HPD Scores LMP2 Victory at Le Mans
First and Third-Place Finishes in Inaugural Attempt at 24-Hour Classic
TORRANCE, Calif. (June 13, 2010) – In its first attempt at one of the toughest challenges in
motorsports, Honda Performance Development (HPD), the racing arm of American Honda
Motor Company, Inc., powered the first- and third-place finishers in the LMP2 category Sunday
at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
After starting from the LMP2 pole, British-based Strakka Racing’sHPD ARX-01c held off a
strong challenge from fellow HPD entrant Highcroft Racing through the first 18 hours, then
pulled away to a commanding class victory, finishing fifth overall and six laps ahead of its
nearest challenger as the two HPD teams led the LMP2 category from start to finish.
Strakka drivers Danny Watts, Jonny Kane and Nick Leventis and their Honda Performance
Development ARX-01c completed 367 laps of the eight-mile Circuit de la Sarthe, establishing a
new record for laps completed by an LMP2 competitor at Le Mans. The fifth-place overall finish
also established a new LMP2 record, besting the previous mark set in 2006.
Meanwhile, the HPD-powered RML Lola B08/80 HPD of Thomas Erdos, Mike Newton and Andy
Wallace came home third, nine laps behind the winning Strakka machine and three laps behind
the second-place OAK Racing Pescarolo in a nearly equally trouble-free run. In all, 10 of the 12
LMP2 entries were running at the finish of today’s race, run in clear weather throughout.
American LeMans Series regulars Highcroft started off strong, running solidly in second
through the night, despite three debris-inflicted tire punctures. Marco Werner took the Malaria
No More-backed HPD ARX-01c into the lead at the six-hour mark.
Late in the race, water pressure problems delayed Werner and co-drivers David Brabham and
Marino Franchitti, eventually sending them to the pits for much of the final five hours. The car
did, however, venture back out to take the checkered flag and was classified 9th in LMP2 at the
finish of Highcroft’s debut appearance at Le Mans.
“This is an incredible result in our first attempt at this classic event,” said Erik Berkman, HPD
president. “We saw an absolutely flawless performance from the Strakka team from the start of
practice through to the checkered flags. I also was highly impressed with the determination and
strong run from Duncan Dayton and his Highcroft Racing team. To lead this event and
challenge for the class victory in their first attempt at Le Mans is an effort that should give them
enormous pride. The RML team also put in a great effort and was rewarded with an excellent
podium finish.”
“This is my seventh Le Mans, and by far my best,” said Strakka driver Kane. “Strakka and HPD
have put together an amazing effort, and a perfect engine/chassis package. We had not one
single problem all race long.”
The three HPD entries also dominated qualifying, with Strakka’s Watts claiming the LMP2 pole
in the same ARX-01c chassis that won the 2009 American Le Mans Series LMP2 title for HPD
and Fernandez Racing. The similar Highcroft ARX-01c, driven by 2009 overall Le Mans winner
Brabham, qualified second in class, as both HPD machines posted times more than three
seconds quicker than the 2009 LMP2 pole. Brazilian Erdos rounded out the top three LMP2
qualifiers in his HPD-engined RML Lola.
Last week, HPD announced it will offer a new LMP2 engine to customers participating in the
2011 American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and
Intercontinental Cup competitions. Based on Honda’s global V6 engine, the new engine is a
2.8-liter, twin-turbo variant utilizing HPD’s exclusive engine-control system, and is the product of
a joint effort between HPD and Honda R&D Americas, Inc. (HRA).
Since 2007, HPD has provided engines to prototype-class teams in the American Le Mans
Series, and these engines have scored numerous victories, beginning with an LMP2 class win
in HPD’s inaugural ALMS race at Sebring in 2007. HPD was the first manufacturer to score
ALMS class wins in both LMP1 and LMP2 on the same weekend with its wins at St. Petersburg
in 2009.
HPD went on to win LMP1 and LMP2 Manufacturers’ Championships for Acura in 2009 –
becoming the first ALMS manufacturer to do so – and this year began providing engines and
support for sports-car competition in both America and Europe.
