Tommy Archer aims new Viper team at top of Trans-Am series
Motorsports can be a fickle occupation, and Duluth’s Tommy Archer has reached his level of competence by staying just ahead of the curve, so to speak.
Archer has been driving for Team Oreca, a French endurance-racing operation that was working with Chrysler Corporation to campaign a fleet of V10 Viper sports cars in long-distance events such as the 24 Hours of LeMans. But he saw that things were changing at Team Oreca last season, so when a new opportunity presented itself, Archer was ready.
“We probably ran the Vipers about one year longer than we should have,” said Archer. “Other teams with the new Corvette were coming on strong, and I knew Oreca was planning to race a new prototype and not run the Vipers this year. So when a guy came to me and asked if I’d be interested in running something different in the Trans-Am series, I listened.”
That fellow was Joe Tranchida, a suburban Detroit auto racing enthusiast. He wanted to enter a car in the Trans-Am series for sporty cars, but he wanted to come up with a different angle from the usual Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes and Porsches that populate the long-standing North American road-racing series.
“I told him I thought something that would be different, but would attract a lot of attention, would be to run a Viper in Trans-Am,” Archer said. “He said the cars had to have V8 engines, but I figured that a lot of cars are running engines they don’t have on the street, so why not put a V8 in a Viper?
“We had a new team, new driver, new car, new engine, new engineer and new crew, and we didn’t get started until last October. But we’ve done pretty well, and we’ve attracted some attention in the first two races. Nobody has ever run a Viper in Trans-Am before, and we’ve got this big, blue Viper that kind of stands out.”
Archer, who raced for years with Bobby as the Archer Brothers, then worked for years in the family business with his other brothers. Several months ago, Tommy sold the high-performance auto operation to his brother John.
“My youngest brother, John, had always said he’s like to own the business,” said Tommy. “And I was away racing so much it made it pretty hard to do much with the business. So I sold my share to him. It was a good fit for both of us. He’s going to do a good job with the business, and I can pay more attention to my racing, and to my rental properties.”
As for the racing, Archer said the new team’s debut has been better than expected, and he anticipates it improving more.
“We were fifth at Sebring in the first race, and we were fourth at Long Beach, although we probably should have won that second one,” Archer said. “We got up to second place and had a problem with fuel starvation. We got it fixed, and finished fourth, but it turned out that the only car ahead of us when we were second crashed, so we could have won if we didn’t have the sort of problem we won’t have after we get a few races under our belts.”
The series figured to be dominated by veteran Trans-Am drivers Paul Gentilozzi, Brian Simo and Boris Said, but Archer figures he and his new team could end up making an impact on the leaders.
“Said won the first race, but crashed in the second one,” Archer said. “Simo and Gentilozzi had to figure to be the favorites at the start of the season. But we’re now tied for third in points, nine points out of first. And some of those others are at the top of their potential, while we’re going to get better in every race.”
At Archer’s suggestion, Tranchida brought in Will Moody, an experienced Trans-Am-winning crew chief. The crew installed a 310 cubic inch Chrysler V8 in the Viper, and Archer estimates it turns out 640 or 650 horsepower — impressive, even if a few horses less than the top competitors.
“Chrysler Corporation isn’t behind us at all, but I figure they’re watching us,” said Archer. “We’ve got two test sessions before we run the next race, at Mosport, near Toronto, on May 20, and I’m really looking forward to it. I knew the Viper thing was coming to an end with Team Oreca, and the chance to do the Trans-Am by putting together the right deal, and the right people — most importantly the people, because I want it to be fun — then it was worth it for me to sign a two-year contract.”
It may be a two-year contract, but Tommy Archer’s history is that he’s far too impatient to do anything but deliver paybacks long before the second year.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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