EXP4/DAL Motorsports NSX Completes it's first OLA tour

 5.16.05  - The EXP4/DAL Motorsports NSX returned from the east coast after participating in Car and Driver’s “Cannonball One Lap of America”.  While the team was able to secure 6 in-class victories and 10 overall top tens out of the 20 events, reliability issues kept them from finishing on top.  Vaughn Duarte said "When the car was working it was amazing.  We landed 6 in-class victories, which tied the record shared by our sister car and we ran 3 less events." When talking about entering a modified Grand-Am Cup car Duarte said: "We knew we were asking a lot out of a purpose build racecar as they tend to be more finicky than a suspension-modded street car, however we believed that car gave us our best chance at competing.”

The EXP4/DAL Motorsports NSX was a highlight to One Lap of America as it was consistently sought after by fans with cameras and the other competitors.  “It was good to see how many people were still drawn to the NSX and its great style.  It is clear that people still have a lot of passion around this car.” said Rob Morrison.  The EXP4/DAL Motorsports finished its first One Lap of America tour 22^nd overall and 4^th in-class.

The promoters of OLA also took notice of the car and driving talent.  They approached both drivers multiple times throughout the event to invite them to participate in the “One Lap Challenge”, a new series designed to pair different types of cars together on the same track racing wheel to wheel.  The first event it scheduled later this year at Road America the weekend of the ALMS race.  The current format is said to be a 25-30min pro race.  This would give DAL Motorsports another professional venue to be a part of.  “We are excited to see different venues for professional road racing come to light.  We are anxious to see the rules governing this series and would love the opportunity to compete if it allows us to accomplish our goals.” said Vaughn Duarte.

Hast, Waist and a Shot of Caffeine - 4.18.05 DAL Motorsports has been racing the clock to get it's EXP4/DALMotorsports NSX entry completed since having it's first 3.3ltr block stolen by an aftermarket NSX part supplier.  This past week marked the completion of the install and testing of it's new 3.3ltr cryo/supercharged/NOS engine. The dyno numbers were very impressive touting an impressive 547 RWHP on boost before running out of injector (100%+). Dan from the tuning shop thinks with more injector it will make 600 just on boost alone. Dan de-tuned the engine to 500 and tested the NOS, since it has it's own fuel source. He started off with 100 hp addition, the pull made 607 with an amazing 554 foot pounds of torque. Rob noticed that the engine fuel pressure started dropping just after peak. We traced the problem down to an alternator (voltage), so we quit for the night around 4am. This marked the 2nd night in a row where tuner extraordinaire Dan Willie and his team worked way into the night to continue to make improvements. 

The next day was our test day at Little Talladega, so we put in a safe map, decided to turn off the NOS, and replaced the alternator. We hit the track anxious to test out the power and the massive brakes that we also fitted the morning of. The power of the engine was comical as Rob was able to break loose sticker stock tires at will.  After 8ish laps Rob realized a malfunction in one of our engine sensors setup to give us water temps.  After bringing it in and checking it out we realized the engine was severely overheated. When we re-fired it to drive on the trailer, nothing but white smoke came out the tail pipes.  After disassembly we learned that the headgasket was leaking and the block was cracked. Rob doesn't know if it was from the overheating, the cold water, hydro lock or a combination of multiple... anyway it cant be fixed in time for the race, so DAL Motorsports will run a stock 3.0 engine. Morrison said, "I have made 500 RWHP on a stock engine, but don't trust the reliability. I'm thinking of limiting the output to 400 or maybe 450, and maybe eliminating the Cryo and or the NOS.".  "Don’t get too discouraged… were not. I have seen our car pass everything but a Radical with our GAC 270rwhp NA engine. Were hoping to still be a top runner." added Vaughn Duarte

 

DAL Motorsports Enters One Lap of America - 3.14.05 DAL Motorsports is announcing their partnering with EXP4 for the EXP4/DAL Motorsports NSX entry into the 22nd running of the Car & Driver “Cannonball One Lap of America” held April 30th - May6th, 2005.
Two highly modified Supercharged NSX's will be competing in the one week, 3,500 mile event that has the drivers competing in over 11 track events that include road courses, ovals, drag strips and skid pads.

The two NSX entries consist of Vaughn Duarte/Rob Morrison and Mike Fitzpatrick/Tim Richardson. Both racecars are title sponsored by EXP4 Additives. The team's One Lap of America race manager is DallasNSX's own Jon York, which has been instrumental in organizing sponsorship and coordinating team business.

“We were toying with the idea of running OLA late in 2004, so when Jon mentioned his interest of being involved everything fell into place quickly.” Said Rob Morrison.

On the subject of transforming the GAC NSX Vaughn Duarte said: “We knew it was going to take a lot to convert DAL’s Grand-Am Cup NSX(which is limited by series rules) into a highly modified street legal car that could compete with V8-V12 800HP+ cars. But by leveraging the great people in the NSX community, we were able to borrow enough performance parts to put together an extreme machine.”

