It has been said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep, and my journey of what was to be 1,488 miles (just 4 laps short of an even 1,500) began with that same single step. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill was to be the “Longest Road Race in America ”, and as far as I could tell the world. Regardless, this would be the longest and hardest race I had ever participated in… not a difficult claim, as I only just completed my rookie year in road racing.

The decision to embark on such an enormous venture would have been easily declined had I been asked while sitting behind my desk at work; but since it occurred in the garage at Bullet Motorworks in Costa Mesa , CA the answer was a resounding YES, LET'S DO IT! So, more than three months before the actual race was to occur, I began preparing for the biggest race of my life.

Bullet Performance is best known in the BMW community for their presence in the Speed World Challenge. Their blue, red, and white 325s are always busy dicing with the various Mazdas, Acuras, and fellow BMWs that swarm around the track. As they both maintain my car and also happened to talk me into this hair-brained scheme, I asked Bullet Performance owner Mickey Miller if he would consider running his World Challenge E36. “Yeah, I'm in.” Instead of me being a lone E30 circulating for a day plus, we were now a team.

With seasoned pros involved, I didn't have to worry too much about the mechanics and pit crew – Chris Welch (co-owner of Bullet Performance) would be leading a team in the pits as crew chief, as well being co-driver of Mickey's car. For my own sanity, I wanted my regular mechanic from Bullet, Andy Koutsoudis. Andy knows my car inside and out, and he would be an invaluable part of the team should any problems with my car surface. Unfortunately, Andy was adamant about not going.

“No way, I'm not standing around in the cold rain for 25 hours while you guys destroy your cars, and then expect me to fix them!” Of course that's what any sane person would say – the Thunderhill Enduro has been well known for it's chilly winter temps and driving rainstorms – but racers aren't always the most rational folks.

Andy continued to say no up until a few days before the event – Chris used his powers of persuasion to woo Andy onto the crew. Andy was joined by Hermond Manoochehri, another very gifted mechanic at Bullet. Building up to the big weekend, Herm handled most of the pre-race preparation to our little 325is. Every nut and bolt would need to be checked, every wear and tear item on the car would need to be replaced, and everything that might break would need to be gone over with a critical eye. We got some help from Hankook tires, who provided some of their new R-compound track tires, and Jim Blanton at Performance Gearing, who provided us with some freshly rebuilt driveline parts – a weak spot on any race car. Suffice it to say, in order to survive such a long endurance race you have to reinforce or rebuild everything !

With the car and crew taken care of, I would need to find some drivers to join the fun. Fellow BMWCCA club racers Klaus Kindor, Gil Caravantes (who ran an ex-PTG E36 M3 the year prior), Dr. Victor Pinschi, and myself would be the team of four drivers. Some teams had 6 (or even 7) drivers to help lower the costs and help distribute the load, but with fewer drivers we'd all get more seat time. With only a week to go before the event, we had a pleasant surprise – I received an e-mail from Geoff Auberlen (Bill's brother) a week before the event, looking for a ride. I put him on the team of drivers as the 5 th driver, just in case….

Counting Down

The night before leaving home in Southern California for the long haul to Willows – 2 hours north of San Francisco – I got no sleep at all. My brain just couldn't shut down. I kept thinking of the thousands of things that had to be done; did I have all of the spare parts? Did we remember to check out this or that part of the car? Nothing was gonna help me sleep.

Thursday morning at 5am we were on our way to Thunderhill, a mere 10 hour drive from the Bullet shop. We towed up a 44-foot enclosed trailer filled with our cars, 36 wheels and tires, and thousands of pounds of tools, spare parts and miscellaneous equipment. One has to realize that Murphy's Law is strictly enforced the further one gets away from home; and being 500 miles away from Bullet and any real source of spare BMW parts, one has to bring an extra everything . “What ever spare part you don't bring will be the one you need,” chided Andy. He later proved to be right. Mickey's answer to bringing enough spares for his E36? Fellow Bullet Performance racer Scott Lang's World Challenge 328i.

Arriving at Thunderhill Park the evening before Friday practice left us both exhausted and exhilarated. With only 36 hours to go before festivities would begin, my first order of priority was to get Klaus, Vic, Geoff and myself on the track for Friday's practice session, as Gil Caravantes was our only driver to have ever seen the track.

My car was on the track most of the day, and our prep proved itself well. Our only mechanical failure in a day of hard testing was a front brake piston pushing out of the caliper. With such a major failure, we would need a new piston, maybe even a new caliper. Murphy's was in effect – while packing spares, we left behind a box of spare brake system parts. In typical BMW community fashion, fellow E30 racer Jeff Lyon offered us a caliper out of his spare parts bin. Having pros like Andy and Herm around meant we only lost an hour of seat time.

The tires supplied to us by Hankook were doing very well under the heavy driving that Klaus, Vic, Geoff, and myself were doing in order to learn the track. The longevity of our tires would be useful once the long driving stints started – a real advantage when combined with the fuel economy of the older 3-series.

