Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Welcome Coastal Waste Services!
The Grand Bayou Charity Challenge welcomes Coastal Waste Services as the main sponsor for this year's charity race events to take place April 11-12, 2008! Additional sponsors are needed and we encourage you to join us to support UnlockingAutism.org, a very worthy cause. Please go to the Mike Poupart Motorsports web page for more information, event schedule, sponsor and registration forms.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
2008 Grand Bayou Charity Challenge Race - Updated!
The Board of Governors of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge met recently to begin putting plans in place and firming up details for this year's event which is slated for April 11-12, 2008. The event will be held once again at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA, and promises to be bigger and better than last year. All proceeds will benefit UnlockingAutism.org and we are hoping to top last year's donation of $12,000.00.
The festivities will start on Friday afternoon, April 11, 2008, with a lapping/practice day from 12-4 pm. A sponsor's reception will be held Friday night at Cafe Lafourche in Donaldsonville, LA featuring a buffet and a cash bar.
With assistance from the Club South Runners of Baton Rouge and the New Orleans Track Club, a 2-Mile Fun Run is being planned for Saturday morning followed by regular warm-up and qualifying sessions for the race car drivers. There will be preferred parking in the car club corral and food will be available at the concession stand. The track will open for touring laps during the lunch break followed by a practice session by the Tiger Cycling Foundation who will have their own race on the track during the afternoon heat and feature races by the Grand Bayou Race Series regulars.
Local vocalist, Jackie Baudier, will sing the national anthem prior to the start of the afternoon racing. Special Events Master of Ceremonies for the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino (Biloxi, MS), Steve Greenfield, will be on hand to emcee the days events.
Once the racing is finished, The Jay B. Elston Band will be crankin' it up Southern style with some classic rock, blues, and country music for the BBQ and awards presentation.
The pre-registration entry fee for one driver is $125 which includes an event t-shirt and 1 ticket (armband) for the Saturday BBQ. Tickets for the Friday sponsors reception will be sold for $20 each and extra tickets for the BBQ will cost only $8. Registration cut-off is April 9, 2008. These prices will increase after that date.
Sponsors are always needed and very welcome and there are special packages available at two levels. For $250, a sponsor will get a one-color logo on the back of the event t-shirts, advertising on the back of all event literature, 2 tickets for the Friday sponsors reception, 2 tickets for the Saturday races, and 2 tickets for the Saturday BBQ. New this year is the $500 sponsor level which offers double of everything included at the $250 level PLUS 1 passenger ride in the pace car at the start of one of the heat or feature races!
The hosts of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge, Chris & Lois Wilken and Mike & Patty Poupart, are joined by many volunteers that are working to make this event happen. We ask that you join us on April 11-12, 2008 as we not only tap into the strength of our local communities, but help UnlockingAutism.org reach out across the nation to unify the parents of the nearly 550,000 autistic people in the U.S. in an effort to sort out the mystery of autism.
The festivities will start on Friday afternoon, April 11, 2008, with a lapping/practice day from 12-4 pm. A sponsor's reception will be held Friday night at Cafe Lafourche in Donaldsonville, LA featuring a buffet and a cash bar.
With assistance from the Club South Runners of Baton Rouge and the New Orleans Track Club, a 2-Mile Fun Run is being planned for Saturday morning followed by regular warm-up and qualifying sessions for the race car drivers. There will be preferred parking in the car club corral and food will be available at the concession stand. The track will open for touring laps during the lunch break followed by a practice session by the Tiger Cycling Foundation who will have their own race on the track during the afternoon heat and feature races by the Grand Bayou Race Series regulars.
Local vocalist, Jackie Baudier, will sing the national anthem prior to the start of the afternoon racing. Special Events Master of Ceremonies for the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino (Biloxi, MS), Steve Greenfield, will be on hand to emcee the days events.
Once the racing is finished, The Jay B. Elston Band will be crankin' it up Southern style with some classic rock, blues, and country music for the BBQ and awards presentation.
The pre-registration entry fee for one driver is $125 which includes an event t-shirt and 1 ticket (armband) for the Saturday BBQ. Tickets for the Friday sponsors reception will be sold for $20 each and extra tickets for the BBQ will cost only $8. Registration cut-off is April 9, 2008. These prices will increase after that date.
Sponsors are always needed and very welcome and there are special packages available at two levels. For $250, a sponsor will get a one-color logo on the back of the event t-shirts, advertising on the back of all event literature, 2 tickets for the Friday sponsors reception, 2 tickets for the Saturday races, and 2 tickets for the Saturday BBQ. New this year is the $500 sponsor level which offers double of everything included at the $250 level PLUS 1 passenger ride in the pace car at the start of one of the heat or feature races!
