02-27-2004, 06:51 AM

  #1

jfaphoenix32

Supporting Vendor

My Corvette Photos

Member Since: Dec 2000

Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer...

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A Young Z06 Race Car Driver!!! It looks like the Z06 addiction isn't just for us old guys. Last weekend at Savannah Georgia's 2.2 mile Roebling Road Race Track, 16 yr old Andrew Aquilante of Chester Springs, Pa completed his first SCCA Competition License drivers School in a T-1 2001 Z06 Corvette prepped by Phoenix Performance, Inc of Phoenixville pa.. The event was a SCCA three day double driving school and Andrew completed over six hours of track time, with half of it in the rain and fog....For a driving instructor, Andrew was fortunate to have none other than Don Knowles, a SCCA National Champion as well as long time Corvette Driver and winner of over 13 24 hour races!! Andy and fellow students John Murphy and Chuck Willyard, were treated to Don's experienced and unique approach to driving and were fortunate to have him as an instructor!! This was a weekend of firsts for Andy. This was his first SCCA driving school and his first time at the Roebling Road Race Course... Also his first time in a Z06 at speed and his first time ever competing in the rain... So how did he do? Pretty well is the quick answer!! The 120 students at the school spent 3 hours on Thursday in a classroom session. On Friday morning it was off to the track for a full day of driving and learning about racing. After a couple of sessions to learn the track, he quickly moved to the top of the time sheets, consistently placing in the top three... By the end of the practice sessions, he was turning the fastest times on the track in wet or dry over several GT1 and GT2 fully prepped race cars. In the two practice races that capped off the event, he put the Z06 and his newly learned skills to the test. The first race was run in pouring rain, and he showed just how capable the T-1 Z06 is, by quickly slashing to the front and running away from the field and winning the race. Starting from the pole in the second practice race held in the dry on Sunday, he put the power down again and set fast lap time of the event and won the race... Going away... He didn't have much to say after the event, but the grin was from ear to ear... Is this better than video games? "Yeah, the walls are real if you hit them!!! How about the car? "Awesome!!!" Asked if he was eager to get back to school at Downingtown Sr high in Downingtown. Pa..on the following Tuesday we heard only a "do i have to?" How about college? "Ok, I'm thinking about it..." Ok, so he didn't deliver one of those Nascar type "my goodyear, budweiser, dad sponsored... Lines in a southern draw like the nascar drivers do... And this was only a school... But it sure was fun.. And the Z06? Well it ran 6 and 1/2 hours on track at speed in wet and dry without missing a beat... Flawless... What a car!!! :thumbs: :party: Modified by jfaphoenix32, 7:24 AM 2/27/2004]

02-27-2004, 07:17 AM	#2
AU N EGL CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Sep 2003 Location: Rolesville NC	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Good Job Andrew. :thumbs: Another in the family line from National Champion driver and Champion T-1 tuner. ( pssst Joe - post a pic of Andrew and the Car ) [Modified by AU N EGL, 7:18 AM 2/27/2004]

02-27-2004, 08:22 AM	#3
Red Gump CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Nov 2001 Location: sebring florida	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) must be proud! :thumbs: :cheers: :steering:

02-27-2004, 09:03 AM	#4
LehmanZ06 CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jan 2004 Location: Plantation FL	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (Red Gump) Joe, I am sure you are proud of your son :)

02-27-2004, 10:36 AM	#5
z060ntrack CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: May 2001 Location: East Amherst NY	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (LehmanZ06) So Joe does this put you out of the seat! :chevy

02-27-2004, 11:45 AM	#6
jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (z060ntrack) I think the baton has passed...

