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Valentines 300 Enduro Race

Virginia International Raceway, Feb 20-22, 2004
 

Story by Dan Elam and Dave Smith, Photos by Jim Rathbun
 
FFR team drivers earned first and third place in class!  Dave Riha's Spec Racer earned third place overall!  First and second went to a pair of Porsche GT cars!
 
The 2004 Spec Racing season got off to a strong start at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) this past weekend with a quick sprint race and then the tough Valentine's 300.
 

Factory Five employees Jim Schenck and Dave Riha started off the Friday test day with some impressive times to get ready for the weekend. The past two years had showed that the FFR cars could do well (an overall win by Dobyns/Hobbes in 2002 and Elam had a 2.5 lap lead overall before his 2003 wreck.)

Jim Schenck and Dave Riha were joined by Harry and Dan Elam with clear goals of a class win. This year, the field was much tougher including Grand-Am Cup cars, former Trans-Am, and the usual American Iron, not to mention the defending champions in a Thunder Roadster.
 
FFR's Mark Dougherty spent Friday wringing out the Roush Coupe.  By days end there was no car on track faster.
 
This being a NASA event, there was plenty of track time for school sessions and set-up testing.  FFR’s Mark Dougherty spent the day Friday setting up the Roush Coupe.
 
Ed Boothman (left) rounds the oak tree turn w/ instructor along for the ride and BMW in tow.  Right: Piscura heads down the back straight in his Coupe sans paint.
 

FFR customers Ed Boothman (driving his silver Spec Racer built by Blue moon motorsports) and Joe Piskura (piloting a newly built but unpainted Coupe) both participated in the NASA HPDE school.  The classes allow you to get your competition license and are a great way to safely get started out in motorsport racing.

Qualifying for both the sprint race and the enduro was on Saturday. Schenck was the fastest with Riha close behind. Elam blew a head gasket after just 1/4 of a lap which meant Team Elam would start from the back of the field on Sunday thanks to no qualifying time.

 
Jim Schenck (left) qualifited a tick ahead of Dave Riha (right).
 
Since Schenck and Riha were skipping the sprint race, the decision was made to put Dan Elam in Schenck's car to get a few laps. The decision was made late and the grid was closed by the time Elam rolled up. So Elam had to start from a standing start in the pits on cold tires and brakes as the field took the green.
 

Stand-out Driver Dan Elam (test by D. Smith) suffered mechanical troubles in qualifying and was forced to fight his way up thru the pack in the endurance race on Sunday.
 

In just the short 8 lap race, Elam went out and passed 27 cars to get a class win!
 

I the sprint race it was all Elam as he drove to a win in Jim Schencks car.  After the sprint race win it was clear that Factory Five would be mounting a strong challenge on Sunday.
 
The Valentine's 300 is a different kind of race. It's a cross between a regular endurance race and a sprint race. You have to drive the car hard all the time because pit strategy can hurt you, but it can't win for you like in an endurance race. (To win, the overall winner of the 3.5 hour race was determined by about the width of a bumper!) The start of the Valentine's 300 had Dave Riha and Harry Elam with good starts and picking up many cars even before the first turn. Schenck had power problems (a plug wire was later found to have burned through), but all three drivers drove nice and smooth as they continued to pick off cars.
 

Mayhem broke early when a Honda blew an engine at VIR's famed Oak Tree turn. Oil was everywhere and cars slid all over the place with a Miata hitting Elam and causing suspension, body, and electrical damage. One car caught on fire. Several other cars ended up being in the melee and an extended full course yellow bunched up the remaining field. The Elams were unable to repair the car to get back on the track, but Riha and Schenck had moved up even further in the field.
 
The pit crew included numerous Factory Five enthusiasts and crew chief Mark Dougherty all combined together to support the cars. When Riha and Schenck came in the preparation paid off with two of the best pit stops that anyone had in the entire race.
 

 

The lack of drivers had meant that Schenck and Riha both had to drive the entire race. With less than 30 minutes to go, dehydration brought Schenck into the paddock, but Riha continued to pull away from the others in the class.

The final result? Factory Five scored an impressive class win as Dave Riha picked up his first ever career win! Schenck, despite running on just 7 cylinders, ran strong enough to pick up a third place finish due to the reliability and great gas mileage.

By the end of the event the FFR cars had been AMAZING.  There is no doubt that these FFR Spec cars can run with anyone. 

 

FIRST             Dan Elam wins 1st in class in the Sprint Race.

FIRST             Dave Riha wins 1st in class in the endurance Race. Bested only by two race prepped $100,000+ Porsches.

THIRD          Jim Schenck Places 3rd in class in the endurance race.
 

Congratulations to both Dave Riha and Jim Schenck for continuing Factory Five's strong performance in this event!
 

Fast guy Dan Elam pulls away clean during the sprint race, en route to a first place finish!
 

One final note: the Factory Five community really came through for this event. Guys from Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and other places all chipped in. I won't list names - only because I am afraid of forgetting someone's contribution, but we had the biggest pit crew and just fantastic execution. It was a good team effort and lots of fun!