RAUDMAN TOURING LA

Craig Raudman lives racing. When he's not doing his full-time job of building cars, he's racing them. This weekend he will participate in the LA Street Race driving his Adavantage Memory/Victory Circle Parts and Chassis Chevrolet. This will be his second time on the street course, his road course expertise and knowledge of car set-up should be a great asset during the race.

Like every driver out there Raudman would like to win. Several drivers are looking for the extra prestige and money this race brings but for Raudman it doesn't matter, if it's a race he wants to win it. And if he doesn't win it, it's okay --- as long as a Victory Circle Chassis does!

RacingWest: What is it like to turn right?
Craig Raudman: It's much more challenging when you have to turn both ways during a race.

RW: How much of a difference is there to the chassis set-up when you have to turn both ways?
CR: Quite a bit of difference. We try to center up the car or take the offset out, change the weight distribution from left side heavy to more neutral. All the front end settings are changed...different sway bar, etc.

RW: With this being a completely different "road course" than Sears Point does your set up differ from Sears Point to LA?
CR: Quite a bit of difference. We try to center up the car or take the offset out, change the weight distribution from left side heavy to more neutral. All the front end settings are changed...different sway bar, etc.

RW: Since you are not going flat out and turning left, do you need to beef up the transmissions or change the ratios in some of the gears?
CR: Yes most will use a Jerico or T101 trans with a heavy duty oil cooler plumbed in.

RW: How do you set the car up to avoid spinning the tires?
CR: You have to work with shock valving, springs and rear trailing arm angles, etc.

RW: At the race last year we saw a lot of the cars were extremely loose coming off the last turn onto the front straight. Will you try to do something to alleviate that this year?
CR: Yes the shocks are critical and the weight balance because of the street being crowned so much.

RW: Would it mean more to win this race than another race the Tour runs? Why or why not?
CR: It would have meant more last year with it being the inaugural race but winning any SWT race is a big thing.

RW: How many spotters will you use at this event?
CR: I will more than likely use 4-5 spotters.

RW: Will you use any additional crew for this race?
CR: We'll probably use 3 more guys because of the tire stops.

RW: Do you have any special plans while in LA?
CR: No specific plans while down there.