Tough Opener for the 3 Dimensional Viper Gets Season Underway

The 3 Dimensional Viper had a difficult qualifying due to a problem with the car's differential, but still qualified a respectable 28th in a field of over 50 entries. Consistent changes and improvements to the Viper throughout practice yielded a car that was working well, even though the Viper was down on horsepower due to the Grand Am Series rules. Due to these rules, the team always knew they were not going to top the time sheets in qualifying. However, the team was optimistic that they had a consistent, reliable car that would be easy to drive on both fresh and old tires.

 Jan Heylen started the race for the Racers Edge Motorsports team, quickly settling into a pace and rhythm but immediately experiencing a sudden lack of power. Heylen kept the Viper on the lead lap up to the first pit stop. After a quick stop for a fresh set of tires and fuel, Heylen was back on track and found the loss of power was getting worse with the Viper.

"For some reason an electrical problem cut our horsepower," explained driver Doug Peterson. "The cut in power got progressively worse very quickly, and it was soon impossible to put the car into sixth gear because the engine couldn't pull the gear. Jan brought the car into the pits when it became obvious we were going so slowly that we were a danger to the other cars on track." Frantic work by the Racers Edge Motorsports team saw the entire electrical system changed with no luck. The car was retired after completing a total of 101 laps.

The team's outreach to fans, which encouraged spectators to autograph the Viper prior to the start of the Rolex 24, was a huge success that the team hopes to continue through the season. Prior to arriving at the Daytona International Speedway, the Viper had been "wrapped" in a special film that provided space on the car for fans to autograph.

Meanwhile, Heylen and Peterson also competed in the first race of the Continental Tires Sports Car Series behind the wheel of their Dodge Challenger. That race ended prematurely with a broken water pump. Once again, the team knew it was going to be a difficult start to the season since the program was put together shortly before the race, but with improved parts due to arrive prior to the next race, Heylen and his team mate Doug Peterson are looking forward to the next race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. "Barber is a beautiful track and the Continental Tires series is very competitive," said Peterson. "We're looking forward to being very competitive there and having a lot of fun."

"No doubt, this is one of the toughest weekends I've had at the track in quite a while," admitted Heylen."Many thanks to 3 Dimensional and Dodge for making this opportunity possible and to the team for working so hard for so long trying to get us back on track! I'm looking forward to the testing the new parts we have coming for both the Viper and Challenger prior to the next race. The new parts should make both cars more competitive and put us in a position to score good points in both championships. Doug and I are looking forward to the challenge!"

The 3 Dimensional Viper and Challenger will be in action next at Barber Motorsports Park March 30 - April 1st.

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