Buttonwillow February

After the rain and cold weather of Louisiana it was a pleasure to travel to California to visit our West coast friends. Pre conversations with Dan and Cathy Evert held great hopes for a well attended event. These two are so enthusiastic about the club and offering programs that the members will benefit from is a breath of fresh air! All So-Cal members are lucky to have these two running the ship and I am sure the member-ship will go back to its previous levels and beyond. As an example just look at the club magazine … wow what a beautiful piece! Enough of that on to the what we did there. The weather was sky blue and beautiful, considering it was 1 below zero at home! I love Buttonwillow! This track offers it all the teaching tools we are looking for. Safe track (if you listen), off camber, decreasing radius, banked corners, blind corners, hill etc. Need I say more? It is awesome! We cannot wait to return again in six weeks. Hope we see more rookies so we can teach them the ropes and safe way to drive! Fourteen drivers showed up for the Rookie class, Vipers, Porsches, Ferrari were there for their first track experience. They all learned a lot and said they shall return and bring their friends. That is what keeps us going… the desire to teach Viper owners and other high performance owners how to drive safely at speed. If you are not sure about driving on the track just come out and meet the Viper Days family and fantastic vendors. We are all here to make you safer and faster!

No Problem Raceway – Belle Rose, LA

Cajun flavor of No Problem Raceway made the first event of the 2007 season special. The usual attendees ar-rived at the track along with Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi rookie owners who came out to learn how to drive their Vipers. Twelve rookies were present and the consensus was that “Wow… I had no idea about the nuisances of my Viper and I thought I knew how to drive.” “Safety and learning how to become ‘one’ with my car was Skip’s goal and by Sunday we were one!” It is extremely rewarding to have a group of rookies listen and learn as this group did. In spite of the rain on Friday and showers on Sunday afternoon, the students were on track and learning about car control in wet conditions. This was our first visit to No Problem Raceway and, it was a great event and all those present had a great time.

Remember Viper Days is a driving school first and foremost. Safety and understanding your high performance car is our goal. Classroom and in car instruction makes this an attainable goal in just one weekend. Returning to the track will solidify the principals you learn and make you a better driver. Viper Club of America has again made Viper Days the “Official Driving School” of the VCA. For that we are again thankful and even more energized to help all VCA club members learn the proper ways to drive their Viper. Thanks again VCA!!

Table of Contents

2007 Schedule 2

Motul Column 3

Corsa Article 4

The Brake Man Fidanza

5

No Problem Results 6

Buttonwillow Re- 7

Koolmat Article 8

StopTech Article 9

NEWSLETTER

Issue 1 2007 No Problem Buttonwillow

February

2

2007 Schedule

Jan – 19-21 No Problem Raceway Belle Rose, LA Feb –2-4 - Button Willow Raceway, CA Mar – 16-18 – Button Willow Raceway, CA Apr – 27-29 Sebring International Raceway, FL May – 21- 22 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Club, OH (Mon & Tues) Jun – 22-24 Texas World Speedway Jul – 13-15 VIR, NC Aug – 10-12 Putnam Park, IN Sep – 7-9 MAM, IA Sep - 28-30 Reno- Fernley, NV Oct – 26-28 - FINALS – Heartland Park, KS

Events by Region

EASTERN REGION

Jan– 19-21 No Problem Raceway, LA Apr – 27-29 Sebring Raceway, FL May – 21-22 Mid Ohio, OH Jun – 22-24 Texas World Speedway, TX Jul – 13-15 VIR, NC Aug – 10-12 Putnam Park, IN Sep – 7-9 Mid America, IA

WESTERN REGION

Jan– 19-21 No Problem Raceway, LA Feb – 2-4 Button Willow Raceway, CA Mar – 16-18 Button Willow Raceway, CA Jun – 22-24 Texas World Speedway, TX Sept – 7-9 Mid America, IA Sept – 28-30 Reno Fernley, NV

Ben Kawata, Lance Kouchi and Anthony Matranga at Buttonwillow in February.

Presenting Sponsor

Skip Thomas presenting the GT-1 winners at No Problem to Eddie Budriss and Ben Keating.

It's not how FAST you drive - it's how you drive FAST

3

Hello Racers! Motul USA appreciates your tremendous support in the 2006 season. To show our gratitude, we are offering the following in 2007:

Event Award

Drawing at EACH Viper Days event for a Motul Care package

Motul Bucks Receive $5 in Motul Bucks for every $100 Motul purchase Redeemable trackside at Viper Days events

Year-End Award A very special award will be presented at the end of this season to the driver

using the most Motul products in 2007.

