Morgan wins first Dodge Viper Cup Race of 2011
Newcomer A.J. Morgan, a 21-year-old veteran racer from Darien, Ill., won the first Dodge Viper Cup race of the 2011 season. He averaged 28.5 mph on a drying track, passing Texan Ben Keating prior to the back straight on the final lap at Sebring International Raceway, Sebring Florida on Saturday.
That's not a misprint. The average speed is correct. The race was only four laps long; two under full course yellow after Dave Fiorelli's single-car crash right at the green flag took out the concrete wall just past the starting line. The race was finally stopped while crews repaired the wall, then the field formed for a scored lap behind the pace car leading to the re-start with Morgan at the head of the single file pack.
The starter threw the green and the white flag NASCAR style, and the race came down to one flying lap free-for-all to the checker.
Keating grabbed the lead from Morgan into the first turn, but Morgan jumped on a chance to get him back late in the lap: "I got beside him coming out of ten," said Morgan, a former go kart and midget driver. "We hit some puddles into the next turn and touched. A little rough racing, but I held him off to the end. We have a little work tonight to make sure the left front is OK for tomorrow."
Billy Gropp brought his Dodge Viper ACR-X from sixth to third during the lap while World Challenge vet Jeff Courtney came fourth in the melee.
Fiorelli was unhurt in the crash, but had to convince the rescue crew that the blood on his driving suit came from a small cut earlier in the day in the pits and not from the wall banging. His car was too damaged to run in Sunday's Race 2.
2011 Dodge Viper Cup Round 2 - Sebring
Jeff Courtney survived an event-filled race to take Dodge Viper Cup Race Two this weekend at Sebring International Raceway. He was gridded third for the standing start and fell in behind second fast qualifier A.J. Morgan as pole man Ben Keating got a great start and entered the fast Turn One car lengths ahead of the pack. Keating did not make it through as he carried too much speed and spun off into the tire wall. He was able to back out, taking a few tires with him, and re-joined the field in last place, his passenger door stove in and various parts loosened in the undercarriage.
The course was under a full-course yellow for two laps and when the race went green Courtney out-dragged Morgan, taking a short-lived lead until Morgan got a good run on him out onto the back stretch and went by. Morgan led easily, but for only a couple of laps before losing his clutch. He slowed entering that same back stretch and Courtney went by again.
"At around Bishop's Bend I wanted to go from four to three and it wouldn't go," Said Morgan. "Then I noticed that the clutch pedal was flat on the floor."
Morgan dropped way back as he sorted out clutchless shifting and Billy Gropp's Mopar Dodge Viper inherited second place. Gropp was black-flagged for an alleged yellow flag violation and served a drive-through penalty re-entering the fray in last place. That penalty is under review by race officials, so the finishing order is not yet official.
Morgan got going again but then blew a front tire and was out of the race. By then Courtney had a huge lead on new second place man Todd Nelson. Keating clawed his way back up to third, dragging his undertray behind. Back in the paddock he acted as if he had won the race after an epic drive. Dave Fiorelli drove Keating's back-up car in the race after heavily damaging his own Dodge Viper ACR-X at the start of Race One.
2011 Dodge Viper Cup Round 3 -- New Jersey Motorsports Park
Ben Keating, Jeff Courtney and A.J. Morgan qualified within 4 tenths of each other this morning, setting up a very competitive Dodge Viper Cup Race Presented by Pennzoil this afternoon at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Pole sitter Keating led from the start, closely followed by Courtney and Morgan in a rousing fight almost to the finish. With three laps to go and Courtney pressuring Keating, there was contact and both went off, no fault to either.
"I feel bad for both Ben and our guys as we had a great car and we were battling for 1st and 2nd at the time late in the race," said a disappointed Courtney.
Keating was able to get going again, but had to stop to replace a cut-down tire, putting him a lap down. Morgan managed to avoid the melee and inherit the lead, while Courtney was done for the day.
Morgan finished nearly half a minute clear of second place man Dave Fiorelli, who was in a fight with Michael Von Quilich. They finished three tenths apart. Guest Driver Andy Bell was fourth, just ahead of Billy Gropp, who was charging back from his own problems, including an off-track excursion.
