Team Montelo - Our Story

by Pat Montelo

Who would have ever guessed that this life would bring with it such an unusual cast of characters, and who knew where it would go. I'm still scratching my head; where can I begin? Let's start with this motley crew back in 2001. Joey (6), Michael (4), and Anthony (8), my three sons, all obsessed about cars and speed from birth. At this age, each trip to the store always included a request for a new Hot Wheels car; who knew back then how much more expensive their desires for speed would become...

Our motley crew: Joey (6), Michael (4), Anthony (8)

Possessed by speed demons

In 2001 this dad would only add fuel to the fire of their desires by finally buying his dream car, a brand new 405 horsepower 2002 Z06 Corvette. The kind of car that instills lust in the heart of just about every American boy, but in the eyes of this crew, you can see something much more sinister at work; a form of demon possession was clearly occurring.

Buying a car like this after a life full of driving old beaters, it took a while for me to realize what I would do with it to truly experience it. At first I spent most of my time polishing it and keeping it pristine, but what's the point of owning a car that can easily break the tires loose in the first 3 gears and only driving it on the street? It was only a matter of time before I would find a proper way to experience it.

Our shiny and new toy in 2001

My first autocross 18 years earlier

Some 18 years earlier I had been exposed to the sport of autocrossing by a friend who had invited me to attend an autocross event put on by the Windy City Z Club. At the time my car was a somewhat less powerful car than a Z06 Corvette. It was a 1980 Datsun 210 Coupe. With a whopping 1237cc engine, bucket seats, a 4 speed and add-on tach from JC Whitney, it wasn't much to brag about, but I was ready for the challenge. My outing with the Z club was a memorable one, not only did I beat several Datsun Z car drivers at autocross; I would smoke the clutch in my poor little Datsun 210 over that weekend toying with some of the Datsun Z drivers egos. Back then I never dreamed I would have my own Z car someday!

While I had a ton of fun at that first low-speed autocross, my pocket book at the time didn't like the hit at all. But apparently the desire to do it again was hiding somewhere in my subconscious waiting for the right time to re-emerge; and re-emerge it did eighteen years later in 2002, but this time I had my wife Laurie and our motley crew as spectators. But as fun as autocross is to participate in as a driver, it's not exactly a spectator sport. How could I increase my involvement in the sport while still spending some weekends in the summer with my family?

Autocross - Not a spectator sport!

Autocrossing the Z06 Photo by Andy Seipos

The answer would be relatively straight forward: just get everyone last one of them involved in the sport. Thankfully my pocket book was blissfully unaware of what this would mean to it financially going forward and so I proceeded to get the whole damn family involved. Fortunately autocrossing is a motorsport that is fairly affordable (not that any form of motorsport is inexpensive).

So the first step was to get my wife Laurie involved. The last time she drove a stick shift car, she totaled it in a head-on collision. Considering where she was mentally at the time, I had my work cut out. But after a few rides with me driving and a bit of encouragement, she was soon in the driver's seat at her first autocross. After a few stalls and missed shifts, and a little more encouragement, she too was hooked.

Laurie in the family Z06 Photo by Bill Crawford

Anthony in our first kart at age 10

The next step was to source a ride for my pit-crew. After a little digging, I found our first kart that would serve us well for the next few years. It was a well used but in good condition 1995 Coyote Freeroller with Yamaha KT100 engine. In 2003 Joey (8) and Anthony (10) were old enough to compete in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula Junior program. And once they had their first ride in the Yamaha powered kart, they were clearly hooked. Michael would patiently continue to be spectator for the next couple years until his 8th birthday and then join in the fray.

In the beginning everything was new and we would spend many of our weekends figuring out how to get faster at this sport. The kart was just a new challenge for all of us to figure out. As the ever present engineer, I would keep notes and wrench on the kart, while Laurie would be helping the boys in the paddock and grid. We started knowing nothing about karts and would learn on the job each weekend. With 4 drivers and 2 vehicles instead of one, the work load would start to get a bit bigger too. If only I knew then what was coming down the road!

Trying to figuring it all out Photo by Andy Seipos

Watching the wheel-to-wheel racers and dreaming of their turn...

And so our obsession with racing was started in the parking lots of the mid-west. The boys would soon be winning their share of trophies at autocross and looking for the next way to get their racing fix. But in the early stages, the boys would have to settle for autocross over wheel-to-wheel karting. My pocket book was just starting to get primed and ready for the concept of burning money each weekend as fast as I could make it. Besides the cost issues of wheel-to-wheel, autocross allowed our whole family to compete in the sport of racing instead of leaving some of us as just spectators, so the infatuation with autocross continued.

