One Lap of America - Leaving Thursday to run 4000 miles to benefit the Veterans.

[NYCMille]

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up. We're leaving on Thursday to run the One Lap of America: http://www.onelapofamerica.com in the '68 Charger. We have no corporate sponsorship and are the running the One Lap to benefit the the Veterans Association and the 4-Polytrauma Centers located throughout the United States. These centers take care of Veterans who have suffered the most severe trauma and not only provide aid to the veterans but they help care for their families as well. The Charger has also been fully vinyl wrapped to help bring attention to the cause and it help it will fit the part - every branch of the Military is represented on the car so people understand that this benefits ALL the veterans.

We're still running a torsion bar suspension set-up, a big ole' dirty 440 with iron heads with an 800DP carb. on top as well, GV Overdrive Unit, BAER Track System for brakes, shocks are off the shelf Edelbrock units that I got from Jegs. As far being competitive, well, that's yet to be seen. We've set-up a website at http://www.roadbackhome.com for donations, so please give it a look if you have the time. We'll also be posting daily video blogs over at http://www.ridelust.com. Most of all though we're looking to mixing it up next week on what should be one hell of a fun run.

Cheers and thanks - Mike

[TUFCAT]

Really cool graphics! .... but what happened to the shiny black paint?

[69bronzeT5]

I thought the same thing.....what happened to the paint but then I saw that the whole car is covered in vinyl which means (I assume) the paint is under that. Looks great Mike.....love the vinyl work! Best of luck with the rally Keep us updated with pictures and posts if you can

[Hemidoug]

Good luck Mike! I couldn't think of a better cause to support....you ROCK!

[68X426]

Awesome, way to go Mike in support of vets.

The graphic on the trunk gave me chills!

Be safe and wishing you success. 

[69*F5*SE]

Very cool.   

[SRT-440]

Car looks amazing!

I'm sure it's just a wrap..which actually will protect his pretty black paint for the 4000 miles. It's what the "Lambo guys" did with the lambo on Bullrun. 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

The car looks awesome! Good luck with the rally.  

[RD]

Hooah!!!! love the graphics.  You coming by Kansas (i tried looking on the website but couldnt find a itinerary).

[tan top]

awesome graphics !! good luck with the rally Mike 

[Hemidog]

Cool decals! You added some of the tail panel trim?

[Sublime/Sixpack]

The car looks great! And it's for a good cause, good luck!!!!!!! 

[johntpr]

Good luck Mike!

[NYCMille]

Hey Guys -

As always, thanks for the support! We've been wanting to do something for the Veterans for quite some time now and just haven't the opportunity until now. I'll be honest though, the amount of red tape there is in dealing with the government is PHENOMENAL! We did finally manage to get it accomplished though. We'll also be adding a PAYPAL button on the www.RoadBackHome.com site tomorrow to make donations easier. A good buddy of mine is also running the event, but he's rolling in an F430 Ferrari... God bless the man because he's the only Ferrari owner I've ever met that kicks the ever-loving-crap out of. I posted a pic of his car as well as I thought you'd get a kick out of it. The schedule is also attached so if anyone can make it to any of these tracks, it would be great to see you guys.

Hopefully the Charger holds up for another 4000 miles and 8 days of racing and more importantly we raise some moola' for the guys that really need it.

[HITMAN 149]

thanks mike!!!  

have a great time & be safe!!!!!!!!

[TUFCAT]

I'll be making a donation via Paypal. Mike, you did an awesome job selecting your charity,...and as usual YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

God Bless our armed services 

[mikepmcs]

You're the man, Mike! Thanks for thinking of all us Veterans and helping out.

I work at the VA Togus Maine, and you can be sure I'll be emailing the entire compound tomorrow with a link to let them know people care.

Car looks fantastic.

Thanks again.

v/r
Mike
USN(retired)

[HITMAN 149]

that ferrari looks sooo cool w/ the old fighter plane graphics!!!!
of course MR ANGRY looks sweeeet too!!! love the stars n stripes!!!
hoooooo-raaaaaaaaaaa
semper fi!!!!

[RallyeMike]

Have a good time and keep under the radar !

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Great cause Mike...I will be donating as well.  Good luck!

[200MPH]

  good luck mike

[1970Moparmann]

Very cool Mike.   When will you be driving thru Chicago??

[bobs66440]

You guys are AWESOME!!!   I only wish I could do the same!! You are doing a good thing. Too few people are aware of what our veterans have done for us and all generations. Many people look at sports figures and entertainers, etc. as heroes. Our veterans and the people serving now are the REAL heroes. Keep safe and good luck!!