"I've never sat in a Dodge Viper before," said Bell, a professional freestyle motocross rider and holder of nine Guinness World Records. "It's an absolute beast out there. One misstep with your foot and you're doing 360s -- there's just that much torque and horsepower. And it's so much fun. I mean; you're just getting slammed back in your seat as you're accelerating out of corners. I've seen people saying on my Twitter and Facebook, 'Hey, we love Viper Cup, we're coming out to watch'."
Guest Driver Jimmy Kite, a veteran Indy Car, USAC sprint car and NASCAR driver finished seventh, less than three tenths of a second behind Todd Nelson. Keating recovered to eighth place just tenths of a second ahead of David Mazyck while Courtney was tenth, three laps down.
The weekend hasn't been easy so far, according to Morgan, "We were dealing with pretty sizable understeer, and we couldn't get it out of the car. So we put on those stiffer springs, and that helped out a lot. We've got a lot of work to do. We have to see what we can do to improve the car. It's not over yet."
The second Dodge Viper Cup race—the fourth of the ten-race series—is on Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
2011 Dodge Viper Cup Round 4 -- New Jersey Motorsports Park
Ben Keating scalded the track in qualifying, and then led the race all the way to the checker, followed by Jeff Courtney and A.J. Morgan to make up the podium for Dodge Viper Cup Presented by Pennzoil Race 2 this afternoon at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
"We had a lot of work to do last night after yesterday's incident," said Keating, referring to Courtney's contact with him that cost him the lead in Race 1. "I finished in eighth place yesterday. That put AJ Morgan and me into a tie for the championship points lead going into this race, so it was an important race for me."
"The first hot lap [in qualifying this morning] on sticker tires, I went out and pushed it really hard and did a 1.23.8. We're really excited about that. It's the only 1.23 out here this weekend," Keating added. "It was more about having a good start, getting out front and getting enough of a margin so I could race the margin. That way, if there were any problems out there, there would be nobody to blame but myself. "
After four rounds, Keating leads the 2011 Dodge Viper Cup Series Presented by Pennzoil.
The field did not make a lap before an incident forced guest driver Andy Bell off the track, damaging his rear suspension. The race was then under a full course caution to clean up before resuming without further incident.
"Unfortunately someone got a little excited on the first lap and T-boned my rear end in the eighth corner. I was out, just like that. 45 seconds into the race," said Bell, who nevertheless expressed satisfaction with his experience. "I've come away with a lot of memories. This was absolutely one of the best weekends of my life. I met a lot of new friends."
Keating said, "I was grateful for the yellow laps."
Jeff Courtney commented on his second place finish: "my crew pieced the car back together late last night, and with no time to line it back up etc, we knew we were a long shot. I would never say I am satisfied with a second place, but today I think it's the best we had. I got a good start and was able to pressure Ben early but the second lap yellow gave us a restart from hell and Ben gapped me pretty good there. I could never really get back to him again to apply any pressure. Ben was very fast and drove a great race."
Michael Von Quilich finished fourth after another duel with Dave Fiorelli, beating him by just three tenths of a second. This reversed their positions from yesterday's race in which Fiorelli finished in front of Von Quilich by the same margin.
Kurt Sollberger made up for yesterday's DNF by placing sixth ahead of guest driver Jimmy Kite. Todd Nelson and David Mazyck followed in eighth and ninth, respectively.
The next Dodge Viper Cup weekend is at Virginia International Raceway, Alton Virginia, July 9-10, for races five and six.
2011 Dodge Viper Cup Round 9 -- Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch Race
Ben Keating put hot shoe Dominik Farnbacher into his second Dodge Viper ACR-X at Daytona as apparent insurance in his quest for the Dodge Viper Cup championship. But Keating imposed no team orders and Farnbacher responded by qualifying on the pole and finishing first on the track. He lost in the post-race tech inspection though, handing the win to Keating, who had finished second on the track.
The win extended Keating's lead in the Dodge Viper Cup championship going into the final race, Round 10, on Sunday. A.J. Morgan took second place ahead of Jeff Courtney and both drivers are still alive for the title, but need a miracle to overtake Keating, who now has a 54-point lead with a maximum of 70 available in the final round.
