TC Motorsports Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 For immediate release: 12/11/04 TC MOTORSPORTS FINISHES THIRD AT THE 25 HOURS OF THUNDERHILL ENDURANCE RACE Federal Way, WA—Endurance road racing is more about having the perfect coordination of drivers, crew, car preparation, planning, and pacing yourself, than it is being the absolute fastest on the track at any one time. No race asks you to bring those traits to the table like the 2004 25 Hours of Thunderhill, presented by the U.S. Air Force. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is one of the longest and most grueling endurance races in the world. The event is held at the beautifully prepared and maintained Thunderhill Park, located in the rolling hills of Willows, California, USA. The event is sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and was masterfully orchestrated by Jerry Kunzman and his team of workers and event facilitators. Team TC Motorsports entered the #20 Group 2 Motorsports prepared Mazda Miata in the E2 class for this challenging event. The team of drivers and crew of TC Motorsports and Group 2 Motorsports are no strangers to endurance racing. Having several successful runs over the years with the most resent results being 1st and 3rd place at the 2004 8 Hours of the Cascades endurance race at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. The team was, however, a stranger to the Thunderhill track, since only two of the team members had ever been to this track before. Months of preparation and careful selection of crew and drivers produced great results. After 612 laps, 1,848 miles, and 16 pit stops, the TC Motorsports/Group 2 Motorsports entry finished 3rd in class and 11th overall. A total of 23 teams in the E2 class and 59 teams overall competed, so this was a very exciting and emotional victory for the team. Team Principal and lead driver Carlo Sparacio says, “For us to take a podium on our first try at the 25 really shows how much thought and preparation went into this effort. I think just about everyone on our team was crying at the checkered flag. Our team is dedicated and very passionate about endurance road racing and our results show that.” Joe English and Chris Benny of Group 2 Motorsports, located in Seattle, Washington, spent many hours preparing and tuning the car. Group 2 also developed an updated lighting package for the 14 hour night portion of the race. Carefully aiming the special Cibie lighting system produced phenomenal results. The team actually turned some of its fastest lap times in the middle of the night thanks to the exceptional lights. The techs at Group 2 also gave the car a special setup that would work best at Thunderhill. Carlo says, ”After the G2 guys had the car, we literally rolled it off the trailer in California and never tuned or touched the car for the entire event. I come to expect that kind of attention to detail from these guys now.” The #20 car was driven by Mike Blaszczak, Sean Hester, Chris Romney, Carlo Sparacio, and Taryn Sparacio. Each driver had a job of going out, driving a scheduled pace, and keeping the car out of trouble. As anticipated, the drivers took ownership of this responsibility and performed at peek performance throughout the entire 25-hour race. The Crew Chief for the event was Jon Ament. Jon’s passion for excellence showed as he stayed up the entire race to ensure everything went perfectly. He was the only team member to not fall asleep for the entire race and did a masterful job managing the pit stops and crew activities. Jon says, ”I had the best crew anybody could hope for. Everybody did their respective job perfectly.” He continues, “The hospitality crew did a great job of keeping us fed through all hours of the day and night; chili at 12:00 am is a welcome sight! We also made no unscheduled pit stops the entire race, just our planned stops for tires, fuel, and drivers changes.” Crew duties were fulfilled by Chris Benny, Steve Schaeffer, and Steve Shriver. The hospitality crew of Bessie Ament and Mo Shriver made sure the team had food throughout the 25-hour race. Without warm food in the middle of the night and fresh crew support when needed, the team would have been brought to its knees very early in the race. Congratulations to the E2 class winner, Team PDQ Motorsports, and a great 2nd place run from Elder Benner Team One. We would like to again thank our 2004 sponsors for their continued support: -Group 2 Motorsports http://www.group2inc.com -Modern Performance NW http://www.modernperformancenw.com -www.4YOUandHOME.com 10% off your order if you mention TC Motorsports and FREE shipping! -Sign-A-Rama, Federal Way http://www.signaramanorthwest.com 253-529-0000 Source: TC Motorsports, LLC press release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slammed_93_hatch Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 great job out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civicrr Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Thanks! Congrats to you guys too. It was a very strong effort. Mike Quan, PDQ Motorsports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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