I WON! I WON I WON!!! Can't believe it.
 

The Performance Therapy online car show photo contest!!! With a picture taken by my friend John Hendrick at a NASA HPDE road course event I attended at Sebring in June of this year. It was taken during one of the first sessions of the day and was the first time I'd ever run the famous 3.7 mile track used for the 12 hour races.

I know it was with one of my other cars but figured I'd share here anyway. Sometimes I wonder who wins all the contests.

Details of the contest were posted by Hotchkis and so I went to check out the pics people put up then thought "Hey! I should put a cool pic of my car up!" I'm always posting track pics to get others interested in taking their cars out. The contest said "post a pic of you enjoying your car". Well a day at an awesome world famous road course is the most fun for me in my car!

The Performance Therapy contest winners were just announced by John Hotchkis at SEMA and just posted online here Performance Therapy

Chad from Fletchers had called me yesterday from SEMA and said he'd heard my name over the loudspeakers and I'd been bouncing off the walls since waiting to see if it was really true!! I'd been at Fletchers Customs installing a dash I'd built for Tys car and then helping the guys all of last week. When they headed off toward Vegas I made the 8 hour trip back to south Florida from Chads shop in GA.

I thought maybe they were messin with me when they first called yesterday but it's true! I won!!!!

As the grand prize winner I'll be recieving a system from each of the sponsors of the contest. Man can I put this stuff to good use!!! Here's why

Hotchkis Sport Suspension: A full TVS setup. I already have Hotchkis springs, sways, and tierod adjusters, as well as the Bilsteins they sold me to go with their products I installed in my Firebird which I purchased a long time ago, before they called it the TVS. So I'll have to talk to them about my options for another car or maybe upgrading the Firebird.

Baer Brakes: A full setup. As many of you know from my posts like "here's why you need big brakes for track use" I've had some real issues running a stock front disc/rear drum setup in my Firebird on road racing tracks with long straightaways where I need to haul the car down from 125 MPH+ to slow for sharp corners. I've gone through stacks of different pads, shoes, rotors, calipers and literally gallons and gallons of brake fluid. I couldn't put bigger brakes on without also needing to buy new wheels and tires. I just couldn't afford to do both but thanks to Jason Rushforth....

Rushforth Wheels: A full set!!! Then I can install bigger brakes!! Funny that I win a set after I sent an email earlier today recommending someone else purchase a set for his early 2nd gen Camaro. Now I should be able to fit some really serious rotors and binders while being stylish with new wheels I couldn't afford. To wrap the new wheels.................

Yokohama Tires: Again a full set! I'd been running the Yokohama Advan AO 32s and needed to replace the fronts but they've discontinued making the DOT R tires in the sizes I needed so I've had a set of temporary front tires on the car (with the AO32 rears) since the end of the track day the picture was taken. The temporary fronts had nowhere near the traction of the original AO32's so I've had to take a little easier. (I put 4 wheels off once and found the new lower adhesion limit! LOL) Perhaps I can get some DOT Rs in a size that will work with the new rims!!!!

Red Line Synthetic Oil: I was going to order some of their Water Wetter this week. I've had some slowly rising water temp issues on track in the Firebird since moving south which required a cool down lap in the middle of each track session the past couple events when it was very hot out. Now that I'm in FL I don't need antifreeze anymore and I planned on flushing the system and switching to just water with Water Wetter. Not sure what else I'll get from them but because of the track time the Firebird gets I'm constantly changing oil, tranny fluids, rear end, etc. in the car as well as my tow vehicle (which takes 15 quarts of oil !) so I know I'll go right through whatever it is that they provide.

Lifeline Fire Safety Systems: A full system. As you might guess by the full cage, NASCAR full containment seats and 6 point harnesses in my Firebird, safety in cars is an issue with me to the point where the money I've spent on safety items could have purchased the killer engine I really want. I can certainly put a fire system to good use!!! Although hopefully not ever needed and activated!

MSD Ignition: A full setup! I currently run an MSD Pro Billet distributor, Blaster 3 coil, 6A box, and 300+ wires on the old Pontiac 400 thats in the Firebird. I'm going to need (read want) to replace the engine with a much more powerfull one to reach my speed goals at land speed races and open road racing, so getting an ignition setup for it will be a huge help!

