The famous Mosport Racing Circuit proved to be very challenging to say the least. Between learning this 10 turn, 2.5 mile, high speed course, having little seat time this year, and getting the completely rebuilt GTS handling under control, tested the Team's metal. Getting up to speed at the course, required patience and we struggled with transmission gremlins all weekend. The course was slowly coming to me, but we were still slower than the veterans at this track through some of the high speed turns.

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On Saturday's race we started 19th, and got a good start moving up to near 15th going into turn 2, but as we were on the outside of the crest of the hill, the bump there upset the car and sent us down the hill sideways. I gathered the car up and now with two slightly flat spotted front tires and in last place we got back in the race. Slowly we passed the cars creeping back into 19th place again. The Comp Coupe of Lenny Diller was soon in our sites and lap after lap we closed the distance to within 6-7 car lengths. Coming out of turn 5b, Bob Woodhouse had spun and was being pushed onto the track, and as he tried to turn on to the track we had to put 4 wheels off to miss hitting him. This allowed the Comp Coupe of Lenny Diller to sail off in the sunset once again. This left us battling for 4 laps with Bob Woodhouse. The fans got some great action watching us side by side for 4 laps trying to outbreak each other at turn 8. Bob inched us out each time. Sunday's race proved to be a disappointment for the team. The car's setup used the day before had us fighting bad under steer and the transmission gremlins popped up again, causing us to miss multiple shifts. This broke my concentration and on lap 9 went wide through turn 2, causing me to slide off the track and into the tire wall. The car suffered minor front end damage. (Photo Gallery coming soon...)

The new Dodge Viper Comp Coupe has completed initial testing and is ready for round 3 of the World Challenge GT series. The Viper went thru its paces at a recent Viper event at Mid Ohio with the Dodge PVO engineering team there to assist the teams with car setups. Initial testing of the car was impressive. The Viper CC, weighing in at 3000 lbs, is well constructed. The brake package and car balance is a huge step up from turning street Vipers into race cars. "Team PVO has done an incredible job" said Mike Hartley.

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Team Driver Adel Elsayed will pilot the Viper at Limerock. Team manager Mike Hartley and driver Adel are excited about the new car and believe this car should be a strong candidate for being a front runner in the WCGT series. The second team car of Mike Hartley, the # 53 Viper GTS is also currently undergoing improvements and hopefully both Vipers will make it to round 4 of the GT championship. "At Sebring we were 350 lbs overweight" said team manager and lead driver Mike Hartley. "We knew this going in and wanted to see how many changes we needed to be competitive". The car when completed should be like night and day and the team looks forward to continuing with its involvement in the Speed World Challenge GT series, with 2 Vipers.

2/23/2003 - A ONE TWO FINISH AT SEBRING REGIONAL SCCA EVENT

MJH Racing and two team Vipers hit the sunny skies of Sebring Florida to do some testing and shake down of the cars. The # 53 Viper, driven by Mike Hartley and the # 55 Viper driven by team mate Lenny Diller pulled off a 1-2 sweep of the SPO class. The # 53 Viper was there to test the new Speed WCGT series spec tires from Toyo. After some initial laps and changes after qualifying the # 53 car found a good tire pressure for the new Toyo tires. Lenny had qualified his # 55 Viper 1.7 seconds faster on Hoosiers than the # 53 car. In the race the # 53 car had the tires dialed in and it showed.

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In the 30 minute race on Sunday The # 55 Viper started in the 7th slot and the # 53 Viper in the 8th slot. One SPO car was on pole. It was a Busch Short track car. How it ever made it into a Production Based division we have no idea. However on lap 1 it broke an axle and was out of the race. Lenny had the lead and on lap 4 the # 53 Viper came into the "s" turn too hot and spun. The # 55 Viper sped off with a 14 second lead. With the pedal to the metal, the # 53 Viper, lap after lap, closed the gap. On lap # 20 the 53 Viper had team mate Lenny in his sights and took the lead as Lenny took behind a slower car in the corner. Braking deeper in the corner the # 53 Viper took the lead and on lap 24 took the checkered flag for the win and Lenny in the # 55 Viper took 2nd place. In two weeks Mike Hartley and the # 53 Viper will hit Sebring again for its debut in the Speed World Challenge "GT" series.

