Viper Challenge
Founder and CEO of Apex Driving Academy, located at Texas Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, Texas, took 1st place in Race 1 at the Dodge Viper Cup. The race was one of two held at the legendary Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. The second round winner was none other than Ben Keating owner of VperExhange.com, also a Texas native.
Keep up with this great series at viperheadquarters.com. With 4 of the top Viper drivers coming from Texas, you can’t go wrong!
BXR Motors Blade
The guys at BXR Motors have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on their Blade Sports car. They have just about finished the body buck and are working on the making the first mold. They also have gotten their “top secret” chassis in and working on the suspension.
I have been in contact with the guys from BXR and we are hoping to get together to take some pictures and video for the site, so stay tuned for more updates.
check out my review on the Blade — Click Here –
You can check out BXR Motors on their web site www.bxrmotors.com or even follow them on facebook and twitter.
Here are some Pics to enjoy for now!
I have often looked for list of good road tracks in Texas and always get the same cluttered mess of drag strips, speedways, and small oval or dirt tracks that I am not looking for. I have found three really good road tracks in Texas that any car enthusiast would be happy to stumble upon.
First of all, we have to talk about Motorsport Ranch (MSR) in Cresson Texas. Most of the stuff we get to be a part of and see on a track comes from MSR, mainly because of its close proximity to where we all work and play. MSR is the first of its kind, setup like a golf Country Club but for cars enthusiast. They started in 1996 with one track focused as a road racing course. Not too long after that, a second road course was added for a better dynamic driving experience. One track spans for 1.7 miles and the other is a 1.3 mile circuit, both with great turns and elevation changes to give you the full feeling of the G’s your car can pull. The great thing they did with the two courses was make them combine together into a 3.1 mile circuit, one of the longest in North America, with 18 turns and thirty feet of elevation changes. They also have 200 feet by 200 feet skid pad for warming up tires and checking understeer in your car, or just for all out fun. The facility sits on 304 acres with auto storage buildings with 200 garages. They also have shops and other businesses located on site, including a gas station with racing fuel at the pump. MSR is also home to our friends at BXR Motors building the awesome Bailey Blade.
Check out MSR at their site http://www.motorsportranch.com/index.cfm for more info!
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Next, there is Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur,e Texas. This track features a long course spanning 2.5 miles and a short course of 1.7 miles with a total of 11 turns and a 2,000 foot strait. This facility is set up a lot like MSR in that it’s a country club, membership based, fee system. This is a great facility and hosts a premier driving instructor that has coached F1, GP2, Aussie V8, WRC, Porsche Supercup, F3, and more. He also has had a 30 year racing resume and still competes in Le Mans and Rolex racing. This track is still an upcoming and growing business in the North Texas area. I look to big names coming out of this area soon.
To check out more on Eagles Canyon visit their site here: http://www.eaglescanyon.com/2008/home.php
Last, but certainly not at all least, is the JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park. This is a temporary race course that runs throughout Reliant Park’s parking lot, one of the largest parking lots in the world. This track has been home to the Grand Prix of Houston and Champ Car races in 2006 and 2007. The Grand Prix of Houston was canceled in 2008 and leaves the status of this track unclear for the future.
For more information on the Grand Prix of Houston check out http://www.grandprixofhouston.com/index.html
If anyone else has tracks in Texas they would like to add, let us know in the comments
A “Start-Up” Auto company is hard to conceive in America, oddly enough, with all the technology and regulations in cars today. There is one small American “Start-Up” that I can think of that has worked to an extent and that’s Panoz. The big problem with using Panoz as an example is that they have not done much outside of LeMans racing in nine years. Panoz based out of Hoschton Georgia, started its life in 1989 first developing their Roadster then in 2000 developing the Esperante and that’s about it.
What about here in Texas? There is a local North Texas man with a dream to build a sports car and make a “Start-Up” company called BXR Motors. Bailey and his partner have been working on the Blade since 2007 and are expecting a working prototype by the autumn of this year. He has really shown that it is possible to take a concept and an idea and turn it into reality in a small shop in Texas. Yet the question still remains, will BXR Motors survive or be prosperous? I have always said that the big problem with GM and the big auto industry is that they are too big. There is a place for big auto makers building cars but they also need to be offset by small car companies that build limited production cars. Look at Europe there are as many small companies building cars in sheds or on industrial estates, as there are big car companies. This is one reason why they make more attractive cars, there is more competition from enthusiast building cars and not just big companies.
On to the car!
All we have to work with is the looks and the numbers on paper, but that’s great because the looks are stunning and the numbers match the looks. While being all hand built and carved, what we do know is that the car is being built on a modified Cobra Kit Car chassis. The windshield, doors, and roof are based off an early nineties Miata. The engine of choice is a 550HP 5.4L Ford sourced V8 with a Roushcharger bolted on for good measure. The big V8 will be mashed to a six-speed gear box, powering the rear wheels of course, mounted behind the front axles to give the car a front/mid engine layout with an almost 50/50 weight distribution. Other major parts like suspension, brakes, and differential will be sourced from Ford or Roush as well.
The styling, Bailey says, is not from one car in particular but more the best bits from the best cars. It has almost a mean face with big open chucks in the front fascia letting the car breath in and supplying air to the massive brakes. The headlights look menacing, although sourced from the Mazda 3 you would never know. The hood has a GT40 style LeMans vents sucking air through the radiator and helping with the down force of the car. The dual bumped hood swings down to bulging hips covering the rear tires with an almost sensual rear end. All in all, the car looks fantastic, on paper.
The true test will be on the track. The now growing team of BXR Motors just moved their facilities to Texas Motorsport Ranch in Cresson Texas, one of the only country club style race tracks in the country. There they will tune and optimize their beast to lay down the massive 550 HP and tear up the track. Getting the handling and interior style down is a must as this car will be priced in the $100,000 range. This means that they are priced to compete with the likes of Panoz and the great sports cars of Europe, as well as the new Holy Grail, the ZR1. Those are big shoes to fill but with the unique styling and limited production of this car I’m sure it will be able to make its mark in the enthusiast world.
To find out more about BXR Motors visit their web site http://bxrmotors.com there they have what seems to me as a first ever, you are able to watch him build the car and he gives tips and tricks that he has found for making a ground up sports car.