2011 Grand Bayou Charity Challenge

As co-organizers of the Grand Bayou Charity Challenge held April 1-3, 2011 at Circuit Grand Bayou in Belle Rose, LA, we want to say "Thank You" to everyone that supported the event this year - racers, sponsors, spectators, volunteers, and all those who work so hard behind the scene to make our event successful year after year. We didn't reach the fundraising level we achieved last year, but can't complain. Raising approximately $30,000 to support the autism programs at St. Mary's Residential Training School is still a very good thing! A full event report can be found at http://www.grandbayoucharitychallenge.org/.

Now, time for the Mike Poupart Motorsports race report....

This event was a debut of the new paint scheme (graphics wrap) on the #98 Liberto Cleaners GT1 Corvette driven by owner, Johnny Walter. Mike & Patty Poupart shared the #28 Panoz GTLS sporting sponsorship graphics on behalf of Provosty & Gankendorff, L.L.C., LarGo, L.L.C., and SyNerGy Adjusting Corporation.

Mike & Patty had not raced in about a year while it had been 18 mos. since the Liberto Cleaners Corvette had put tires to asphalt. We all spent a little bit of time on the track during Friday's race practice shaking out the cobwebs. It would help going into warm-up and qualifying with a sense of comfort about how the car feels and handles. While Johnny ran some laps in the warm-up session on Saturday morning, Mike & Patty opted to skip it to save the tires. It was decided that Patty would qualify the car and Mike would race it in the Heat Race.

After getting all the pre-race coaching from Mike as he was strapping her in the car, a few deep breaths were in order to quell the butterflies before rolling off the grid in mid-pack. After the tires and fluids were sufficiently warmed up, Patty stepped it up a notch and got what she felt were a few good laps put together for a decent qualifying time. After the session and the lap times were posted, Mike went to Patty and fussed that she qualified him in 13th for the Heat Race. At least he wasn't in last place... and he loves to come from the back of the field! "But 13th!" he whined. Her reply... "Yah, sucks to be you!"

Just before the GT Heat Race started in the afternoon, Patty got an awesome opportunity to go up in a helicopter to shoot photos of the race. From above the track, she was able to watch him start near the back and make it half-way to the front of the field before completing the first lap. Unfortunately, Mike experienced brake fade going into turn 1 towards the end of the race which seemed to resolve by turns 2 and 3, before reappearing at turn 4. Feeling that it was more important to live than finish the race, Mike retired early. Meanwhile, Johnny had an issue that was originally thought to be a broken rear end and his car was towed in. Later, after dinner & a couple of drinks, the guys decided to take a closer look. They rigged up some lighting and removed the rear body panels to find that the frame section to which the rear end is bolted was broken! Nope, can't fix that overnight!

Sunday morning brought our son, Robbie, back to the track to do the awesome job he always does with crewing for the team. He assisted Mike in bleeding the brakes on the Panoz and getting the car ready for the day's racing. We missed warm-up and with yesterday's brake issues, Patty decided that Mike would be better in the car for the Feature Race. Again starting near the back of the field, Mike was doing a great job until he spun between turns 10 and 11. He also gained style points for the double 360 degree spin! Even though a body panel broke when the car went into the grass, he retired early bringing the car in under its own power.

This event was special for the Pouparts in that it was a first road race attendance for the newest member of the team - Jackson Rhys Poupart, born March 7, 2011 to Mike's oldest son, Shane, and his wife, Courtney. And let's not forget about Cole Poupart - son of Robbie Poupart and Heather Melancon! At 13 months old, Cole rode in the race car to the grid with his Daddy and his Pops! It is always great to have the family in attendance for support!

All in all, we had a great time and so did the other racers, putting on a good show for the spectators! Meanwhile, we'll keep you posted on the next time we go racing!