02-27-2004, 01:19 PM	#7
silverz06vette CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Aug 2002 Location: South	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Joe, What kind of times did he start out with and what did he end up with? What a thrill that must be for a 16 year old. Tell your son that we said congrats!!! :cheers: [Modified by silverz06vette, 7:44 AM 2/28/2004]

02-27-2004, 02:41 PM	#8
BrianCunningham CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Mar 2001 Location: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, SoCal, back to Boston MA	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (silverz06vette) 16! :eek: :cheers: wait he can't drink :P :steering: :chevy

02-29-2004, 10:13 AM	#9
Subdriver Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Aug 2001 Location: Silverdale WA	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Joe, Andy, Pretty impressive. Good luck on your upcoming SCCA season! Hope we can cross paths somewhere this year. :cheers:

02-29-2004, 11:45 AM	#10
John Shiels CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jul 1999 Location: Wally World Says! Save money live better with no jobs in the USA. Keep jobs here for fellow Americans! Buy American!	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (Subdriver) :thumbs: :cheers:

02-29-2004, 03:29 PM

#11

jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (John Shiels) He started in the 130's in the dry and ended up in the 121's.. Wet times were all over the place depending on how heavy the rain was.. Andy is trying to figure out a schedule that makes sense now.. He has to run some regionals then some nationals... Lets see how he does.. It was a lot of fun watching him drive though... I am happy he likes driving cars fast, something i have enjoyed all these years... [Modified by jfaphoenix32, 3:30 PM 2/29/2004]

02-29-2004, 10:14 PM	#12
Jim 47 CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jul 2000 Location: Wilmington DE	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) What a great post. Thanks for sharing your feelings and your son's achievements with us. :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) Congratulations Andrew for your outstanding accomplishments :party: Jim Helm

03-01-2004, 07:42 PM	#13
Drew M CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Aug 2002 Location: Ridgefield, CT	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (Jim 47) Hey I'm young and have already signed up for a few drivers schools. We're on a very tight budget and could really use a sponsor...... Maybe I'll see you guys at the track this summer. :thumbs:

03-01-2004, 08:55 PM

#14

AJRocketeer Junior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jul 2003 Location: Phoenixville PA

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... Thank you for all your words... I had a blast, and ZO6s rule, better than any of that import crap that takes up all the room at the highschool parking lot :) :chevy :flag also a movie of part of practice, and the practice race in the rain. If you look hard during the first few seconds you can see the left side windshield wiper not working... in a few shots you can see the white and blue GAC M3 running around... http://www.phoenixperformanceinc.com...w/AJRR_wet.wmv Please right click and save target as.. thank you [Modified by AJRocketeer, 1:57 AM 3/2/2004]

03-17-2004, 04:37 PM	#15
jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (AJRocketeer) First regional race this weekend at VIR!!! Lets hope for good weather and a good performance!!!

03-17-2004, 04:54 PM	#16
Drew M CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Aug 2002 Location: Ridgefield, CT	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Good luck! Go to my first school on Tuesday. [Modified by THawkbh, 4:54 PM 3/17/2004]

03-17-2004, 05:18 PM	#17
larryfs CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: May 2002 Location: Long Island NY	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... are there 2 pheonix's? my car is sitting at the Palm, gravel pike Phoenix. are the 2 related?

03-17-2004, 05:29 PM	#18
jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (larryfs) Hi Larry... Phoenix Auto Center of Palm is part of Phoenix Performance...

03-17-2004, 05:54 PM	#19
John Shiels CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jul 1999 Location: Wally World Says! Save money live better with no jobs in the USA. Keep jobs here for fellow Americans! Buy American!	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (AJRocketeer) Nice running BUT you need to fire the camera man :D Good luck on your season Andrew :thumbs: Nothing like someone in the family to setup the car :lol: :chevy [Modified by John Shiels, 5:56 PM 3/17/2004]

03-17-2004, 06:30 PM	#20
AU N EGL CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Sep 2003 Location: Rolesville NC	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Good Luck :thumbs:

03-18-2004, 07:48 AM

  #21

jfaphoenix32

Supporting Vendor

My Corvette Photos

Member Since: Dec 2000

Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (John Shiels)

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Yeah, that camera man is pretty lame... I think i will be getting more practice though... Next race he will have it in car... So they should be better..