Flowmaster: A complete exhaust system. While the sidepipes on my Firebird are functional they have a fake 4 into one header that won't even allow the current engine to perform as well as it could because only one of the 4 "header" pipes is actually used and it's barely 1 1/2" !!! I'd installed the sidepipes about 10 years ago when the car had a stock 350 two barrel and for that engine it was fine. I've been searching for the a set of the original Hooker headers that go with the sidepipes to replace the fake ones on the car but never found any. A new system will be awesome and allow me to run a bigger carb on the current engine than the (cough) 575 (cough) thats on there now. Plus when I can afford a new engine it will have some breathing room!

Hot Wheels: We're all big kids who love toys. Who wouldn't want enough Hot Wheels to fill a track that spirals around the garage! LOL

I want to thank all the sponsors for giving us all the contest. It's a place to throw our cool pics up and share our pride in our vehicles with others. If you haven't looked through the photo galleries it's really worth a look. You'll find pics of everything from ground scraping cars, to pics of little kids helping their ole man wash the car, the smokiest burnouts, and all the way up to giant 4 wheeler monter trucks as well as everything in between. Performance Therapy Sponsors

OK enough of my ramblings! Here's the winning picture

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...irebird005.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...irebird005.jpg

Outstanding!

wow, what a great prize package!

In no way 911 Technical related...


but good for you! :)

WTH does this have to do with Porsche Technical discussion? Move to Off Topic or is there a GM picture forum?

Let me add "Subscribed!"
:D

OKay, yeah, wrong forum (off topic would rock this one) -

Just let me say two things; THAT CAR IS AWESOME and CONGRATULATIONS!!!

angela

Good lord. Give the kid a couple of cents-off coupons or something so he gets over the "I WON!!!" phase. It's not even a good photo--looks like a couple of cars cruising through a condo complex.

Good one Steve! You must be a real buzzkill kind of guy at a party! I'll crawl back under my rock.

Please everyone, DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD SO STEVE DOESN'T HAVE TO SEE THE TITLE COME UP IN NEW POSTS AGAIN. Steve please submit a photo to the contest next year and show everyone how it should be done. I'll leave a parting pic that has minor relevance and go out and talk nice to my Porsche for not submitting a pic of it to a contest geared toward American cars.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...ng10309057.jpg

Congrats dude!!! Ignore all the Debbie Downers!!!

opps, the thread is going back to the top...haha
congrats on winning! and that is one sweet looking firebird! you rarely see vintage muscle cars road racing, but damn they look good doing it! rock on, a little variety to the 911 forum isn't going to kill us. I like it. post away.

Congrats!
Nice picture and the second pic has a Porsche trying to catch up.

There is a porsche BEHIND you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job! Take pix of the prizes when you get 'em, so we can enjoy the sweet, sweet bounty along with you!

OK, will do... :D

Nice

Fantastic! I love that car. Good for you.

remind me not to share with you when my hangnail heals...:rolleyes:

The dude is stoked, let him shine, what dif does it make?


Oh, I thought you were serious...sorry.

Some of those Technical Board BOyz chafe my azz....somebody gets sumthin nice and all they can do is complain about it not being on the right Board or its a lousy pic...well fk em...and if they ever come down to OT he11 they better know how to run through the jungle and they better not trip....cause if they do you know who will be there to catch them...

That's BaDAZZZZZ

Congrats...how 'bout posting some detailed pics and info about your T/A.

I debated whether to even log on here today. Thanks for the support guys. Things have been pretty bad for me the past few years. The cars have been a good diversion and winning a bunch of cool stuff I can't afford was awesome! I should have looked around for a more appropriate section to post in but I guess it's all good now thanks to a mod. I just always logged into the "911 tech" or "for sale" sections before, and should have thought before posting.

Danny, you'd be in the passenger seat in the pic above if you'd been able to make it out to the track Oct. 3. You would have got a kick out of watching how fast that car behind me pulled me on the back straight after I gave him a point by!

Just so there's no confusion most of the P cars that I've run with are faster on track than my old bird. If you see one behind me in a pic anywhere I'm probably going to give them a point by at the beginning of the next straight.

