Vipers Finish 3rd, 10th in 2016 Rolex 24

This past weekend brought the racing world the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway and the ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper GT3-R teams were back in action, looking to defend their title from the 2015 running of the 24 hours endurance race. Although the #33 and #93 Vipers were similar to the cars from last year’s race, the 2016 Riley Viper teams had new sponsors, new drivers and some new competition – so it was far from the same race as last year.

In the end, the #93 Dodge Viper GT3-R had another strong run in the GT Daytona class, being the last of the three cars on the leading lap (in class), but with a 3^rd place finish – Keating and his crew of newcomers couldn’t repeat the GTD win.

Quick Early
The Dodge Viper GT3-R teams came into the 2016 Rolex 24 looking to assert themselves as the top dogs and they got off to a strong start. Both teams were in the hunt for the quickest times in practice and come qualifying – the Viper teams turned in the 4^th and 6^th best times in GT Daytona. As a result, the #93 Viper team of Keating, Robinson, Mossing, Foss and Faulkner started 4^th out of 22 in GTD and 36^th overall in the 54 car field while the #33 Viper of Keating, Bleekemolen, Miller and Farnbacher would start 6^th in GTD and 42^nd overall.

Other cars in the GTD field included the Porsche 911 GT3R, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3, the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the Audi R8 LMS GT3, the Ferrari 458 GT3 and the BMW M6 GT3 – there were no Chevrolet Corvette entries for GTD this year, so there was no direct GM-Dodge battle like we had in the past.

In the early stages of the 24 hour race, both of the ViperExchange Viper teams spent time at or around the front of the GTD class, working their way through pit stops and driver changes. Things were going very well for Team Viper until the 236^th lap of the race – when Ben Keating lost control and went off track in the #33 car. Team owner Keating impacted a tire wall, tearing up the front, rear and side of the body while also tearing up the rims, tires and braking system. It took the safety crew just 5 laps to get the wrecked Viper out of the tires and into the garage area and from there, it only took the crew 5 more laps to replace the damaged body panels (front fascia, rear fascia, hood, quarter panel, door) along with the braking system, the wheels and the tires.

All in all, the #33 Viper lost 10 laps due to the crash, but the car and the drivers were strong enough that the car finished the race just 3 laps behind the class leader.

Over in the #93 garage area, things were going a whole lot smoother, as the team comprised mostly of new faces kept the Don’t Mess With Texas sponsored Dodge Viper in the hunt for the class lead. Keating also drove for this team, along with Jeff Mosing, Eric Foss, Gar Robinson and Damien Faulkner and in the final hour, Faulkner found himself with the go-ahead to run as hard as he could to improve his 6^th place standing. In that final hour, he was able to work up into 3^rd place, completing 703 laps – just like the class winning Audi R8 LMS and the runner-up Porsche 911 GT3R.

While the Viper team didn’t get the back-to-back GTD win that they had hoped for, a second straight podium finish is a great start to the season and if the #33 car can stay out of the tires – this could be a strong two-car year for the ViperExchange Racing team.

Image Source: ViperExchange Facebook

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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