Tire Rack Cannonball One Lap of America

PGR Team Members to Race in Cannonball One Lap of America

The two will drive a Noble M400 from 1g Racing, the sole Noble distributor in the U.S. The Noble M400 recently received the prestigious Britain's Best Driver's Car Award from Autocar Magazine UK, competing against the likes of the Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 GT 3RS, Lotus Elise, Aston Martin DB9, and many others.

"Our goal in participating in this year's One Lap is to raise awareness of Microsoft's campaign with Best Buy to educate consumers about the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system for video games, and to highlight family settings available in electronic gaming consoles like Xbox 360," says Wolfkill.

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Driftbox Track Map and Stats

Check out Chris Novak’s driving line for the Full Course at the Virginia International Raceway. Click here to see the track map .jpeg generated by the DriftBox performance meter by Racelogic. Click here to see the .jpeg graph depicting the stats on Chris’ speed (red line), lateral g-forces (gray line), and elevation (green line).

Video interviews with Team Xbox drivers now available!

To watch Wolfkill’s interview and hear her impressions of the Noble M400 and her advice for young women who are interested in pursuing high-performance driving, click here. As an extra-added bonus, you'll hear her answer to the burning question, "paper or plastic?" (Her response seems to indicate she may have a career in politics.)

To watch Novak’s interview and hear his views on how the One Lap of America race reminds him of playing PGR 3, click here. Stay tuned all the way to the end to witness his ponderings on the eternal question, "pancakes or waffles?" His answer may surprise you. You won't want to miss it.

Great new car photos posted by 1g Racing!

New in-car video footage now available for viewing!

To watch the video, go here: http://www.lake-effect-racing.com/onelap/2006/index.php, and then click "One full lap of VIR South Track in the #33 Noble M400."

While you're at the Web site, be sure to check out all of Lake Effect Racing's awesome video and photo coverage of this year's race.

Team Xbox would like to thank everyone on the Lake Effect Racing team—especially Miki Kologranic, Brian Kissack, Chris Medico, and David Reynolds—for the in-car footage. They also send a shout-out to the Lake Effect Racing #14 car and drivers Jamin Cummings, Nancy Becker, and Dale Seeley.

New photos from Chris Novak and Team Xbox!

Chris Novak had a spare minute and an Internet connection Wednesday morning, and that's good news for Team Xbox fans, because he has uploaded new photos from the last three days of competition. You can find them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43981106@N00/

Check 'em out. You won't be sorry.

Daily Updates

Saturday, May 13—Novak Pulls a G to Claim a Top-10 Finish!

In this morning's dry skid pad competition at Tire Rack world headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, the final event in the 2006 Cannonball One Lap of America race, Chris Novak in the #33 Noble M400 pulled 1.001 g's to claim the 7th spot in the event. This vaulted Team Xbox into the 10th spot overall in the final standings for this year's race.

In this skid pad event, Team Xbox bested the #31 Noble driven by Derek Whitis and Seth Agnew, who placed 9th. It was not enough, however, to topple Whitis and Agnew from their 1st-in-class position in the SSGT1 Small Bore class. Team Xbox finished right behind them and ahead of two Porsches and two BMW M-class cars.

"This was the first event where I was actually nervous because I knew our results would keep us in or out of the top 10," says Novak. "It all came down to a little autocross-style event, and I just thought, 'Here we go,'" adds Novak, the reigning SCCA Northwest regional autocross champion for Non-Stock 1.

"It was raining when we got to the track, but it stopped before the skid pad event started," adds Novak." There was a total of about two feet of dry line on the skid pad, and fortunately I was able to find it."

Looking ahead to tonight's celebration with their fellow One Lap competitors, Novak notes, "We're going to make a Wal-Mart stop so Kiki can grab some new clothes, and then we're going to relax and exchange war stories with our fellow competitors. We're both happy because we have a trophy cup to drink from tonight," he adds.

In between shopping and celebrations, Novak plans to upload the latest photos from the last few days of competition. You can find them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43981106@N00/.

On Sunday, Wolfkill and Novak will spend one last four-hour stretch in the #33 car when they drive from South Bend to Hamilton, Ohio, a distance of 258 miles, to return their beloved Noble to its rightful home at 1g Racing world headquarters.

"Everyone on the PGR 3 team is thrilled and delighted for Kiki and Chris," says Kathie Flood, PGR 3 producer. "We can hardly wait for them to get home so we can celebrate. Go Team Xbox!"