The hosts of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge, Chris & Lois Wilken and Mike & Patty Poupart, are joined by many volunteers that are working to make this event happen. We ask that you join us on April 11-12, 2008 as we not only tap into the strength of our local communities, but help UnlockingAutism.org reach out across the nation to unify the parents of the nearly 550,000 autistic people in the U.S. in an effort to sort out the mystery of autism.
Monday, February 4, 2008
GBRS Event #5 - Feb. 2, 2008
We arrived at the track early with fewer butterflies swarming in my stomach than last month. That was a good sign. The windows of the #02 BCI Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette were wet inside and out from the car being outdoors uncovered all night. It took a while to get everything dry enough to put some new sponsor graphics on the car. Chris Wilken, the car owner, secured sponsorship from Eric Weil, owner of Cafe' Lafourche, one of our favorite restaurants in Donaldsonville, LA.
We were scheduled for the warm-up/practice session which went well. Another good sign. Our times were a little slower than the day before which is attributed to being in more traffic with less open track. Spending more time wheel-to-wheel with a lot more cars was good experience for us. With the car being warmed up for him, Dennis gets in for the qualifying session and then runs the heat and feature races. Maybe he is getting spoiled!
Dennis "broke out" during qualifying, with a lap .032 seconds faster than the limit of the Yellow Bracket, which would put him in the next faster bracket. To stay in the Yellow Bracket and not lose his points, he started at the back of the pack for the heat race, which he won. He thought he won the feature race as well, but didn't realize that Tommy Barrios switched classes from Spec Miata to Yellow Bracket prior to the heat race. Dennis gave Tommy the pass near the end of the race because he didn't know he was racing against him in the same class. A second place finish for Dennis Gros and the BCI Motorsports team was still a good finish.
Mike Poupart Motorsports was kept very busy looking after 5 different cars which included the #98 Liberto Cleaners Corvette owned and driven by Johnny Walter, the #88 Smoothie King Camaro owned and driven by Mark Summers, the #20 Allied Mortgage Panoz GTS owned and driven by Doug Boozer, and both of the #01 and #02 BCI Motorsports Corvettes owned by Chris Wilken and driven by Dennis Gros and Chris Wilken, respectively. Robbie Poupart assisted his Dad, Mike Poupart, wherever possible.
The Liberto Cleaners Corvette experienced a few problems throughout the day - a bad battery, a fuel pump - nothing that couldn't be fixed. The Panoz GTS had a minor wheel problem that was quickly resolved. Except for the #02 BCI Motorsports Corvette, all the rest of the cars we were looking after ran in the same group between the Super Production and the GTO classes.
The qualifying session for this group was pretty exciting due to an unfortunate incident in lap 3 when Byron Rome, driving the #44 Camaro in Vintage V8, blew his motor and the car caught fire. When the motor let go, he drove the car off course and into the grass and the flames "whooshed" up from under the car momentarily engulfing the sides of the car in a flash of flame. John Brannan, who had previously left the race course with his #13 Camaro, was nearby and rushed over with his fire extinguisher. Another driver rushed over with a fire extinguisher as Chris Carver drove his #76 Nissan straight off the track to offer his assistance. Meanwhile, the rest of the drivers came to a red flag stop. The spectators applauded! What great teamwork by the drivers!
With several cars being towed off the track from the previous session, the pace car was lacking a driver. Mike Poupart jumped in and took over the pace car duties for the start of the SP/GTO/Vintage V8 feature race. Johnny Walter, the only Super Production car, started on the pole with Chris Wilken on the outside front row in P2. It seemed like the starter held the field for a long time, but when he showed the green flag, Johnny launched and Chris fell in behind throwing out the tow rope for Mark Summers who was starting in P3. They ran closely for several laps until Mark passed Chris early in the race. Meanwhile, Doug Boozer started in P6 and dropped out of the race early. He was only credited with one race lap. Now, guarding his position with his competition behind him, Mark held Chris at bay for several more laps before losing it in turn 4 giving Chris the opportunity to go around him. Mark recovered and they finished the race 1-2 in GTO.
It was a great day with great weather for racing. We're looking ahead to the Bryan Racing Lapping Day on March 1st and the last race of the 2007-2008 Grand Bayou Race Series on March 2nd.
View and order photos taken at the GBRS Event #5 - Feb. 2, 2008 from Poupart Photos!
We were scheduled for the warm-up/practice session which went well. Another good sign. Our times were a little slower than the day before which is attributed to being in more traffic with less open track. Spending more time wheel-to-wheel with a lot more cars was good experience for us. With the car being warmed up for him, Dennis gets in for the qualifying session and then runs the heat and feature races. Maybe he is getting spoiled!
Dennis "broke out" during qualifying, with a lap .032 seconds faster than the limit of the Yellow Bracket, which would put him in the next faster bracket. To stay in the Yellow Bracket and not lose his points, he started at the back of the pack for the heat race, which he won. He thought he won the feature race as well, but didn't realize that Tommy Barrios switched classes from Spec Miata to Yellow Bracket prior to the heat race. Dennis gave Tommy the pass near the end of the race because he didn't know he was racing against him in the same class. A second place finish for Dennis Gros and the BCI Motorsports team was still a good finish.
