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Name: Mike Ventorino Location: Armonk, NY 10504 Gender: Male Age: 28 Occupation: Real Estate
About:
Bullrun to me is the epitome of automotive competition. It isn’t a ¼ mile race with no turns, it isn’t a 500 mile left turn only race, it isn’t a 24 hour non-stop multiple driver race, It isn’t an off-road rally race, what it IS is a combination of all of them! Two guys in a fast car, one driving, one navigating, the trip being the reward rather than the destination… there is nothing better! My family is car people, so every car in our garage is Bullrun ready. When I heard that BMW was adding an M version of the X5 I put my deposit down immediately. My daily driver would now be more bad ass than my “fun car” [see Travlers Waide 425]. I read a lot of blog posts relating to the X5M not being a TRUE M car, and asking WHO this car appeals to. Well here I am, I am a father and a dog owner who needs to cary his family but doesn’t want to do it slowly. The X5M has the range, refinement, all-wheel-drive, and reliability that it’s American muscle car stable mate lacks… It can tackle rain, snow, slaloms, drags, twisties, straights, ANYTHING! I owe a great deal of thanks to my beautiful [sometimes] supportive wife Jackie without whom my dreams might never come to fruition. I am doing this as an example for my daughter Samantha to learn from. Just because you CAN do something you want in life, doesn’t mean you always DO, and if you DON’T, you’ll always wonder WHAT IF I HAD! Weather I make it on the Bullrun TV show or I wait on the waiting list for the ACTUAL Bullrun for years, I will be taking the first step in realizing a major goal in my life.
Mission Statement:
Together we probably drive a combined total of 100K+ miles a year from property to property, office to office, job to job… We are in the Northeast, so we have 4 seasons and plenty of weather: rain, snow, sleet, ice, heat, fog, we drive in it all… Some would say that is the shitty part of a job… We say it’s the only part we look forward to! Our team mission in competing in Bullrun is to have a blast doing what we love most… Driving!
About My Team:
Mark and Mike first joined forces when Mark [a contractor] did work for Mike [a blue collar WASP] at his house. Mark noticed that while in most home studies people put things like BOOKS on shelves, hang [classy] ART on the walls, and rest tumblers of scotch on designer FURNITURE; Mike puts die cast models of classic Mopar muscle cars on the shelves, car paintings on the walls, and has steering wheel coffee tables to rest his beer… Mike doesn’t call it a study, it’s his Mopar Muscle Man Cave! Mike noticed that while Mark drove a Ford Excursion [AKA “the bus”] as a daily driver, he sometimes caught him in a Z06 recounting stories of his days in the pit crew of a drag racing team traveling the country… Since they have joined forces, they formed the Sub16 Car Club; a club whose only restriction is that your car’s power to weight ratio is below 16. A win in Bullrun [which is anticipated] will greatly boost Sub16’s status/legitimacy. If we get picked to be on the TV show and win, the prize money will be split THREE ways: 33% goes to Mark so he can put a nice down payment on the NEW Z06/ZR1 he’s been eyeing [Vette guys are NEVER satisfied only owning ONE], 33% goes to Mike so he can pay off his car loan, and 33% goes to Sub16 to get the wheels off the ground!
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My Ride:
Make: BMW
Model: X5M Year: 2010 Color: Grey Engine Size: 4.4 Liter Twin Turbo HP/TQ: 555/500 Max Speed: 155 (Limited) 0-60: 4.5 MPG: 12/17
Team Setup:
Team: Team X5M
My Role: Driver My Team Member: Mark Hunt
My Biggest Strength:
I possess a Magellan like senses of direction. My middle & confirmation names are actually Tom & Tom, my parents & Jesus found it quite apt! I once thought I was lost, but when I pulled over to get my bearings I found that I was in fact AT my intended destination. I possess a knowledge of the inner workings of an engine so vast that SOME SAY the M division of BMW was named such in honor of me. After finding out the human heart has only four chambers I sought the aid of a cardio thoracic surgeon who would transplant ANOTHER heart into my chest cavity WHILST leaving their current [fully functional] hearts in place, thus making an eight “cylinder” cardio vascular system. VIVE, VIDE, V8! I possess the ability to drive anything with a motor and wheels both accurately and fast [when called for]. I once drove out of midtown Manhattan [east side] in rush hour, while the UN was having their General Assembly [and President Bush was in town], on the Friday of a long weekend, in under 15 minutes! True story… The car: My 2010 BMW X5M… The biggest most badass SUV on the market. 555 all-wheel-drive horses with toque vectoring, that bends physics at will. The rotation of the earth is caused by my right foot and westerly driving! Bring on the challenges, bring on the bad weather. We have the room to not feel CRAMPED on long journeys [such as Bullrun], which means Mike and Mark won’t try to kill each other! Therefore I would have to say team X5M’s BIGGEST STRENGTH is our total LACK of anything resembling a weakness!
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