Speed Post by D: Lone Star Le Mans Race Being Aired Today

The Lone Star Le Mans road race at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas is airing right now on Fox Sports.  This race is in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship series.  The Corvette Racing team, driving two C7.R racecars, is the overall points leader in the GTLM class for the season to date.

Random Photo of the Month: Ron Fellows Z06 Corvette

 

 

 

The Ron Fellows Z06 Corvette

 

This is a collector edition car with a long name.  Officially, it's called the Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Championship Edition Z06 Corvette, or something like that.  Rarely is the entire name used in daily conversation.  No matter. The car is still as amazing as they come. 

 

This special Corvette is a tribute to Ron Fellows, driver for Corvette Racing in the GT1 class in the American LeMans series.  His association with Corvette Racing started in 1998 with the development of the C5-R race car.  His successful driving career included special recognition by fans as the most popular driver in ALMS for 4 consecutive years from 2004 to 2007.  Fellows has been connected to Corvette ever since, continuing as a technical expert  following his peak years as a driver. 

 

Offered for the 2007 model year, the car is a collector's dream.  Only 399 of these cars were produced with only 300 sold in the US.  Special features include a rear spoiler, a unique windshield banner, a fully-appointed red leather interior, and flashy chrome wheels.  The exterior is a striking Arctic White color with Victory Red hash stripes on the front fender.  The hash stripes include a maple leaf as a tribe to Ron's Canadian heritage.  Best of all, the console of each car is hand numbered and signed by Ron Fellows himself. 

 

Nice car!

NCM Motorsports Park

Video (link) from the National Corvette Museum describing the new motorsports park being constructed across the freeway from the museum.

I'm looking forward to seeing this once it's done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo1iZvbDk0Q

Speed Post by D: Corvettes Win at Laguna Beach

Corvettes placed first and second at Laguna Beach in the ALMS series this weekend.  This is the second consecutive win in the GT class by Corvette in the series by the #4 car for Corvette Racing.  Congrats Corvette!

See more at
http://www.alms.com/articles/what-day-monterey-corvette-wins-gt-steals-show

Speed Post by D: The Rolex 24 at Daytona

I'm announcing "Speed Post by D" as a new feature in My Corvette Blog.  "D" is my Better Half.  He's a Corvette Racing fan and a big time TV watcher.  These posts will feature updates and notices of various Corvette appearances in races, TV shows, and other media events.

This first post is a heads up that the Corvettes are racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona today and tomorrow (a 24-hour event).  This race is in the Grand-Am series and is being televised on the Speed channel.  Live audio is also available on line on the Grand-AM Road Racing website at http://www.grand-am.com/
Continuous updates of the standings are also posted on this site (click LIVE NOW).

Corvette Racing Greats: Meeting Four Legendary Racecar Drivers

I had the rare opportunity to meet four Corvette Racing celebrities this past summer at the Road America ALMS race at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  Friends and I met Johnny O'Connell, Tommy Milner, Ron Fellows, and Bob Bondurant.  What a treat!

Johnny O'Connell signing autographs at a Corvette Racing seminar

Johnny O'Connell
Johnny O'Connell was Corvette Racing's most prolific driver winning more races for Corvette than any other driver during his 10-year career.  He has a record number of Sebring 12-hr class victories (8) and  38 career ALMS wins.  Johnny recently moved from Corvette Racing to the newly-formed Cadillac Racing Team in 2011 as the leading full-time driver for the new team.

Race car driver Tommy Milner meeting fans during the pre-race festivities.

Tommy Milner
Tommy Milner is the newest driver on the Corvette Racing Team starting his first full year on the ALMS circuit in 2011.  Tommy is taking the place of Johnny O'Connell in the #3 car.

Ron Fellows answering fan questions at the Corvette tent before the ALMS race.

Ron Fellows
Legendary driver Ron Fellows has retired from a full racing schedule with Corvette, although he still races in selected events.  Ron has the distnction of winning the fan-favorite ALMS Popular Driver Award for 4 consecutive years from 2004 to 2007 in addition to winning numerous ALMS races and championships.  Currently, Ron is an Ambassador and Technical Advisor to the Corvette Racing Team.

Bob Bondurant and his wife Patricia meeting fans and signing autographs.

Bob Bondurant
Bob Bondurant was a racecar driver of Corvettes and Shelby Cobras in the 1960s.  However, Bob is best known as the founder and owner of the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Arizona that utilizes Grand Sport and ZR1 Corvettes as training vehicles.  Bob has trained several famous actors for racing movie roles over the years including James Garner, Clint Eastwood, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen, Tom Cruise, and Nicholas Cage.  That's cool.

A Johnny O'Connell autograph on a promotional C6.R Racing brochure.

Photo Gallery: A Weekend at the Races

Welcome to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin!  These photos are from the ALMS race weekend that was held in August 2011. 

Corvette Racing at Road America: Aug 18-21

The Corvette Racing Team will be competing in the ALMS race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin this weekend.  The weekend caps off with the Corvette World Tribute to 100 Years of Chevrolet on Sunday.

Here's a link to the American Lemans site highlighting the race:  http://americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=news%7C16100

Additional race info is on the Road America site.