Eric Bartel – “Data”
I first met Eric in the van
pool we shared from Cherokee County to The Home Depot offices in Vinings, then
we soon discovered our mutual interest in racing. Eric helps with the between
event maintenance on the car, but on weekends is primarily responsible for the
data acquisition system that we’ve installed on the car (hence his nickname).
He has also driven Cuervo as various Time Trial events throughout the
southeast and may someday actually get his own car. A zipperhead by trade, he
has an in-depth knowledge of PC’s and electronics and is also the creator of
this website.
Mike Eakin – Crew Chief
Also known as the Purple Frog,
Mike is a college buddy that first introduced me to the concept of the VW
beetle as a performance car back in ’69. Mike’s worked with a number of
professional racing teams over the years, so he brings a great deal of
organizational and mechanical skills to the program. He’s also run a series
of Reynards and a Tatuus in the SCCA Regional and National wars, so he can
relate to “what it’s like out there” and remind me of key things to pay
attention to during the race. Finally, he is the unofficial team photographer
and, as one of the most artistic people I know, takes pictures of things I
never even see.
Mike Harrison – Engines
The proprietor of M & H
Engineering in Columbia, SC, and has competed in GT-1 since it was B
Production (i.e. – he’s older than dirt). Not only does Mike deliver our
engines on time and within budget, he comes to the track to make sure
everything is working the way it’s supposed to and brings a ton of driving
experience to the table. Road racing is Mike’s first love, but he’ll build
whatever you want. He can be reached at (803)794-4434.
Mike Hearn – "The Hearn"
Served as
crew chief and was an essential part of our return to the road racing wars in
1998, took a sabbatical in July 2000, then returned to active duty at the end
of 2001. Mike is an excellent mechanic who also has an engineering
background, plus he’s heavily involved in the Time Trials (formerly Solo I)
scene with his turbo-charged SVO Mustang. A resident of Birmingham, Mike is
an officer of the Alabama Region SCCA
Charlie Johnson –
Consultant
A Corvette buddy with a lot of
experience driving and working on big Detroit iron (he’s owned more than
twenty Corvettes over the years). His engineering background meshes well with
the rest of the team as he keeps up with things that need to be done, double
checks on maintenance functions and generally keeps Mike Eakin’s head from
exploding. Although he’s been less active in the day to day work since moving
to Greensboro, NC, a couple of years ago, Charlie also has a lot of contacts
with former Trans-Am drivers from when they ran Corvette events in Ohio (yeah
– he’s a yankee, but he can’t help that).
Harriett D. Kummer – The Boss
Borrowing
from George Jones, “she’s long and lean, every young man’s dream, and she
turns every head in town”. Smart, independent and striking, she understands
my passion and encourages me to pursue it. On race weekends she monitors race
control and supplies that information to our team commuications, times laps,
reminds the driver to eat and generally brightens up our paddock space. It’s
also perfectly acceptable to wonder why she chooses to hang out with me, I do
it all the time.
Dennis McClintock –
Lead
Mechanic
An addition to the team partway
through the 2001 season, Dennis started out as Team Gopher and quickly worked
his way toward becoming Chief Parts Washer. Dennis is an excellent mechanic
who also has an engineering background (do you sense a pattern developing
here?) and is eager to learn more about racing. He was heavily involved in
the 2002 pre-season freshening, uses the internet to extensively research
casually mentioned topics and is ALMOST as list-oriented as the driver. Also
the perpetual recipient of the team’s “Energizer Bunny Award”, he NEVER sits
still over an entire race weekend (he keeps going, and going, and going…).
Eric Roberts – “Gramps”
Another Corvette buddy, fellow
NCCC competitor and occasional housemate from back in the 70’s. Eric is a
retired government employee with a degree in Advertising & Public Relations
from Florida State and provides much of the promotional materials for the
team. He professional background makes him the obvious choice for team media
relations while his flexible schedule allows him to arrive early most of the
race weekends to help set up the paddock space. Not only does he videotape
sessions to provide a permanent record of the driver’s mistakes , but he also
helps with tires, brakes and the refueling process between sessions.
Tim Schmidt – Consultant
Team manager and transmission
specialist for Phelon Racing in Aiken, SC. Tim is also part of the
Tallahassee connection from the 70’s and brings a tremendous amount of
experience from the professional racing circles (i.e. – he can tell us how the
“real” racers do something). When we’ve got something tricky to fabricate or
need to figure out how to do something, our first call is often to Tim. His
commitments to Phelon keep him from making all our race weekends, but when he
does show up it makes things go a lot smoother.
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