Viper Exchange Racing is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team. The team, in partnership with Riley Motorsport and

TI Automotive TI Fluid Systems plc is a British-American multinational company which develops, manufactures and supplies automotive fluid storage, carrying and delivery systems. The company serves the automotive aftermarket through Bundy, Walbro and Marwal br ...

, runs two cars in the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

Tudor United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

, both

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by Street & Racing Technology, SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer Chrysler from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2011 to 20 ...

s racing in the GTD class . The No. 33

Viper Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...

has scored two victories since the beginning of the 2014 season along with two further top-five finishes. The No. 93

, added in 2015, has added two victories and another top-five finish during the current season. In 2015, Viper Exchange Racing was granted an entry in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, and the No. 53 SRT Viper GTS-R was the only Viper to run in the event.

Tudor United SportsCar Championship

No. 33 Car

2014

In 2014, the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

and

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

merged to form the

. Viper Exchange Racing entered into this new series with the No.33 team, with team owner

Ben Keating Benjamin Edward Keating (born August 18, 1971) is an American racing driver and business owner operating out of Victoria, Texas. Keating is the owner of 30 car auto dealerships across Texas, The Keating Auto Group. Since starting auto racing in ...

joining with Dutch siblings

Jeroen Jeroen () is a Dutch male given name originating from the Greek Hieronymus, and is equivalent to the English name Jerome. In the Netherlands, there are around 52,000 people who are named Jeroen, while in Belgium there are around 11,000 people of ...

and

Sebastiaan Bleekemolen Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (born 9 August 1978 in Haarlem) is a Dutch racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for the family-owned Team Bleekemolen in the No. 69 Ford Mustang in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. His bro ...

in the Dodge Viper GT3-R. Joined by French driver

Emmanuel Collard Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques. Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...

, Keating and the Bleekemolen brothers competed in the opening event, the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

, completing 615 laps over the day long event, finishing 19th (40th overall). During the subsequent event, the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Keating was driving the No. 33 Viper on the 13th lap when the Viper's driveshaft disconnect from the rear axle, severing a fuel line and starting a fire. After noticing the fire, Keating was able to stop and exit the vehicle without injury, although the team was forced to retire from the race. The No. 33 car was up and running again under 2 months later for the event at

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...

, as Keating and

Jeroen Bleekemolen Jeroen Pascal Bleekemolen (born 23 October 1981 in Heemstede) is a Dutch professional Auto racing, racing driver. In the Chrysler Viper GTS-R he drove in the FIA GT Championship, with great success. He competed in the German Formula Three Champi ...

completed the 2 hour race. Keating and Jeroen recorded their first win of the series three races later at the SportsCar Grand Prix. They would go on to record Top Five finishes in the next two races, placing third in the Brickyard Grand Prix (

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

) and fourth in the

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

500. The No. 33 team would record their second win of the season with a win at the

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

. After the final race of the season at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

, the No. 33 team would finish 11th in the final points standings, with 249 total points.

2015

Viper Exchange Racing continued to sponsor the No. 33 Viper during the 2015

season. The car was once again co-driven primarily by

and

. During the season's inaugural race, the

2015 24 Hours of Daytona The 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona was an endurance sports car racing event held at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida from 22–25 January 2015. The 53rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona was also the first race for the 2 ...

, Keating and Bleekemolen were joined by Al Carter and

Marc Goossens Marc Goossens, nicknamed The Goose (born 30 November 1969), is a Belgian professional racing driver that currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, priorly driving the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro for SpeedHouse in the EuroNASCAR PRO c ...

in the No.33 car. Both Keating and Carter would also take a shift in the other Viper Exchange car, the No. 93 Viper. The No. 33 and No. 93 Vipers both maintained positions near the front of the pack in the early goings of the race. However the No. 33 car began to experience electrical issues, and fell out of contention for the lead. The No. 33 Viper was eventually forced to retire after 674 laps (during the race's final hour), finishing 9th in class. The No. 33 next competed in the 2015 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with Jeroen's brother Sebastiaan joining Jeroen and Keating as co-driver. The team seemed poised for a win, leading with under 10 minutes to go, when a radiator issue forced the No. 33 to pit, leading to a 9th-place finish for the team. The misfortune for the No. 33 car continued during the subsequent events, as a storm drain grate that was jutting out of the track did massive damage to the right side of the Viper during the first few laps of the

Monterey Grand Prix The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey is an IndyCar Series race held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California, United States. The event dates back to 1960, and became an American open-wheel car racing, American open wheel race ...