Tackling day to day coverage of the event will be Mark Hicks-worlds foremost NSX Nut and Derek Bumpas(www.dallasNSX.com web master) who will handle daily downloads and posting of updates/photos.

For exact track dates, visit: www.onelapofamerica.com

The famous One Lap of America is unlike any other event in the world. There are many cloned type events but only one Cannonball One Lap. The "Car & Driver" Cannonball Run will expand this annual event to include a future Cannonball Series which will consist of televised 25 lap sprints later this year.

Notes about this year’s One Lap:
1. The 22nd running of the 1 Lap will be filmed and shown on TNN & Speed on several occasions after editing and such is completed.
2. A DVD documentary will be filmed following the exploits of the 1 Lap NSX's to include preparation, running of and between track events over the 7 days and 3500 miles.
3. Daily downloads/status/write-ups will be available at www.dallasnsx.com for those that wish to follow the campaign.

DAL Motorsports is grateful for their generous sponsors: Advanced Fluids Solutions, Goodson Acura, Mobil/Exxon, and Honda.jp

 

EXP4 named as a Title Sponsor for DAL's One Lap Effort.

3.10.05 - EXP4 Additives has joined DAL Motorsports in supporting it's efforts in the famous Car and Driver's Cannonball One Lap of America.  "It's great to be teamed up again with Mark Rossow and his incredible addititive products. We are grateful for their support". said Vaughn Duarte, principal owner DAL Motorsports.  EXP4 is also a sponsor of the 22nd running of One Lap of America. More information can be found here

 

2004 News

2- With the rig leaving on Wed we had to transport the Black car to Atlanta... which meant a open trailer switcherooo.  I had Chris Croninger's dad meet Rob's friend half way between to transport the car.  Our plan was to get the car back to Atlanta by Tues night and get all the things needed to finish the car for the track on Tues night and Wed Morning... We'd just delay the rig from departing and drive all night... not unusual.  The two drivers successfully swapped out the car and Robs "friend" was on his way to Atlanta when he lost control of the truck and flipped and totaled everything. The driver seems to have superficial injuries. Everything rolled and is now a total loss, only some of the performance parts can be salvaged. Unfortunately insurance will have loopholes to not cover the trailer or the black #51.  We are all in shock, sick and devastated by this freak loss.. but we push on and leave for Mid Ohio with only one car.

DAL Motorsports Looses a Car on the Highway

8/4/04 - DAL Motorsports announced that the number 51 Acura NSX was nearly
destroyed in a single car accident just outside Jackson MS on Interstate 20.
The 51 had just undergone upgrades of a new engine and transmission in
Dallas and was being open trailered to Atlanta to join up with the rig and
number 99 sister car before heading to Ohio.  While transporting the car the
hired hand that was driving lost control of the vehicle and ended upside
down with the trailer and racecar separated.  Emergency workers on the scene
were relieved to find the driver only suffered from minor lacerations, while
the truck he was driving was totaled.  "While this is a huge setback for the
team, we can replace cars... we can't replace lives.  We are all very
thankful the driver was able to walk away from what must have been a
horrific accident." said Vaughn Duarte, Team Driver.  The team won't have
the full damage report until late Wednesday when the car comes back to
Atlanta, but the city pound where the car was taken noted that all body
panels appeared to have damage including the rear which contained frame
damage.  Team Manager Eric Robbins said "The team was expecting big things
from that car with Pete (Halsmer) and Benoit (Theetge) driving, however we
must press on and keep positive.  Instead we'll focus our total attention on
the 99 racecar."  At this time there is no word from the team if this will
change the driver line up for the 99 Acura NSX.
 

Halsmer and Theetge team up to drive for top spot at Mid Ohio                         

 8/1/04 - DAL Motorsports announced that Pete Halsmer will team up with Benoit Theetge to drive the team's #51 Acura NSX in Grand-Am Cup's Mid Ohio race this weekend. Benoit Theetge (Quebec City, Canada) competed in Grand-Am Cup as a driver/owner of his own Acura NSX where he was one of the top point’s leaders in the series. "We were very excited last race when Halsmer decided to run with us, however with two cars and three drivers we have been looking to find a talented fourth driver to step in. We couldn't be more pleased that we will have two of the best NSX drivers in North America in one of our cars" said Eric Robbins, Team Manager. DAL Motorsports is the only North America team to run two Acura NSX's in a single professional race series. Vaughn Duarte and Rob Morrison run the #99 Acura NSX. "We just upgraded the #51 to the newest power plant allowed by the series and with Pete driving we're always knocking on the door. However with a mandatory driver change we needed a teammate equal to the task and think we have found the perfect driver in Benoit. The end of the season will be extremely exciting!" said Vaughn Duarte, Driver.