Stay tuned to this location in the coming days for driver interviews, photos, and more as we recap the excellent adventure that was Team Xbox and the 2006 Cannonball One Lap of America.

Friday, May 12 Late Results & Update

While stuck in traffic in the middle of Chicago's evening commute, Novak and Wolfkill call in from the road to find out if the official results for today's second time-trial session at Road America have been posted yet.

"The rain just killed us today," says Novak, "And tomorrow's weather report for South Bend is not encouraging at all—it sounds like the dry skid pad event tomorrow will actually be wet."

Regardless of the final results, "everyone at Microsoft Game Studios, especially the PGR 3 team, is incredibly proud of what Kiki and Chris have accomplished this week," says Studio manager Ken Lobb. "They're living proof of the real-world expertise that goes into making PGR 3."

Friday, May 12

Novak calls in from trackside at Road America, where he has just completed his run in the first time-trial event at this classic American road course.

Track conditions today are just like yesterday: wet and slick and cold (38 degrees F). Snow showers were predicted for the area this morning, but fortunately they have not yet materialized.

"It's so slick out here that I have wheelspin when accelerating in a straight line in 4th gear," says Novak. "At this point, we're just trying to keep it clean and keep the car off of the wall," he adds.

"The tires we're using are designed to be optimal at 150 degrees, and right now they're running at about 40 degrees," says Novak. "It's tough, because half the corners here at Road America are concrete, which means it's like cornering on ice.

Even some of the four-wheel drive cars, like the Subaru STIs, were hitting the wall in the first session today," says Novak. "Conditions are brutal."

The results for the day's first time-trial events are posted while Novak's on the phone. He finishes 27th, well off of his usual top-10 pace. The #31 Noble car finishes 9th, even though, as Novak reports, they spun once, with two-and-a-half rotations, in the first session. "Nevertheless, they were able to keep it together and post a top-10 finish," says Novak.

While he waits for his turn on the track in the second session, Novak gets a little philosophical on us: "Only four more laps of terror and going sideways and we'll be finished with the time-trials," he says. "I'm just 16 miles away from getting to think about coming home." This reporter declines to remind him about tomorrow's final dry skid pad event.

Before he does come home, it is sincerely hoped that Novak will be reacquainted with a shower before rejoining his always supportive work colleagues at Microsoft Game Studios. That goes for Wolfkill as well, their coworkers are quick to note.

Novak also takes a moment to update on us their sit-down dinner from last night. "We ate at Nora's Steakhouse in Minneapolis," reports Novak. "Kiki had the prime rib, and I had barbecue chicken and ribs. We ate dinner with the Ford SVT engineers and the Honda of America team, and we had a lot of fun swapping cop stories," he adds.

Wolfkill gets on the line to express concern that many of her fellow competitors, who are reading the Team Xbox daily updates, are under the impression that Wolfkill's main focus is on food rather than racing. "It couldn't be further from the truth," she protests. "I live to race."

Thursday, May 11

After a wet and wild day on the track at Putnam Park, Novak calls in from the road as Wolfkill steers the Noble M400 towards Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Tonight, the two will travel a distance of 382 miles, with one less stop along the way than they expected.

"We were scheduled to run night drag races at U.S. Highway 41 Dragway in Morocco, Indiana tonight, but the track owner canceled the event due to rain," reports Novak. "It's disappointing. I was especially looking forward to seeing what the #8 car (the Lancer Evo 8 driven by Martin Musial) was going to do on the drags. That's a legitimate 10-second drag car.

"Because of the cancellation, we're going to get to experience our first big luxury for the week: a full sit-down dinner at a real restaurant," he adds. Rumors are rampant as to what Wolfkill may order, but nothing has been confirmed at press time. Stay tuned for updates.

Novak also gives a full account of the day's activities at Putnam Park. "It was an interesting day. We woke up this morning to pouring rain and tornado-watch warnings," says Novak. "Today was a fine example of the roles technical accuracy and random luck can play in racing," he adds.

During the first time-trial session this morning, the track was extremely wet for the first group on the track, and "all the cars in the bottom half of the field were flipping places with all the cars in the top of the field," says Novak.

Wolfkill finished 61st in the first session, well off her usual top-10 pace. The best performers in the first session were the four-wheel-drive cars, and they were posting lap times in the six-minute range.

