While most motorsport fans think of multi-million dollar speed machines, spectacular crashes and sponsorship dollars, a group of Canmore car enthusiasts have another vision of track glory.
Jeff Taylor, Ken Anderson, Russ Bignold, Scott Bollingall, Gary Roberts and Greg Kupfer are entering the ChumpCar endurance event in Calgary, May 21-22 – a fun racing challenge set for those interested in discovering who has the fastest – and longest lasting – junker car.
The group’s mission: transform a 1995 Dodge Neon with 346,000 kilometres they picked up for $300 on Kijiji, into a machine tough enough to survive 14 hours of intense endurance racing action.
The crew will try and keep the car functioning at peak performance for two seven-hour races, facing off against some of the best clunkers fit for the track at Calgary’s Race City Speedway.
The rules of ChumpCar (definitely not to be confused with Champ Car) racing are simple. Minus the safety cage, a car cannot be valued at more than $500. It must also last through the endurance races and the car that clocks the most laps wins.
Although it’s their first ChumpCar challenge, the Canmore crew is confident in their vehicle’s chances. Picking the proper ChumpCar can prove tricky, but the Canmore crew believe they have a reliable vehicle.
“Overall, the Neon is a good performing vehicle, good in the corners. It should last, " Anderson said.
“The old saying goes, in order to finish first, you have to finish, " Taylor said.
The modifications made to the Neon are substantial. The crew tore out between 500 and 1,000 lbs of weight from the car, installed a roll cage, ripped out miles of wiring, found and installed new racing tires and have the engine in good working order. The crew has worked on the Neon three nights a week for the past three months, and think by now they have a pretty mean machine.
Continuing with a mountain theme, the crew picked up a $6 used snowboard at Victory Thrift which now works as a spoiler on the back of the vehicle. Part of the fun of the race is the elaborately-decorated vehicles.
“We thought we’d keep a mountain theme, " Anderson said. “The board might be the same vintage as the car. "
While it doesn’t look like the fastest car on the block, the crew have tweaked it to ensure it’s no slouch in the power department. And with all of the sound dampening material removed, it sounds like a beast.
“It’s hard to say what the horsepower will be, but it will probably be north of 170, " Anderson said.
Removing that much weight from the car will alter the front and rear steering ratios, however, the cage will stiffen up the body. Stripped down to its core, the body appears flimsy, but Anderson said the key is how well it survives when pushed to its limits.
“To push the car to its maximum ability, and having it last in these conditions is the test, " Anderson said.
The team is still working on strategy, however, the overarching idea is to keep the car running for as long as possible.
“Our first priority was reliability, " Taylor said.
Getting the car to run is obviously only one aspect. Driving is another one. Taylor is an experienced race car driver, accustomed to long races, however, he’s only one of the team’s four drivers. Clocking speeds up to 200 km/h and navigating tight turns for hours at a time can take its toll on the body and mind.
“There’s a lot of skill involved in the driving. It’s not the same as driving around town. I think I’ll learn a lot, " said Bignold, who is one of two rookie drivers on the team. The car will have radio communication between the pit and the driver, and Bignold will attend a race driving seminar in preparation for the event.
Taylor, the most experienced driver, said there isn’t a ton of difference between racing ChumpCars and high performance machines.
“Racing’s racing, " Taylor said.
“This is a team thing and we all have to work together to finish an endurance race. "
The boys got the idea of entering a ChumpCar race after Taylor visited a similar race in Willow Springs, California. Preparing for the Calgary race has been fun, but none of the team members anticipated how much work the race would be.
“How much work we’ve put into getting the car into racing shape has been a surprise, " Anderson said.
“But now it’s about 90 per cent complete, we hope it will last for a few years, " Bignold said.
The team has received a great deal of sponsorship from the local community, from businesses like Banff Fire and Safety and Teepee Town Textures, but still have plenty of prime real estate to sell on the car.
Those interested in seeing their sticker on the ChumpCar can email Taylor at [email protected]
