Good "Car-Ma" The story behind the crew of a 1974 Porsche endurance racer By Michael R. Snelling
Willows, CA, December 4th: In the team’s second attempt at NASA’s 25 hour endurance race at Thunderhill Park, Lost ‘N Spaced Racing has managed to make their hard work, dedication and team commitment pay off by winning the grueling challenge. The first place car, the “Jupiter II”, had been grounded since last year’s event, but had received some major off-season suspension and aesthetic upgrades that were designed to help improve on its second place finish in 2004. The team’s hopes were high entering this year’s event, and they were focused on what needed to be done in order finish ahead of the other professional teams that were in attendance. In order to get the full understanding of this great group of people, you must first understand the idea behind the formation of the team. In 2002, Louise Sousoures purchased a 1974 Porsche 911 in pieces from fellow Porsche enthusiast Peter Smith, added a 3.6 liter engine, transmission and suspension for autocross and street driving. She had the idea to enter it in the 2004 25-hour race with many borrowed parts from team members and other cars. As they prepared for last year’s 25-hour race, the team needed a name. Louise’s husband, Masuo Robinson, would be one of the drivers and that is when it came to them. Since all of the team members are close friends, similar to a family, why not base the name of the team around the 1960’s sitcom “Lost in Space” that featured adventures of the Robinson family. By incorporating their personalities and names, it all seemed to make perfect sense, so Lost ‘N Spaced Racing was launched. Everyone took on a character from the sitcom, as Peter became Dr. Zachary Smith, Masuo was Prof. John Robinson, Louise was Maureen, and the car would now be known as the “Jupiter II”. When they acquired two more drivers, Rich Walton and Neil Jackson, they also took on roles as Major Don West and Will Robinson. The core of the team was now set for production. They also relied on the help of countless other “family members” and friends in order to make this a successful venture. Be it known that during the racing season many of these people are competing against each other, but for this event they united and showed great cohesiveness. The atmosphere in their pit area remained very light hearted throughout the event, except when it came time to work on the car or make a pit stop. This attitude helped to illustrate the bond that they all share with one another. Their focus on having fun also helped the team’s morale in the early morning hours instead of stressing out about the time remaining in the race. The newest members of the 2005 team included ESPN 2’s Sal Masakela and the crew from the show Import Racers who were in attendance to gather footage on Lost ‘N Spaced Racing for an upcoming January episode. While filming for the show in the paddock area, the crew even jumped in to help out the team during pit stops.
As this year’s event approached, several sponsors realized this was a positive group to be aligned with. These key players were: Carlsen Porsche, Smart Racing Products, Sporthaus, Inc. from Reno, Nevada, Jerry Woods Enterprises, and Windrush Evolutions. With all of these people supporting and working on the car it was destined to be a winning combination. Lost ‘N Spaced qualified 12th overall and 5th in the ES Class this year, and realized that there was some stiff competition that would be in contention in the final hours of the race. The team had just finished their lunches when the first test of their race occurred. At this critical moment, a serious look came over everyone’s face as they prepared to change a broken stub axle. Like a well-oiled machine, everyone jumped in to contribute as they pulled the replacement part from Smith’s spare 911 ‘parts car’ that had been towed to the race to be used for just such an emergency. In less than 15 minutes, the part was replaced and the “Jupiter II” returned to the track running in the 39th position. The team rejoiced and congratulated each other for their effort while keeping track of Masuo’s lap times during his stint.
Six hours in to the event, Lost ‘N Spaced Racing was gaining momentum as they moved up to the 10th position by nightfall. At this point of the race a new ingredient was added to the team’s recipe for success, staying warm now became equally important to having fun and finishing the race. The crew took several small breaks in order to warm themselves up and to enjoy some of the delicious lasagna that was being served for dinner. Spirits were elevated even more as the drivers, by running consistent lap times, had worked their way up to the 5th position at the halfway point of the race. The hard work and dedication continued to pay dividends into the early morning hours when, to the team’s delight, they took control of the overall lead on lap 516. As the sun began to rise, concerned faces once again entered the paddock when Rich radioed in that the transmission was making noises and that the oil temperature had begun to rise. Immediately, ideas started to fly around on how they could fix these problems. Peter and Masuo met to discuss the cause of the temperature rising and several scenarios were bandied about. It took only a couple of minutes, but both were in agreement, after which Peter radioed to Rich and said, “Drive it like you stole it!” The problems were not corrected, but the temperature held steady, as they took a five lap lead in to the final four hours of the race. The finish would be a nail biter, and the team realized that the finishing results were going to be determined by pit strategy and the team’s execution on these stops. With only two hours remaining the team made their final pit stop. All of the team members were on point with their designated tasks as the lead over second place was down to 3.5 laps. They got the car back on track and it was now time to cross their fingers and hope that the “Jupiter II” would carry them to the win. From knowledge gained by monitoring other teams’ pit schedules and lap times, it was determined that the second place team would have to stop one more time, and that they did not have enough time left to make up the difference to Lost ‘N Spaced Racing.
Despite this time of heightened tension in the final hour, smiles managed to become more present around the pit area as thoughts of victory started to enter their minds. This helped illustrate the true character of Lost ‘N Spaced Racing. No matter whether the team was in times of despair or delight, they managed to keep their cohesiveness by remembering to enjoy the opportunity they have to be around each other and from partaking in their passion of racing Porsches. As the time showed that there was less than three minutes remaining in the race, they began to realize that this was the year that they would achieve their goal of winning the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. When Peter exited the final turn, the entire team was up on the front straight expressing their emotions. When it actually set in that they were the winning team, the crew, drivers, sponsors, and car owner were all overcome by their accomplishment. This fine display by Lost ‘N Spaced Racing shows that any dream can be achieved as long as you devise and carry out a plan to make it come true. Everyone’s motivation, dedication, preparation, and their ability to have fun together, all factored into this team’s winning plan. In a miraculous display of these elements, a 1974 Porsche 911 with almost 200,000 miles, a group of friends, willing sponsor support and a long weekend at the race track played roles in the storyline of Lost ‘N Spaced Racing leading the field to the finish. The drivers all wanted to give their thanks to Louise and Masuo for their efforts in putting this great team together, and also to everyone that was a part of the team that concentrated on finishing the race before they thought of winning the overall. Following the Trophy presentation Louise commented, “This is such a great accomplishment for the whole team that I am nearly speechless. This is more than we imagined, and we couldn’t have done it without this quality group of individuals that have donated their time, effort, and money in order to help make Lost ‘N Spaced Racing the winners of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. Much thanks to everyone involved!”
Team members: Masuo Robinson (Prof. John Robinson), Peter Smith (Dr. Zachary Smith), |