1/2003 - MIKE HARTLEY NAMED SOUTH NEW JERSEY SCCA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

1/23/2003 - MJH RACING TO RUN DODGE VIPER IN 2003 SPEED GT CHAMPIONSHIP

Mike Hartley and MJH Racing announced today plans to enter the No. 53 Dodge Viper in the 2003 Speed World Challenge GT Championship. The Viper is currently undergoing more improvements to the suspension and chassis to be ready for the season opener at Sebring in March. The full article can be seen at the Speed World Challenge official web site by clicking HERE, as well at www.theracesite.com by clicking HERE.

10/1/2002 - NEW RACE SHOP FOR MJH RACING

MJH Racing is proud to announce the team is moving to a new race shop as it sets its sights on the 2003 SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE SERIES. Racing in the Speed WCGT series requires dedication and that is one thing the team does not lack. Like the legendary # 53 Viper that won the Lemans, the MJH Racing Vipers look to carry on that tradition. The new facility will be state of the art and will help the team become a well oiled Racing and Marketing Team. The 5000 sq. Ft. Building is located in Pennsauken NJ. Crew Chief Joe Kallas and Viper Tech John Kerwin will oversee the race shops tooling and equipment setup. The new facility will definitely serve the needs of the teams setup, development, and maintenance of the race cars.

9/15/2002 - MJH RACING TAKES PODIUM FINISHES AT NHIS

At our first time at the New Hampshire Speedway's 1.5 mile road course at Loudon NH, the
# 53 Viper took 3rd place on Saturday and again on Sunday at the SCCA "Cheap Date" regional double races. Crew Chief Joe Kallas had his hands full both days trying to solve brake problems and to keep the Viper on the grid. On Saturday, on the 5th Qualifying lap, the Snake came slithering in with a right rear locked up caliper and on fire. Quickly it was put out and Joe went to work his magic. With just 5 qualifying laps in the team figured they had a tough battle believing they were far down the grid. The 1.14 second run was fast enough to grab second place on the grid. The race proved to be challenging up against the 550 HP Mustang of Mike Giglio, who was the regions last year points champion and the 2002 second place points leader. Unfortunately the Viper spun in Turn 6 due to an oil leak from another car which gave Mike Giglio the win and Pete Bush in his Turbo Porsche 2nd place. The Viper settled for 3rd. Again on Sunday the brake Gremlin plagued the team. This time in the qualifying heat and in the race the # 52 Viper had to settle for 3rd. All in all, our first time at NHIS and the team had two (2) podium finishes......Next Week....The Legendary Watkins Glen.

8/30/2002 - MJH RACING VIPER # 53 TAKES POLE AND WIN AT SUMMIT POINT WV.

At its first time at Summit Point WV. The team took the win in class. The ING ORANGE SPRINTS event at WV was a good test for the team. The # 53 Viper, prepared by Crew Chief and Viper wizard Joe Kallas, performed flawlessly. In a field of 24 cars, including 8 GT-1 Trans am cars and 9 ITE cars the Viper captured the pole position in class and 4th on grid. Three GT-1 cars including the Speed WCGT car of Genady Soykher where in the first 3 grid positions, then Mike in the Viper and right behind was the regional local point leader. At the race start the #4 Porsche of Bob Snyder was able to make a pass in the brake zone of turn 1. He maintained the lead for just about one lap and in Turn 1 the Viper took it back. From there on the Viper steadily pulled away, and took the win in class. The Viper pulled to within a ½ second of the Banana Boat 650 HP Trans Am car of Frank Sanchez. The team looks forward to its next event at Loudon's NHI speedway.

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