“At SEMA, Optima wanted me in, and Bret [Voelkel] at RideTech lobbied to get me in too. The car had what they were looking for. But on track, the car didn’t feel good at all. It had a lot of rear brake bias since it was set up for autocross. I thought we had set [the brake bias] back, and we really turned the rear brake bias up instead of down! I ended up spinning it once at Optima. The cars they thought would do well, they would put a chase race car behind you with a camera. They had a chase car behind me filming, but I spun out and they stopped following me. When the rear tried to swap ends on the corner, it spun out. Other than that, the car handled excellent. They don’t give you any test time—you’ve got to be ready when you get there!”
The man behind the machine...
The man behind the machine is owner/driver/wrencher Mark Rife. The woman behind the machine is Mark’s wife, Carol, who died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer. She was there from the very beginning when Mark picked up the Corvette in 1972, and who subsequently supported the Rife family’s many incredible racing adventures over their 42 years together.
By The Numbers
Mark Rife, 62 • Carolina Beach, NC
Block: GMPP, cast aluminum with pressed-in steel sleeves
Bore x stroke: 4.125 x 4.00
Rotating assembly: forged steel crank, forged titanium rods, cast-aluminum pistons
Compression ratio: 11.0:1
Cylinder heads: stock GMPP LS7, CNC-ported aluminum, rectangular port, 70cc chambers
Camshaft: stock hydraulic roller GMPP LS7, .591-inch lift, 211/230 degrees duration at .050-inch lift
Valvetrain: stock LS7, 2.20-/1.61-inch valves, 1.8:1 roller rocker arms
Induction: stock LS7, injection-molded nylon polymer cross-ram
Oiling: stock LS7, dry-sump
Exhaust: Stainless Works; 1⅞-inch stainless steel long-tube headers, dual 3-inch exhaust
Fuel system: stock LS7/Z06 Corvette
Engine management: stock LS7 Corvette Z06
Ignition: stock LS7 coil-on-plug
Cooling: stock LS7 water pump, custom Griffin aluminum radiator
Output: 454 rear-wheel horsepower at 7,200 rpm
Transmission: Tremec five-speed manual transmission with Quartermaster clutch
Rearend: stock ’96 Corvette Dana 44, narrowed 2 inches, posi carrier with 3.73 ring-and-pinion
Frame: Street Shop (Athens, AL) C2 bolt-in chassis for use with C4 suspension components
Front suspension: stock C4 Corvette with Mustang II rack-and-pinion, RideTech triple-adjustable coilover shocks, RideTech-spec Hyperco springs
Rear suspension: stock C4 Corvette, RideTech triple-adjustable coilover shocks with RideTech-spec Hyperco springs, transverse spring delete
Brakes: Wilwood; 13-inch rotors with six-piston calipers, front; 14-inch C5 rotors with 4-inch pistons, rear
Wheels: Team III; 11x17 (front), 12x17 (rear)
Tires: Kumho; 315/35R17 (front), 335/35R17 (rear)