Edgar Perez wins 2002 Event 1

The winner of the 2002 Cartek Corvette Challenge Event 1 was Edgar Perez of Howell, NJ. If the name sounds familiar it is because Edgar is the author of this article. Yes it is a challenge to write about oneself in the third person but it can be done. It took 7 full rounds to dwindle down the 78 Vettes that started the event down to the eliminator winner. In the end it was Edgar Perez left standing holding the winning trophy and prizes. Jack Schwarzwalder from Trenton, NJ was the runner up. The two red Corvettes staged for the final with the drivers facing each other for the first time. Edgar dialed in his 1999 Torch Red Coupe with a 12.31 and Jack his 1980 C3 Red Coupe at 12.00. It was as close to heads-up racing as we can expect in an event that saw Corvettes running from 14+ seconds to high 10-second range. When the drivers left the starting line, the reaction times were very close with Perez taking a .071 advantage. He needed it as both drivers were on their dial with Perez running 12.315 to Schwarzwalder's 12.009. The margin of victory was a slim .0753 seconds.

Video of the winning run: Click here. This is an exciting start to the 2002 season and the drivers anxiously await the next Cartek Corvette Challenge event to be held on Saturday, May 25, 2002 at Raceway Park. If you missed the first event, you will not want to miss the second. The Series has a total of 10 races. All the dates can be found on the www.corvettechallenge.info and on www.racewaypark.com web sites.

An interview with Perez after the event revealed Perez's secret to winning. "For me, the key to winning is to relax and to take the pressure off myself by not focusing on racing. I listen to music until it is time to approach the burn out box," said Edgar. When asked what was playing before the Final round, Perez answered, "Ja Rule, "Always on Time." The song must have worked because Edgar was "on time" with a good light and running .005 off his dial. In attendance for that night was Perez's family. Edgar's wife, Alina, and daughters, Kathleen and Heather, came to watch the race and to take photos and video at the finish line. Unfortunately the Perez video equipment could not overcome the darkness or the speed of the cars at the finish line and did not get very good pictures. Perez is a second time winner of a Corvette Challenge event as he won the 2000 Corvette Challenge Event 1 as well.

Perez has been racing at Raceway Park for 3 years now. Last year Perez finished 10th in the Points standings in the Corvette Challenge and 9th in the Real Street racing series also at Raceway Park. Before winter modifications performed by The Vette Doctors, Edgar's Corvette would run the 1/4 in the low 13 second range. This year Perez expects to run mid to low 12's and next year, "who know's?"

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Many awards and prizes were given out to the drivers courtesy of the sponsors.

• Event winner Edgar Perez went home with $200 cash and gift certificates for a free dyno tuning session at Cartek Racing and a $100 gift certificate for $100 from Pro Torque and the Event Winner Shore Motorsports sponsored Trophy. Shore Motorsports is located in Howell, NJ and can be reached at 732-370-2067 or on the web at www.shoremotorsports.com. Cartek Racing is in Garwood, NJ and can be reached at 908-317-4496 or on the web at www.cartek.net.
• Runner up Jack Schwarzwalder went home with $100 cash, a $50 gift certificate from Pro Torque, the "Money Back Runner Up Award" for $20 cash from Boweryboy Racing and the event Runner-up Vette Doctors sponsored Trophy. The Vette Doctors are located in Amityville, NY and can be reached at 631-841-0779 or on the web at www.thevettedoctors.com.
• Dino Prieto from Colts Neck, NJ driving a 1996 Collector Edition was the sole semi-finalist and won $50 cash. Kudos go to Dino who participated in his first eliminator ever. Dino is an example of how this series is designed for racers of all experience.
• All winners of the first round were awarded a trophy sponsored by CFM Racing.
• Frank Fiori from Newark, DE (yes Delaware) won the Closest to Dial Award by running a 12.984 on a 12.98 dial in the first round driving his Black 79 C3. Frank got to leave the track with a beautiful gift package from Walden Farms filled with low calorie low carbohydrate products. We look forward to Frank's review for the next race. You can purchase Walden Farms products at local grocery stores or on the web at www.waldenfarms.com.
• Donald Peppler won the "Ohh so Close Award" when his 67 Vette was edged out in the first round by a mere 14/1000ths of a second. For losing first round by the smallest Margin of Victory, Don earned a Zaino start package that includes Z1, Z2, Z6, Z7 and a polish pad. Unfortunately Don left before collecting his prize but it will be mailed to him. In the future if you earn a prize we would prefer you stay to the end of the race for a presentation but if you cannot, let us know so we can capture a photo of the presentation. Zaino products can be purchased online at www.zainobros.com or at Shore Motorsports on Route 9 in Howell. We hope to see Don's 67 with that show car shine Zaino provides at our next Event.
• Tony Buonassisi won the Almost Perfect Award by losing in the first round the red light closest to .500. Tony's light was .494 and for that he earned a $50 gift certificate to the Raceway Park Souvenir store donated by Lenny Marotta of Marotta Racing. We look forward to seeing Tony sporting his Raceway Park wares at the next event.
• Edgar Perez also won the John Panuzzo Jr. Memorial Trophy" donated by Team Panuzzo Racing for the best reaction time in the first round. Not only did the .518 light earn Perez the trophy but also a second round bye. Double benefit for a great light!

The Corvette Challenge is a series for all Corvette owners regardless of experience and year of their Corvette. While the majority of the cars are C5 and C4 (2 ZR-1's) models, we saw a dozen C3 models, 2 C2 models and one C1. In addition, The Vette Doctors brought a very mean looking and sounding 8 second Pro Mod Mid-Year owned by Phil DeJohn that we did not get to see run because of the car could not pass the noise test. Maybe Phil can bring one of his ZR-1's to the next Corvette Challenge. We appreciate all the Corvette enthusiasts that came out to the race to watch and brought their Corvettes as well. We hope to see you at the starting line at the next Corvette Challenge on May 25th, 2002.

Congratulations also go out to Bob Sebrowki who won the slick class, beating runner-up Fred Vetter, who is associate sponsor of the Corvette Challenge as DynoTech Performance, in the morning GM EFI Race Series 1 at Raceway Park. Bob ran 11.72 on a 11.69 dial with a .573 light to Vetter's 12.63 on a 12.62 dial with a .630 light. 32 Corvettes made the first round of the morning EFI race. In the future be sure to check the Raceway Park schedule as most of the Corvette Challenge events will be preceded by other Raceway Park events in the morning giving you the opportunity to race in a "double header". DynoTech Performance is located in Manville, NJ and can be reached on the web from a link at www.corvettechallenge.info

The Corvette Challenge is in its 4th year and is made possible thanks to the help of its sponsors. The 2002 sponsors are . The officers for the series are John Mackey, Dennis Kazimir and Edgar Perez. For additional information and pictures and videos, please visit www.corvettechallenge.info.

Visit www.racewaypark.com to see the current points standings. Click on the Points button then Corvette Challenge.

Cartek Corvette Challenge helps Toys for Teens and Tots

2002 Event 1 pictures by Edgar Perez | Videos of this and other Challenge Events at www.challengevideos.com

Written by Edgar Perez

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modified: September 17, 2006 - 1:44 am