AMYLOIDOSIS can kill in as little as three months. Does that get your attention? It should. This insidious killer is still relatively unheard of, despite its ability to strike so quickly and mimic other diseases with similar symptoms. The Corvette world found that out all too well in March 2004, when Chip Miller, co-founder of Carlisle Events, succumbed to this rare malady.inline_mediumwraptextright32199075/events/vemp_1004_1959_chevy_corvette_c1vemp_1004_01_o+1959_chevy_corvette_c1+chip_show.jpgTrue

The american le mans Series Petit Le Mans event is an important race for the competitors. The 10-hour enduro over the spectacular Road Atlanta course in Braselton, Georgia, offers major bragging rights in the series and an automatic invite to the 24-Hour Le Mans race in July. This year, Corvette Racing arrived early to take advantage of a test day on Wednesday. The new GT2 chassis is still in the sorting-out stage, and the GM program needs to capitalize on all of the testing time it can get. Engineering simulations are pretty good these days, but there's no replacement for real-world track time when it comes to proving the validity of a suspension setup or tire compound.inline_mediumwraptextright27920161/events/vemp_1004_chevy_corvette_c6rsvemp_1004_01_o+chevy_corvette_c6rs+race_footage.jpgTrue

With its definitive tension between elegance and brute power, there is no car as distinctly American as the Corvette, and there are few places where you can see that distinct flavor on display as clearly as at Mid America's annual Funfest customer appreciation party. Held in September, the event usually brings somewhere around 15,000 Corvettes and their owners to Mid America's sprawling 150-acre corporate campus in Effingham, Illinois, to meet Corvette celebrities, attend seminars on various facets of the Corvette, and to just generally enjoy themselves.inline_mediumwraptextright26745938/events/vemp_1004_chevy_corvette_funfestvemp_1004_01_o+chevy_corvette_summer_car+corvette_rears.jpgTrue

Corvette racing has entered a new chapter in the annals of GM motorsports history with the introduction of its GT2 competition Corvette C6R. This most recent edition of the C6.R was introduced at the ALMS Mid Ohio event, where the veteran team lobbed an opening salvo at the competition by scoring a Second Place finish in class. Two weeks later at Elkhart Lake, the first two class positions went to the BMW team in a wave-by pass under yellow that left the rest of the field battling for the final position on the podium. Johnny O'Connell, piloting Corvette Racing's No. 3 car, made a late-race pass to take a hard-fought Third in class.inline_mediumwraptextright31805739/events/vemp_1003_gt2_competition_corvette_c6rvemp_1003_01_o+gt2_competition_corvette_c6r+c6_r_corvettes.jpgTrue

The annual corvettes at Carlisle show is one of the premier events for Corvette enthusiasts, offering fans a wide variety of activities that cater to almost any interest. Each year, the Carlisle (Pennsylvania) fairgrounds are filled with seminars, parades, car shows, burnout contests, Corvette engineers, and plenty of vendors so you can find that special part. All in all, it's a smorgasbord of fun that all Vette devotees should put on their "Bucket List." This year's edition showcased two special features: the Racers' Reunion and "Le Mans 50 Years Later."inline_mediumwraptextrightIf you were looking for that hard-to-find Corvette part, you could probably find it at one of Carlisle's numerous vendor booths.31949895/events/vemp_1003_corvettes_at_carlisle_showvemp_1003_02_o+corvettes_at_carlisle_show+corvette_parts.jpgTrue

Ten years have passed since the Corvette C5-R first appeared at the 1999 24 Hours of Daytona. The C5-R and C6.R have since won multiple 24-hour races and championships, successes that ultimately helped bring an end to their amazing career. But while the C6.R will no longer compete in the ALMS series, five ex-factory C6.Rs are still being raced by private teams in Europe. These teams include DKR Engineering, Luc Alphand Aventures, PK Carsport, and SRT. A sixth C6.R is currently for sale and is being stored at Phoenix Racing headquarters at the Nürbürg-ring in Germany. These private Corvettes are competing in the remainder of the FFSA, LMS, and FIA GT Championships. All have major sponsorship packages, top-flight drivers, and professional pit crews.inline_mediumwraptextrightThirty-nine cars rush up the Eau Rouge corner at the start. Three Maserati MC12s led the field until the No. 8 DKR Engineering Corvette took the race lead on lap five. (Photo by DPPI)31806120/events/vemp_1003_number_3_chevy_srt_corvettevemp_1003_01_o+no_3_srt_corvette+gt_series_race.jpgTrue

Although Corvette Racing's official involvement in GT1-class competition ended with this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, a number of ex-factory C6.Rs will continue to race in Europe through the end of the 2009 season. At the Silverstone event in England, four GT1 Corvette teams showed up to race on the twisty 5.14-km (3.19-mile) circuit, located between London and Birmingham. The former Phoenix GMAC team is now racing Audi R8s in the FIA GT3 Championship and has placed C6.R chassis 001 up for sale. The second GMAC C6.R, chassis 005, is owned by Toine Hezemans and is currently being campaigned by PK Carsport in Belgium. It's driven by Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen and raced under No. 4.

