USA 476 http://usa476.com Blog Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:05:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 LCP-Day 2 http://usa476.com/lcp-day-2/ http://usa476.com/lcp-day-2/#comments Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:03:46 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=859 Day 2 started somewhat okay as far as it could be, because a Co-Piloto was killed the day before & that seemed to be the topic of many conversations.  We were in 4th place position overall and starting up front is much better than being further back in the race day order.  Our race route is the same route yesterday only backwards.  Our first race stage was a long 20 kilometers and we were starting behind Doug Mockett and Angelica-it was a beautiful morning.  We started the stage in the groove just like always-the long speed stages are tougher I think.  476 was running great we only had 1 km left to go to get to the finish of the first speed stage.  Neither Hayden & I were hurt – so any day you can walk away is a good day.

We’ll have a video to post later that will show the speed stage and crash.  I usually end these posts with Enjoy, but I can’t on this one.  Cheers!

Day 1 results…

The race goes on….

The quick response…

 

 

]]> http://usa476.com/lcp-day-2/feed/ 2 LCP-Day 1 http://usa476.com/lcp-day-1/ http://usa476.com/lcp-day-1/#comments Tue, 23 Oct 2012 02:10:23 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=849 Day 1 race day and we are ready to roll out of Veracruz to race to Oaxaca.  We are in 10th starting position today, but we were in 111th, because we had a flat tire yesterday at the Pre-Qual and were unable to run.  After talking to Carlos  (one of the race officials) they put us in between two cars 10 & 11 place.  Our first race stage our fire extinguisher that we had to buy (remember from the earlier post) it came unclipped and during the speed stage it went off and filled the inside of the car with white fire retardant powder, blinding the two of us for a short time.  So when we got to our Servicio location we threw that one in the trash and put our other one back in.  It was great to pull in to Oaxaca and celebrate our first race day finish. We won our division and were awarded a first place trophy at the driver’s meeting at our host hotel.  We moved up from 10th place to 4th overall.  Enjoy!

Starting line up at a Speed Stage…

Servicio…

No go….

Mexican hat and mexican beer….

The finish line in Oaxaca…

25th Anniversary Day 1 medal…

Podium finish – 1st Place…

 

]]> http://usa476.com/lcp-day-1/feed/ 0 LCP-Day 0 Night Celebration http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0-night-celebration/ http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0-night-celebration/#comments Tue, 23 Oct 2012 01:44:33 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=844 This is our last night in Vera Cruz so there is a festival downtown to celebrate the La Carrera Panamericana racers and crews.  We are ready for Day 1 it is time to put all of it behind except the road ahead.  Enjoy!

Dustin giving the thumbs up…Everything is A-OK…

Dustin & Guillermo recruiting two new crew members to our team in Veracruz…

 

]]> http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0-night-celebration/feed/ 0 LCP-Day 0 http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0/ http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0/#comments Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:23:05 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=837 Last minute checks before the big race.  Tomorrow it begins, the race to Zacatecas and there is no slack time anymore.  We are done.  Enjoy!

Crew trucks and 476

Final check….

Jason & Dustin…

 

]]> http://usa476.com/lcp-day-0/feed/ 0 LCP Tech Day 2012 http://usa476.com/lcp-tech-day-2012/ http://usa476.com/lcp-tech-day-2012/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:16:53 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=812 We had Tech Day on Tuesday and we like to get in as early as we can so if there are any glitches we have time to fix/amend them.  Each year there seem to be different rules for safety equipment and car requirements.  So out of 35 cars the first day 13 were temporarily DQ’d and we were one of them-yes we needed a bigger handheld fire extinguisher (oh well, not a bad idea seeing as how we’ve used ours almost every year either on our own car or someone else’s during the race).  Anyway, conveniently (I mean conveniently)vthey had a racing equipment vendor right there in the Tech location so we remedied that issue ASAP and were back in line.  There were only 35 cars Tech’d the first day with at least 80 more to go the next day.  We were done with Tech and now we can relax go to the beach and kick back…Woohoo!  Enjoy!

As always we are right up front…

Hayden’s old Studebaker…

 

Getting ready for Tech…

Tech for vehicle-so how much does the Caddy weigh?….

You can do the math…

Our good friend is overseeing the placement of our LCP 25th Anniversary decal…we passed Tech! 

Keith Sturgeon finishing with the 476 number driver’s door…

Jason Smith passenger side door numbers…

The green OK we can roll for LCP 2012…

Team 476

 

 

 

]]> http://usa476.com/lcp-tech-day-2012/feed/ 3 La Carrera Panamericana 2012 – We’re Leaving on a Jet Plane… http://usa476.com/la-carrera-panamericana-2012-were-leaving-on-a-jet-plane/ http://usa476.com/la-carrera-panamericana-2012-were-leaving-on-a-jet-plane/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:42:09 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=806 Hey it is La Carrera Panamericana time again.  Our race crew just barely got through the border checkpoint early this morning.  Here are our postcards we are handing out this year.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

]]> http://usa476.com/la-carrera-panamericana-2012-were-leaving-on-a-jet-plane/feed/ 0 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2012-Race Day http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb-2012-race-day-4/ http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb-2012-race-day-4/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:29:46 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=801 Here is the video of our “Race to the Clouds” 2012. Enjoy!

]]> http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb-2012-race-day-4/feed/ 0 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2012 http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb/ http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb/#comments Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:57:06 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=693 The PPIHC was temporarily canceled the first week of July due to the wild fires in the Colorado Springs area.  The race has been rescheduled for the week of August 7-12, with the race occurring on the 12th.  It has been quite a while since I last posted and decided to post some images from our race last year.  There are three days of practice runs prior to the race then a day off on Saturday.  For the practice runs we get up at 2:30 a.m. to get up to the staging area on the mountain and then on to our practice run location.  It is divided in to three sections and as soon as the sun breaks the horizon the practice runs start and go until around 8ish.  I will have more to add once we get there.  Enjoy!

Garden of the Gods…

Practice run pre-race day…

Kodak moment…

The view from Devils Playground on race day…

 

]]> http://usa476.com/pikes-peak-international-hill-climb/feed/ 0 Top Speed TV (Europe) Series 2 – Martin Utberg http://usa476.com/top-speed-tv-europe-series-2-martin-utberg/ http://usa476.com/top-speed-tv-europe-series-2-martin-utberg/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:41:06 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=614 Here is the second installment of Martin Utberg’s Top Speed series of La Carrera Panamericana 2011.  This show highlights a couple of mishaps as they occur real time, as well as 476′s slideing into the guardrail.  Even our race crew gets into the spotlight (great jobs guys getting us back on the road).

Martin is a great guy who travels the world following racing circuits.  It is a tough assignment in the Panamericana as he follows the race from the start in Huatulco to the finish line in Zacatecas.  He & his crew seems to be everywhere at the same time.  He has many hats in his production, and as you can see produces an excellent show.

Enjoy!

]]> http://usa476.com/top-speed-tv-europe-series-2-martin-utberg/feed/ 1 Top Speed TV (Europe) – Martin Utberg http://usa476.com/top-speed-tv-europe-martin-utberg/ http://usa476.com/top-speed-tv-europe-martin-utberg/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:33:24 +0000 Charlie http://usa476.com/?p=603 Our good friend Martin Utberg produced another great program of the La Carrera Panamericana 2011 Road Race.  This is the first video installment.  Of course, you’ll have to watch the professional acting and driving by my most trustworthy pilot who dares to push 476 to her limits.

Enjoy!

 

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