Running with the Fools?

ALL OVER THE MAP

IN THE PANTHEON of motorsport, the One Lap of America teeters on the exhausted, bleeding edge of the lunatic fringe. It is the bastard child of two of man’s most spiritually rewarding, gasoline-powered endeavors: automobile racing and road tripping.

Birthed 26 years ago by legendary automotive journalist (if there is such a thing) Brock Yates and dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century by his son, Brock Yates Jr., the One Lap has been covered within the pages of a magazine called…well that’s not important now, is it?

The point is, over the last quarter century, One Lap of America has quietly become one of the most demanding motorized events in the world. Think your 24 Hours of Le Mans runs long? One Lap takes roughly 192 hours from start to finish. Indy 500 or Bathurst 1000 puts miles on the odo? This year’s One Lap covered over 3200 miles—and is considered a short one in comparison with years past.

Pony up a $2500 entrance fee, throw a helmet and fire extinguisher in the vehicle and you’re ready to devour 13 states and 11 different tracks in just eight days. From autocrossing to drag racing, oval tracks to road courses, the One Lap has it all, with a diabolical twist—hundreds of transit miles separate each day’s races.

Of course, there are rules for this sort of thing, but they’re surprisingly brief and (gasp) guided by common sense and fair play. One rule that stands out: All track lapping and the thousands of miles in between must be completed in the race car on one set of street tires.

To put that in perspective, imagine entering a marathon where every two to three miles you had to sprint a few 100-yard dashes. Now imagine running this whole thing in a pair of Chuck Taylors. No racing slicks, no shaved tires, nothing under a UTQG tread-wear rating of 140 is allowed in One Lap. To prevent ringer rubber, all

DAY 1: (A) Skidpad—Tire Rack, South Bend, IN: 0 mile (B) Time trial—Autobahn Country Club, Joliet, IL: 106 miles DAY 2: (C) Autocross— Turfway Park, Florence, KY: 304 miles (D) Oval—Highland Rim Speedway, Greenbrier, TN: 246 miles DAY 3: (E) Time trial— Talladega Grand Prix Raceway, Munford, AL: 269 miles DAY 4: (F) Time trial— Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, FL: 616 miles (G) Drag race—Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FL: 202 miles DAY 5: (H) Time trial— Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL: 128 miles DAY 6: (I) Time trial— Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw, SC: 439 miles (J) Time trial—BMW Performance Center, Greer, SC: 154 miles DAY 6: (K) Time trial— BeaveRun Motorsports Complex, Wampum, PA: 562 miles DAY 8: (L) Skidpad— Tire Rack, South Bend, IN: 239 miles TOTAL: 3265 MILES

AFTER TIRE and safety check, Brock Yates delivers opening remarks and warnings. Then it's time for the first event, wet skidpad on Tire Rack's test track. Some of the wilder One Lap race cars include a '47 Plymouth rat rod, a '89 Alfa campaigned by some Rice University students, a carbon-fiber-bodied BMW Z4, and an apparently street-legal Ultima GTR. When not riding his motorized barstool, Brock Jr's favored mount is a BMW 550i provided by BMW's Performance Driving Center.

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competitors must purchase their tires from one of the 12 brands offered by tire retailer and official sponsor, the Tire Rack, which then brands each one and spray paints the manufacturer’s name on for greater visibility.

As far as the racing goes, One Lap has become something of a misnomer. The miles between events are not counted for time or points. This prevents teams from “cannonballing” from venue to venue, though they do need to show up at each event to stay in the hunt. While One Lap has autocrosses and drag races, the bulk of the races are individual time trials on road courses. Competitors are not limited to just one lap at the various venues, they usually get a recon lap and three hots per session.

Laps are timed cumulatively and scored using a modified NASCAR multiplier system. For the 2009 One Lap, the maximum points possible per event was 315 (63 entrants x 5 points), with each successive placing losing five points. This kept the racing close for the front runners and made missing an event or placing poorly absolutely catastrophic.

So One Lap is cheap, well regulated, and brutally paced, but who considers this sort of thing fun? There’s only one way to find out.