Bob

[BrianShaughnessy]

 

    Wish it was coming to Monticello instead of Jersey.  O well.

[grdprx]

Here's to you Mike!   

Taking care of those who defended us..   

[FlatbackFanatic]

Your car looks great!! Good luck and have fun!!

[mikepmcs]

OK, my first series of emails here at the Togus VA have gone out. Also, I have emailed my pops at the Pentagon to see how many people he can reach.  I have a feeling he can reach a few. 
I've emailed some other Navy contacts as well and will put links up tonight on my facebook page. Most of my FB contacts are all military, so that should get very good exposure.
Thanks again Mike for being a great human being.

There are a bunch of great human beings on this site.  It's what keeps me here. 

[hemi68charger]

Good Luck Mike !!!!
From a fellow Charger owner and Veteran myself, thank you !!!   

Troy

[russg]

Will be trying to catch the event in Iowa..

[mikepmcs]

Mike. You have a PM.

Have fun and be safe.

[HITMAN 149]

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his/her life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including their life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it!!!

[Hemidoug]

Good luck and God speed Mike! Maybe I'll take a little road trip down to millville to catch up with the action....

[teamroth]

Mike,
I really appreciate this. The wounded warrior type projects hold a special place in my heart. I will be donating. I would like to see the car before you take the wrap off, when will you be back in NY? On a side note I saw you in Astoria Park at the end of last year, but was in a hurry, now I wish I would have slowed down and talked to you for a minute. Cheers man, and thanks for all you are doing. 

[Back N Black]

From A soldier that is still serving, thank you. 

[bobs66440]

From A soldier that is still serving, thank you.  

Thank YOU Back N Black!  We appreciate it!!  

[teamroth]

From A soldier that is still serving, thank you. 

Thanks soldier!

[Bob T]

Good on you Mike & Co, a worthy cause. Have a great trip  and fit in a few cold ones where you can 

[NYCMille]

Hey Guys -

I just want to let ya'll know that we made it to South Bend, Indiana. It was over 700 miles and 5 tanks of fuel, but we made it. I'm posting a daily blog over at http://www.Ridelust.com so check in there for all the updates. Today's first event is the wet skid pad at the Tire Rack facility - it should be interesting to see how the old sled does.

Cheers Guys - Mike

[BrianShaughnessy]

Congrats and good luck Mike!   



   

[elacruze]

Mike,

I have a jillion laps around Mid-Ohio...if you don't, could give some hints.
PM me if you like.

Go, Speed!

[mikepmcs]

Great first day write-up


http://www.ridelust.com

[tan top]

   good first day by the sounds of it & no drama !! 
thanks for posting the link Mike 

[squeakfinder]

  Wet skid pad test.

  That sound's interesting. 

[NYCMille]

Hey guys..

Well we made it another day although at the moment we're hung up in Wisconsin with a leaky fuel pump. Tomorrow AM we'll hopefully source a new and be on our way to Road America. The back straight here is LONG and the Charger should be seeing the high 130's if I'm lucky. Just got to get that pesky fuel pump though.

I posted a day 2 roundup at Ridelust.com so feel free to take a look.

Cheers - Mike

[mikepmcs]

Just a reminder guys/gals, when you go to read the write up, roll over the title and select/click it to see the whole article. (ie:  One Lap of America – Day 2: 260 miles, 2 tanks a wet skid pad and one leaky fuel pump)  It will then jump to the complete article.  I'm sure most everyone knows this but just thought I'd say it anyway.

Hopefully, Car Quest comes through with Mike's fuel pump.

http://www.ridelust.com/one-lap-of-america-day-2-260-miles-2-tanks-and-one-wet-skid-pad/

[XS29J8]

Hey guys..

Well we made it another day although at the moment we're hung up in Wisconsin with a leaky fuel pump. Tomorrow AM we'll hopefully source a new and be on our way to Road America. The back straight here is LONG and the Charger should be seeing the high 130's if I'm lucky. Just got to get that pesky fuel pump though.

I posted a day 2 roundup at Ridelust.com so feel free to take a look.

Cheers - Mike

This is a great quest Mike! Sounds like the grain alcohol blend may have ate the rubber diaphragm allowing the pump to leak & sometimes they also leak internally, I'd check/test the oil for unusually high fuel content to be safe...........this is great what you're doing for the troops!



Steve

[russg]

Made it out to the Iowa leg of the Cannonball today, Mr Angry has fierce competition in deed, there are some seriously talented drivers out there and the old Charger on the track looked like a heavy giant next to many of the other cars.  Looks like a hell of a lot of fun!  Will try to upload some fuzzy blackberry video tomorrow..