Located in Santa Clarita, Calif., HPD is the technical operations center for American Honda
high-performance racing cars and engines. In an open-wheel racing history that dates to 1994,
Honda has recorded 166 race victories, 12 drivers’ championships, 10 Manufacturers’
Championships and seven Indianapolis 500 victories. In addition to its sports-car efforts and its
role as single engine supplier to the IZOD IndyCar Series, HPD is active in a growing number of
grassroots motorsports activities.
All posts by ARP Trish
Race Winners week ending 7/11/10
Nascar
Camping World Truck Series- Iowa- Lucas Oil 200 presented by Speed- Austin Dillon
Nationwide Series- Chicago- Dollar General 300 powered by Coca Cola- Kyle Busch
Sprint Cup- Chicago-Lifelock 400- David Reutimann
NHRA
Cory Kruseman Update
K&N Sponsored Kruseman Earns SprintCar Win at
Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway
| The simplest way to get a fresh perspective is to get out of your own house. Cory Kruseman of Ventura, California made use of a of scenery change to change his luck, and dominated the night at Ocean Speedway for his first USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature victory of the 2010 campaign.
“Our 410 sprint car team recently traveled to Kruseman not only won Friday at Watsonville, “The race track just fit my driving style and Kruseman started from the fifth position at Watsonville and wasted little time taking the “He was a great friend and a heck of a good crew member, and he will be greatly missed,” |
DREAM TEAM WINS LUCAS OIL SERIES DIVISION ONE EVENT AT LEBANON VALLEY
With a semifinal win overundefeated Frank Manzo and a final-round decision over veteran EricLourie, Jay Blake’s Follow A Dream team picked up its first event titleof the season and climbed to sixth place in the national standings. Atthe Division 1 Lucas Oil Series event at legendary Lebanon ValleyDragway in upstate New York, driver Todd Veney set low e.t. of all threerounds of eliminations, with a 5.66 against Tom Carter, a 5.75 againstManzo, and a 5.77 in a close final-round win over Lourie.
“This is the best day of my racing life,”Todd said after the final. “I’ve won before, but never like this.Because of the teamwork that went into it, especially before thesemifinals, and because we were the first to beat Manzo all year andcame out on top in such a close final, this is the best day I’ve everhad in drag racing.”
Jay led the crew through a majorthrash before the semifinals after a lifter was damaged in thefirst-round win over Carter. He and tuner Tom Howell were on the vergeof installing another engine – so close that a new engine was rolled outfrom beneath the bench and the motor mounts were removed from the onein the car – but, ultimately, the lifter bore proved to be repairableand the team got the job completed in time.
The car rolled into the staging lanes with just minutesto spare and performed flawlessly, running a 5.75 on the hot, trickysurface to cover Manzo’s up-in-smoke effort. Until that round, the13-time NHRA world champion had won every race he entered this seasonand 33 rounds in a row overall, dating back to the semifinals of lastyear’s U.S. Nationals.
In the final, Lourie, a pastnational event champ competing at his home track, ran a 5.83 but Toddgot the win with a 5.77. “We knew Eric was a solid, consistent performerand that it would be a really close race,” Tom said. “The trackcondition worsened for the final, and we left it up to Todd to get thecar down the track, and he did.”
“Itwas an awesome weekend all around,” Jay said. “Everybody on the teamcame together to get the car turned around in time to race Manzo – justanother example of the teamwork that Follow A Dream is all about.Lebanon Valley is the closest to home that we race all year, and a lotof us had family with us at the track, which just the whole weekend thatmuch more special for everybody.”
After five races in a seven-week span, the team hasseveral weeks off before the next event, a Division 1 Lucas Oil Seriesevent at Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Md. Aug. 20-21.