Rather than field a team, we decide to reconnoiter the event with our crack squad of motoring professionals. You could think of us as elite commandos on an eight-day tactical deployment, but our mount is neither a Bradley nor an Abrams. Instead, we’ve called in the services of a suburban assault vehicle built for the dual terrain encountered by the workaday warrior, the Chrysler Town & Country minivan (see sidebar). This is not quite as effete as you might think: Upon arriving at Tire Rack’s headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, for the kickoff and first event, we’re ambushed by One Lap race cars ranging from a Honda Fit and Toyota Camry all the way up to a Porsche GT2 and Nissan GT-R. Scattered about are a number of horrifically uncomfortable-looking racing chariots that make us grateful for our leather swaddled captains' chairs. One of the vehicles, a fast and sinister-looking track special known as an Ultima GTR, could be described as the single worst road-trip vehicle known to man.

What kinds of people are crazy enough to get behind the wheels of such hardware for over 3200 miles? As we find out over the eight-day ordeal, One Lap entrants come from all over the country, all walks of life and livelihoods and can resemble you or me; but they are also deeply, often disturbingly, different. Though they bear no identifying mark and offer up no secret handshake, One Lappers all appear to belong to a secret society of selfflagellating masochists—possibly the same one that produced Bruce Jenner and Lance Armstrong—characterized by a love of high horsepower, caffeine, and cheap motel rooms.

Many are repeat One Lap offenders, but few are like Michael Hickman. Though there are a couple other 20-year veterans, no one has done it the way he has: consecutively and in the same car. His 1981 Camaro Z28 has over 115,000 miles on it—all from One Lap.

Fay Teal has been running One Lap for the last 23 years, many with her husband and driver, David, because of, not in spite of, her multiple sclerosis. For the Teals, One Lap is not only a charitable way to raise funds and awareness for MS, it’s a way to release and have fun with the friends they’ve made over the years.

There are many father and son teams, all with great stories to tell. Carl Warren and adopted son Sam took on One Lap in that aforementioned Ultima GTR—which means no air conditioning, radio, or trunk. Seventeen-year-old Joseph Lyons got his dad, Robert, involved and showed him the AWD joys of a tricked-out 2006 Mitsubishi Evo. And then there’s a set of rookies, Walt and J.C. Krueger, who are running a Frankenstein’d, V-8-powered, 1987 Mazda RX-7. It doesn’t look like much until it finishes 39th overall and 1st in class.

RAIN HITS particularly hard early on, forcing the cancellation of Day 2's oval-track racing in Tennessee. After a 616-mile run to Florida, it's blue skies and fast times for the hot laps at Sebring and bracket racing in Gainesville.

Who enters the One Lap? Small-business owners, college students, a heart surgeon, a radiologist, even a team of Swiss chocolatiers racing a GMC Jimmy SUV and Chevy HHR SS panel wagon. Among the hordes of BMW drivers is M3 pilot Mike SchnellRenner (loosely, fast runner in German), a professional racing instructor from BMW’s performance school in South Carolina. He’s not the only one with a checkered (flag) background; from autocross champions to professional shoes, One Lap brings the C16 addicts, including tree-hugging racing nut Blake Fuller. He literally went the racing green route with his “hot-rod” hybrid Nissan Altima, stripped, caged, and bathed in a radioactive emerald hue.

As the miles pile up and days run into each other, we get to know many of these folks and find them normal and exceptionally friendly. Why then would they pay to subject themselves to such punishing, self-destructive activity?

Some do it for the clannish camaraderie created by the event’s beautiful, yet brutal structure. Father and son Yates have been

COVERING THE CRAZIES IN A CHRYSLER

THOUGH WE DIDN'T RALLY

between tracks in a stripped-out race car loaded with tires and tools, we did have to transport two writers, a photographer, a video producer, and all the gear it takes to post photos, videos, and blogs immediately after each event (see it all at www. motortrend.com/onelap). So we contacted our friends at Chrysler, who graciously loaned us a glossy black Town & Country minivan equipped with Swivel ’n’ Go seating (includes a second row of rotating captains' chairs and a stowable table) and the exclusive Uconnect system.