By russg at 2010-05-02


By russg at 2010-05-02


By russg at 2010-05-02


By russg at 2010-05-02


By russg at 2010-05-02

[Red Ram]

Ugghhh...the four door Porsches aren't my favorite!

[squeakfinder]

Ugghhh...the four door Porsches aren't my favorite!

Agreed. Look's like a big nasty pill to swallow. Or a suppository. 

[mikepmcs]

Keeping up with Mikey.
WOOT! 

http://www.ridelust.com/one-lap-of-america-%e2%80%93-day-4-mid-america-and-no-problems/

[mikepmcs]

My Director approved my linking to Mike's sites and updates and we sent it out to all the employees here. Last week I was sending it to specific people as well so they would forward too.  I had to get permission from the Director for an all employee email though.  Hopefully it gets around.  I sent a link on my facebook page and asked everyone to send it to everyone on their contact list.


Go Mike Go! 

v/r
Mike

[TUFCAT]

Hey Guys -

As always, thanks for the support! We've been wanting to do something for the Veterans for quite some time now and just haven't the opportunity until now. I'll be honest though, the amount of red tape there is in dealing with the government is PHENOMENAL! We did finally manage to get it accomplished though. We'll also be adding a PAYPAL button on the www.RoadBackHome.com site tomorrow to make donations easier. A good buddy of mine is also running the event, but he's rolling in an F430 Ferrari... God bless the man because he's the only Ferrari owner I've ever met that kicks the ever-loving-crap out of. I posted a pic of his car as well as I thought you'd get a kick out of it. The schedule is also attached so if anyone can make it to any of these tracks, it would be great to see you guys.

Hopefully the Charger holds up for another 4000 miles and 8 days of racing and more importantly we raise some moola' for the guys that really need it.

Hi Mike, I wanted to donate, but I could'nt find the Paypal link on the "roadbackhome" website.

Maybe I missed it. Should I make a donation through "mrangry.com"?

Be safe, 

TUFCAT

[mikepmcs]

Tufcat Here you go brother.

Everyone else too.  

http://www.roadbackhome.com/donate.html
It's at the bottom of the page where to send the moola.  I bet you can call too, but I don't know for sure.  

Mike said he's working on a paypal button but I'm guessing that's kind of hard to negotiate at 137 MPH.  

[73TXRallye440]

that car is sick!

[speedfreak68]

Mike Thats badass that your doing this with your 68. Your car pretty much set the stage for my 68. I like how you called kansas Gods Country, most people from out of state don't think too much of kansas, (at least not college aged people anyway). But anyway keep up the good work!!

[mikepmcs]

Talked to Bill Ball(rep at Palo Alto) about the paypal option since he is the POC.

His respone was

"That should be up and running.  Check can be mailed directly to me.  I'll check on it."

For now it appears it will be snail mail to Bill at the address in the above link I posted. 

[firefighter3931]

Have fun Mike and be safe ! The Charger looks awesome as usual and has the performance to back it up 



Ron

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Glad to see the charger made it all the way.    Makes me want to get mine out on a track.

[Tilar]

Damn, You were at Mid-Ohio? That's probably 15 miles or so from the house... Ahh well, I was in New York last week anyway.   

I'm trying to remember where in missouri it is, but someone is building a "camp" where wounded and disabled vets can go during rehab, and their families can go and be with them and stay in cabins while they are there. I'm a member of the Sons of Amvets Post #43, and we're setting up to donate some money to this camp. Anything for the Vets is a noble cause. 

   

[mikepmcs]

Took some liberty with Mikey's photos and one from Russ G.  Hope you guys don't mind.

[mikepmcs]

...

[miller]

How about this picture....

I think he may have blown Mr. Angry up...

[ChgrSteve67]

Thats just fricking cool
What program and filter do you use to do that?



I hope Mike comes back soon and posts some more pick of his trip

[mikepmcs]

playing with my new photoshop CS4 I got a couple days ago. 

[NYCMille]

Hey Guys -

Got back on Sunday night and let me tell you that out of everything I have done with this car, the One Lap of America was BY FAR the hardest and most grueling. We clocked over 4500 miles on the old boy and although we had some problems, he made it all the way - I LOVE MY CAR! Our daily schedule went something like this:

0630H - get up
0800H - arrive at the track
1000H - you do your first timed run of the day
1330H - you do your second timed run of the day
1430H - you leave the track
2200H - arrive at the hotel
2230H - sleep

I was running with a Corvette Z06 and Ferrari F430 so running legs between the tracks was almost as hard as running the tracks themselves. Once on the interstate we would average between 85-95 mph for between 300-550 miles at a clip. I was stopping every 150 miles for fuel which really sucked (I think I ran 36 tanks of fuel last week). This run was unfortunately not trouble free though as we ate one fuel pump, two exhaust brackets, collector gasket, power steering/hydroboost hydraulic hose, two plug wires and a fire extinguisher. The last pic that was posted, you know the one with all the smoke out the back, was because I sucked up some oil through the PCV valve. Believe me when I tell you it scared the crap out of me as the thought the motor went BOOM. The good part however was there was no BOOM, just a lot of smoke.

