Phelon Motorsports

"Heroes of Speed," Tooele , Utah

The “Heroes of speed” was our fourth HSR event of the season in Tooele , Utah ; yes, Utah . Carl spent four days and 2300 miles in the hauler. Miller Motorsports Park is a state of the art facility located just outside Salt Lake City . The facility is owned by Larry Miller who has set a new standard for road racing facilities. The road course is 4.5 miles long, has 24 turns, and proved to be very challenging for drivers. The garage area was a real treat for crew members with the addition of closed circuit television, private team restrooms, and direct access to pit lane. For this event we prepared our #16 Mountain Dew Trans-Am car and our #98 Fingerhut NASCAR stock car.

On test day, our primary goal was to allow Dale time to learn the track using the Trans-Am car. Unfortunately, we immediately ran into problems with the new transmission that was in the car as it began to leak profusely. The team quickly prepared the stock car for the next session. By the end of the first day, Dale was running fast and became the fastest of the stock car field. Read the rest of this entry »

Phelon Motorsports has been very busy since out last update after Sebring. We have participated in a test session at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. and two major race events; the Walter Mitty Challenge at Road Atlanta and the Watkins Glen Historic Race in NY. Read the rest of this entry »

This week Phelon Motorsports is preparing for an event with the Sports Vintage Racing Association at Barber Motorsports Park. Barber is located in the rolling hills just outside of Birmingham, AL. At this event the Riley & Scott Trans-Am Mustang will be campaigned.

On other notes, Peter and Margrit Wiederkehr are back in the U.S. from Switzerland. They are glad to be back in the warm sunshine and away from all the snow they had been receiving. Peter, Tom Salley, and Phelon Motorsports are all preparing stock cars for “The Mitty” at Road Atlanta, April 27-30.

When racers think of Sebring, Florida, thoughts of one the oldest road races in the country come to mind. Two weeks ago, there was the opportunity to relive cars from the past again at the Sebring International Raceway as it hosted Historic Sportcar Racing (HSR). Phelon Motorsports enjoyed a weekend of warm sunshine in the Florida landscape. Cars for this weekend were a 1998 Monte Carlo formerly driven by Terry Labonte and a Riley & Scott Trans-Am Mustang that had been driven by Dale Phelon in the 1996 Trans-Am series.

Friday was a routine day with practice and qualifying sessions. Dale qualified 1st with the Stock Cars and 2nd with the Trans-Am group while negotiating his way through a field of 46 race cars.

However, on Saturday morning, the excitement began. Dale had what was probably the most exciting race of the weekend where he and two other cars out paced the entire field. During the 7 lap race there were 3 lead changes before Dale came out on top by a small margin. Later in the morning, the Stock Cars had their qualifying race with Dale on the pole. During that race a car spun near the back of the field and left debris on the track which caused Dale to spin. However, Dale regained control and worked his way back up to the 4th position before the end of that race. That afternoon, Dale ran fast as always in the Trans-Am Car and won the IMSA GTO/GTU Feature Race. In the Stock Car Feature Race 1, Dale finished 3rd from a 4th starting position after a heated battle with Maurice Hull, who spun on the last lap.

On Sunday, Dale started 4th again in the Stock Car Feature Race 2 and fought his way to 2nd, but not without a small amount of body damage to the left side of the car. The weekend ended with Dale driving away from the field in the Trans-Am Feature race and set his fastest lap of the weekend.

We’re heading to Sebring this weekend to race with HSR. Look for a race report when we get back next week. See you there!