After a long afternoon of driving, it was time to set the start order for the race. Held on a damp track (it had been raining off and on the whole day) and in the pitch-black of a winter farmland evening, someone who knew the track would need to qualify the car. Our 325is went out in Gil's capable hands.

The race was limited to 80 cars, with only 73 making it to the start. Racers came from all over for this event, including Spoon Sports, a respected Japanese Honda tuner, who flew their JDM-spec Honda Accord (sold as the Acura TSX in the US ) and entire team in from Tokyo . Our class ended up being the largest, with 22 cars; the majority of which were Spec Miatas. With their low cost to build and run, Spec Miatas tend to attract some drivers who follow the NASCAR school of speed – “Rubbin' is Racin'.”

Before our test day was over, we suffered our first casualty – one of our drivers was coming down with the same flu bug that had already struck his wife and kids. Rather than infect the rest of the team, Vic backed out. We were down to 4 drivers again.

The night before any big race is hard enough to sleep through, but with the human buzz-saws of Chris, Andy, and Herm as roommates, there wasn't a chance of catching any shuteye. With barely a couple of hours of sleep, the team headed out to the track at 6am to prep for the 11am green flag. “That's just great,” I thought, “I'm about to start the race, drive for 3 hours, and I'm running on only a handful of hours of sleep from 2 days.” Nothing to fear; the adrenaline of seeing all of the other teams and their suited-up crews was better than any cup of coffee!

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

With weather reports threatening stormy weather for the entire weekend, both the drivers and crews were ecstatic to be greeted by a gleaming rainbow and partly sunny skies for the start of the race. As the car was brought to the 21 st grid position that Gil had secured for us I began to get overwhelmed with the adrenaline that was now fueling my brain, “Who needs sleep? I'm ready to race!”

Sliding into the car and getting strapped in by the pit crew, I simply could not believe that I was here! I'm in the first third of the grid and ready to race for 25 hours! Seventy-three cars, 363 drivers, and more than 500 crew members were all here and ready to go. The cars surrounding me ranged from two Grand Am-spec Porsche GT3 Cup Cars to new M3's, several other BMW's and too many Miata's and RX-7's to count.

Five minutes to go. My heart began pounding even harder and faster than it was before. Three minutes to go. I started the car and revved the “little engine that could”. One minute warning. Oil temp and pressure is good, water temp is good, I'm ready to go. As the pace car slowly leads us out onto the track, I looked to my right to see the hundreds of other racers, crew, and spectators all lined up against the pit wall, cheering us on. The 25 Hours had begun.

One lap around the track, lined up two abreast, and a second parade lap through the pit lane before the green flag finally dropped. Visibility all of a sudden drops to 50 feet as cars dice for position on the damp track. The mist kicked up by all of the cars made the moderate rain seem like a hurricane. The wipers were beating at top speed as I pushed the car as fast as I could.

Within the first hour several cars were spinning and sliding all over the track. The dirt that surrounds the track is thick clay and, when mixed with heavy amounts of rain, becomes a very thick and slippery goo. If you go off track and get stuck, the tow trucks will not be out to get you for a long time. With drivers pushing hard to move through the field in the early stages of the race, many suffered the consequences of getting stuck in the muck. What made matters worse was the trail of mud these cars dragged onto the track when being pulled out by the tow trucks. If the track was slippery before, it soon became downright scary.

I drove the first leg of the race for three hours, maintaining consistent lap times and keeping the car on track. This was no minor feat – many drivers were treating the race like it would last 25 minutes instead of 25 hours, pushing and punting to get around other cars. Exhausted and excited, I handed to car over to Gil Caravantes.

Unfortunately, a family emergency cut Gil's stint short. We were now down to only 3 drivers and still had over 20 hours to go. Despite having his plate full co-driving a Mini Cooper campaigned by Crevier BMW, Geoff Auberlen stepped up and took over for a 2 hour stint. My goal from the start had been simply to finish – even this modest goal would be hard with limited drivers and the dangerous on-track conditions.

Klaus Kindor was next up and turned out to be my ironman, driving more hours than anyone else. As the car owner and another member of the pit crew, I spent my time out of the car running back and forth to the fuel pumps to refill the jugs we filled our cars with, manned the radio to the driver, assisted with pit-stops and driver changes for the other Bullet Performance car, helped feed the drivers and crew, and who knows what else. An endurance race is a true team sport – everyone needs to step up and help out if you expect to even keep the cars and crew running long enough to stay in the game.

At about 11pm , halfway through the event, conditions had started to take its toll on cars and crew alike. The #1 E36 M3, an ex-Group N racer and 24 Hours of Nurburgring alum driven by Greg Ross, went off track – ripping its oil cooler off, damaging the motor, and eliminating it from a 4 th place overall standing. The Grand Am-spec Mini Mania Mini Cooper S, while leading its class ahead of the Japanese Spoon team, broke a half-shaft and lost significant time making repairs. This was just two of the 70+ cars running – crews up and down the paddock spent most of the midnight hours repairing damaged body work, broken suspension and driveline parts, and various other issues caused by offs, punts, and mechanical failures.