Watkins Glen- Pete Halsmer Drives with DAL Motorsports

Watkins Glen - Another great historic track! We have been fortunate to experience such a variety of tracks around the country. Watkins Glen has had a common thread in many of our conversations with drivers over the last couple of years... That common thread was turning race cars into junk. What we found was a wonderful 3.4 mile track with a great variety of turns and winding elevation changes. We also should to note that the track is lined with new foam barriers around many of the crash locations... it's not a guarantee of protection, but I have seen multiple cars rejoin the race after crashes that would have been written off without the foam. This is not to say that this track isn't intimidating... Completely surrounded by Armco sometimes w/in 5 feet of the race course... there was no time to loose concentration.

We partnered with veteran racing pro Pete Halsmer (Cart,Trans-Am, GT, GTS) as he was a logical fit for us after testing at Mont-Tremblant. Pete drives the HART team Acura NSX in the Rolex series and was their NSX driver in SCCAs World Challenge as well.

Arriving on Friday, we didn't have a track sponsored test day, and the little practice we did was plagued with full course yellows. With only one car this race we decided to maximize the time by having Vaughn and Pete run the remainder of the practice, and the race.

Qualifying had rain, and since Pete was confident he could put a hot lap in in less then three laps... we chose to wait and see what tires the top qualifiers were running in the touring class. Unfortunately our qualifying went to full yellow and ended after one lap... We started 22nd. Pete drove the race well and was in 15th when he got punted into the gravel by a mistake from another driver. It drew another yellow so out came the pace car, the leader at that time (we believe Istook 4 Audi based in FW who we know) let Pete out onto the track in front of him so Pete was able to stay on the lead lap. Pete's hustle around the track paid off as he caught the back of the pack when the course went green. Pete wasn't the only unlucky driver to get punted... Pete retuned the favor with a different car. The nose was a little stuffed and half of our driver side fender disappeared. Pete worked his way to 11th, and we were able to pit under another full course yellow.

Vaughn jumped in, but there was a malfunction of the seat mechanism so as the pace car started to round the last corner there was no choice but to put up the net and send the car out. He made it out, but with no radio, no cool suit, a loose harness, and he could barely reach the foot pedals and steering wheel. It was a mild stroke of luck that Vaughn was able to re-engage the seat mechanism after he caught up to the pack. Quickly tightening his belts and hooking up the radio... the cool suit was a luxury he'd have to go without... When the track went green we were in the back... behind 57 entrants. The remainder of the race was 2-3 green laps followed by 3-4 yellow laps... the absolute most yellow laps we have experienced in a GAC race. By the checkered flag we finished a not so great 17th(out of 30) in class, but spectacular considering we were at the back of the pack 2 two separate times. To put the race cautions into perspective, we could have not made the 3-hr race in only one stop, however we stopped only once and the car was over half full at the end of the race.

We learned much from this race, made a great friendship with Pete Halsmer, and finished under our own power. We have many things to do before the next race; Installation of a new 3.2ltr engine for one of the cars, a good amount of body work, and the most important change.... a new way to adjust the seat.

We dedicated our hood at Watkins Glen in honor of the NSXCA for everything this organization has done for the NSX community.
DAL wants to thank all the NSX enthusiasts who have been helping us throughout the season, and thank you to our major sponsors Goodson Acura, Valvoline and American Honda Motor Co.

DAL Motorsports uses Cobalt Brake Pads, Exedy Clutches, Valvoline Racing Fluids and AEM Engine Controls because THEY ARE THE BEST!

Mont Tremblant – DAL Motorsports Heads North in Canada

What a track!!… set in a beautiful ski resort mountain village in French speaking north east Canada. Mont Tremblant is a very technical and fast 2.65 mile road course with 15 turns and steep grade changes. We came here optimistic and energized. Over the first three races in 2004 we have been fine tuning the performance of our cars, and perfecting our skills as a team. All of the previous races have been Rovals (Converted oval tracks into road courses), this race was on a dedicated road course and that’s what the NSX is suited for.

Thursdays practice went as expected, both cars and drivers made consistent progression on this new track. I mentioned that Mont Tremblant was a fast track… 5 of the 15 turns reach speeds over 100 MPH, many tracks have 1 or 2 high speed turns but this course featured a third, in a range that would be impossible to have adequate runoff for protecting the car and driver. She is also known to have an appetite for eating cars. During the first day we witnessed many incidents including a roll over and a few total losses (sweet looking 360 included) Not only technical but also having extreme elevation changes also put it to the vehicle internals, and by day two we had seen more than a handful of engines let go.