More Than Just Vipers Motul offers a full line of factory approved lubricants for most vehicles Products are available for purchase and trackside delivery at Viper Days events ALL Motul purchases from trackside vendors count toward Motul Bucks and a

year-end award

Motul Fact Motul engine oils and brake fluids are used in ALL Vipers prepared by Archer Racing Accessories located in Duluth, Minnesota.

Race safe… See you at the track!

Series Sponsors:

4

BEREA, Ohio - CORSA Performance, an official sponsor of The Performance Driving School, is the only high perform-ance exhaust manufacturer to offer better sound, added power and no drone from your vehicle. “Those three items – better sound, added power and no drone are what sets us apart from the competition,” says Jim Browning, Sr., company founder and president, CORSA Per-

formance Exhausts. “It takes a team of scientists, engineers and inventors, along with a big investment in technology to ensure that our high quality stainless steel exhaust systems deliver on this promise.”

CORSA’s high-performance, cat-back exhaust systems for everything from Vipers, Mustangs and Corvettes to Ram Cummins diesels and Escalades, offer vehicle-specific tuning featuring the com-pany’s patented Reflective Sound Cancellation™ (RSC™) technology which delivers a full-bodied per-formance sound at idle and during acceleration, and whisper-quiet cruising at highway speeds. This leading-edge technology creates a “tuned” performance sound without the use of baffles or steel wool packing materials.

In addition to providing superior sound quality, the straight-through, nonrestrictive muffler design of the CORSA exhaust systems means reduced backpressure for your vehicle. This allows the engine to work more efficiently, delivering a significant gain in exhaust flow when compared to the original equip-ment system, in addition to increased horsepower and torque. Check out a CORSA Performance ex-haust system today – the official exhaust supplier for the Performance Racing League – www.corsaperformance.com.

Contingency Sponsors:

Eibach Springs

5

FIDANZA FLYWHEELS PERRY, Ohio – From the earliest days of racing the world’s best engine builders have been gaining ad-vanced acceleration by installing aluminum flywheels to increase performance.

Fidanza, an official sponsor of The Perform-ance Driving School, manufactures aluminum fly-wheels that are CNC machined for the most accurate dimensions and best possible finish. Made from the highest quality 6061 T6 or 2024 T3 aluminum, these extremely strong materials provide superior heat dis-sipation and a substantial reduction in weight.

The friction surface on the flywheel is 1050 steel milled to meet high specifications. Attached with military grade fasteners, the steel friction surface is used to assure compatible use with any type of clutch material. The ring gears, also manufactured from 1050 steel, are heat treated for durability and secured with grade 8 button screws.

As well, Fidanza aluminum flywheels are en-gineered with an exclusive stepped dowel system, which ensures the dowel cannot come out once the clutch is mounted.

Fidanza flywheels are available for the Dodge Viper and most performance vehicles. You can check out the company’s full line of go-fast prod-ucts – including clutches, cam gears and driveshafts – at www.fidanza.com.

BRAKE PADS: GENERAL INFORMATION: Brake pads from "The Brake Man", are the lat-est, most advanced pads available today. These pads have been specially formulated to correct the common problems experienced by the seri-ous racer every day. The two main factors are 1; the stability of the pads provide much greater predictability for the driver, thereby increasing driver confidence, and 2; all pads are far more rotor friendly than those available from our competition. Even with this in mind, it is still important that you understand your par-ticular needs, and select the correct compound by reading the following information. SELECTING THE RIGHT COMPOUND: It is extremely important to understand which compound is the best for your particular application. Read the following section careful to determine which of the following descriptions comes the closest to your needs. If you are still unsure, go to the "Ask The Brake Man" page for further information. The most important item to remember is that our pads are made to work for a specific heat range. We have temperature paints available that can be painted on your rotors to help you determine your operat-ing range. If you have wondered whether you could use a lighter rotor, such as our new "REVOLUTION", to save unsprung weight, these paints used on your present rotors will help us deter-mine whether you are a candidate to try lighter rotors.

