So I never thought I would have the honor of writing press releases for a winning race team, but life always has a way of surprising you, doesn’t it? Here it is kids: the first official press release from your favorite race team!
Chicago, IL, June 13, 2010
On the one year anniversary of the founding of the Professional Awesome race team, the 4-man operation saw its first victory at their home track, the Autobahn Country Club during the 5th round of the Redline Time Attack series. Professional Awesome!, based out of West Lafayette, IN consists of driver Daniel O’ Donnell, Mechanics Grant Davis and Mike Lewin, and team coordinator Alec Cervenka.
“This is our event.” remarked Mike Lewin, weeks before the race. “This is our event, there is no way we are going to lose.” Mike’s words rang true with Daniel driving the PA Evolution 7 to an overall Street class win, with a scorching 1:34:727 lap time, destroying the previous year’s record of 1:35:708, set by Turn In Concepts. Along with Professional Awesome’s class win came a true upset, with several teams favored to win the event trailing Dan’s lap time. When Dan crossed the line, the Redline Time Attack announcers and fans alike exploded into cheers and applause and at that moment the team knew that their time had come. “I truly have to thank our sponsors, our friends, and the team for all of their support. There’s no way we could’ve had this win without them!” Dan said following the event. “It certainly wasn’t easy,” Alec told a Redline correspondent. “but it really just goes to show that with the right combination of a skilled team, top-quality parts, and outright determination, you can achieve great things.”
The day was not without drama, with the drivers battling continuously varying track conditions due to bursts of heavy rainfall followed by intense heat and humidity, which wreaked havoc on a number of cars. The Street Class session alone claimed four cars, with a three-car accident due to a engine failure and subsequent oil slick just before Autobahn’s main straight and an engine fire for another competitor at the opposite end of the track. Thanks to the PA Evolution’s excellent preparation and Dan’s decisive driving, the team escaped the session unscathed and poised for victory. Moments before the second timed session, the unpredictable Midwest weather drenched the course, removing any possibility for an improvement over Professional Awesome’s already impressive lap time.
With a victory in the Time Attack session, the team decided to sweeten the victory with what amounted to a lapping session for the afternoon’s Super Session. With a wet track and the recent crashes in the earlier sessions, no other Street Class competitors went to grid for the Super Session, allowing Dan to take several victory laps and pad his hard-earned victory with even more points to put the team in line to take an overall east coast division championship.
The next event for Professional Awesome is round 7, at the Sebring International Raceway, home to some of the best road racing in the world. The team is beyond excited to be able to race on such hallowed ground and is confident that both the team and the Evolution are more than up to the task.
Professional Awesome would like to thank their sponsors, KW Suspension, Modern Automotive Performance, T1 Race Development, 5 Zigen USA, Sparco USA, BLOX Racing, Zeitronix, Cosworth, GiroDisc, JM Fabrications, and AmsOil. Additionally, many thanks to our fans and the Redline Time Attack staff, who have helped the team achieve this impressive feat. The team is incredibly grateful to be partnered with such an impressive list of manufacturers and can’t wait to make them proud with another stellar performance August 14-15 at Sebring!
For a full report from the event, refer to MotoIQ.com’s article here:
http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/articletype/articleview/articleid/1602/redline-time-attack–round-5–chicago.aspx
For more information on Professional Awesome, visit:
http://professionalawesome.com/
www.facebook.com/pages/Professional-Awesome/308953760692
Or follow the team on Twitter @ProAwesomeRace
Photos courtesy of Wes Dumalski, MotoIQ
You guys are rocking it. Nice job on the success! Press on regardless,
Elliott aka
I Like It Sideways