03-20-2004, 09:23 PM

#23

jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (varkwso) its a pretty good feeling.. we are at VIR today after a 9 hour haul... 10 minutes of pricyice this morning, only 4 laps... then 15 minutes of qualifying this afternoon... Not much track time for all that traveling, but what a gorgeous track. awesome place. Only two T-1 cars in the class, but andy was the faster of the two... I guess that means he has the class pole and kept improving his times... With more track time tomorrow he should get below the 212.5s he ran today... The lap record is a high 208 i think. So he is in the ballpark... Lets see how the race goes tomorrow... :thumbs: :party:

03-20-2004, 09:52 PM	#24
Jim 47 CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Jul 2000 Location: Wilmington DE	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Joe, your buddy Chris Ingle has the T-1 lap record there. It's a great track. One of my favorates. The brackets that Mark made for the DRM hoses are great. I put them on my new Z06 this week along with my own creations for additional cooling. Glad to see your son doing so well. The best to you guys at VIR. Jim Helm

03-22-2004, 02:01 PM

#25

jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (Jim 47) So the VIR Regional race went well... AJ managed to get his lap times down to 2:08.1, about 1/2 second below the lap record... He and Bob Hill had a very close race and bothcars got under the record, while conducting a clean race and staying within a car length of each other the whole time... At the end, Aj was ohead of Bob by about two car lengths... A real fine race!!!

03-31-2004, 05:20 PM

#26

jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Another Update... We spent a day at Summit Point Monday on a father-son business trip... We each got three short sessions on the track and solved a series of issues with a new car that really limited our track time...... Good news was that dad was fastest most of the day.... Better news was that his 11th and last lap of the day the unthinkable happened... Same car, same conditions, same hardware... New unofficial lap record at summit point not by dad, but by aj... on his 11th lap? must have been playing video games again... So aj, how did you do that? "Dunno dad... it just happened... I really like this track...." Hmmmmm. Nice job son... but suddenly i feel a little bit older and slower... Maybe i should take him on moreof these work trips.. He really busted his butt changing tires and working on the car !!! :thumbs:

04-01-2004, 05:46 PM	#27
Randy@DRM Supporting Tuner My Corvette Photos Member Since: Feb 2004 Location: Buffalo MN	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Joe, It could be because you are getting old, but I think your kid just has talent. I look forward to seeing more post of how he does in the future. Good luck to both of you. Randy Rippie

04-01-2004, 06:00 PM	#28
ToyC4 CF Senior Member St. Jude Donor '05 My Corvette Photos Member Since: Feb 2004	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (jfaphoenix32) Wow when you've got it you've really got it! Nice driving keep it up! :flag

04-03-2004, 05:59 PM	#29
Drew M CF Senior Member My Corvette Photos Member Since: Aug 2002 Location: Ridgefield, CT	Re: Newest And Youngest Z06 SCCA Racer... (ToyC4) Well I just finished my first track day today. 1:17.3 at LRP in a Porsche 911SC. Not bad for my first time out.

11-21-2004, 08:19 AM

#30

jfaphoenix32 Supporting Vendor My Corvette Photos Member Since: Dec 2000 Location: Phoenixville, Pa. 19460 Pa

Youngest Driver Update... Well Andrew finished off the year in pretty good style. He has gotten over his disappointment in not being higher up in the runoffs, but i keep reminding him that that was a pretty good group of drivers ahead of him and they were not going to roll over and play dead for some kid!!! We just returned from the NEDIV Mini Convention where he accepted the trophy for the T-1 Division Championship AND the Rookie of the Year award... It turned out to be a dream year for the young man and i am pretty proud of him... It is such a great feeling to have your son do what you love to do!!! Tonight as he was searching for college application forms to fill out, we were talking about the 2005 season and making plans for some more races. Its pretty cool to have a 17 year old who can handle this whole thing. He is working hard at school and having some problems in English, but on the other hand he is near the top of his class in Math and Physics... So i keep telling him no racing in 2005 if we don't have good grades all the way around!!! I think we will watch the T-1 on speed Channel and just enjoy the show. And then start the hard work of prepping the car for next year. Thanks to everyone who has followed this story and offered their well wishes.. May god bless all of you...