Brakeman continued on page 11

6

NO PROBLEM RACEWAY

January 19, 20 & 21, 2007

Unlimited Time Points

Michael Greenberg 1:19.401 307

Kevin Adds 1:25.122 265

Ron Fellwock 1:29.791 241

Comp Coupe Time Points

Jason Alger 1:19.552 309

Curtis Amplatz 1:20.814 308

Steve Loudin 1:22.753 288

Mickey Craig 1:25.112 263

Scott Gerami 1:26.898 248

Super Modified Time Points

Steven Molnar 1:26.111 288

Diane Mould 1:32.450 268

Matt Brennan 1:39.203 240

david ashcraft 1:49.593 220

Modified Time Points

Paul Arcemont 1:36.859 301

Michael Kearns 1:36.978 280

Kaya Eschete 1:48.504 260

Prepared Time Points

Aaron Vanassche 1:24.389 305

Joe Krick 1:24.718 291

Super Stock Time Points

Steven Fair 1:38.265 300

Michelin Challenge Series Winners at No Problem:

Skip Thomas presenting to Mo Khan, Mark Bartlett, Steve Loudin, Aaron Va-nassche, Paul Arcemont, Charlie Wall, Steve Fair,

Jason Alger, Kaya Eschete, Joe Mallett, Jerry Followill

Viper Racing League Winners Skip Thomas presenting to Eddie

Budriss, Ben Ketaing, Michael Greenberg,

Kathy Stout, Jim Stout and Mark Alger.

7

BUTTONWILLOW RACEWAY FEBRUARY

February 2, 3 & 4, 2007

Unlimited Time Points

Michael Greenberg 1:57.860 304

Michael Weinreb 2:10.745 285

Fred Kinder 2:15.241 262

Comp Coupe Time Points

Jason Alger 2:04.078 309

Steve Loudin 2:08.061 288

Scott Gerami 2:08.682 268

Curtis Amplatz 2:08.859 248

Super Modified Time Points

Steven Molnar 2:18.395 308

Rob Bowman 2:19.263 286

Diane Mould 2:21.102 268

David Andrews 2:22.202 243

Cathy Everts 3:04.135 221

Modified Time Points

Terry Rossi 2:07.827 300

David Nagy 2:10.279 286

Steve Johnson 2:12.953 265

Ray Mc Intyre 2:17.620 241

BRAD HOMEN 2:17.876 222

Dan Crotty 2:17.952 200

Michael von Quilich 2:18.208 196

Dave Dolan 2:18.208 180

Robert Petersen 2:22.809 170

ADRIEN SZOSTAK 2:24.881 160

Michel Szostak 2:27.267 150

Bruce Conklin 2:29.311 142

Dan Everts 2:31.878 132

Antonette "Toni" Weinreb 2:43.347 120

Virginia Von Quilich 3:13.956 116

Prepared Time Points

Doug Dye 2:14.263 303

David Green 2:20.791 282

David Bulow 2:20.980 262

Lance Kouchi 2:26.426 242

Super Stock Time Points

Philip Wilson 2:10.568 302

Jim Mace 2:19.423 285

Connie Bogan 2:21.445 264

John R. Fuchs 2:26.071 241

anthony matranga 2:49.706 221

Neon Time Points

Barbara Dickler 3:00.227 304

8

We found out an important piece of information

for the Viper guys…..and gals…..If you want to

buy a New 2007 Viper Comp Coupe from Ev-

ernham….. we found out that you can also buy

as an option a New Koolmat Insulation kit for

the interior and guess what ….we found out

…..you know who????? will install it in the car

at the factory. This is Big!!!!!! Well, one of Tom

Francis’s customers at Evernham Performance

Parts bought a new 2007 Viper and had the kit

installed but when we got the pictures we could

not view them because they were to dark. Tom

sells the Viper Comp Coupe at Evernham Per-

formance Parts in Concord, NC and also sets it

up so you can have the interior kit installed if

you so desire……Boy, this really saves a lot of

work. Because if you get it from the factory it

just has a bare floor, you then must take out the

seats, floor parts etc to install the insulation on

your own….plus you had better be a wee person

cause there is no room too more around…Ask

the Archer’s guys who installs a lot of kits in the

GTS/RT-10 Vipers last year. It isn’t funny but I

tried to install a kit in Ken Hawkins in NC and

it was not easy. We are including a picture of

Ken’s interior so you can get an idea of the

package. At the races John Archer or Bobby

Archer will install the kits. You can also have

someone else install it especially if they are fa-

miliar with the car. Questions on the Comp

Coupe call Evernham Performance Parts in

Concord, see Tom Francis at 704-786-1909 for

details. Wanting to install a kit for the GTS or

RT-10 call John Archer in Minnesota at 218-

727-4806 or Bobby Archer at the New The

Track Store in Texas @ 817-491-0033. Any

other questions call Pat Hill @ 704-662-9099.

