Corvette
& Mopar Club Challenge (Vette vs. Viper)
February 20,
2005
By: Patty Poupart
It is
always good to remember that charity is important, even when you are
out having fun. Such was the case when we participated in the
Corvette & Mopar Club Challenge at No Problem Raceway on Sunday,
February 20, 2005. This was a charity event, spearheaded by
Laddie Roussel, with proceeds being donated to Landon Robert, a very
special 5-year old local boy from Belle Rose, LA fighting cancer.
Members of ten area Corvette and Mopar/Dodge/Viper clubs and their
families were able to participate in the event. The participating
clubs all made donations which, added to the net event proceeds, made
for a total donation of $7,465.26 to the Landon Robert Donation Fund.
Being members of Greater New Orleans Corvette Club
and experienced Grand Bayou Race Series drivers, several of us
participated by either leading touring laps, participating in the
exhibition road course race, or the head-to-head competition of the
drag races. Patty Poupart led touring laps in the Pouparts’
newly acquired ‘63 Grand Sport Corvette race car. Mike
Poupart led touring laps in their Silver ‘04 Z06 Corvette and
participated in the road course exhibition race driving Allan
McDonnel’s #44 Viper GTS. The other 9 participants in the
exhibition race to promote the Grand Bayou Race Series and road course
racing at NPR, included fellow GNOCC members Johnny Walter, driving the
Walters’ Yellow ‘04 Z06 Corvette; John Centanni driving his
#96 Super Production/GT1 Corvette; Pete Alimia driving his #93 GTO
Corvette; Jose’ Gonzales driving his Black ‘01 Z06
Corvette; and John Hartsock driving his Blue ‘02 Z06
Corvette. The other 4 drivers, a few of the regulars from the
Grand Bayou Race Series who were also involved in the filming of the
Dukes of Hazzard movie in and around Louisiana, included Winston
Landymore in the #15 Mercury Cougar; Steven Melton in the #21 Corvette,
Ralph Wicker in the #24 Corvette; and Byron Rome in the #17 Camaro.
Mary
Pat
Walter Photo
Patty called the race over the P.A. system while
working the green and checker flags from worker station #10 and Mary
Pat Walter took pictures from the same location. Melton was out
of the race early
after blowing his motor right after taking the green flag. It was
a pretty good race with
some close action, and the spectators seemed to enjoy what they
saw.
The spectators in the stands were then treated to a
special “Dukes of Hazzard” race. As mentioned, many
of the Grand Bayou Race Series drivers and their cars recently took
part in the making of the new “Dukes of Hazzard”
movie. The drivers got together and got special permission to use
one of the “General Lee” cars from the movie. There
were 6 cars at the start of the race with a late entry onto the track
by the General Lee being chased by an Assumption Parish police
car. Of course, as the plot usually goes, the police car spun out
during the chase and the General Lee narrowly won the race. It
was all in good fun!
Patty
Poupart Photo
After the road
course was shut down, the track was
re-configured and the drag race time trials started. We got the
race cars put away, had some lunch, watched a little drag racing and
headed for home. It had been a long, eventful weekend after
having had a full day of racing the day before.
We’d like to thank the members of Greater New
Orleans Corvette Club, Crescent City Corvette Club, Baton Rouge
Corvette Club, Northshore Corvette Club, Cajun Corvette Club, Bayou
State Corvette Club, Louisiana Chapter of the National Corvette
Restorers Society, Big Easy Mopar Association, Mid South Viper Club,
and Prowler Owners Association of Louisiana for their participation and
hope that everyone had as good a time as we did. While generating
funds for a worthy, charitable cause, we hope we also generated some
interest in the growing road racing action in south Louisiana. Be
sure to look us up at the next Grand Bayou Race Series event at No
Problem Raceway on April 10, 2005!
