BK Racing 2005 Wrap-Up

As I write this following our 2005 season, I find myself labeling the various years here at BK Racing.  We first got Lucifer (and created BK Racing, LLC) in 2000, so that would be the “Start Up” year.  2001 was easily the “Learning” season as myself and the crew got to know both the car and how to work with each other, then 2002 would be titled “Discovery” – as in “I discovered I don’t have the budget to run this car at a National level”.  2003 was the “Rebuilding” year as we put the car back together after the throttle stuck at Mid-Ohio, then in retrospect 2004 was the “Wonder” year – as in “I wonder what I’m going to do the rest of my life?”  Given what I know now, 2005 would definitely be the “Transition” year.

While crewing for Chris Ingle at the Moroso National in January I met a land developer from south Florida named Brian Tuttle.  Brian had always been interested in racing, business had been very good over the past couple of years and he wanted information on the various series available.  A month later Brian attended the SCCA drivers’ school at Roebling in Chris’ T-1 Corvette, then BK Racing provided support for him (still in Chris’ car) at the Sebring regional two weeks later.  By that time Brian had placed an order for a Riley-Pontiac Daytona prototype and felt he needed seat time in a more powerful car to prepare for that experience, so he contracted with BK Racing to rent Lucifer (and our support equipment) for three weekends.  On the way to Texas World Speedway on March 30 we stopped by Talladega Grand Prix Raceway to give Brian a chance to drive an all-out GT-1 car prior to taking it out in traffic.  Maybe I made it look too easy as I warmed Lucifer up on the still damp track or perhaps I underestimated the skill it takes to control a 550 hp, 2700 pound car, but the bottom line is Brian lost it coming onto the front straight and backed Lucifer into the front straight pit wall.  I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but that Thursday morning was the last time I’d ever drive Lucifer, the car that launched BK Racing.

The next Tuesday Joe Hooker called and, after apologizing if I thought of him as an ambulance chaser, asked me what I’d take for Lucifer now!  Long story short, after a bit of negotiation Joe & I swapped cars.  He got a National level GT-1 car (in a minor state of disrepair <g>) and I got a running GTA Monte Carlo, some spare parts and a bit of cash.  Joe wants to find out if he has what it takes to run up front at the Runoffs, so he got what he wants.  I’ve often said that GTA makes the most sense financially of all the V-8 classes out there, so now I’d get to find out it what I suspected all along was true.

You can check out the individual event stories in the Results section of our web site, but I can say unequivocally that I’ve learned more about racing in four months of running a GTA car (now known as Cuervo) than I did in four years of driving Lucifer.  The GTA cars are much more equal to each other, which places a premium on race craft rather than using the superior handling and braking of the GT-1 car to pass competitors.  Do I miss the unbridled speed of Lucifer?  Certainly.  But running Cuervo costs about 25% of what it takes to run a GT-1 effort (on a shoestring), so if given a choice between driving and watching (which I did often with Lucifer) I’ll take driving every time!  Sure the performance is down slightly, but it still makes the right noise and will get sideways in a heartbeat (ask me how I know that!) if you’re not careful.  And now that GTA is recognized as a SEDIV class, we can contend for a SARRC championship as well.

We’ve continued to build BK Racing over the years, I’m working again full-time as a programmer (after deciding I was tired of Home Depot, not data processing), I’ve got a great wife, family and group of friends that support me as I pursue these childish dreams of living life at the limit (of traction) and we’ve got a plan to make Cuervo even faster in 2006.  Who could ask for more?

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Last modified: February 02, 2009