Team LaCross News & Events
WE DID DAYTONA...OR DAYTONA DID US
Now that it has been a couple of weeks since we got back from Daytona, it is time to report on what happened at the big race.
First of all, we all arrived at different times and places, but for the most part we all had good traveling conditions. We all stood in line at the new registration building for most of the morning on Tuesday. At noon, they finally let us in and we started the long process of getting tech'd. We were only allowed to get our fuel cell inspected on tuesday. We used the rest of the afternoon to do some other last minute details that didn't get done at the shop.
Wednesday was one of those "hurry up and wait" days. In the morning, they checked engines starting at the highest points and working down to us. They finally got to us about 11 am. They passed the engine cube/compress test, but we had to also weld end caps on the lead boxes (everyone else did too) and replace the rear spring cup with steel ones (everyone else did too) and replace the window net with a SFI sticker. Finally about 1 pm, we were ready to get in line for body templates. About 5:30 we got to the first station and since the garage usually closes at 6pm, we were nervous that we wouldn't get through in time, but they cut it off about 3 cars after us. In the "room of doom" they found about three little issues that we needed to work on. Fortunately, nothing that was going to require bondo.
Bright and early on Thursday, Chuck had most everything fixed and we got back in line to get re-checked. Unfortunately, the line was even longer than wednesday. Practice started about 1 pm and we got through tech about the same time. After some last minute preparations, we hit the track about 2 pm. As soon as I get on the track, Duane radios that there is a spinner in the third turn and the red flag is out. So I brought it back down pit road and got right back in line. When we went out the next time, I hustled it up to speed and planted my foot into the carb and never lifted until we came back in a few laps later. Duane gave us the first report that it was going to be a long week, the first laps came in at around 54 seconds. WOW, that was 2.5 seconds off from our test speeds. We also had some fender rubs so we went to work on getting those taken care of before we went back out. This time we got it down into the mid 53's, but didn't seem like it was going to get much better. After a gear change and a few more adjustments, we got down into the low 53's, but that was all she had. Practice was over and we headed back to the hotels scratching our heads.
Friday, Chuck made some more fine tuning adjustments and we lined up for pre-qualifying tech line. About 2 pm we rolled off pit road for the last 2 laps that we would get for the week. It was better (almost 53 flat) but nowhere near good enough. As we were standing in the garage waiting for qualifying to end, we found more and more top teams loading up just like us. Even though we didn't find the speed that we needed, we couldn't feel too bad when teams like Kimmel, Clements, Rusty Wallace's team, and Greg Sacks didn't get the job done either.
I want to thank everyone who helped out for their time and efforts:
Chuck and Lisa Miller
Mom and Dad Cross
Duane and Dee Canfield
Todd and Jim Caufield
John Traphagen
Eric Bomboy
Rex Helwig
Rick and Rich Petrucco and Brandon
Clara Ortalano
Special Thanks to Bobby Thurston Jr.
Thanks for the help at the garage too,
Aaron Cross
Bob Cincotta
We are still not sure what happened to make us slow down so much, when we thought that we had made improvements from testing. But you can bet that we won't rest until we figure it out.
TLM TACKLES DAYTONA
Febraury 3, 2008: The car was loaded into the trailer and Brent and John headed down I-81. This marks the
beginning of the most significant race in TLM's history. The team is all set to go up against
70 ARCA teams that include several Cup and development teams. The crew knows they have a tall
order in front of them, but the recent improvements since the test in December has everyone
optimistic about our chances. Some of those improvements include a new "special" camshaft, some
body "massaging" by Chuck, and a top secret adjustment from Billy Gerhart. A tenth here and
there and we will be under the magic 51 second mark.
The team unloads on Tuesday, tech inspection on Wednesday, practice on Thursday, time trials on
Friday and the race in on Saturday afternoon (live on Speed) just before the Cup teams run the
Bud Shoot-out.
Thanks to all of the crew and supporters that have help to make this effort possible. I will
make a post race report when we get back.
Team LaCross Motorsports Has Successful Test at Daytona
A little over a month ago, the team took delivery of a bare frame and a body and decided to turn
those parts into a complete car for Daytona. The problem was that they only had a month left
before testing would take place begin. After many long nights of working late, the car was
loaded into the trailer and shipped to Daytona to see if they could improve upon the potential
that they experienced at last year's test.
When the team arrived at the World Center for Speed on Friday, they still had a handful of
details left to be finished before the car could go on the track. Finally about 4pm, the car was
lined up for its maiden run. The team was very excited, proud, tired and a little nervous as the
car waited its turn to take to the high banks. Unfortunately, all of those emotions would have
to wait another day as the car developed an oil line leak as soon as it left pit road. The good
news was that there was no damage to the engine and was quickly fixed before the garage closed
for the day.
On Saturday, the team got to the track bright and early to make sure the car was in line to take
some laps in the morning session. When the car finally hit the track, Brent took a couple of
caution laps to make sure that the oil line was not going to be a problem again. Fortunately,
everything was working well so he cranked it up for a reasonable first run time of around 54
seconds. The team went back to work on the car and made a few changes before taking the second
run of the day. This time, the car was much better and Brent was able to get the times down into
the 52 second range. After some more adjustments and the car seemed to be "stuck" at around 51.5
seconds. The team was going to have to make some kind of a major change to get the times to come
down the 50 second range that they were able to achieve with last year’s car. A decision was
made to change the carburetor for the final session of the day. This time the car was really
fast and Brent was even able to catch up to Frank Kimmel in his new number 44 car. After several
laps on Kimmel’s bumper, the team was really excited about keeping up with the 9 time champion,
but had to wonder if the time was aided by the draft off from Kimmel’s car.
