Factory Five Teams Compete at 10th Annual 25 Hours of Thunderhill

[Mad Dog]

10 years ago, Dan Lawson and his Factory Five West race team were the VERY FIRST entry to race in the inaugural 25 Hours of Thunderhill road race. We lost Dan in April 2006. Dan was loved and respected by many people in the Factory Five community.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/dan1.jpg

At least one Factory Five has competed every single year in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and this year in the 10 year anniversary of this amazing race.

This weekend, three teams will be running Factory Five cars at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Team Boothman will be competing with their modified Factory Five Challenge Series Racer, Team Thunder Valley Racing will be campaigning their Type 65 Coupe, and Team PDG will be returning with their 2011 podium-finishing GTM!

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DSC_3410.jpg
Above: Dan Lawson, 2002. Team Boothman completes the 2010 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Many of the racers and customers who participate and crew at this event do it out of pure love for racing and are also inspired by the memory of Dan Lawson.

Good luck to the teams this year! Team Boothman has a streaming video link (http://www.boothmanracing.com/) prepared so that if you want to follow the action online, you can. Factory Five Racing Director on R&D Jim Schenck will be driving/crew for Team Boothman.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/teampdg.jpg
Rich and Yvonne Migliori return with their Team PDG and their multiple race title winning GTM.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/teamboothman.jpg
Team Boothman runs hard in preparation for the 2011 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/25hours2011_500.jpg

Factory Five community member and West Coast race champion Karen Salvaggio completes the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Karen and her team dedicated last year’s 25 Hour effort to her husband Andy Salvaggio who passed away a year ago.

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TRAVEL-TO-TH25-030.jpg

This year’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill will be a special one as it is the 10 year anniversary and so much work has gone into this decade of racing Factory Fives. Everyone at Factory Five would like to wish all of the racers the best of luck and send our deepest thanks to racers like Dan Lawson, Karen Salvaggio, Rich Migliori, and everyone who has helped the Factory Five family at Thunderhill.

[crash]

Thank you!

We are faster and stronger this year than we have been in any other year. Richard tells me that we will also be streaming live the pits of our efforts in the PDG car this year, but I don't have a link or further info.

We have a GREAT team of drivers this year.

Simply put, we have the equipment, the drivers, and with a little luck and caution we could end up doing very well again this year.

Special thanks goes out to Baja Designs for their INCREDIBLE LED lighting system, Mendeola Transaxles for their very strong gear boxes, and to FFR for making such a great platform to build whatever one wants! Whether that be a street machine or a serious track weapon!

As Richard likes to say...

"See you at the races!"

[vnmsss]

Team Thunder Valley Racing will be taking the green flag for our 6th time at the 25 Hours this year. After the amazing events of last year's race, in which this amazing team recovered a badly damaged car, won the 6 hour race, secured the WERC Championship, and went on to finish the 25 Hours, we made the decision to retire the #28 "Warrior Queen" (as we affectionately named her), and work on developing the new Coupe for racing in the future. With the new Competition Coupe just having been finished a few months ago, we made the decision to not run the 25 Hours this year, and wait for a full season of development on the car.

Well, as my daughter always says, it seems that we're destined to run this race each year. Long time crew members Roman Vaisman and Ryan Althoff, who have been with our team from the first time we took to the track at the 25 Hours in 2007, asked if Team Thunder Valley Racing would field their car in the race this year. It took all of two seconds for me to tell them, "We're in!" So there you have it, Team TVR is fielding the first Saturn to ever run in the 25 Hours, and we're very excited to have a great team of 25 individuals coming up to support the race. Many of these folks have been with us for all six seasons, with a few new folks joining this year as well. We'll be pitted next to Team Boothman again, and we're all looking forward to another great adventure this weekend!!

Big thanks to Factory Five Racing for getting our stories out there, and encouraging the work of the amazing crewmembers and drivers. Dan Lawson was the first person I met in the Factory Five Racing community, and he is a big reason I jumped in and stayed all these years. Dan was a character, and had a passion for racing that just eeked from every ounce of him....Biggest smile and greatest bear-hugger in the world!! His loss left a big empty space in our community, and while we have all carried on in his honor, racing without him will never be the same. As we take the green flag on Saturday, we will keep Dan in our hearts, and remember our 10 year legacy in this race began with him.

Karen

[Someday I Suppose]

Good luck to all of the teams, this race is just such a cool event. I have to get out there one of these years!!!

Scott

[Dave Smith]

I am ALWAYS last to the party around here!!!! KAREN! I am STOKED that you're running. Adam Costa (has filmed Grand Am races) is going out to video document the effort and I'll be telling him to make sure he includes your team. I;ll ammend the post to include Team Thunder valley and I'll say a prayer for you as I KNOW Andy is looking down and smiling big for you!

Good luck!

Dave Smith

[Vman7]

Well this reminds me of a song........lol

Quite appropriate considering this event is at Thunderhill.


http://youtu.be/XlHO4V9vWRY

For those about to Race.......may FFR Teams bring victory and to the other teams........

