The modern SRT Viper race teams struggled in their early races of the 2012 and 2013 American LeMans Series but after this weekend’s 3rd place class finish in the 2014 Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona International Speedway, it looks like the Viper teams have finally figured out the winning equation. Sure, the #91 Viper finished 3rd – not 1st – so it wasn’t exactly a winning equation but the #91 SRT Viper team was the fastest GTLM car in practice, the fastest GTLM car in qualifying and for much of the race, the #91 car was the fastest GTLM car in the 24 hour endurance event.
The #91 SRT Viper was 12 laps behind the class leader with about 14 hours left in the race and that Viper was fast enough to make up 8 of those laps before the end of the race. The #91 was so fast that he was able to pass the leaders of the class 8 times so imagine if that group hadn’t gone 12 laps down due to the power steering problem…they would have likely crushed the field and won by a landslide.
Based on these simple factors, do you think that 2014 will be the year where the SRT Viper race teams finally realize similar success to the Viper teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s? Click here to head into the forum to tell us whether or not you think that the Rolex 24 is the beginning of a great season for Team SRT.
"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.
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