We have a living legend among us ! And it was his birthday yesterday!
For those of us who are fortunate enough to know him and his craft. We know how lucky we are!
I am honored to say I am his friend !
Leading up to the Ford GT Project, He worked for Roush for close to 15 years. In that time he worked for Nascar for 3 years. His responsibility was to load and drive a car hauler with two race vehicles and stock all of the parts and equipment needed for the race during practice and qualifying. While not on the road he was the engine assistant and his responsibility was to change out valve springs and maintain the drive train. During the race he was the rear tire changer on pit stops and pitted for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Joe Ruttman. His remaining time at Roush was spent in Ford Prototype programs because of my racing experience. A few members of the Ford GT Engineering Team asked if I would be interested in supporting a high speed Ford GT work horse and to assist in brake development on high speed tracks. Due to the lack of time for development he was told we would be "chasing the sun" around the country. In this time I spent 6 months in Naples, FL (Ford Proving Grounds) and 2 months in Yucca, AZ (Good Year Proving Grounds). Once the CP level vehicles were built, one of the cars was to be durabitily tested on a race track for 24 hours to which he was the crew chief for the test. After the CP level car passed its test we then tested a PB level car (PB1-3, Heritage blue without the stripe) for another 12 hour durability test on a differnt race track. One of the final tests for the program was to take two GT's to Nardo, Italy were he assisted core engineers in signing off and officially setting the vehicle top speed which was 211.89 on May 9,2004. Once production started he assisted in control arm retrofits at various locations including Jay Leno’s and Jon Shirley car's. He also provided training for Ford techs at west coast dealerships from Seattle to LA on the control arm retrofits. Not long after that The GT Guy LLC was formed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Denis!!
For those of us who are fortunate enough to know him and his craft. We know how lucky we are!
I am honored to say I am his friend !
Leading up to the Ford GT Project, He worked for Roush for close to 15 years. In that time he worked for Nascar for 3 years. His responsibility was to load and drive a car hauler with two race vehicles and stock all of the parts and equipment needed for the race during practice and qualifying. While not on the road he was the engine assistant and his responsibility was to change out valve springs and maintain the drive train. During the race he was the rear tire changer on pit stops and pitted for Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Joe Ruttman. His remaining time at Roush was spent in Ford Prototype programs because of my racing experience. A few members of the Ford GT Engineering Team asked if I would be interested in supporting a high speed Ford GT work horse and to assist in brake development on high speed tracks. Due to the lack of time for development he was told we would be "chasing the sun" around the country. In this time I spent 6 months in Naples, FL (Ford Proving Grounds) and 2 months in Yucca, AZ (Good Year Proving Grounds). Once the CP level vehicles were built, one of the cars was to be durabitily tested on a race track for 24 hours to which he was the crew chief for the test. After the CP level car passed its test we then tested a PB level car (PB1-3, Heritage blue without the stripe) for another 12 hour durability test on a differnt race track. One of the final tests for the program was to take two GT's to Nardo, Italy were he assisted core engineers in signing off and officially setting the vehicle top speed which was 211.89 on May 9,2004. Once production started he assisted in control arm retrofits at various locations including Jay Leno’s and Jon Shirley car's. He also provided training for Ford techs at west coast dealerships from Seattle to LA on the control arm retrofits. Not long after that The GT Guy LLC was formed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Denis!!
arty
