Viper Wins in Indy!

This past weekend marked the first time that the modern Viper race teams headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to take on the famed Brickyard and for the first time this season – a Viper took home the win in the GT LeMans class. Also, this is obviously the first win for the Viper team since the team cars changed from being the SRT Viper GTS-R to the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R and the winning #93 car was outfitted in the familiar red and white of the championship Team Oreca Vipers in the late 90s and early 2000s.

In each of the past two races in the Tudor United Sports Car Championship season, Vipers have finished second and third – dominating the podium but still finishing behind a Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. The Corvette Racing program took the GTLM class win in each of the past four races coming into Indy, so the Vipers were looking to break the Corvette streak and continue their streak of podium finishes – and they did so in a big way.

Things started off rough, as the Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R teams were only 7^th and 9^th quickest after the first round of practice on the Brickyard and the second round of practice was worse, with the two Vipers sitting 8^th and 9^th in the ten car class field. Fortunately, things got a whole lot better in qualifying, with the #93 Viper piloted by Jonathan Bomarito and Kumo Wittmer grabbing the third spot in the class while the #91 Viper of Marc Goossens and Dominik Farnbacher started in 4^th place, right next to their team car.

In the early going, both of the Vipers hounded the Ferrari and Porsche racers that qualified ahead of them, until one of the Prototype cars hit the #91 Viper hard enough to cause the passenger’s side door to fall off. After a quick fix, the 91 car was back on the track, but when Goossens was caught up in a crash late in the race, the white and yellow Viper was forced to settle for the 8^th spot in the class, two laps behind their class leading teammate.

For the #93 car, the Indy race was physical but both Wittmer and Bomarito managed to stay out of trouble and stay around the front of the class field. Right before making the final pit stop of the day in the #93 Viper, Bomarito took the GTLM class lead and he would never look back – winning the race by 11 seconds over the second place Ferrari.

Thanks to the big win, Bomarito and Wittmer are just 13 points behind the Corvette drivers who lead the driver’s championship while Goossens and Farnbacher sit 4^th in the standings. In the team standings, the SRT Motorsports team is a close second to the Corvette Racing team and in the manufacturer’s championship, the Dodge team is third behind Chevrolet and Porsche.

Patrick Rall

"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.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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