I was just about to the point where I could actually allow myself to go to sleep, so I headed to the motor home. The crew was all asleep and had the heater turned up to what seemed to be 90 degrees. Just as I started to fall asleep a loud knock shook me back to reality. “We need a driver for your car, Klaus is coming in and there is no one else available!” Just as I'm finally getting some rest…

I suited back up and headed out. With few drivers to spread the duty with, I ended up driving from about 11pm to about 5am . It was some of the best driving I have ever experienced. The track was dry by this point and the forecast was showing clear skies for the remainder of the race. I was really able to pick up the pace compared to the start of the race in heavy rain, and I was having a blast. Passing cars left and right, and of course being passed at blinding speed by the three Porsche GT3's dicing for the overall lead.

Driving through the night and into the early morning dawn was surreal. The rain clouds still clogged the horizon but kept moving away from the track, all the while the sun burned red in the eastern sky. I had brought our team from a lowly 12 th in class to a respectable 8 th , and the car was still in one piece. While I drove, Klaus slept. When I was done in the early morning he was ready for another go. Pushing the car for another five hours (only 2 hours left!), Klaus started to complain about badly warped rotors. We had no more brake pads and had to finish the race with what we had. The car would have to be limped along.

As dawn broke over the track, the carnage of overly aggressive driving, fierce fights for front positions, and some drivers who just plain ran out of talent could be seen in twisted fenders, missing bumpers, and lots of muddy tire stripes at odd angles to the track. The Mini Mania Cooper S was out (a novice racer in a Honda took care of that), the Rennworks E36 M3 looked like it had been through the mill, the Crevier Mini – which shined a glorious silver before the start – was now circulating sans both bumpers and looking like a muddy grey mess. But they were all still driving, and that still mattered for something.

I was too tired to drive anymore, even as much as I wanted to be the one in the car at the finish of the race, it was just not safe. I could not find any of my other drivers and Klaus was exhausted after pulling a long-haul stint. He screamed at me over the radio, “Get me out of this car, I'm DONE!” I continued to search for any of my other drivers, but to no avail. The carnage ended up benefiting us after all.

Carl McGinn, a co-driver of Greg Ross's now-parked M3, was content cruising the pits as a spectator. Got a suit and helmet? Get in the car. As Carl strapped in we realized the pit-to-car radio connector did not fit his helmet connector, so Carl went out with no radio communication.

After about 40 minutes, I checked with the crew to see if anyone had been to the wall to make a visual check with Carl. “Nope.” Everyone was so busy with the other Bullet car, which at this point had managed to fend off the competition and was holding on to a class lead, that no one though to check on Carl.

I went to the pit wall and as I saw Carl coming down the front straight, I spotted something hanging under the car. “What is THAT?” As Carl drove closer I realized what it was – it was the oil cooler. Somehow it had come loose and was being dragged on the ground. I envisioned my beautiful engine seizing up from an oil hemorrhage. I grabbed the pit sign and dashed across the paddock to the other side of the track, hoping to catch Carl on the back straight. I had no idea how many laps the cooler had been dragged around and did not know if he would even be able to make it to the pits. Carl acknowledged the sign, pulling into the pits so we could examine the damage.

Murphy was back, and with a vengeance . We didn't have an extra oil cooler, and none of our fellow E30 competitors had one either.

“Well, that's it Rich, you're done – pack it up, no need in risking your engine” Chris said. My heart sank to the ground. How could I have come so close and not be able to make the finish of this historic event? I took every precaution to prepare for this race! Umpteen hours of planning and preparation, sleepless nights, who knows how much money, and now this!? Sure, we weren't winning against some of the high-dollar machinery and professional endurance teams, but we wanted to finish dammit!

The never-say-die racers that they are, Chris and the mechanics come over to me while my head was slumped in my hands, “You got lucky, real lucky,” he said. What are you talking about?

“The oil cooler only has a pin-sized hole, and you haven't even lost any oil. Clean it off, slap on some J-B Weld, and finish the race.” Chris said. Done!

So, after an hour and twenty minutes in the pits I got back in car and raced for another 20 minutes until the checkered flag dropped after 25 long and grueling hours. I crossed the finish line together with Scott Lang in the #56 Bullet car. We made it! We finished the inaugural NASA 25 Hour Enduro. Mickey's E36 finished 1 st in class, while I finished 11 th out of 22 in my class, and 30 th overall (8 th and 19 th before the pit-stop). Seventy-three cars started this race with only 59 finishing. Sure, a couple of Porsche GT3s may have topped the podiums, but that didn't matter to me. I made it through the 25 hours, and I considered myself, my team, and my little ol' E30 325is winners!

We'll be back next year, having learned so much from this race, and I'm going for a podium finish in 04'!

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