Pulled into Heartland at 3pm today. Met David (Hedderick, the owner of my ride) briefly, then headed to the hotel to check in. Time is of the essence as it’s an hour to Poker Tournament time, so this will be brief.
The buzz in the paddock is of course all about the impending arrival of Team Neon. Last reports put the Dream Machine somewhere in Missouri, heading west. Mike O. and special guest star Jeff Hurst will be arriving in the early evening.
More later, after poker.
The CG-Lock Neon took home two more trophies (and some lovely spirits) at the Annual WNY Champagne Run on Sunday, officially making 2006 the most successful season for Team Neon. 16 wins in 17 tries, so far, but the biggest event of the year is still to come. Michael Occhipinti, who is seven for seven in 2006, heads out to Topeka, Kansas for the SCCA National Championships next week, accompanied by fellow STS hot-shoe Jeff Hurst. You can follow all the action HERE, with frequent updates from Michael and Mr. Flynn.
With Larry Beck joining Derek Wyman on the podium, Team Neon brought their career total up to one hundred trophies and fifty four wins. Larry took the win and Derek, only a few hundredths back, took second place at the SCCA FLR event in Rochester, NY.
Team Neon would like to thank CG-Lock, Red Shift Motorsports and RACEShopper.com
for all of their support over the Team’s 5 years of SCCA competition.
Thanks also goes out to the drivers that have contributed to the Team’s success: Larry Beck, Jake Massey, Cory Kuhns, Jon Coffin, Scott Prior, Nick Flynn, Brian Ciarlei and Lindsay Occhipinti.
Team Neon goes for 101 and 102 this weekend in Buffalo,NY.
With two events remaing, Derek Wyman has locked up the STS Class to mark his fifth consecutive regional championship and his first in the Finger Lakes Region SCCA.
Keeping his perfect 2006 season intact, Michael Occhipinti took first place in class and first place overall at BeaveRun in Western Pennsylvania on Sunday. Michael has won every event he has run in the CG-Lock Neon this season. Overall, the team has 14 wins in 2006; with one more victory this will be the winningest season in the team’s history.
Lindsay Occhipinti got behind the wheel of the Neon for the first time and took a very impressive second place finish in the Ladies class. Hopefully we will see more of Lindsay in 2007 and beyond!
Thanks to Mark Andy for the fantastic pics!
Congratulations to Scott Prior who recovered from a tough weekend of mechanical failures and obstacle avoidance issues to take the title at the 2006 Seneca Grand Prix.
Scott has progressed behind the wheel quite a bit this season culminating in back-to-back victories at the third and forth events of the series.
