Race Report 2000

Michelin Car and Driver One Lap of America

by Terri Hundertmark

I can’t believe I am back. Another whirlwind week of last minute preparations and details but pinch myself again, I am driving a factory BMW Z3 M coupe for Michelin in the Michelin Car and Driver One Lap of America. My co-driver this year is Racing Publicist Tom Moore who also came to me last minute.

If you remember from last year the only rule in the One Lap is that there are no rules. Competitors are put in a class by the original cost of your car and what ever you bolt on to make it faster or handle better is legal. As in last year, I am driving a stock car. Fortunately, BMW gave me an M Coupe. Changing only the tires, we installed Michelin Pilots, a tire that I am already very familiar with. We also added a Johnson Controls PSI (Pressure Safety Information) system that saved us from two times last year.

Ranked in GT1, the "big boy" class with Dodge Vipers, Corvettes, Porsche’s and Ferrari’s I found myself at a bit of a horsepower disadvantage. I also had no time in the car or time on Gingerman Raceway.

Qualifying yesterday (Saturday) went well. Each of us waited our turn. We lined up for a standing start and made only one flying lap. Lack of trick gismos (Nitros, big V-8’s and twin turbos like other cars) and raw horsepower hurt my lap but the car handled and braked like a dream. I was ranked 15th in class and 44th overall out of 113 cars.

The event started on Sunday morning. This time we had a standing start and four flying laps. I shot off the start and turned four good laps jumping ahead in the standings 10 positions to 34th overall and 14th in class.

The M Coupe is a very predictable and solid handling car. I found it zippy through the tight turns and with my experience on Michelin Pilots and confidence in the tires I was able to push the car. I knew at this point the week would be good.

Our next stint went tough. When we arrived at MIS (Michigan Speedway) it started to rain. We also weren’t allowed to walk the track because time restraints. This made me extremely nervous. By the time I drove the track had mostly dried out but the lack of knowing the track line bothered me. On the start, the tires gripped well and I dove into turn one off of the NASCAR banking into the infield road coarse, which happens to be extremely flat. I had a hard time seeing which way to turn and the angle of each section. The car dealt with this well. I was fairly abrupt with my reactions because I was trying to make each lap the best that I could. I had one big mistake that cost me some time and positions. Going on to the banking in NASCAR turn I missed the shift from 2nd and 3rd and stuck it into 5th instead. The angle of my climb onto the banking wouldn’t allow me to re-shift the car until later into the turn. I was afraid to re-shift at this point; I thought that the car would spin. This little blunder cost me 4 positions overall. Disappointed we drove on to Road Atlanta.

The drive from MIS to Road Atlanta was long but fun. Tom Moore and I convoyed with Billy Edwards (driving instructor at Track Time) in a 2000 Silver Porsche Carrera and Ron Wood (Michelin Marketing) and Jeff Telman (Johnson Controls Marketing) in a 2000 Black Dodge Viper. With our Red BMW Z3 M Coupe we were styling. The cars were decaled for racing and our group sure turned heads.

We pulled into Atlanta at 6:30 am. We had a whopping two hours of sleep and we headed to Road Atlanta. The day started out busy and I was pulled in a million different directions. I had been labeled the track expert since I had competed in the Women’s Global GT Series that is based at Road Atlanta and had turned quite a few laps at this track. I gave lots of track talks to my competitors and gave them clues of how to drive the track fast and safe. After my first run which was very successful and put me back into 34th place, I gave three television interviews about the Michelin One Lap of America. Everyone was extremely interested in the event which is themed in spirit after the famous "Cannonball Run" and they wanted to know all about our extreme adventure. Since Michelins involvement over the last few years, the competition has stepped up and One Lap of America has grown to a highly competitive national event.

My second run also went well but I again had trouble with that 2nd to 3rd shift and decided that it happened when I made fast and tight turns. Since I didn’t have racing seat belts in the car, my body had a tendency to slide in the seat under the high g-force. This was causing me to accidentally slip it into 5th gear instead of 3rd. Another radio interview and we were off to our next checkpoint, the Carolina Rod Shop located 90 miles north of Road Atlanta in Greenville, South Carolina.

A quick pit stop at the Carolina Rod Shop for a log book decal and another TV interview, Tom and I continued our convoy into the night with Billy, Ron and Jeff. Headed to Sebring for tomorrow’s rounds, we are way behind on sleep and starting to be really slap happy. So for now, sweet dreams of fast cars and fun!

--Terri Hundertmark

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