"Corvette Racing Takes Sixth Le Mans Win." The headline is spectacular enough in its own right, but there's much more behind the story than those few words can relate. GM Racing-now Chevrolet Motorsport-established the Corvette Racing team to fulfill a dream it committed to 12 years ago: to take on the greatest sports-car-racing challenge in the world. In 1999, the C5-Rs entered their first 24-hour event at La Sarthe, only to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Oreca Vipers. Since then, the Pratt & Miller-led team has ascended to a position of on-track dominance sufficient to frighten off even the most determined class competitors. With eight ALMS GT1 championships already under its belt and an overall race win at the Daytona 24-hour race (2001), there's little the team hasn't accomplished.

Everyone knows what America's favorite sports car is. So it's only fitting that Corvettes are the most popular car at America's top-rated outdoor event, Hot August Nights in Reno, Nevada. Sure, there were plenty of other sights, both vehicular and scenic, but classic Corvettes seem to dominate this massive event, as the accompanying photos attest.inline_mediumwraptextright31557591/events/vemp_1002_classic_corvettesvemp_1002_01_o+vemp_1002_classic_corvettes+blue_c2_corvette.jpgTrue

The 2009 fia gt season got off to a furious start with exciting races at the first two events. The PK Carsport Corvette C6R, with drivers Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen, emerged in Second Place in the championship standings after notching a Fourth Place finish at Silverstone and taking Second at Adria. A total of three Corvette C6.Rs traveled to the Oschersleben Motor Arena in Germany to battle Maserati, Ford, Saleen, Porsche, Ferrari, and Nissan on the tight, 2.2966-mile road course. Qualifying was competitive, and when the dust cleared a Maserati MC12 was first with a 1:24.546, while a Saleen S7R was second with a 1:24.865. The Luc Alphand No. 19 C6.R, with drivers Xavier Maassen and Thomas Biagi, qualified third with a time of 1:25.160. (Interestingly, this car had been converted to FIA specs during the week between Le Mans and Oschersleben. At Le Mans, it carried No. 73 and took an impressive Second Place in GT1.) The No. 3 SRT C6.R qualified sixth with a 1:25.560, and the No. 4 PK Carsport C6.R was seventh with a 1:25.702.inline_mediumwraptextright27452245/events/vemp_1002_pk_carsport_corvette_c6rvemp_1002_01_o+vemp_1002_pk_carsport_corvette_c6r+2009_fia_gt_racing.jpgTrue

While Quarter-Mile timeslips suffice for many Corvette enthusiasts, there's a new type of hobbyist who firmly believes that 1,320 linear feet is far too short a distance to experience the true performance potential of these world-class sports cars. These men and women are called "runway racers," and they rent out deserted, retired, or private airfields to push their Corvettes to the limits-and beyond.inline_mediumwraptextrightTake a group of speed-crazed Corvette owners and set it loose on a empty airstrip, and you've got the makings of Runway Titans Wide Open Throttle. From left to right are an '09 ZR1, a supercharged '98 coupe, an '08 coupe, and an '07 Z06.26261675/events/vemp_1002_2009_chevrolet_corvette_zr1_gallardo_superleggeravemp_1002_01_o+2009_chevrolet_corvette_zr1_against_gallardo_superleggera+contenders.jpgTrue

We ended Part 1 of this story last month with a quote from Chevy General Manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen, who told Corvette chief engineer Zora Duntov to "stick it to the Cobras." Duntov happily followed Knudsen's order by agreeing to lend three Grand Sports to John Mecom, a young Texas oil tycoon who also loved racing. Mecom agreed to add the three Corvettes to his racing team and let Duntov care for them. Duntov had chassis Nos. 003 and 004 returned to Chevrolet from racer Dick Doane in Chicago and Gulf Oil in Pittsburgh. He and his team refurbished the two cars by adding larger wheels, tires, and fender flares. A 377ci aluminum small-block was also installed with four 58mm DOCE sidedraft Weber carburetors. Chassis No. 005 was completed with the same improved specs, and all three cars were painted in a Cadillac light metallic blue. The finished Corvettes were then shipped to Mecom in Texas, just in time to be sent on to the Nassau Speed Weeks event in the Bahamas.