Mike Poupart Motorsports was kept very busy looking after 5 different cars which included the #98 Liberto Cleaners Corvette owned and driven by Johnny Walter, the #88 Smoothie King Camaro owned and driven by Mark Summers, the #20 Allied Mortgage Panoz GTS owned and driven by Doug Boozer, and both of the #01 and #02 BCI Motorsports Corvettes owned by Chris Wilken and driven by Dennis Gros and Chris Wilken, respectively. Robbie Poupart assisted his Dad, Mike Poupart, wherever possible.
The Liberto Cleaners Corvette experienced a few problems throughout the day - a bad battery, a fuel pump - nothing that couldn't be fixed. The Panoz GTS had a minor wheel problem that was quickly resolved. Except for the #02 BCI Motorsports Corvette, all the rest of the cars we were looking after ran in the same group between the Super Production and the GTO classes.
The qualifying session for this group was pretty exciting due to an unfortunate incident in lap 3 when Byron Rome, driving the #44 Camaro in Vintage V8, blew his motor and the car caught fire. When the motor let go, he drove the car off course and into the grass and the flames "whooshed" up from under the car momentarily engulfing the sides of the car in a flash of flame. John Brannan, who had previously left the race course with his #13 Camaro, was nearby and rushed over with his fire extinguisher. Another driver rushed over with a fire extinguisher as Chris Carver drove his #76 Nissan straight off the track to offer his assistance. Meanwhile, the rest of the drivers came to a red flag stop. The spectators applauded! What great teamwork by the drivers!
With several cars being towed off the track from the previous session, the pace car was lacking a driver. Mike Poupart jumped in and took over the pace car duties for the start of the SP/GTO/Vintage V8 feature race. Johnny Walter, the only Super Production car, started on the pole with Chris Wilken on the outside front row in P2. It seemed like the starter held the field for a long time, but when he showed the green flag, Johnny launched and Chris fell in behind throwing out the tow rope for Mark Summers who was starting in P3. They ran closely for several laps until Mark passed Chris early in the race. Meanwhile, Doug Boozer started in P6 and dropped out of the race early. He was only credited with one race lap. Now, guarding his position with his competition behind him, Mark held Chris at bay for several more laps before losing it in turn 4 giving Chris the opportunity to go around him. Mark recovered and they finished the race 1-2 in GTO.
It was a great day with great weather for racing. We're looking ahead to the Bryan Racing Lapping Day on March 1st and the last race of the 2007-2008 Grand Bayou Race Series on March 2nd.
View and order photos taken at the GBRS Event #5 - Feb. 2, 2008 from Poupart Photos!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Bryan Racing Lapping Day - Feb. 1, 2008
This was our 2nd lapping day in the #02 BCI Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette and it was a very good day! We got the seat belts and my seat insert adjusted to fit me right away so we were much more comfortable in the car from the beginning of the day. We took it easy at first letting everything warm up and checking the gauges. The new transmission (built and installed since the last race) worked to perfection. When we came in from the first session and opened the hood, we didn't know what to do. The car wasn't spitting, sputtering, choking, smoking or dripping. It was just fine! All the work done by the combined teams of BCI Motorsports and Mike Poupart Motorsports paid off! The only work done on the car all day (other than fueling) was changing the right rear tire which we corded around mid-day.
Confidence was high and smiles were big throughout the day. We tried a few new things to go faster and, although there were no "official" times, several people had stopwatches that showed we were running laps in the 1:28 range. That was about 8 seconds per lap faster than what we was running last month and that was good enough to run the car in the Yellow Bracket class where regular driver, Denis Gros, has been leading in the points race for this season's Grand Bayou Race Series.
Talking with the other drivers, we seem to be holding our own with them on the track and we are having fun racing together. We'll run the warm-up/practice session tomorrow and Dennis will run the qualifying session as well as the heat and feature races.
View and order photos taken at the Feb. 1, 2008 Bryan Racing Lapping Day from Poupart Photos!
Confidence was high and smiles were big throughout the day. We tried a few new things to go faster and, although there were no "official" times, several people had stopwatches that showed we were running laps in the 1:28 range. That was about 8 seconds per lap faster than what we was running last month and that was good enough to run the car in the Yellow Bracket class where regular driver, Denis Gros, has been leading in the points race for this season's Grand Bayou Race Series.
Talking with the other drivers, we seem to be holding our own with them on the track and we are having fun racing together. We'll run the warm-up/practice session tomorrow and Dennis will run the qualifying session as well as the heat and feature races.
View and order photos taken at the Feb. 1, 2008 Bryan Racing Lapping Day from Poupart Photos!
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