This past weekend the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R race teams headed to Road America for the 8th event of the season for the GTLM class and while the Vipers couldn’t pull offer as strong of a finish as they have in the past few races – the team continued their podium streak and closed the gap on the class leading Corvette Racing team.
The Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R teams came into the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase on a three race podium streak after the #93 car won the event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That streak of strong runs put the #93 drivers within 13 points of the #3 Corvette Racing Team in the driver’s championship while also trailing the same Corvette by the same margin. However, the Vipers seemingly had the momentum coming into the Road America event and when the Vipers qualified 2nd and 3rd in the GTLM class – they had a very real chance of closing that gap even more.
In the early going, the Vipers were at the front of the GTLM class but a collection of cautions that ate up 90 minutes of the 2 hour and 45 minute race, combined with some troublesome pit stops and the rigors of normal racing forced the Vipers to settle for 3rd and 4th place in the class. The #93 Viper driven by Jonathon Bomarito and Kumo Wittmer grabbed the 3rd spot while the #91 Viper driven by Marc Goossens and Dominic Farnbacher finished 4th. Certainly not the finish that either team had hoped for, but it continued the podium streak for Team Viper.
The race in the GTLM class was won by the #62 Ferrari and the #56 BMW M3 finished second. More importantly, the #3 and #4 Corvette Racing entries had an even worse weekend than the Vipers, finishing 6th and 7th in the class. This allowed the #93 Viper to gain 5 points on the #3 Corvette so in both the driver’s championship and team championship, the #93 Viper sits just 8 points behind the Corvette with three races left this season.
In other words, with a great amount of momentum heading into the final three races – SRT Motorsports has a very real chance of claiming both the 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship driver and team championship. Also, the Vipers now sit just three points behind Chevrolet in the manufacturer’s championship so if the Vipers can continue to beat the Corvettes through the final three races, SRT could bring home a trio of endurance championships in 2014.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