Despite the abysmal state of the world economy, the FIA GT3 European Championship continues to provide what teams, drivers, and sponsors all want from international motor racing. This season's lineup features 11 of the world's most famous GT marques, including the addition of two new entrants: the Audi R8 LMS and the BMW Alpina B6. Two-time series champions Callaway Competition, from Leingarten, Germany, has returned this year with two Callaway-Corvette Z06.Rs to defend its title. Marc Sourd Racing is also competing this year with two Vettes.

Over the past 10 years, Corvette Racing has become a dominant force in international sports-car racing, to the extent that for the past two seasons, the C6.Rs have run essentially uncontested in ALMS GT1. The GT2 class, meanwhile, has developed a healthy field of factory-supported competitors representing BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Panoz, and Jaguar. (Audi is currently mulling its own GT2 racer, in the form of a mid-engine R8.) Additional privateer teams deploying Aston Martins, Fords, Porsches, Ferraris, Vipers, and even a Corvette entry have swollen the category's ranks to more than 20 cars at each race. That level of competition ultimately proved irresistible to the men and women of Corvette Racing, whose hunger for a new challenge prompted a jump to GT2 earlier this year.inline_mediumwraptextright26854288/events/vemp_1001_new_gt2_race_carsvemp_1001_01_o+new_gt2_race_cars+c6_r_corvette.jpgTrue

Longtime Corvette racer Lou Gigliotti made a bold move when he stopped racing his Corvette in the SPEED GT series at the end of 2007. The following year, Gigliotti's Wylie, Texas-based LG Motorsports purchased a Riley Technologies-built C6 with the intention of running it in the ALMS GT2 category. This was the first Corvette to compete in GT2, and it suffered teething problems in its first season. The Sebring 12-hour was the team's first race for the 2009 season, and early indications were that all of the bugs had finally been worked out. Piloted by Gigliotti, Luca Molo, and Eric Curran, the LG Vette qualified seventh in class and was making good progress until it was sidelined by a mechanical problem.

Motorsports Update
SPEED GT is the only U.S. racing series that mirrors Europe's successful FIA GT3 championship format, and the parallels are striking. Multiple brands (Corvette, Porsche, Ford, Viper, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and others) compete in both series, leading to heated on-track competition. Both sanctioning bodies also apply a "balance of performance" method to keep each brand competitive. Not surprisingly, Corvettes are usually found at the front of both series in spite of this balancing method.

The American Le Mans Series celebrated its 11th year and 100th race at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. While the field for domestic racing's longest-running endurance sports-car race had shrunk to just 26 starters by the current economic climate, its overall quality was arguably unsurpassed. Audi again upped the ante by debuting its new R15 TDI diesel, a technological tour de force with an aggressive look to match. Peugeot returned with its 908, while Acura's presence was bolstered by privateer LMP1 entries from Duncan Dayton and Gil de Ferran. Mazda, meanwhile, brought two new closed-cockpit LMP2 entries to battle the '08-spec Fernandez Acura racing cars.

When the sun sets in Dubai, the sand turns a fiery gold color. Many locals call this daily event their "desert gold." The Martini-Callaway Corvette team experienced its own desert-gold moment when it captured the 2008 FIA GT3 Drivers Championship at the end of the Dubai event's first race. Under the guidance of team manager Ernst Woehr, the team amassed championship points throughout the season by consistently finishing near the top of the field. Callaway's first win of was at the season's eighth event in Nogaro, France. This put the team eight points ahead of the Matech Ford GT and Hexis Racing Aston Martin crews going into the last race in Dubai.

Midamerica To Celebrate 35th B-Day At Funfest
Mid America Motorworks is already hard at work preparing for the '09 Funfest, scheduled for September 25-27 in Effingham, Illinois. Mike Yager, the company's founder and "chief cheerleader," promises that this year's event will be the best Funfest ever. In addition to the 35th anniversary of the company, Yager will be celebrating his 60th birthday. For more information or to register, go to www.corvettefunfest.com.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.

In January, General Motors sent a shockwave through the Corvette community by offering for sale some of the marque's most famous experimental, developmental, and pilot-line cars. These special Corvettes were part of the GM Heritage Collection, an assortment of significant vehicles from throughout the corporation's 100-year history. Although GM did not offer an official explanation for the sell-off, it was believed to be part of a desperate bid to raise operating capital in the face of plummeting new-vehicle sales.