Farnbacher shot away from the pack at the start, but Keating closed up by the end of lap one and the two drivers built a comfortable margin back to Morgan, who was closely pursued by Courtney. Celebrity driver Craig Stanton qualified third, ahead of the two drivers, but hesitated at the standing start, letting them by.
Eric Galerne was caught out by Stanton and spent the rest of the race catching up, passing Dave Fiorelli entering the infield Horshoe turn late in the race. Fiorelli immediately came back at him in the middle of the turn, but Galerne held the position.
Ahead of them was Todd Nelson, who qualified ninth and mounted his own charge to the front.
Seventeen-year-old Canadian Louis-Phillippe "L-P" Montour was sensational in his Viper Cup debut, driving a brand new ACR-X as his father Marc's teammate. "He started driving in a snowmobile at age 5," said the elder Montour. "It had a 100-horsepower engine," he added with a gleam in his eye. "It taught him how to counter-steer in a slide." L-P graduated to a Porsche 944 and then started learning the 640-horsepower ACR-X, coached by none other than Kuno Witmer.
L-P qualified well, but the new car failed post-qualifying tech inspection. "Still settling on its suspension," according to his father. Montour was penalized to the back of the field, but fought his way all the way up to seventh on the road. Farnbacher's disqualification promoted him to sixth place.
NHRA Mopar Pro Stock competitor Allen Johnson took the wheel of one of Cindi Lux's Dodge Viper ACR-Xs for the third time as a Celebrity Driver. He is rapidly getting the hang of road racing and reduced his lap times by several seconds each session and is now running as fast as more than half the field and within three seconds of a podium time. A breakthrough could be in the offing on Sunday for the winner of nine NHRA Nationals so far.
2010 Dodge Viper Cup - Round 7 at Miller Motorsports Park
Ryan Schimsk took his Dodge Viper ACR-X to an easy Dodge Viper Cup win from pole position while epic battles broke out behind him in the first of two Viper Cup races at Miller Motorsports Park.
"This will help us in the championship," said Shimsk, who is just behind Ben Keating in the overall standings.
Front row qualifier Ralph Gilles fell behind second-row starters Keating and Charlie Putman early in the race as the three drivers fought for the runner-up position.
Gilles, only four hundredths of a second behind Schimsk in qualifying, continually challenged Putman into Turn One of the East Course, while Keating ran on the ragged edge in a vain attempt to catch Schimsk. All four drivers had best laps within a half second of each other, with Keating, Putman and Gilles blanketed by only a tenth.
Keating eventually spun and dropped to fourth several seconds behind Putman and Gilles, but was tantalized when Gilles half-spun out of the ever-exciting Turn One on the last lap of the race. Gilles turned the bobble into a spectacular 360 in a big cloud of desert dust as he got the Viper pointed in the right direction. He blasted off just in time to retain his place on the podium. Keating tried to catch him, but the checkered flag intervened.
"I had to check up as I was coming up behind Charles [Putman] and I got deep into the gravel," Said a smiling Gilles, "But I used my Jeep off-roading skills to wheelspin back on."
Meanwhile, back in the pack, Keith Verges, a winner at Pocono, was making up time after starting last, eventually finishing fifth--his best lap time tied with Gilles for second fastest of the race.
There was more excitement in Turn One courtesy of Michael Von Quilich who did his own half-spin after getting loose as he tried for the umpteenth time to go under Jim Stout for fifth place. Guest Driver Rob Pacione went off the outside of the turn to stay clear of the action. Both cars continued but Pacione stopped at the pits for a quick check of his right front suspension. Von Quillich ended up eighth, behind Ted Hughes, while Pacione finished last.
Kurt Sollberger, Connie Bogan, Eric Galerne and David Mazyck were ninth through twelfth in the race, respectively.
The second of the two Dodge Viper Cup races is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Round 10 | Dodge Viper Cup | Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch | Part one
Round ten of the Dodge Viper Cup was held on Sunday, October 24, 2010 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, NV. Part one of two.