Website Sponsor

Buttonwillow February 2 & 3 Rookie Class (L to R): Skip Thomas presenting to: Lance Kouchi, Anthony Ma-

tranga, Virginia von Quilich, Adrien Szostak, Mario Teran, Dave Dolan, Robert Peterson, Toni Weinreb and

Stefan von Bjorn.

Archer Racing Accessories

BJ Motorsports

Health Insurance Services

K & N

Kool Mat

Parts Rack

Speed Promo.com

Supporting Sponsors:

9

STOPTECH ANNOUNCES SIX-PISTON

BALANCED BRAKE UPGRADE FOR

VIPER SRT-10

If you’ve been to a Viper Days event, you’ve no doubt seen 2002 and older Vipers with StopTech four-piston calipers, or SRT-10 Vipers with StopTech’s two-piece AeroRotors. Since the early days of Stop-Tech, it has been part of our mission to offer the best brake solutions for the Viper market. While SRT-10 Vipers now come with good four-piston calipers, the new Corvette Z06 has six-piston calipers stan-dard, and every Porsche 911 can be equipped with six-piston calipers either as standard equipment or as part of an optional brake package. StopTech now offers six-piston caliper upgrades for all Vipers, including the SRT-10 and Competition Coupe, with piston sizes optimized for each platform. The complete systems consist of six-piston ST-60 calipers, street performance brake pads, StopTech’s patented AeroRotor

® two-piece racing brake rotors,

caliper adapter brackets, stainless steel brake lines and all hardware required for a complete installation. Six-piston kits for 2002 and earlier Vipers are available as front-only or four-wheel kits, or as caliper-only upgrades for those who already have a StopTech four-piston ST-40 brake system installed. For the SRT-10 and Competition Coupe, the StopTech caliper upgrade is available either as a complete big brake kit including AeroRotors, or as a caliper and bracket-only upgrade for those who have already purchased the direct replacement AeroRotors or who prefer a more economical aesthetic upgrade using the stock, one-piece discs. StopTech believes this to be the first correctly-balanced, six-piston upgrade for the SRT-10 that is compatible with 18-in. wheels. The standard caliper color is red, to match the Viper SRT-10’s rear calipers. Black (a closer match for early SRT-10s with anodized calipers), silver, yellow, blue and gold are also available if a custom touch is desired. Proven Technology The ST-60 uses StopTech’s patented bolt-in bridge technology, which reinforces the caliper and virtu-ally eliminates distortion, helping make the ST-60 the stiffest six-piston caliper design available in the automotive aftermarket. This is the same caliper design that has been tested for three seasons in SPEED World Challenge GT competition and con-tributed directly to two race victories each year in 2005 and 2006. Attractive Styling The ST-60 caliper’s side contours clearly show the six-piston design, while the tapered ends and en-closed cross bolt features provide a sleek, smooth appearance and a shape that is easy to keep clean, with “chin guards” to protect the bleed screws and crossover tube in speedy wheel changes. The ST-60 caliper’s larger body really stands out behind a nice set of wheels. Balanced Brake Upgrade Performance Benefits The factory brake balance, or distribution of brake torque between front and rear axles, and the resulting stopping distance, is maintained. The delay between brake pedal application and actual deceleration of the vehicle is shortened through increased caliper stiffness and stainless steel brake lines. Together, these features also promote improved brake modulation and greater driver confidence.