“We were at a total disadvantage, because we ran in the first group," says Novak. "Then there was lunch, and the track was totally dry for the second group in the first session. Fortunately, things perked up in the second session: the cars that floundered in the first session recovered nicely in the second session, effectively crushing those who dominated in the first."

With a dry track, Wolfkill returned to form, finishing 8th overall. "We were very happy with our results for the second session," says Novak.

Novak also provides an update on the #31 Noble car that was damaged due to contact with a tire wall during Wednesday's afternoon session. "Derek and Seth and the #31 car are back in the race,” he reports, "and they posted a phenomenal result in the second session today, placing 1st overall."

"The #31 car is definitely back, but they've grafted so much fiberglass and aluminum onto the front end that it's got a new nickname around the pits – the "FrankenNoble," says Novak. (We're assuming this isn't what they mean when they refer to the #31 car as a "modified" Noble.)

Today, Team Xbox also enjoyed the trackside company of several members of the 1g Racing team (http://www.1gracing.com/), their sponsor for the race. "It was great to see Dean Rosen and his father, Ron, Shane Miller, and Matt Glassmeyer trackside and cheering us on today,” says Novak. "The 1g guys say they're very pleased with how well we're running their stock Noble and how well Derek and Seth are doing with their modified Noble. We owe a lot to them, and we want to make them proud."

Official results for Thursday's session at Putnam Park have not yet been posted. For the most up-to-date results, check here: http://onelapofamerica.com/history/results.shtml?y=2006.

Wednesday May 10 Late Results & Update

In the first morning session, on the South Course, Novak finishes seventh, about seven seconds behind the #31 Noble car.

In the second morning session, on the North Course, Novak beats the #31 Noble car to the line by a mere 0.001 seconds to claim the sixth spot.

In the afternoon session, on the Long Course, Novak also finishes sixth, vaulting Team Xbox into the overall top 10 for the first time, where they currently stand in the #9 position.

In the afternoon session, the #31 Noble car, driven by Derek Whitis, goes into a tire wall and the M400 sustains some damage, including a smashed windshield and damage to the car's nose.

"Today's tire wall contact was really unfortunate," says Wolfkill, who calls in from the road as Novak steers the M400 toward Putnam Park Road Course in Mount Meridian, Indiana. "Derek and Seth are going to try to put the car back together tonight, and we hope to see them on-track tomorrow, because we love competing with them."

Tonight, Novak and Wolfkill will drive 624 miles, the last long leg of the race. When they pull into their hotel late tonight (or, more likely, early tomorrow morning), they will have driven 3,346 road miles since Saturday (and that doesn't include track miles). And they're not finished yet.

Looking ahead to Thursday's sessions, Wolfkill expresses concern about the weather reports that call for rain at Putnam Park. "It's a little worrisome," says Wolfkill. "It's tough when you're trying to learn the track and control the car in the rain at the same time. I am praying for sun."

"We'll also be at the U.S. 41 Dragway in Morocco, Indiana tomorrow," adds Wolfkill. "Chris will be driving the drags, because he's drag-raced before."

Thanks to a strong cell phone connection, this reporter is treated to Wolfkill's rhapsodic account of her most recent gastronomical adventure: a fried baloney sandwich, which she enjoyed trackside at Florence Motor Speedway on Tuesday night.

"I had heard of fried baloney sandwiches, of course, but the opportunity to actually try one has never come up," reports Wolfkill. "So when it did, I knew I had to go for it."

"I was expecting a slice of bologna fried in a pan, but this was a whole other thing," she notes. "It's a thick slice of baloney, and they throw it in the deep fat fryer."

"They add cheese, and I added ketchup and mustard," says Wolfkill. "It was delightful," she adds. Novak declines to comment.

Wednesday, May 10th

Early this morning, Team Xbox learns the results of Novak's single time-trial run on the banked oval at Florence Motor Speedway on Tuesday night: Novak finished ninth overall, a little over a second behind Derek Whitis and Seth Agnew in the #31 Noble car, which finished sixth overall. The results move the two into 11th spot in the overall standings.

Tuesday, May 9 Afternoon Results & Late Update

Wolfkill and Novak spend the morning at Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah, Georgia, where Wolfkill places 14th in the first time-trial session and 7th in the second.

"It seems I have a four-lap learning curve,” says Wolfkill. "I'm definitely moving up, and my times are improving in the second session."