BE............THUNDERSTRUCK!!!!

[Vman7]

One of these days I need to change this logo I did a very long time ago for a Racing Sim site forum over to FFR from the SCGT.

I would probably have to do it all over from scratch again, since the orig. is not that big. I think it would be nice in a poster size.

FFR Renegades

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=13919&d=1354761273
13919

[turbodon]

Mad Dog

You are correct. I can not count.

Dan was not the first FFR Team. There were 2 Teams the first year Dan ran.

Can you name the owner of the Orange FFR?

Hint: Gary C....

13922

13923

13924

[Mad Dog]

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/teampdg1.jpg

Richard and Yvonne Migliori and Team PDG get some awesome press from Recordnet.com who posted an article today about the team prepping for this weekend's 25 Hours of Thunderhill race!

"We love to do it. We're dedicated to the sport and we've been very lucky to have so many people willing to help us with our dreams," Richard Migliori said. "It's exciting - and no, we don't get much sleep."

Click here (http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121207/A_SPORTS/212070317&cid=sitesearch) to read the full article. Good luck to all the Factory Five Teams this weekend!

[riptide motorsport]

Wow 10 years...............so quick! Best of luck to all tge FFR rides......I'm partial to woman, Go Karen!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool:

[Kalstar]

What were the results?? Anyone??

[68GT500MAN]

The race just started. It will end tomorrow (December 9th).

[Martin]

What were the results?? Anyone??

http://www.nasa25hour.com/live-timing-feed.html

[acmikee]

ffr got rearended bent panard bar. back out on track. car that he hit i had to put on the roll back. sorry no pics. too busy on track.

[Don DePontee]

Hey there Mikee, stay safe and stay warm tonight and I hope you don't get much fog.
Don

[kabacj]

The race is live on ustream ! You can ride along with team thunder valley.

Just download the ustream app on your iPhone or go here. http://http://www.ustream.tv/new/search?q=25hour%20thunder (http://www.ustream.tv/new/search?q=25hour%20thunder)

Check it out!

John

[Mark Dougherty]

Boothman racing is out
blown engine

[vnmsss]

Thanks for all the good wishes!!! After starting in 57th place, Team Thunder Valley Racing completed 596 laps, which equates to 1,788 miles...That's well more than halfway across the United States! In the biggest field of E3 cars in NASA 25 Hours history (25 competitors) our team finished 7th in class, and 29th overall. The entire team performed flawlessly, with excellent work in the pits, and outstanding driving on the track.

We were honored to pit with Boothman Racing again this year, and kept contact with Team Prototype Development Group on a regular basis. The 25 Hours is a tremendously challenging race, and there simply aren't any teams that worked harder to prepare and field a car than the guys fielding Factory Five cars. The #85 and the #4 were wicked fast, however, finishing the race for the #85 was not in the cards again this year.

Congratulations to Richard and Yvonne Migliori, and big kudos to Team PDG for a great race! We wish Ed and the entire team well, and we know that #85 car will be back!!!

Dave....Thanks so much for thinking of us, and getting allthe stories of these courageous racers out to the guys on the forum. I met Adam just as the race was finishing, and in the fray that followed (77 teams and more than 1.000 people drifting around), we weren't able to connect. He was super busy with Ed and Richard's team, and I know you will be getting some great video.

Thanks again to everyone!! Your words of encouragement, music links (Thunderstuck), and unwavering support inspire us!

Karen

[tdhallum]

Congrats to you Karen and the rest of your hardworking team! You guys are an inspiration to those of us who hope to accomplish something of this magnitude one day...heck, I'd be happy just to build a Coupe!

[vnmsss]

Congrats to you Karen and the rest of your hardworking team! You guys are an inspiration to those of us who hope to accomplish something of this magnitude one day...heck, I'd be happy just to build a Coupe!

Thanks so much for your kind words!! This race is all about teamwork and preparation, but moreover, it's about passion for life! Whatever your dream, go do it!!! As they say, "Shoot for the moon!" Even if you miss, you'll land in the stars!" The courageous members of Team Boothman, Team Prototype Development Group, and my good friends with Team Thunder Valley Racing are all super stars, and I am humbled to be on this journey with them.

[Someday I Suppose]

Karen, so well said, congrats to you guys, what a ton of work that goes into this thing. I really hope to make it out there one of these years!


Thanks so much for your kind words!! This race is all about teamwork and preparation, but moreover, it's about passion for life! Whatever your dream, go do it!!! As they say, "Shoot for the moon!" Even if you miss, you'll land in the stars!" The courageous members of Team Boothman, Team Prototype Development Group, and my good friends with Team Thunder Valley Racing are all super stars, and I am humbled to be on this journey with them.

[crash]

Sorry guys. Haven't had time to write a full report yet, but Team PDG finished 7th in class and IIRC 18th overall. Not bad considering the fact that we spent 1 hour and 32 minutes behind the wall with various issues. We were running in the top 5 and as high as 2nd for much of the race. :)

Thanks FFR, Mendeola, and Baja Designs for products that WORK!