Thursday, January 28, 2016

Richard Rawlings’ Gas Monkey Viper is About to Go Racing

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.
 
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The racy Viper takes to the track at this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first event of the 2016 WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season, and boasts a distinctive Gas Monkey Garage livery for the occasion.

But that’s not all. The Viper is just one third of a new Gas Monkey motorsports endeavor, which also includes garage sponsorship on Alex Laughlin’s NHRA Pro Stock Camaro and Sage Karam’s Indy car. Get you some of that.

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The Viper in question here is the No. 33 Viper Exchange Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R, which takes the field in the racing series’ GTD category. It’ll be helmed this weekend by drivers Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Marc Miller, and Dominik Farnbacher. Interestingly, Keating is also the owner of the Viper Exchange, which is said to be the world’s largest Viper dealership. It’s safe to say he’s quite familiar with the car.

In a statement, Keating noted both Gas Monkey Garage and Viper Exchange’s Texas roots, close relationship with Dodge, and mentioned he was surprised the racing partnership hadn’t happened sooner.

“I am very excited about working together on this,” Keating said. “I am excited to take the Gas Monkey Garage fans along for the ride as we compete in the biggest and longest sports car race in North America.”


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The NHRA Camaro, Indy Car, and Viper GT3-R liveries highlight Rawlings’ new Gas Monkey Energy Drink in particular, which some of this weekend’s drivers could probably use during the grueling 24-hour event.

Last year, the No. 33 car finished sixth in the series’ GTD standings overall, recording two big wins at Road America and Circuit of the Americas. Riley Motorsports’ other car, the No.93 Viper, actually won last year’s Rolex 24 in the GTD category. Tune in at 2:40pm ET on Saturday January 30th to see if the team can repeat.


Photo Credit: sportscar365, Gas Monkey Garage, and Viperexchange.com
 

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