Today's race schedule calls for visits to two different tracks, so the pair climb back in the car and head toward a race checkpoint in Midway, Georgia. Once cleared, they make a beeline towards Florence Motor Speedway in Florence, South Carolina, where Novak will drive in a single time-trial session on the banked oval track, the first night event of the race.

Wolfkill calls in from trackside as Novak awaits his turn on the oval. "They just posted the latest overall standings, and it looks like we've moved up to the 12th spot,” says Wolfkill. "We'd be thrilled to come away with a top-10 finish, but we've still got some work to do."

Wolfkill spots the #31 Noble car team making adjustments to their car's wing settings and saunters over to ask, "Hey, what are you guys doing?" even though she already knows.

"The other Noble team tested at all the tracks before the race began, and they have custom setups for each of the tracks," she says.

Novak returns to pit row after an intense session on the track. "The official results haven't been posted yet, but the times between us and the Noble #31 car were too close to call, according to unofficial trackside timers,” says Novak. "Not bad, considering we hadn't run on this track before."

"The oval was a lot of fun," says Novak. "I wish I could have had a few more laps."

"The #4 Ultima GTR car, which is running 5th overall, was getting spun around like crazy this afternoon. It was very entertaining to watch," he adds.

While they speculate on tonight's results, Wolfkill and Novak jump back in the car and head toward Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Since they will only have to drive a relatively short distance tonight (a little more than 200 miles), they're looking forward to getting some sleep. "We hoping for a full six hours tonight," says Wolfkill.

"One of the symptoms of sleep deprivation appears to be absentmindedness," says Wolfkill.

"We keep leaving things on top of the car when we pull into gas stations and then drive away without removing them," says Wolfkill. "We lost a banana yesterday, and I almost lost a t-shirt this morning, but fortunately it was sucked into the back hatch of the Noble.

"We just pulled over and pulled it out. It was as good as new," she adds (some of her teammates in Redmond have expressed concern that Wolfkill may be lowering her usually high apparel standards during the race).

"We're also seeing a lot of vermin out here," adds Wolfkill. "Somebody hit an armadillo last night, and the front of their car did not look pretty. There were also some dragonflies at the Louisiana track that were so big they looked like mutants or throwbacks to the Jurassic period. I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't running," says Wolfkill.

Tuesday, May 9

Early this morning, upon arrival in Savannah, Wolfkill and Novak learn the results of Monday's two time-trial sessions at Louisiana's No Problem Raceway.

"In the first session, I finished 6th," reports Novak. "The other Noble M400, the #31 car, beat us to the line by a little over a second."

In the second time-trial session, Novak moved up one spot, finishing 5th, with the Noble #31 car right in front of them in the fourth spot.

Novak's track performance moves them up to 2nd in class (25 points behind the Noble #31 car) and 15th overall.

"We're going to give the #31 car a run for its money at Roebling Road, "says Novak.

Monday, May 8

Novak's first comment on the call: "Yikes, we just passed a dead alligator on the road." His second: "We had boudin balls for lunch. It was a little weird—you can definitely tell we're in Louisiana."

For those unfamiliar with the delicacy, boudin balls are "the perfect appetizer for any Cajun party. Good baked or fried. Cooked pork meat, pork liver, onions, special seasonings and rice, dusted in flour. USDA approved." (Let's hope so, for our drivers' sakes.)

He also reports that they spent more than 15 hours driving from Mid-America to Belle Rose, arriving at their hotel at 5:15 A.M.

Finally, Novak reports on today's track sessions: "In the first session, I ran sixth—the other M400 got me by less than a second."

"Everyone was slower in the second session, but I was improving on my time. Unfortunately, I wound up missing a gear and had to come off," he adds.

Sunday, May 7 Late Update

"We would have been 8th in my 2nd session, but I picked up a 10-second penalty for a pit-lane violation. Before the penalty, I had the fastest time in class," says Wolfkill. "The penalty was unfortunate, but we'll make it up."

The two left the track at 2 P.M. today and don't expect to arrive at their hotel until early Monday morning.

Sunday, May 7

Team Xbox competes in two time-trial events at the Mid-America Motorplex today.

Wolfkill takes the wheel and places 15th overall in the first time-trial event. In the second event, she places 18th overall. Her combined totals for the day vault the pair to 23rd overall (3rd in class), with 1,280 points after two days of competition.

Pleased with their Sunday results, the two head out onto the highway for the 1,100-mile trip to their next stop, No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana.

