Congratulations Lars And Jonny!

Anyone who has ever met Lars Stugemo will agree that he is one of the nicest guys you will ever have the pleasure of racing with. As a competitor he never backs off and he will push the envelope to the very edge every single time he's behind the wheel. Great job Lars and Jonny... Congratulations!!!

La Carrera Panamericana Video

Our good friend Lars Stugemo sent this video today and wrote, "A short clip of when Mats & Co changed the engine out on the gravel roads in Chihuahua. That´s the spirit of that team!"

THANKS LARS!!! PS: I kept the video of you guys in the Ford Galaxie at The Nürburgring for my private stash.

Always The Gentleman

I am always proud to be associated with such fine gentleman as there are to be found in racing and one such person that stands out is none other than Lars Stugemo. Not only is Lars an awesome driver but he has a personality to match. Always ready to go a little beyond the ragged edge and equally as willing to bend over backwards to help another racer regardless of what bad cards he may have been dealt.

Lars wrote today with a little insight as to what happened during last weekends mishap but what I take from all this is the no-excuse attitude accompanied along with a great attitude as well. I always have a great admiration for someone who sees the glass as half full instead of half empty.

Lars wrote...

Thanx Gary - and yes it keeps happening - but I guess that´s racing...



This was a brand new engine De Luxe - just popped on SS5 after the long straights. How boring is that...



Then the tow car broke down so no time to fix it when the car came down 03:30. Otherwise our crew would have given it a shot for sure. They are great!



And, maybe on a slightly more negative side: There was actually a car transporter for a fellow competitor who stopped, but we sensed they weren´t really able to go the distance for the small extra and take the car. Probably a misjudgement only.. And, of course we thought we could fix it ourselves :=)



Anyway. The weather was good - keep up the good work with the blog it´s always great to get some news.



All the best - Lars :=)

Chihuahua Update

Photo courtesy of Dyana Marlett

Lars Stugemo is out of the race. Not only did his engine blow up but while being towed back the tow truck broke down and so they didn’t get back to the hotel until 4 a.m.. Talk about a bad break.

Lars is one hell of a nice guy and as well as competitor but it seems to have a monkey on his back since last year he also had a bad time taking on the Chihuahua. Better luck next year Lars.

The 3 F's... Fast... Friendly... Fun

Anyone who has been involved with the fine art of endurance racing will tell you that the only thing you can be certain of is uncertainty. The old saying of, anything that can happen will, still rings true especially in La Carrera Panamericana. As seen in this video sent to me by Jonny Olofsson the co-piloto for Lars Stugemo in the #114 Studebaker, you can never assume it's in the bag until the fat lady sings. I am proud to call both of these Swedes my friend and both are fine gentleman and racers who know how to get it done.

This first of two videos was taken on the very same stretch of road that Jon and I ran Lucky on last year. It is a very high speed section with faster cars often reaching speeds of 200 miles per hour and like so many other sections of La Carrera Panamericana, it's not a place you want anything to go wrong. After 7 days of hard racing and the final finish line in Nuevo Laredo in sight all of a sudden the windshield is covered with oil and seconds later the engine grenades. Being the true racers they are, they did what any self respecting guys would do and that was push the car across the finish line and into the history books of 5th overall and 4th in class.




This next video just shows some of the excitement, color and flavor that is nothing more than a passion, a love and a mistress of anyone of us who love La Carrera Panamericana. One observation I have noticed reminds me of an old saying, "Birds of a feather flock together." It seems Mats Hammarlund and Eva Hellsrom have the ability to attract only quality men and women team members and drivers who know not only how to drive but to show the appreciation they have for what we do. Any sucessful businessman will tell you that in order to be successful you must know how to surround yourself with the right people. Mats and Eva have done exactly that.

Bad Luck Report Begins

I just got a message from fellow 2007 LCP racer Karl Scheible that Lars Stugemo piloto of Studebaker #114 is out having suffered from a blown engine. Yesterday Lars finished 3rd in Turismo Mayor Class and 4th overall. Tough luck for one of the nicest racers anyone could ever wish to meet.



PHOTO COURTESY OF GO FAST ENERGY DRINKS

Don't kid yourself, it's NOT a rally.

If anyone tells you that the rally type format used in La Carrera Panamericana or the Chihuahua Express is not really racing do me a big favor and kick them square in the Cojones! In this weeks running of the Chihuahua Express over 55 cars started but on the last day a friend wrote they only saw 27 finish. Now anyway you look at it that's not a race for sissys and no it's not because they stopped somewhere for cocktails either.

A friend wrote telling me that possibly I shouldn't write about the high attrition because some people might not like it. That's like talking about a boxing match without anyone getting hit. Racers know there are risk and that's a risk they accept. Quite the contrary, if I didn't talk about attrition it's possible someone reading my blog or others like it might not fully give safety equipment the full benefit of the doubt. Folks, THIS IS SERIOUS RACING and not just another Sunday drive. The only reason these people are alive to talk about these wrecks is because they know the risk and THEY TOOK NOTHING FOR GRANTED.

Two of the cars above are toast, literally, and they are both good friends of mine whom we met at last years La Carrera Panamericana. Had they taken even the smallest safety items for granted I may very well have not been able to write this entry. Thank God they are safe. After looking at the photos above you can see why we are so concerned about them.

The 1953 baby blue Studebaker driven by Lars Stugemo of Sweden and his co-piloto Filipe Argueles of Mexico took a dive into a drop-off ravine after rolling.

Englishman Joe Harding and Co-piloto Paul Lisec took a trip to Hell (fire and all) in his beautiful 1963 Falcon Sprint. Joe is now back in the U.S. with what might be a broken ankle. Talk about heat, note the seats in Joe's car are completely burned away only minutes after the fire began.

Both Joe and Lars are very competitive drivers who have our respect besides the fact that both are fine gentlemen we are proud to call our friends not to mention both had outstanding cars we loved. I hope both teams will be able to pull something off soon since both are already entered in this years La Carrera Panamericana.

Ironicly, the white 1953 Studebaker with the red flames painted on the side belongs to Chris Sayler. Chris has run in previous La Carrera Panamericana's and based on photos of previous experiences he has had I can tell you he knows just how important safety equipment is including a good roll cage.