StopTech continued on page 8

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Stoptech continued from page 7 Improved Pad Life The ST-60 caliper offers greater pad volume than the SRT-10’s OE four-piston caliper, providing greater pad life under heavy use. Like StopTech’s ST-40 caliper, the ST-60 uses a standard pad shape, which is readily available in more than 15 street performance and race friction compounds. Differential piston sizes and the overall stiffness of StopTech’s caliper design work to eliminate pad taper wear. Titanium pad backing plates are available for extreme applications to reduce heat transfer from the brake pad to the pistons and caliper body. Cooling StopTech’s patented, directional AeroRotor offers more than 60 percent greater cooling airflow than original equipment Viper rotors. This reduces maximum and average operating temperatures, improv-ing pad and rotor life. StopTech’s AeroRotors are manufactured from a proprietary iron alloy that has demonstrated up to twice the crack resistance of a leading competitor’s rotors. The AeroRotor’s two-piece, floating design with 7075 directional billet aluminum hats resists coning at high temperatures, eliminating radial pad taper. Weight Reduction AeroRotors for the SRT-10 are the same size as stock (355x32mm), but remove nine pounds of un-sprung weight and rotational inertia from each front corner, enhancing acceleration, braking, road-holding in bumpy corners, and ride quality. AeroRotors are also available for the rear axle, saving even more weight per corner, for a total reduction of approximately 38 pounds. Quality Manufacturing StopTech's ST-60 caliper is manufactured using a squeeze-forging process. In squeeze forging, pres-sure is applied during cooling, producing beautifully finished, high-density caliper bodies. All finish machining, assembly and testing is performed at StopTech’s facility in California. The same location is used for machining caliper brackets and AeroHats for the two-piece AeroRotors, as well as assem-bly of StopTech’s stainless steel brake lines. Every finished caliper is tested to 2500 psi and every stainless steel brake line to 4500 psi. StopTech is now taking orders for ST-60 upgrades for all Vipers, and expects to be able to ship kits by early March. StopTech products can be purchased either directly or through resellers. We encour-age the patronage of Viper Days sponsors such as Archer Racing Accessories and DC Performance. Stoptech (310) 977-0762 www.stoptech.com

Prepared Class Winners at Button-willow: Sean Gaffney from Dodge presenting to: David Bulow, David

Green and Doug Dye with Skip Thomas also presenting.

11

Compound #1 The characteristics are an extremely high coefficient of friction (approximately .65) at lower tempera-tures, (under 500 degrees Fahrenheit). This will offer superior performance for drag racers both to hold the car on the line, as well as excellent deceleration at the other end of the track for short shut-off areas. Lightweight oval track cars, such as mini-sprints and midgets using steel or cast iron rotors will appreci-ate this pad for its incredible pedal ease, but do not use on extremely hard braking tracks or by drivers whose driving style creates excessive heat from over usage. This pad works excellent cold, with no warm up period required. Not recommended for aluminum rotors, although this pad is far easier an ro-tors than some compounds being touted by other pad manufacturers.

Compound#2 As with all pads for "The Brake Man", this pad has a high, stable coefficient of friction or "mu", (approximately .54), but also can tolerate much higher temperatures than the #1 compound. This com-pound is effective up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit and although it will take the higher temperatures, the wear rate will increase dramatically. The best applications for this pad are: dirt applications up to the point where a driver has glowed the rotors red, asphalt cars where the driver wants and extremely ag-gressive pad and the track conditions are high banked and the cars are lighter, (usually under 2500 pounds). This pad is widely used on sprints, midgets, late model dirt and Northeast Modifieds with fan-tastic results. The longer you use this pad, the more you are impressed with its amazing consistency to deliver balanced braking lap after lap. Compound#3 For those severe duty conditions encountered on all cars being run on hard braking tracks, or cars being driven by drivers whose style demands the most from the brake system, we have developed a pad that can handle temperatures including the glowing red rotor conditions, (1200 degrees Fahrenheit and up). At the same time, the coefficient of friction stays high (approximately .48) and is very consistent through-out the temperature range. If you want true control and to get rid of the "on-off" light switch characteristic found in many pads, then the #3 is perfect for you. This pad is ideal for asphalt applications on all cars including Grand National applications and will yield better, more consistent lap times if you learn that slamming the nose down on corner entry may fell good, but hurts lap times. It also works great on alumi-num rotors , in fact THIS IS THE BEST PAD AVAILABLE TODAY FOR ALUMINUM ROTORS! If you are converting to the lightweight "REVOLUTION" rotor, we recommend you use this pad for the best results and rotor life.

Compound#4 When you take a 3400 pound NASCAR to Martinsville, you can never have enough brake, but more im-portantly, you need the consistency you will get from this compound from "The Brake Man". For heavy cars running longer races than 200 laps at tough tracks, this is the only choice. Although the friction is high (approximately .45), this pad maintains a consistently high friction with very little drop all the way to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. You will get amazing consistency and repeatability, while watching you rotors live 3-5 times longer than they do now with the competition?s. Imagine the money you will save. Here is a simple chart to help you understand the relative characteristics of the pads, and how they affect each other.

The Brake Man article to be continued in the next issue.

The Brake Man continued from

page 5