But as the kids longed for the thrill of wheel-to-wheel competition, they would continue to build the type of driving skills that autocrossing develops: Precision driving and the ability to adapt to a new racing course very quickly without having prior track experience. And while their skills improved, so did their desires for more chances to race competitively.

Michael (8) finding the course and building skills at autocross Photo by Andy Seipos

Team Montelo at Indy in 2005

By 2005 racing had become a full-fledged passion for us. On the few weekend that we were not racing ourselves, we were watching the pros do it. In the summer of 2005 we made our first trip ever to the mecca of motorsports, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We'll be back!

And when we come back someday, who knows who might be driving at Indy... but lets not skip too far ahead in the story.

Laurie with future grand prix champions: Anthony, Michael, and Joey

Pack up the Suburban, it's time to race again...

And so in 2005 things began to get a bit hectic with 5 drivers sharing two vehicles. Each weekend we would load up the trusty 160,000 mile Suburban with my race tires, the boys kart, and the whole family. We would head to the race and prepare for a day of fire drills: trying to get the Z06 ready to race, keeping the kart running, and trying to fit "my three sons" in the same kart.

From these humble beginnings things would begin to change rapidly. With the height and weight spread of the boys, it just wasn't sane to try and keep them all in the same kart. So the decision was made, pocketbook be damned. Time to get two more karts and find a trailer that could haul our fleet to the races each weekend. And so it was finally time to sell our old boat that we never had the time to use any more and get a suitable hauler and some new toys to haul.

Out with the old hobby...

Much roomier than the back of the old Suburban

And as if by magic, a friend of ours had the perfect answer, his beautiful 24' Pace trailer was now available for sale. We purchased two used kart chassis for the boys and then set out to build two more complete karts. So now I would have 4 vehicles to keep running and race ready... blissfully unaware, somehow I thought this would make my life easier.

And so it went... first there were two, then there were three, and then four race vehicles.

Laurie (Kart Mom), Michael, Joey, Grandma Sonya, Uncle Roland, Anthony and Patrick Photo by Andy Seipos

Things started coming together near the end of 2005

By the end of 2005, all three karts were starting to come together.

Then as the winter of 2005 set in, the boys took up residence at the local indoor karting track, Chicago Indoor Racing. They soon began to win their share of the trophies.

Right to left: Joey, Anthony, Michael

Anthony Racing at Norway

In the spring of 2006 the boys would begin to do some wheel-to-wheel kart racing outdoors. This provided ample opportunity for this crew chief to learn each weekend a little bit more about kart setup, maintenance and repair. Kart prep was now a full time sideline of this dad. But with all the seat time the boys were now getting, they really began to blossom as drivers.

In 2006 we headed back to see the Formula One US Grand Prix race at Indy. Anthony must have thought this racing life style would be something he could get used to, and so the passion grew stronger still.

Left to right: Joey, Anthony, Indy Grid Girl, Patrick, Michael

Team Montelo at the USGP 2006

Given the amount of time we were spending away from home on the weekends racing, the time seemed right to buy another home we could bring with us. The old Suburban was getting tired of hauling the trailer and we were getting tired of trying to pack everything in it. The idea had been brewing for a couple of years and in 2006 we pulled the trigger on a new tow vehicle/summer home, complete with a new mortgage. Worry about retirement or enjoy life now? The choice was made.

Team Montelo at home in our new 2006 Monaco Knight RV. Aptly named given where we want to go...

Our new home away from home

Left to right: Anthony, Michael, Joey

By 2006 the boys were cleaning up in the SCCA Formula Junior classes taking home the top trophies wherever they would go. The sibling rivalry was also going strong...

In 2007 the weekend madness would continue all summer long with the 65' Team Montelo tow rig/mortgage on wheels rolling into racing venues and parking lots across the Midwest.

65' Team Montelo Rig

Team Montelo serving the hungry autocross competitors Photo by Andy Seipos

Laurie and I would take also take on some additional responsibilities by volunteering our time to help run the Chicago Region SCCA Solo program. In 2006 I became our club's Chairman and Laurie our Registrar. We were spending so much of our life in the parking lots anyway, so why not add some more fun to our day jobs as well... Here the team is on Mother's Day 2007 getting ready to serve apple pie and ice cream to the hungry autocross competitors. By now Laurie was used to spending her Mother's Day in a parking lot!

And on the journey goes...

Team Montelo Racing in Milwaukee