Race Report 2000

Michelin Car and Driver One Lap of America

by Terri Hundertmark

The last two days are blurred together. Actually it has been just one long one. My co-pilot, Tom Moore and I are running on a grand total of three hours of sleep over the last three nights. If this report sounds silly, it’s probably because it is. Blame the typing errors on I-81 (Pennsylvania), the rutted road from hell.

Tom and I were still convoying with Billy Edwards (Porsche Carrera) and Ron Wood and Jeff Telman (Dodge Viper). We arrived in Sebring, Florida at 6:30 am on Monday morning. We stopped on our way into the track at my friend Diane Ziezenheim’s house for a quick one-hour catnap and shower.

It was hot and muggy out and that one-hour nap didn’t do much. We arrived in time to put our BMW Z3 M Coupe in line for my lap. I already knew the track from racing there only a month before during the 12-hour weekend so I wasn’t nervous. We were only running the back half, the test track that the CART teams test on. I was happy about that because it had short straight-aways and I knew that I could do well against the high horsepower cars.

The car loved the track. I was able to push it hard through the corners and keep up momentum for speed in the straights. I did so well my first session that I caught the car in front of me on the second lap. Unfortunately he was oblivious that I was on his bumper and wouldn’t let me by. I think I still ended up in 34th place.

At lunch I gave media rides in the Panoz GT-RA School 2-Seater. The heat drained me even more but everyone had a great time and was amazed with the power and sound of the Panoz race car.

My second time out was a breeze. I gridded in front of the car that blocked me the session before. I zipped off from my standing start and consistently turned three laps. Not even knowing how we placed, we quickly loaded the car and pushed on to our next check point, Race Rock in Orlando, Florida. We had a window between 6:00 and 7:00 pm to make with TV interviews scheduled.

A typical monster afternoon Florida rain had traffic backed up. We arrived Race Rock in time but found out that our interviews were canceled due to the reporters needing to cover the storm. We weren’t effected other than having to deal with crazy Theme Park traffic. Ron and Jeff’s convertible top leaked a little. I felt sorry for the competitors in the Lister, a topless vintage replica that must have gotten soaked. We pushed on through the night stopping only to get gas and load up on Mountain Dew and Twinkies, every ten year olds dream diet. Me, I am a Sunflower Seed addict with already a bag a day habit. Are you wondering why we hadn’t stopped for real food? Well, there just isn’t time. I would trade that time in line for junk food for a few moments of sleep anytime!

Arriving at Virginia International Raceway at 6:00 am. I jumped out of the car and walked the track. I’d never been there and was amazed at how big it was. We were running the south track first so I walked it first incase I ran out of time. Totally intimidated by the long straights and sharp curves I knew that I needed to be on my toes or risk going off of the track.

My friend Todd Snyder, (Indy Lights Professional Driver) who just moved near VIR stopped by to help me with the line. We went to the North end and walked the track. The north end was just as long with even longer straights.

Intimidated, I lined the M Coupe up and took my run on the south end. The car handled the tight corners very well and I was able to get a fairly good shot off of the last turn. I was uncertain about my performance but pulled out a 34th which pushed us up to 30th overall out of 113 cars.

At lunch I walked the north track again. My sleeplessness was effecting my memory and I wanted to make sure that I had the track as memorized as well as possible. The NASTRUCK broke down on the cool off lap so it delayed my run a little. The day was hot and very humid and I was dying in line. By the time it was my turn, I was out of energy and I just wanted it over. I wanted to do well because a fellow BMW competitor that I had beaten every time out beat me by two seconds on my run on the south track and he was teasing me. (He was the only other competitor that had even run VIR in his own car before but failed to take this in consideration before goading me).

Well, enough! I shot off like a rocket and railed the whole track! Uphill, downhill, the roller coaster, the car took all I gave it. The car and I ruled. With a high five from my co-pilot, we quickly packed the car, showered at the track and boogied down the road. Where am I now? Still in Pennsylvania. Jeff, Ron, Billy, Tom and I are rocking on to Lime Rock, Connecticut for tomorrow. Hope for us a break in traffic and some sleep! My turn to drive so till next report….

--Terri Hundertmark

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