in almost upon us here in the Northwest portion of the US, we are getting our new Corvette ready to go. Today we have the sponsor party, I'll update you more next week on that one, and fire up the beast for all of our potential sponsor friends. Ours is a small friendly racing group but the atmosphere is not unlike that of a American Le Mans Series Team once we get to the track, it is all business. The car is fantastic, we were so lucky to find it and buy it this year, this promises to be an exciting year for the Prime Development Group/Dick Pierson Racing Team. More to come !

GM wants to build the eagerly-awaited in Detroit, but is ready to change its plan if the company doesn’t get tax breaks from the city.

The future Volt is a crucial model for the American carmaker and is even the spearhead of a revival by GM itself. Producing the upcoming electric car in Detroit would be a tough message sent to foreign carmakers, but GM isn’t ready to lose money on the future model and has met the recently met with Detroit City Council members to discuss possible tax breaks.

Building the Volt in the US would also GM to improve its brand image at a time when the carmaker closes plants to restructure the business. Beyond the symbol, will the Volt be enough to keep the jobs in the US? Probably not, but GM bets that building the Volt in its hometown will have the same effect as the Prius for Toyota. Boosting the brand image enough to sell more conventional cars.