Stutz comes in 2nd and 5th @ Road America culminating a successful 2003 racing season

The "Stutz Race Team" entered two cars at Road America for the VSCDA Fall Festival on September 18th to 21st @ Elkhart Lake Wisconsin, in conjunction with this years "Grand Stutz." The course is a 4-mile, high speed, and hard braking track with plenty of elevation changes.

Friday, the first practice day, was cloudy and very windy and both George Holman driving Norman Barrs’ 1929, #77 Blackhawk, and Bill Holman driving the Holman’s 1928, #88 Stutz Black Hawk, found the back downhill straight at over 100 MPH to be a challenge in the gusting cross wind.

Saturday was a clear day in the lower 70’s where Bill Holman qualified the #88 Stutz 3rd and George Holman qualified the #77 Stutz 4th (separated by only 0.2 seconds.) The first and second qualifiers were a ‘34 Bugatti Type 59 and a 34 Studebaker two man Indy Car. In Saturday’s qualifying session both cars were struggling with problems. The Barrs Stutz was down on power and could not get over 2900 RPM on the straights in top gear and the Holman Stutz had cooked its rear brakes. Stutz mechanic Dean Rymer suggested retarding the ignition on the supercharged Barrs Stutz, and swapping the rear brake shoes on the Holman Stutz. Dean made the changes late Saturday afternoon.

Sunday, Race Day, dawned sunny and mild. The two Lap morning warm-up session proved that the changes on both cars were good. The Barrs Stutz had more power and top speed and the Holman Stutz brakes were much improved.

The two Stutzes and drivers waited in the pre-grid area for the pace lap to begin. When the signal to start engines was given the Holman #88 Stutz balked and when it did start Bill Holman had to go to the back, 15th position. The Barrs #77 Stutz was now grided 3rd behind the type 59 Bugatti with the Studebaker Indy Car alongside. At the drop of the green flag, the Barrs #77 Stutz out accelerated the Studebaker and entered turn one in second place ahead of the Studebaker Indy car.

George Holman, in the Barrs #77 Stutz, had been seven seconds slower than the Studebaker Indy Car in all previous sessions on the track but the ignition timing change made the big Stutz come to life. George Holman had previously observed the Barrs Stutz could outbreak the Studebaker, but the Studebaker was quicker in the "Carousel" and the "Kink," so he knew the Studebaker would be after him in these areas. On lap two the Studebaker got his left front wheel beside the Barrs Stutz right rear as they went though the "Carousel" up to the Kink with the Stutz coming through in front. They continued 2nd and 3rd for 1-1/2 laps more until the Studebaker unfortunately went off course and turned upside down. Fortunately the driver was not hurt but the session was stopped and that was the end of the race.

While the battle up front was going on Bill Holman was slicing his way through the field from 15th to 5th in just three laps. A giant achievement by the driver in a 3600# car with limited brakes.

The 2nd and 5th place finishes at Road America, 2 firsts @ Lime Rock in April and VIR in May, and a pole at Laguna Seca with a 4th place finish, are remarkable achievements. The cars outperformed the owners Norman Barrs’ and George Holman’s greatest expectations.

George Holman will be at Lime Rock on October 17th & 18th for the Fall Finale with the ’28 Stutz and the Barrs Stutz Blackhawk will be at Hershey on October 8th to 11th, in Jon Lee’s space CJ40 for everyone to see.

"Team Stutz" will pick up the battle in Europe next year, so keep watching for our latest challenges.