Final pictures of #6 Sunoco Camaro being loaded on the hauler for Koni Challenge race

[SMPdude]

Just got back in from the race and though I would give you guys a little behind the scenes update.
Yes the car did break. David noticed the clutch was getting slow to release, so he was told to just take it easy and let’s just see how it does. Then we made a pit stop and driver change. Jeff took the wheel and was off. Shortly after that he radio in and stated that the clutch was on the floor and not returning. He ran a couple of laps with no clutch, in his words “you can do that if you know how to drive”, lol. That was great Jeff…… But we told him to bring it in hoping that it would be a quick fix. After opening the hood we saw that all the Clutch/brake fluid was gone, so we took it to the garage, that is when we found something in the bell housing let go. So it was time to park it.
My hat is off to Jeff and David for their excellent job of driving the past few day and being able to really relay back to the crew what they were feeling so that we could make the changes.
To answer one of the questions, yes the rear of the car was very high. That was in an effort to help massive vibration that started off in the shake down run and was still present in the first practice. Raising the rear did help but there is still a lot of research and testing to be done to find and fix that issue. Bill Riley and his guys were there to help out in any way possible, even going to the extra to help provide some spare parts, just in case. Thanks to you Bill and your guys for all your hard work and help.
I believe that after these few issues are address and fixed the 2010 Camaro will be a very completive car next season.
I would also like to say thanks to everyone who stopped by and talked with us and the drivers, you guys, the fans, are what makes this sport so much more fun and interesting.

[Mr Twisty]

Thanks for the update, glad it wasn't more serious. I watched the timing page, did you pit at 1st yellow?

I imagine you got the ford boys sweating over next year... Tell everyone congrats on a very impressive race. It's amazing what you can read from timing and scoring page

Does it look like the team will stay intact for next season?

Bucknum was floating the gears... he da man! Sure couldn't tell there was a problem from his lap times.

[SMPdude]

Yes we did pit in the first caution, but the driver change was not till later. I think we completed about 2:15 of the 4hr race.
We will be discussing the team and such with in the next week or so. We have a GT race in Florida to worry about this week. We are fighting to keep second in there for the year.

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by SMPdude

Yes we did pit in the first caution, but the driver change was not till later. I think we completed about 2:15 of the 4hr race.
We will be discussing the team and such with in the next week or so. We have a GT race in Florida to worry about this week. We are fighting to keep second in there for the year.

I watched the video...You'll have 2 GT Camaro's next year? You definitely need to keep in touch with us here.

[RedHotZ28]

First off, congrats to the whole Stevenson team for a great showing today. It was fantastic to see a new Camaro out there and to get off to such a great start. Can't wait for 2010.

I drove up to VIR in my Z28 for the race today and took over 50 pictures of the race. I also shot a video of the pit demo that occurred right before the race and uploaded it to YouTube.

Here's a few pictures of the car. The full set of 50+ photos from today's race can be found in the Webshots link further down.

Enjoy!











Full album:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/5749...iG?vhost=rides

YouTube pit demo video:

[Mr Twisty]

That's great! Thanks redhot

[ZeeTwentyFour]

Originally Posted by SMPdude

Yes we did pit in the first caution, but the driver change was not till later. I think we completed about 2:15 of the 4hr race.
We will be discussing the team and such with in the next week or so. We have a GT race in Florida to worry about this week. We are fighting to keep second in there for the year.

You will be at Homestead next weekend? Speed TV is actually covering that one, I can't wait to see the camaro in action.

Thanks for all the insider info!

P.S. whats it like actually being at the track to watch one of these races? My dad says its not as nice as lets say a nascar race because you only see the cars as they pass the one turn your sitting near.

[Mr Twisty]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

You will be at Homestead next weekend? Speed TV is actually covering that one, I can't wait to see the camaro in action. .................

I think he was talking about the Pontiac, the Camaro is in GS class... for now

[Doc]

Originally Posted by ZeeTwentyFour

You will be at Homestead next weekend? Speed TV is actually covering that one, I can't wait to see the camaro in action.

Thanks for all the insider info!

P.S. whats it like actually being at the track to watch one of these races? My dad says its not as nice as lets say a nascar race because you only see the cars as they pass the one turn your sitting near.