What is this? Essentially a wireless Internet system that provides rolling Web access for everyone in the vehicle. We had our doubts that the system would work; surely we’d encounter connectivity issues with our Macs and PCs, and coverage would almost certainly disappear as we motored out of major cities. However, the system proved surprisingly robust. We never had a problem and connecting coverage became briefl y spotty only well past the midway point, somewhere deep in Alabama.

The driver had his share of toys as well. To augment the Town & Country’s GPS navigation system, we brought along a Garmin Nuvi 205 portable unit as well. Why? Not only does it offer a second opinion on our on chosen route, the Garmin unit allows entry of destinations while in motion (unlike Chrysler’s system). To protect us on long Interstate transits, we relied on temporal and spiritual countermeasures. Molokai Mike, a diminutive but powerful Tiki god we picked up at Trader Vic’s in Chicago, guarded us from highway mischief. Flashing just above him were the four glowing red arrows of a Valentine One radar detector.

For those of you playing at home, no, we did not run out of power points. Up front, the Garmin Nuvi and Valentine One took up the two 12-volt outlets at the bottom of the center console. The third 12-volt outlet in the bin between the front seats powered an inverter juicing the co-driver’s laptop. Second-row passengers ran their laptops or iPhone chargers off another two power points near the left rear door jamb. How did the One Lap racers do it without luxuries like laptops, wireless Internet and reclining captain’s chairs? We have no idea.

DAYTONA'S MASSIVE 480-acre facility and 31-degree banking do nothing to intimidate our brave One Lappers, who push until they spin or make that inside pass. The Team Cannonball Nissan GT-R (bottom right) races to a 1st-place finish at the Speedway on the way to the overall win.

doing this for so long and have created such deep relationships with the various venues that, on most mornings, teams can simply roll into a track and be lapping at the limit in about half an hour. No waiting, just racing.

As the days wear on, One Lappers begin to resemble a tribe of Mad Max nomads as they spill out of all manner of filthy, grimecovered racing sleds to lay down tarps for tools and spare parts. While shaving or eating or both, they wander about the paddock in dirty racing suits nodding and grunting at one another, ready to strap on a helmet and go zooming about the track at the bleat of a bullhorn.

Those staged in the pits hoot and holler as their brothers blast past. They gasp at every shunt, cheer every save, and offer a helping hand or high five at the end of a session. Then they quickly pack up and leave—only to repeat the ritual hundreds of miles away at some other tarmac thunderdome. For some, this bonding experience alone is worth the price of admission.

That can’t be the only reason, can it? It’s a question that demands answering during many of the grueling track-to-track slogs—like the 550-mile run from BMW’s Perfomance Center in South Carolina to BeaveRun in Pennsylvania. Are a few hours of trackside fellowship worth miles and miles of nothing but Waffle House, gas station coffee, and more Waffle House?

No, there are other reasons. For the front-runners, the chance of victory becomes the siren song. This year’s epic battle between the Team Cannonball GT-R of Rankins and Taylor and the Porsche 911 GT2 of Lier and Stewart lights up not only the pit and paddock, but forums and blogs all across the country. Even though Rankins and Taylor clinch the win two days before the One Lap ends, the heat of battle persists to the end.; 3rd place is decided on the very last day, by the slimmest possible margin—on a skidpad no less.

After hundreds of miles and thousands of points, veterans Jones and Collado’s fully built BMW M3 race car snatches the final podium spot from the impossibly fast WRX of rookies Barber and Wiesenhahn. Final score: 4960 to 4955.

What about the guys in the back, the no-hopers and backmarkers who can’t even smell a class victory? What drives them? You have to go back to the marathon analogy to answer that question. Very few enter a 26-mile foot race thinking that they can win—and yet many still welcome the suffering as a test of will. It’s the “Can I finish?” question that draws many rookies to One Lap. For the veterans, it’s the challenge of finishing better than last year.

They are the true racing addicts for which the event presents many once-in-a lifetime opportunities. Want to test your skills where all the NASCAR teams run (Carolina Motorsports Park)? Or blast your own car around Sebring’s Gurney Bend and Fangio Chicane? Want to feel g loads of Daytona’s 31 degrees of banking? Too bad, you should’ve run One Lap this year.