Fridays practice almost included us in the statistics. One of our drivers dropped a wheel in turn 1, a super fast off camber high speed turn. The car slid down the hill hundreds of feet in the slippery grass, just missing the gravel trap by inches as if the track didn’t allow any mercy. The car hit the tire barrier straight on. Fortunately the damage was repairable with the creativity of our crew… and a neighbor teams hydraulic push press. She gave us a warning that reminded us every time we got a high speed glimpse of the long signature in the grass.

Even after our better then average amount of practice and finally racing a dedicated road course, our lap times were not competitive with the upper cars in our class. It was hard to believe that on a course that the NSX would have an opportunity to shine we were still taking a beating on the long straits and seemingly equal in the corners. We became a discouraged as it was clear that teams where we used to have similar horsepower, were now pulling away…Looks like a lot of teams were able to find more tweaks and upped the ante.

We decided to approach the Honda American Racing Team(HART) camp and ask the ROLEX GT NSX pilot, Pete Halsmer to drive our car. We petitioned to get him in for a short stint in Sat mornings practice. We figured he knew the track and car well, so we thought this would help us see if the car or talent/track knowledge were the limiting factor.

His times were better, but out of 32 cars would have only qualified us 21st place. Pete is an incredible driver and one of the nicest drivers I have met in the series. He was candid that he was not willing to push the car more then he was comfortable with, however he said the car was very well balanced. Obviously his skills and track knowledge allowed him to do better with the car, however it is clear that we must continue to fine-tune the car as well as petition the series for some concessions.

Saturday morning the team qualifying 23rd out of 32 cars. We kept our spirits up because we knew this 3-hour endurance and technical track would consume cars. We also felt that we were probably making better fuel mileage than most and thought that we could go with only one stop where most would have to do two.

The race unfortunately was short lived for our team. In lap 4, we lost 3rd gear intermittently and finally in 11 we develop a fatal overheating problem and can only guess that it was caused by a leaking head gasket. We found that our water was getting consumed by the engine until we didn’t have enough to cool the engine. It wasn't our weekend to shine, and like we are told “What doesn’t kill you, will make you stronger”

32 cars entered in our class at Mont Tremblant and only 18 crossed the finish… we have a short time off before our June 19th race at Watkins Glen… however there is no rest for the weary as there is much work to be done. DAL Motorsports would like to thank our major sponsors: Goodson Acura, Valvoline, American Honda and Exedy Clutches without who we would not be able to compete.

Grand-Am Cup: Homestead-Miami PRESS RELEASE

DAL NSX Can't Escape the Texas Heat

DAL Motorsports returns from Homestead-Miami Speedway after round two of the Grand-Am Cup series with a solid finish under their belt, and is ready for round three in Phoenix in 10 short days.

Although the team qualified 10th overall for the race start, they also found themselves in and out of the garages during the race, but were still able to pull out a mid-pack finish and keep themselves in the championship points race.

Shortly after testing began, an engine cooling problem was discovered which would unfortunately plague the team for the entire weekend. Nearly every component of the cooling system was replaced during the weekend trying to locate the source of the problem, but to no avail.

"We could run the car hard for about 10-15 minutes at a time before having to bring it in." said driver Rob Morrison.

Practice & Qualifying

"Practice sessions allowed us to really get a feel for the car on the track. This is still a relatively new car for us, and we're still feeling out how it likes to be set up for various track conditions. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of data on how to set up an NSX like there is for the 996s, M3s, and other cars. I'm sure the 350Z and RX-8 teams are having similar challenges" said driver Vaughn Duarte.

In qualifying, a full course black flag at the start of the session left little time for teams to turn a competitive lap or two. Even so, driver Brian Bailey secured a 10th place starting position on the grid in the short qualifying sprint at the end of the 15 minute qualifying session.

Race Day Strategy

"We qualified 10th, and quickly jumped to 8th place at the start of the race. A couple of teams in front of us were hit with a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start, so we were effectively looking at a 6th place starting position" said race strategist Eric Robbins. "Unfortunately, the cooling problems we experienced in practice couldn't be resolved, so for us, this became a race of attrition. Our strategy quickly changed to one of turning as many laps as possible without putting the car at additional risk. Every team has challenges like this, but better that they happen early in the season than towards the end of a points race."

"Homestead is a great track for the NSX, so it was tough not being able to push the car. I'm definitely looking forward to coming back here later in the year" said driver Brian Bailey. "Grand-Am really knows how to put on a successful race, and coming back to south Florida with the Rolex series is an event that racing fans shouldn't miss."

The team would also like to express special thanks to Rick Vazquez from Germain Acura of Naples and Jason, whose assistance proved critical to the team's success at Homestead-Miami.

DAL Motorsports is proudly sponsored by Goodson Acura, Valvoline, Exedy, AEM, StopTech, Cobalt Friction, and EXP4 Additives. Supporters for the Miami 250 included Meyer Enterprises, Autoscope, Speedworks.


The team returns to competition in the third round of the Grand-Am Cup series in Phoenix from April 8-10.