Fueled by a diet of water, Gatorade, Diet Coke, Funyuns onion-flavored rings, sweet ’n hot beef jerky, Tiger‘s Milk bars, sour apple candy, and other unnamed artificial ingredients (“The breakfast of champions,” says Wolfkill. “Kiki’s a snacker,” says Novak), the two are feeling good about their performance so far.

Saturday, May 6 Late Results & Update

Upon arrival in Council Bluffs, Iowa, their stop for the night, Wolfkill and Novak learn the results of the day’s earlier time-trial event: Novak finished an impressive 3rd overall, beating out the other Noble M400 by a mere 0.395 seconds. His performance moves them up to 3rd in class and 46th overall.

The two grab a pair of hotel rooms for the night, considering themselves lucky, because Council Bluffs is hosting a stockbrokers’ convention this weekend and hotel rooms are scarce. They spot many of their fellow competitors sleeping in their cars parked along the interstate.

Saturday, May 6

In a wet skid pad event, participants complete three clockwise and three counter-clockwise laps around a circular skid pad surface that has been covered with water.

All of the 94 cars entered in the competition have been outfitted with a GPS-based performance meter called the DriftBox (http://www.driftbox.com/), which delivers real-time data on the acceleration, braking, and cornering performance of each car to the driver and to the competition judges, as well as uploading to the Internet.

Novak, for one, is impressed with the technology. “It’s a real-world Kudos recording system–it’s just like the PGR 3 Kudos system and Xbox Live Leaderboards, but with data from real cars, not 3D models.”

Team Xbox would like to thank Jim Lau and Racelogic (http://www.racelogic.co.uk/), the creators of the DriftBox, for their support during the race.

After competing in the wet skid pad event, all of the teams drove 106 miles to the next stop, the Autobahn Country Club racetrack in Joliet, Illinois, where Novak powered through three hot laps in a time-trial event on the track’s south course. The final results for this event have not yet been posted. For the latest event results, check out the 2006 One Lap of America Results page.

With the Autobahn event complete, the next stop for all teams is the Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa, a distance of 452 miles. “We’re feeling good right now,” says Wolfkill. “We should arrive in Pacific Junction by 11 or 11:30 P.M. (Central Time), which means we’ll get some sleep tonight.

“Sunday will be our no-sleep night,” she predicts. After completing the event at Mid-America, they’ll have to drive more than 1,000 miles to the No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, Louisiana for Monday’s time-trial event.

Friday evening, May 5

Friday morning, May 5

Wolfkill and Novak complete registration at Tire Rack Race headquarters, including applying official "One Lap of America" stickers and the lucky number 33 to their Noble M400.

They also escort the car through final tech before meeting up with the Zoom HD Networks camera crew that will be following them and chronicling their progress throughout the race.

Before the official drivers’ meeting at 4 P.M., Novak and Wolfkill plan to sit down and take some time to strategize. “We'll take a look at the schedule and start thinking about divvying up the tracks,” says Novak.

Thursday evening, May 4

“The Noble attracts a lot of attention along the interstate,” says Wolfkill. “We had an Illinois state trooper watching our back for us for most of the morning.”

As planned, the two stop by Indianapolis Raceway Park, where Doug Livingston of ProSport Driving Experience (http://www.prosportdrivingexperience.com/) graciously allows them to join his group on the track during a private lapping day.

“Thanks to Doug, Chris and I were each able to put down 10 laps on the road course, which really helped us get familiar with the M400,” says Wolfkill. “The car feels incredible.”

In need of some quick welding assistance, the two take a detour through world-famous Gasoline Alley and pay a visit to Joe Devin of DRC Chassis (http://www.drcchassis.com/) who has them back on the road in no time.

Thursday morning, May 4

The two are looking forward to getting some seat time in the car before the race begins on Saturday.

"We're going to try to get a few laps in at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on the way to South Bend, so we can get a feel for the car," says Wolfkill.

Wednesday, May 3

Wolfkill and Novak spend the day with the engineers at 1g Racing, checking out the car, collecting spare parts, applying logos and stickers, and strategizing about how to fit all their gear in a very small enclosed space.

"I brought two pairs of pants, but I think I may have been a little overly optimistic," says Novak. The 1g team has provided the two with luggage that is custom-designed to fit behind the M400's seats, but most of that space is filled with spare parts for the car and other race essentials (like maps).

Tuesday, May 2