Will I ever get to the track this year

Well after finally getting my car on the road after 2 years of work I'm still waiting to see what it can do at the track. I have come to the conclusion that after being out of motor sport for over 20 years. That 400 HP in < 4000 lb is not to be taken lightly. There is a reason that Mercedes left out the option of turning off ESP in the V12 powered cars. Of course I don't have ESP at all so I don't have the option of turning it on.

In any case I have been slowly but surely tightening the car up. New tires, hanging my exhaust permanently. Hopefully I will get it aligned this week. In general I have been taking care of subtle details. So the schedule now is 2 car shows in June including one at MB headquarters and on in gathering in Buffalo NY. Buffalo will be the first long distance drive of 400+ miles each way. Essentially the car is now on tour. With all that driving behind me if all goes well I can honestly say its ready for the track. So its now looking like the end of June or July for Lebanon NY. After I determine it goes straight reasonably well, then Lime Rock.

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Comment by John Roncallo on June 21, 2009 at 9:18am: OK I'm running out of excesses. Car just did 1100 miles of touring in the past 2 weeks and the car performed flawlessly. It's been on the highway for extended periods of time. It's been stuck in traffic on the Tapen Zee bridge in the rain for over an hour yesterday. Tires are good. exhaust is secure, car is now well tested, I now have a helmet. It is now race ready.

Also I hope not to seem insensitive to the American car drag racers here who have been very nice to me on this sight. At the time I started this project 3 years ago the economy was much better shape. In any case although this car is a Mercedes with a Mercedes engine it did cost $42,000 to build. Of that $42,000, $20,000 was for the two European cars that were combined into the making of Samson and restoration parts required to make it look good, the rest of the stuff was all aftermarket parts mostly made in the USA and local labor like welding and required tools ect. Those aftermarket parts all came from the places you are all familiar with, like Jegs, Summit, Verocious Motorsport in Pennsylvania, BSR Products in North Carolina, Columbia River Mandrel Bending in WA and lots of others. So I will say that any project of this magnitude does support the American and local economies. And it supports the world economy as well which is not a bad thing. The worst thing in this economy is to do nothing. In any case I am actively seeking another similar Mercedes to put a Chevrolet engine in LS7 with a stick.

So in the very near future I do hope to see you guys and girls at the track. I am from CT so occasionally I hope to soon be at Lebanon Valley drag way or English Town NJ, mostly for test and tune days. I hopefully will be a Lebanon this Saturday.

In the past 20 years I have been in the Aviation test industry. It's been ingrained in me to push out the envelope one step at a time. Goal for the first week will be to just get it over 100 MPH and under 14 seconds.

Comment by John Roncallo on May 31, 2009 at 4:43pm: 12:55 ET's. Not with an open diff and 2.65 gears. But I am trying to make Bonneville speed week his year so my gearing is almost in line for that track.