For the latest Viper Cup series standings, schedules, driver bios and more, visit http://www.viperheadquarters.com/viper_racing/dodge_viper_cup.html
2012 SRT Viper Cup presented by Pennzoil Ultra - Round 4 at Road America
America's most venomous racing series commences competition at Road America. Round four of the 2012 season is packed with action from green flag to checkered.
SRT represents the pinnacle of performance engineering within the Chrysler Group. Join us as we journey to the limit at driveSRT.com.
Dodge Viper GTS Heffner 650 - Brutal sounds!!
This time I recorded a beautiful black Dodge Viper GTS Heffner 650 during a Ferrari Autumn Event. It has some serious modifications. The result is about 550-600bhp and 850-900Nm! Some modifications are Billy Boat Performance Exhaust system, Stoptech brakes, Kinesis rims with Michelin Pilot Sport Cups tires and off course some motor tuning by USA Heffner Performance.
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Dodge Viper SRT-10 GT3 Engine SOUND
This Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupè has been modified in order to race in the FIA GT3 class some years ago. In this video you can hear the beautiful sound of the V10 engine with some loud revs and some fly bys on the track.
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2010 Dodge Viper Cup - Round 6 at Pocono Raceway
Ben Keating won Dodge Viper Cup Race Two today, stalking yesterday's Race One winner Keith Verges for much of the contest before banging past on the infield section at Pocono Raceway. Verges finished second. Yesterday their positions were reversed. Both cars bore evidence of a coming-together as he and Keating battled for position. Race officials adjudged the damage to be the result of a "racing incident."
Keating took the pole over Verges by just over a second during a damp qualifying session in the morning and won by two seconds in the 20-lap race this afternoon. After the standing start Verges jumped ahead of Keating into the high-banked Turn 1 and the two drove off into the distance. They finished a half-minute clear of a race-long fight among guest driver Bucky Lasek, the usually-fast Ryan Schimsk, a competitive Jim Stout and third-place qualifier Eric Galerne. They, along with Michael Von Quilich were closely matched throughout the race.
Galerne held third place briefly on the first lap before being overwhelmed by Schimsk on braking through Turn 2 into the sharp left-hander into the twisty infield section. Galerne, who was very competitive in Race One, slipped back behind Stout and Lasek where he remained until the finish. At the end of the first lap, Verges led Keating, the now third-place Schimsk, followed by Stout, Lasek, Galerne and the rest.
Verges and Keating pulled steadily away from the pack with Keating beginning to close the gap until he made the move that put him in the lead. "He was fast all weekend and deserves the victory," said Verges, who had his breakthrough win yesterday after close finishes in the previous races.
The second pack, led by Ryan Schimsk, started to rumble late in the race as Lasek threw out his conservative race plan. "I planned to lay back and keep Dodge's equipment safe," he said, considering his eventful Race One yesterday. "But I realized with three laps left that I had a chance for a podium finish." He went for it, suddenly carving big chunks out of Schimsk's lead. He got close on the second-to-last lap, but was caught behind lapped traffic approaching the speedway section. He ran the high-speed turns very fast and caught Schimsk again as they entered the infield. He slipped past Schimsk only a couple of turns before the finishing straight, a move the spectators cheered.
Guest driver Allen Johnson finished eighth after a careful race. "I drove a really smooth race until about five laps from the finish when I actually thought I could catch sixth place, but I got sloppy and spun out. I had a great time and I loved it--this is hard work," he said.
Connie Bogan was ninth. David Mazyck scored a DNF in what amounted to a shakedown run in the Viper ACR-X that he damaged during a test run at Florida's Palm Beach International Raceway before the season.
The next Dodge Viper Cup event takes place October 2-3 at Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah. The final event is at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Pahrump, Nev., October 23-24, 2010.
2011 Dodge Viper Cup Round 10 -- Daytona
In Race 10 - With a repaired vehicle, Ralph qualified on the pole and surprised both Schimsk and Foust. All three had a great standing start and it wasn't long until Ralph was under pressure from Tanner. Ralph was passed by Tanner Foust and then by Ryan Schimsk to round off the podium. Keith Verges finished 5th which was enough to clinch the 3rd spot in the championship. Ben Keating and Ryan Schimsk clinched the 2nd and 1st spot of the championship prior to race 10.