I also flipped 45,000 miles on the Charger this trip, all of which are foot to the floor, beat it to death open road or race track miles. It's a good old car, but on this run it was starting to show that all these miles are taking it's toll it on the old boy. Right now the car is headed to California where it be heading to multiple VA hospitals around the state to continue to raise as much money as we can. Then in Sept we'll be driving it to Nevada to run it in the Silver State Challenge Open Road Challenge. After that, it's coming home, getting torn apart and getting some much needed TLC. This car has been VERY good to me and it's time for me to return the favor.

Some quicks Vids from the Run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ-qC76nxnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ZkSE9dM4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZq9IFqMzY

[1970Moparmann]

Congrats Mike on the trip! 

Even though Mr. Angry was the heaviest car probably in the run, it performed and made the trip. 

You must of slept all day Monday and Tuesday based on that schedule.....

[NYCMille]

Please... we weighed in at like 3900-4000 lbs and make like 415-425 hp. I mean if you look at the power/weight ratio compared to the other cars running, we were SOOOO outgunned. The Optima Camaro for example weighed 3300 lbs and had 650 hp. The fun part was we were still able to beat quite a few cars including a few older Porsche's, BMW's as well as some imports. The problem is that regardless of how much time and money you put into these old cars the fact of the matter remains that the new cars from the factory are just SO GOOD right out of the gate. For what the car is though and for the mods that have been made to it, people where simply astonished at how well I could sling it around a raceway. Then when I told them I was still running torsion bars and leaf springs, their jaws almost fell out, LOL! That right there was worth the price of admission. 

From an attention standpoint, we hands down blew everyone else out of the water. I mean at every single track we went to the Charger would have a crowd around it and it was by far one the most popular cars at the event. So, now I've been thinking of what it would take to make it more competitive for next year and so far this is my list.

• New heads & Cam: I need AT LEAST another 100-125 hp
• Bigger brakes: I would use the kit with the 14.4" rotor and Viper calipers that I have on the Daytona
• New lighter wheels and I would go with 18's all around to quell some of the understeer that results from staggered sizes
• New windage tray, new oil and transmission coolers with built in fans.
• Lower gears. Even in OD, the 3.55s are just too much on the highway at speed. At 95-100 mph I was at 3500-3550 rpm for 500 miles at a clip.
• Fuel cell - minimum 25 gallons. I may be putting the Daytona's original cell in the Charger. 
• Minimum of an 8-point roll cage for safety reasons.
• Custom shocks.

What this event showed me was where I REALLY need to improve the car. Keep in mind now that the Bullrun show was 4 years ago and in that time A LOT of new products have been released for these cars. What that means for me is, that is it is time to start doing some research. I will tell you though that in looking at new suspension systems from XV and Alterkation, I bet you that with the right shocks, and hell, possibly even now, those cars WOULD NOT get away from on a race track.

Hell, maybe we should start a "Torsion Bar Challenge Series" - it would be filled with old Dodge's and Porsche's... how cool would that be.

[bobs66440]

Great Job!! While it was obviously a lot of effort, it looks like you had a BLAST too!! And raising cash for a worthy cause at the same time..it just doesn't get better than that!!  

I road raced in WKA and SCCA for a number of years and I can tell you, a good driver can do a lot with a less-than-optimum setup. More so than a crappy driver in a million dollar car. Practice makes all the difference. Not saying that you're not a good driver (you could be great for all I know) but maybe take a Skip Barber or similar driving school to brush up before next time. Just a suggestion...

[mikepmcs]

Welcome home Mike.  Nice read.  Glad you made it back in one piece.

Nice to see it going on a VA Tour too.

VA RO's, Medical and satellite offices are plenty in your neck of the woods as well.  Closest to you are Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, NYC(Regional Office)
I can get you any contact information you request. Not just in New York but any place you desire.
Let me know if I can be of any help.

v/r
Mike

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Awesome job with the rally.  

When and where in California will Mr. Angry be at the VA hospitals? I would love to see it in person with the decals on it.