 The weather didn’t look like it was going to cooperate on Sunday morning, in fact there was even
a Tornado warning in effect. Fortunately, by 10 am the sun had come out and the track was ready
for more testing by noon. The team made some changes that were suggested by Billy Gerhart and
the next test session proved that he knows a few things after having won the Daytona 200 on 5
previous occasions. The car was now running just as fast as it did in the draft, and produced a
weekend best time of 50.7 seconds, good enough for 27th fastest on Sunday and 42nd out of 79
drivers overall for the weekend. Now that the car was clearly able to run some good qualifying
times, the team made some final adjustments to see how the car would run in "race trim". Billy
had told us that if we could run a 51.5 second lap that we should be in good shape for the race.
For the final time on the track Brent was getting the car wound up with a 51.7 second lap and
looking for the magic 51.5 number when he caught a slower car that look away his line and had to
abandon any further attempts to better the 51.7 lap. The team was satisfied that the car was
capable to getting down to the magic number and decided to load up for the trip home.
Everyone who helped make this test happen should be commended for their efforts and should
feel proud to have built a car for Daytona in a very short period of time. I would like to thank
the following people for their help:
Chuck and Lisa Miller
Mom and Dad Cross
Aaron Cross
Duane Canfield
John Traphagen
Eric Bomboy
Todd Caufield
Dutch Hedger
Billy Gerhart
D2K Graphics
TEPCO Equipment & Painting
I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish is such a short time. With just a little
financial help, this team can easily be in 2008 ARCA 200 at Daytona Speedway on Feb. 9.
Click here to watch our short QuickTime video clip! (*.mov format - approx 2.3MB)
Team LaCross Well Represented at Racing Against Cancer Banquet
On November 10th Team LaCross Motorsports crew members Aaron Cross and Ed & Shari Lawrence
attended the Racing Against Cancer Banquet at Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, CT.
Our team was successful in raising upwards of $1500 in donations for the organization. This
was through the efforts of Dave Wimmer, our Southwest Connection, as well as many team members
here at home base.
The RAC organization raised $52,000 in 2007. They fell short of the previous year however
weren't discouraged as every dollar is extremely valuable and is put towards all aspects
regarding the fight against cancer.
One orgainization that sticks out in our minds was David's House. This is an organization that
houses up to 15 families as they support their loved one's during the treatment of the
particular cancer they have been stricken with. It was a sobering moment when it was mentioned
that they are turning families away because they don't have the room to accomodate any more.
We were very choked up with their story which left us all wanting to go bigger and better in
2008. Another story that sticks out is this young boy who raised $1600 (a new Junior Embassador
record). He was so proud of his accomplishments. And so he should be.
Our very own Dave Wimmer is a cancer survivor as well. It was such an honor to have held the
raffle this past June which all the proceeds were donated to RAC. It was his efforts that
inspired our team to take part in raising well needed donations to help fight the war on cancer.
Thanks to all who helped with the campaign this year.
Team LaCross Hires G & G Motorsports Marketing for 2008 Season
Cortland, NY (October 18, 2007) - Team LaCross is proud to announce that they
have retained G & G Motorsports Marketing LLC as their marketing firm for the upcoming 2008
season.
To compete in these high profile series Brent Cross, team owner and driver, knows that a solid
relationship with a top sponsor is imperative and that it was time to seek the help of a
professional marketing firm that specializes in the ultra competitive Motorsports marketing
arena.
G & G Motorsports Marketing offers a comprehensive list of services to include public relations,
sponsorship procurement, promotions and activations, Corporate hospitality, website management,
merchandising and much more.
Francine Schill, owner of G & G Motorsports Marketing, LLC has an extensive background working
with corporations and Motorsports marketing. She has a firm understanding of the industry and
has relationships in place to successfully implement a strong program to help Team LaCross
compete at higher levels.
Team LaCross, is a Cortland, New York based race team currently working to secure sponsorship
for the 2008 ARCA Series and 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Companies interested in joining the team with a winning attitude please visit our website at
www.ggcmm.com for marketing opportunities and
contact information.
SUPERSPEEDWAY REPORT
We (especially Aaron) have been working on the superspeedway car trying to get it up-to-date as
far as frame rails, fuel cell location and roof bars. Even though the frame is almost done, we
still need to hang our 2004 Pontiac body on it and then we have to convert the body to a 2007
Chevy (because pontiacs are no longer legal).
Since the Cup teams will be going to the COT at Talledega next month, we have been keeping an
eye out for a used Cup car. Billy Clark, formerly of Cortland, who now works for the Wood Bros.
was able to find us a chassis and body from DEI (see photos). It is a car that
Paul Menard drove in one of the recent cup races at Daytona or Talledega. Since it is only a
chassis and body, there is still alot of work to do, but it will be the most up to date
equipment that we have ever had in our fleet. Besides, the DEI cars are usually pretty good on
the restrictor plate tracks, so even if this wasn't their best piece, you can be sure that it is
better than most ARCA bodies.
PS: It looks like red paint under the faded green...could it be...?
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