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Guest Driver Blog:
Daniel O'Donnell of Professional Awesome
By Daniel O'Donnell and Wes Dumalski
If you were one of the 17 people that looked at my coverage for Global Time Attack’s New Jersey event then you might have noticed that in between the pictures there were words. If you were one of the 7 people that read the words then you might have noticed that I mentioned a friendly wager between Mike Warfield, from team GST, and myself about who would be faster behind the wheel of the Professional Awesome Evo VII. If you were one of 3 people that were able to understand my ramblings then you might know that GST L pilot and professional driver Jeff Westphal was facing off against Daniel O'Donnell of Professional Awesome in the Evo VII of the same name.
If you care to read the tale, the NJMP GTA coverage can be found HERE
To set the scene Jeff agreed to help the Professional Awesome guys out on day one of the two day event by offering his input on car setup. While it was supposed to be helpful and in good spirits it is hard to keep two opinionated jackasses from making wagers on who would have a faster lap time; enter yours truly and Mike Warfield. We had to turn this friendly help in to something with drama so our $10 wager kicked things in to serious mode. A week or so after the GTA NJMP event I got a message via the electronic book-of-faces from Dan asking me to read something that he had written. After spending a few minutes figuring out how to download the word attachment from el cara libro (two pieces of technology I really don't care for) I read the words and knew we had a guest driver blog in the works. So without further ado here are Dan's verbs, nouns, and adjectives recounting the experience… riddled with my less than intelligent commentary.
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| As you will learn from Dan's words and despite the playful name; Profesisonal Awesome is serious about winning. |
High noon, the sun’s scalding rays reached through the thick air and a bead of perspiration appeared upon my brow. There I stood in utter disbelief as the modern day Achilles, Jeff Westphal, shot an arrow across my bow. Three laps are all it took to send a message as loud and clear as a clap of thunder. In an unfamiliar car, in sweltering conditions and with controls out of reach, he had toppled my record lap time without any effort: 1:10.818.
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| Jeff “I think you can make the car better by”… Mike “Holy shit, he just kicked Dan's ass in 3 laps”. |
“This was my car!” I thought to myself. “The car that I have taken years to master. The car that made me the hero so often while never complaining. The car that I witnessed Grant Davis and Mike Lewin forge with love, anger, broken relationships and worn-out credit cards.” Westphal stood there with his charming grin and confident swagger and greeted me with a handshake and steel eyes as if to say, “You’re in my world now bitch.”
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| The PA Evo VII bay. All function to achieve 500 reliable WHP. |