If nothing else, One Lap of America is a guaranteed eight-day furlough from reality. While following the competitors all over the Midwest and South, we’ve seen nothing but brief glimpses of roadside motel rooms, the bottoms of too many Styrofoam coffee cups, and racetrack after bloody racetrack.

For your average One Lapper, the promise of that kind of escape is irresistible, an unfiltered, super-concentrated dose of racing for those who need to live it, breathe it, be it—if only for a few days. Reconstituted over time, in memory, One Lap serves to nourish these starving racers until it’s time do it all over again. ■

For detailed, day-by-day coverage of the 2009 Tire Rack One Lap of America, including photo galleries and videos, visit www.motortrend.com/onelap.

THE HOME STRETCH is a brutal 562 mile slog from BMW's Performance Center in South Carolina to BeaveRun in Pennsylvania, but at least the weather's nice (opposite page). Cold and wet conditions can't dampen the spirits of those who complete this year's epic journey. Will Taylor and Stephen Rankins, drivers of the Team Cannonball GT-R (bottom right) celebrate their overall victory with One Lap founder, Brock Yates.

Today, America needs fresh leadership to lead us as a nation out of this economic crisis. Leadership must come not only from our political leaders but also from the average citizen. The exporting of American jobs is a trend that must be stopped and reversed. When I walk into my local hardware store, I typically find 85% of the goods for sale are manufactured 7,000 miles away. Recognizable American brands have been forced by shortsighted management and buyers at large national chains to build factories overseas just to save a lousy $.50 on a tape measure. To these ruthless buyers, it is all about the money. Rarely are product quality, the political system, human rights, animal rights and environmental costs to the planet considered, not to mention the cost to our society of exporting not only jobs, but an entire factory!

At MacNeil Automotive, we are doing our part for the American economy and for our 300 million fellow citizens and neighbors. My philosophy is that if my neighbor doesn’t have a job, sooner or later I won’t have a job either. For example, we used to have our All-Weather Floor Mats manufactured in England by a company that used antiquated, inefficient equipment. They made a decent floor mat for us, but we thought we could build a better floor mat for our customers using modern American technology, American raw materials and skilled American workers. So in 2007 we transferred all of our floor mat manufacturing back to the United States. Today, we build the best fitting, highest quality automotive floor mats in the world, right here in America.

Our machine shop is equipped with 17 CNC machining centers including four 4 axis mills and one 5 axis mill that produce between 30 to 50 injection and thermoforming molds per month. We have one shift of highly skilled American Journeymen toolmakers and apprentices, but our machines run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is not a more efficient tool and mold making operation in the world - and guess what, it’s right here in America.

Furthermore, all of our CNC mills are manufactured in Oxnard, CA by Haas. Our 1,000 ton injection molding machines are made in Bolton, Ontario of American and Canadian components. Our thermoforming machinery is made in Carol Stream, IL. The raw steel and aluminum billets which make up our tooling are sourced from American steel and aluminum mills such as Vista Metals in Fontana, CA. The raw materials that make up our All-Weather Floor Mats, FloorLiners, Cargo Liners and Mud Flaps are manufactured in Bellevue OH, Arlington TX, Wichita KS and Jasper TN. Our forklifts are made in Columbus IN and Greene NY. Our warehouse racking is manufactured in Tatamy PA.

At MacNeil Automotive, we are also very aware of sustainability and our responsibility to the environment. We are proactive in controlling waste and recycling all of the unused raw materials from the manufacture of our tooling and products including: aluminum, steel, rubber, TPO, TPE, paper and cardboard.

As you can see, we are as dedicated to designing, developing and manufacturing the finest automotive accessories for our consumer and OEM clients as we are passionate about supporting the American economy, preserving the American industrial infrastructure, and keeping the “money” in our family, a family of 300 million people from all over America.

Life is simple; be good to your fellow man, be kind to animals and the environment, and place building a quality product, supporting your country and your fellow American worker before profit. And, one last thing - let’s all do our best to balance family time with work time as our children are the future of America.

Sincerely,

David MacNeil, Founder/CEO dmacneil@macneil.com