Viper Days - some things have changed, some things haven’t...

Rich Wesorick

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Between 1995 and 1998, my father-in-law (Ben Madey) and I competed in numerous Viper Days events. At that time, we were “regulars”. We were fairly competitive in our respective classes and were among the growing number of guys that brought “prepared” Vipers in on trailers rather than simply driving the cars to the track. The Viper Days events were always a great time - high performance driving, combined with some truly neat people.

We took an unanticipated break from Viper Days while we were competing in the Speedvision World Challenge series for a couple of years with Bobby Archer as our driver. One thing led to another and it wasn’t until last weekend at Putnam Park that we returned to Viper Days. After a four year hiatus, we wondered how had things changed?

Well the first thing you notice is how the paddock has changed - lots of trailers, transporters, and “prepared” cars, including two dozen VRL (Viper Racing League) race cars. Skip’s whole operation has stepped up several notches too. Skip, Courtney, Tracey and the rest of the Viper Days crew hit on all cylinders and made the weekend run very smoothly. Another change I noticed is how fast many of the “intermediate” drivers are now. I believe this is a credit to the level of instruction being provided by Viper Days.

So what hasn’t changed? Well, as I said, the instruction, whether for a beginner or an advanced driver, continues to be excellent. Everyone is made to feel welcome and comfortable. But the biggest constant at Viper Days is great people. It was great to see old friends like Joe Bliss, Todd Schneider, Howie Frank, Seth Palatnik, Phil DeLao, Dave Held, Brian and Christine Kelly, Nancy Stein and Don Cochran, Janni and Henry Cone, and Greg Spears, to name a few. It was also great to make some new friends. The camaraderie among the Viper Days crowd is truly amazing though. After we developed some car trouble on Saturday, several teams generously lent a hand in getting my car repaired, including Bobby Archer Motorsports, McCann Racing, Autoform Development, Desert Venom Racing, and ,of course, Archer Racing. In particular though, two old friends of mine, Indiana’s Steve Fess and Ohio’s “Evil” Joe Ellis, really went above and beyond the call of duty to help us out. To them and the others, I would like to say thanks. The paddock at Viper Days may look at little different than it did back in ’98, but the Viper Days people sure aren’t any different. They truly exemplify the phrase “Proud VCA members”.
 

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