Road course racing is completely different from Nascar. You can often find "favored" spots around the track where you'll see more than just one turn, or a particularly nice spot where there's good action. Like the end of a short straight that leads into some nice twisties where you can see drivers trying to overtake one another.

You'll see a real combination of driver skills at work on a road course with speed, braking, turns in both directions, multi-apex turns, and all kinds of action with faster cars trying to get around slower, etc. Driver skill makes a huge difference in the final results of a road race. Not to say that Nascar drivers aren't skilled, but the car is far more likely to decide a Nascar race. The driver is most likely to be the biggest factor in a road race. You tend to watch the cars in a Nascar race; in a road race you watch the cars yes, but you really notice driver styles, techniques and skills.

If you ever get a chance to see a good road race, they're worth it. They tend to pull spectators who themselves are performance enthusiasts. They learn by watching the pros.

[2010_5thgen]

Originally Posted by Doc

And you have your face in your palm...why? You're not old enough to remember the Penske/Donohue Z/28 Sunoco Camaro from the Trans Am Championship wins in 69-70. Those were fabulous days with fantastic cars, legendary drivers and great racing. These new generations of muscle cars are finally worthy to carry on those great traditions.

Muscle cars were originally about speed and performance, not hip hop gangster bling bus wheel pimp wagons. Unfortunately due to the ridiculous influence this segment has had, people today actually think making their cars look like a Radio Controlled toy car "looks good". And they spend thousands weakening the very essence of a muscle car; performance and speed.

If you'd been used to seeing road racers and performance cars at the race track you would think the smaller wheels look normal and bus wheels look ridiculous. Take a look at the cars in the photos; see any running huge 20"+ rims? No you don't, because they don't care about looking badass to hip hop gangsters, they want to GO badass like road racers.

The smaller rims are the look of ROAD RACERS which means performance and speed. Now go into the pits at one of these races and start palming your face when you see the cars; see if the pit crews and drivers think you look "badass" doing that and see if any of them come up to you and admit they should really be running 22" rims because stuffing the wheel well is by far more important than winning a race.

so every camaro made has to be passed by you first to see that it meets your criteria? good thing people have their own choice for what they want to do to their cars. your like a camaro Hitler.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by 2010_5thgen

so every camaro made has to be passed by you first to see that it meets your criteria? good thing people have their own choice for what they want to do to their cars. your like a camaro Hitler.

Hitler!!? I'm sorry kid, you're just too young and inexperienced in life to handle this. You had the same lack of maturity in that other thread. Tip: don't serve the ball if you can't handle the return.

I'll say no more.

[SMPdude]

Yes, Stevenson Motorsports will be at Homestead this coming weekend. We will be running the #57 Pontiac GXPR. We are fighting to keep our second place finish for the season.

As long as everything goes as planed we will be running two (2) 2010 Camaro's in the 24hrs at Daytona in January. One car is already at Pratt&Miller getting the new body fitted.

I have to agree that the cars to look odd with the 18's instead of the 20's that come on them. But the car does look better when it is at the correct ride height.

Thanks for the pictures RedHotZ28, they look great, I can't wait to see your video. That is me that you can barely see in the second pic. I am the one leaning on the wall from the pit side. Mike Hoffman and myself were having some serious discussion (RIGHT, LOL). Hoffman is the Crew Chief for our 57 car and was crew chiefing the 6 this past weekend.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by SMPdude

Yes, Stevenson Motorsports will be at Homestead this coming weekend. We will be running the #57 Pontiac GXPR. We are fighting to keep our second place finish for the season.

As long as everything goes as planed we will be running two (2) 2010 Camaro's in the 24hrs at Daytona in January. One car is already at Pratt&Miller getting the new body fitted.

I have to agree that the cars to look odd with the 18's instead of the 20's that come on them. But the car does look better when it is at the correct ride height.

Thanks for the pictures RedHotZ28, they look great, I can't wait to see your video. That is me that you can barely see in the second pic. I am the one leaning on the wall from the pit side. Mike Hoffman and myself were having some serious discussion (RIGHT, LOL). Hoffman is the Crew Chief for our 57 car and was crew chiefing the 6 this past weekend.

I think the car looks absolutely terrific and it's great to see it on the track. You guys are doing a great job!

[Mr Twisty]

I know at least a few of us would appreciate updates on the team... Luck next week