Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/335414
July / August 2014 25 When we started racing with the Chump Car World Series in 2011 (if I recall the year correctly) we never thought it would turn into such a competitive venture. In the beginning of the series, the idea was to see if you could buy a $500 crap can racer, install all the necessary safety equipment to make it race legal (requirements very similar to all the other race series, PCA, NASA, Le Mans, Sebring, Spa,... and now Chump Car! By Karl Wilen & Al Hess GUEST COLUMN SCCA, etc), and then take it to the race track to see if you could finish a 24 hour race. In the beginning years, cars were breaking left and right. Crews were constantly scrambling to get the cars back up and running and out on track to try and finish the race. Engine swaps were being done in the paddock, quick repairs done in the pit lane. Guys would literally bring an entire spare car to use for parts. The guys (Al Hess, Chris McIntyre, Bob Wayman, John Clark, and Richard Bennett) started with a ratty old 1985 944 NA. It had some trials and tribulations, mainly fuel pumps, an electrical gremlin or two and the occasional misplaced tire wall in the middle of the night which caused to the car to become oddly misshapen over the first year of racing. It kind of resembled a football by the end of the first season in fact. We campaigned that car as hard as we could for a few years, with the occasional decent finish, but no wins. As the years progressed, the competition series turned into some real hard core racing. Drivers have gotten much better, and the cars (and teams) are coming much better prepared to race. Fuel and