Here's a link to a couple pages with pics and specs and another link to a build thread involving the cage, seats, harnesses, and fire systems install.

GM F-Body Trans Am / Firebird Club all years T/A welcome! - Trans Am Message Board T/A, Formula, Esprite 78 81 1978 1981

The 14 Car safety thread, Roll Cage, Kirkey seats,Fire systems - Pro-Touring.com

Is that Sebring? Saw your write-up on the standing mile. What a nightmare! I would have been raging if I were an entrant.

Oh...T/A's are for sissies (that's why I'm selling mine...want it?). Just need to fix #7 exhaust lifter.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257441537.jpg

John...great story on the "yard" find car. Thread on roll cage is excellent...great fab skills. Plus Pcar content!!!

Made the cover of Popular Hot Rodding....worth looking at the links he posted, guys.

Some pics from John's links
 

Before

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257443467.jpg

after


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257443500.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257443552.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257443622.jpg

Congrats, that is one heck of a prize bag of goodies!

That's a sweet looking car!..I don't care what any a-hole tech forum joykill has to say.. :)

Especially considering its stablemate....Euro Carrera cab widebody!!!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257454496.jpg

Congrats on winning the competition, having never won any competition it must have been a great feeling when you found out.

I have recently taken up motor sport photography and it's not so easy as point and shoot. So don't jump on me when I say the first photo for me is just ok! But the second one you posted is so much better in many many ways - composition, focusing, exposure etc..... I can only imagine what you would have won if you'd entered the second photo.

Here's a great forum for motorsports photography....

Motorsports - Canon Digital Photography Forums

It is mainly for Cannon enthusiasts, but all the techniques apply to any camera.

Again congrats, you must be stoked!!


Matt

Being a Mopar fan, all I can say is Nice car. :)
Looks good, thanks for sharing.
Don't worry about the perfect people, one day we will all be as good as them.

Thanks for the compliments from everyone!

Danny: Yup thats Sebring in the pics. The 1 mile Land Speed Race in the Everglades was quite an experience. There's a couple groups holding races regularly there now. Email me if you want to go watch one. There's one for "exotics" Nov 14. I was thinking of going to. Judging by the hardware that showed up for the "open" race I entered, the exotic race should bring out some amazing cars.

Dueller: Thanks Jim! The Firebird was featured in PHR as well as being on the cover and has appeared in another PHR as well as HOT ROD. I recently ran into David Wallens from Grassroots Motorsports at a NASA HPDE a few weeks ago at Palm Beach International. He took a lot of pics of the car so it might show up in that publication at some point. It is a Grassroots kind of car, with almost all of the work done by me other than some welding/fabrication stuff like the cage and tranny work.

Matt Kellett: The same buddy took both pics at the same tack but 3 months apart. I hadn't gotten the 2nd one when I entered the contest.

Rick V: I like a lot of cars. Drove a 70 Challenger in H.S. and a 71 Valient as a DD for years as well as a few other Chrysler models over the years.

cool Poncho, Grass Roots Motorsports!

Byron would get wood over that car

Tell Dave Wallen's Hello from me!

He runs a very cool mag. I think I might have scared his man Per!

Jim

Absolutely love the details of the roll cage integrating into the factory looking interior. Very, very nice!

Steve has restored a couple of 70 'birds. That enduro bumper always gives him fits to get it just right, especially as he painted both of the cars black (Steve paints almost every car black - LOL).

Love the plates too! "not a ta" hahahaaa!!!

angela

I will be sure to do that. With the GRM stickers on the windshield and spoiler in the winning pic I'm sure they'll do something with it. I've been thinking I'd take a drive up to the GRM offices one day anyway so this might be a good excuse.

When I ran into David at PBI he was sportin a pair of the low cut, flat sole, waffle print, VANS I wore when I raced BMX. Reminded me of days gone by when I also wore them as regular sneakers. LOL

I thought the plate said "no tata". Your interpretation makes more sense.

I used to get some grief from Pontiac purists that thought I'd "ruined" an original 70 Trans Am. I'd explain that the car was an Esprit I modified. Then I got the NOT A TA plate so I could just point to it or they'd see it first and not start in on me. I moved to FL recently so that plate is retired now.