, and then the No. 33 car was forced to pit for significant repairs early at Belle Isle after damage to the oil tank. The team would experience another early issue at the 2015 Six Hours of The Glen, but were able to recover and finish the race in the 6th place overall. Finally free of technical issues, the No. 33 team rebounded with a second-place finish at the 2015

Northeast Grand Prix The Northeast Grand Prix (until 2006: New England Grand Prix) was a professional sports car racing, sports car race held at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States as part of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Previous editions of t ...

, finishing just three and a half seconds behind the leader. Keating and Bleekemolen followed up with another strong performance and snagged their first class win of the year in the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America. With that win, the Viper Exchange Racing became the only two-car team with wins for both of its cars (the No. 93 recorded wins at Daytona and Watkins Glen). As a result of their win at Road America, the No. 33 car was placed under some competitive restrictions limiting the performance of the car during the next race, the Oak Tree Grand Prix at

VIR Vir or VIR may refer to: Places * Vir (island), an island on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea * Vir (municipality), the settlement on the Croatian island * Vir, Posušje, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Vír, a municipality and village ...

. These restrictions limited the No. 33 Viper to a 7th-place finish, breaking the team's string of consecutive podium finishes. The No. 33 team would come back strong though, and charged back into the winner's circle with a come-from-behind victory at

. For the season's final race, the 2015 Petit Le Mans at

, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen joined Keating and brother Jeroen in the No. 33 Viper. Unfortunately, an early spin-out on the rain-soaked track resulted in a lap deficit the team could not overcome, and the No. 33 car finished 12th in class.

No. 93 Car

2015

The No. 93

was originally assigned for a

run by Dodge's factory SRT Team. However, Dodge pulled support for the team after the 2014 season, despite the team winning the GTLM class that year. Viper Exchange took over the No. 93 Car going into the 2015 season, entering the car into the North American Endurance Cup, a four-race subset of the larger

. The No. 93 team, including co-drivers Al Carter,

Dominik Farnbacher Dominik Farnbacher (born 26 September 1984 in Ansbach) is a German sports car racing driver, and currently an SRT factory driver, driving an SRT Viper GTS-R in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Career After beginning his career in karting ...

, Cameron Lawrence and Kuno Wittmer, has had great success so far in the 2015 season, including winning the season opening event, the

. The team then tacked on a top-five finish at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and then another win at the Six Hours of The Glen, giving the No. 93 team a seven-point lead going into the final race of the NAEC season at

. The No. 93 car also participated in the 2015

, which is not part of the NAEC season, so that driver Marc Miller could gain experience in a

prior to the upcoming

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...

. The No. 93 team entered the Petite Grand Prix with a strong lead in the NAEC standings, and only needed a few points to supply them with the season victory. After Cameron Lawrence supplied the team with pole position for the event,

drove the car to a first-place finish in the first segment of the race, which gave the team enough points to guarantee them the NAEC victory. The team would finish the race 3rd in class, giving them a top 5 finish in all the NAEC events. The team finished with 45 points, 10 points ahead of their nearest competition.

24 Hours of Le Mans

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans

On April 16, 2015, the

Automobile Club de l'Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organ ...

announced that the Viper Exchange.com/Riley Motorsports entry into the 2015

had been approved, with American Marc Miller joining

and

as co-driver. The team drove the No. 53

Dodge Viper GTS-R The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer Chrysler from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2011 to 2012. Production of the two-s ...

in the GT-am class. The team was first among the reserves for the event, and the entry gives Keating the opportunity to accomplish the feat of winning both the

and the

events in the same year. This will be the first

for both Keating and Miller, while Jeroen will be earning his 10th consecutive start in the event. Jeroen finished fourth in class in qualifying, and so the team had good position for the start of the race. Bleekemolen continued the strong start with his opening shift in the car, leading for most of the third hour, and Keating continued to maintain a top-four position during the second shift. Miller took the third shift through much of the night, and the team entered the final shift, again driven by Bleekemolen, in fifth place. However, Bleekemolen began to notice issues with the gearbox, and after replacing the gearbox failed to resolve the problems, the No. 53 car was forced to retire from the race at 1:45 PM, having completed 304 laps.

References

{{reflist , 2 American auto racing teams WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams