John Lewis and Battery Tender/MCM Racing at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona

John and his team at the Hilton Head Concours

Giving instructions to our clients at the Autocross

John talking with a client

After giving Roy Stine the ride of his life

Putting the car back together Friday at Daytona

Saturday night in the garage

Chasing down a coolent leak

George and John in the garage at Daytona

I first met John Lewis last November when he brought his team of instructors from the Porsche Sport Driving School to the Hilton Head Concours d’Elegance.  We have sponsored the Concours track events every year and through the generosity of Porsche North America and the help of Aaron Ormond, our Porsche Regional Marketing Manager, we were able to get John and his drivers to come and do something a little special at the 2008 event.  They brought three 2009 Carrera’s plus a Boxster and a Cayman, to put on a Sport Driving School for our clients at the Hutchinson Island track in Savannah Georgia.  They set up an autocross track as well.  John and his team gave hot lap rides to spectators on the racing circuit in the Carrera’s in between Sport Driving classes.  These guys were smoking the BMW contingent that showed up with M3’s and M6’s. It was quite a show.

George de la Bruyere and I went to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona last weekend and ran into John in the garage of the Battery Tender/MCM Racing team.  Their car had hit the wall Thursday during practice, so the crew stripped it down to a tub, and hauled it to a frame machine to straighten it back out.  On Friday when we got to their garage area, they had the car almost completely back together.  As they didn’t get a qualifying run in, they had to start the race from the pit.  John said the car was fast and they had great hopes for the race.  Unfortunately they were stricken with a coolant leak not long into the race.  They had to partially drop the engine to replace the faulty part, and back out they went.  Other troubles took them out of the race early. They had completed 245 laps in all.  The crew worked a miracle just getting the car to the grid in time for the start of the race. Watching the pit crews keeping these cars going during the 24 Hours is exciting.  They will do in minutes, what a dealership’s service department will take a day to do.  The Battery Tender/MCM pit crew was amazing!

John’s co-drivers were Romeo Kapudija, Bob Michaeliam, Jim Michaelian and Pepe Montano.  When saying goodbye to John, I asked him when he would be racing again.  He said he would be in Mexico next weekend to compete in another 24 hour race.  Porsche Sport Driving School through the week, racing on the weekend.  Great life.