Tim Allison Update
This past weekend we were at Lima Land Motor Sports Park on Friday night for our make up feature from the rain out the week before plus our Firecracker Friday special. In the make up feature we started 8th, but the track turned really slick and we missed our setup so we finished 9th over all. In the second feature we were in the second heat and dominated it as we hit the set up perfectly and checked out. That got us qualified for the feature and put us starting in the 4th position, an excellent position for the big money on the line for Firecracker Friday. As the race started, we jumped right into the 4th position and started heading to the front only to have a part failure somewhere inside the steering box. We were credited for the 17th position. That was a big let down for us as fast as we were in our heat and in just the first couple of laps of the feature, but we won’t let that get us down. This Friday night we are off to our first visit at Moler Raceway Park and then on Saturday we are back to K-C Raceway again.
Race Report Week Ending July 4, 2010
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach
Nationwide Series- Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered by Coca-Cola- Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Sprint Cup Series- Coke Zero 400- Kevin Harvick
DREAM TEAM ACHIEVES SECOND STRAIGHT SEMIFINAL FINISH AT SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NATIONALS
At the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, Jay Blake’s
Permatex/Follow A Dream team shot back into the top 10 in the national
standings with a second straight semifinal finish in national competition.
As in Englishtown two weeks earlier, driver Todd Veney qualified in the top
five and advanced to the semifinals, where he fell to 13-time Top Alcohol
Funny Car world champion Frank Manzo, who has yet to lose a round all year.
The car ran flawlessly, with times of 5.72, 5.67, and 5.70 in qualifying and
equally consistent runs of 5.70 and 5.72 in the first two rounds of
eliminations. The 5.70 took out Canadian veteran Larry Dobbs, who ran a
5.87, and the 5.72 was just enough for another close win over John Anderika,
the second-ranked driver in Division 1 last season, who hit a 5.74.
“Norwalk is kind of a home race for me because I grew up just an hour from
the track,” Todd said. “I really wanted to do well there, and we did. It’s
always great to be in the late rounds at a national event, but my wife was
there, my mom and dad were there, and a bunch of my friends from high school
and college were there, too, which made it that much more special for me.”
Just as in Gainesville, where the team also reached the final four, the
other semifinalists were Manzo; Steve Harker, who finished second in the
national standings last year; and Mickey Ferro, who appears headed for a
second-place finish this year, having reached the final round in each of his
nine starts this year.
A possible final-round showing for the Permatex/Follow A Dream team
dissolved in the semi’s when the engine inexplicably fell silent just as
Todd was preparing to stage against Manzo, handing Manzo a free pass into
the finals.
“It’s disappointing to lose because of an electrical failure, but overall,
it was another good weekend,” Jay said. “We had some special guests at the
track, we got back in the semifinals, and we’re back in the top 10.”
The team’s next race is this week’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series meet at
Lebanon Valley Dragway in scenic upstate New York, just outside Albany.
Tuner Tom Howell has a history of success at the sometimes tricky track,
having guided the car to the number 1 qualifying spot there in 2006.
The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals sportsman finals will be
broadcast July 4, 2010 @ 12:00PM ET on ESPN2.
Corey Kruseman Update
June 18, 2010-Watsonville, CA, ……..Cory Kruseman of Ventura, CA utilized a change of
scenery to change his luck by dominating Friday night’s USAC/CRA Sprint car feature at
Ocean Speedway for his first victory of the 2010 campaign. Kruseman started from the fifth
position and wasted little time taking the Lucas Oil/Agromin Mopar to the top of the track to
rocket around early leader Nick Faas on lap seven. Despite having multiple yellow flags
erase his substantial lead, Kruseman was unchallenged for the win. Overcome with emotion
in victory lane, Kruseman dedicated the race win to Thomas McCune, a long time friend and
crewman who passed away in May.
Race Winners Week ending 6/27/10
Nascar
Nationwide- New England 200- Kyle Busch
Sprint Cup- Lenox Industrial Tools 301- Jimmie Johnson
NHRA
FOLLOW A DREAM LOOKS TO BUILD UPON RECENT SUCCESS AT SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS IN NORWALK, OHIO
Marstons Mills, MA-June 23, 2010- Hot off a semifinal finish at the SuperNationals June 11-13 in Englishtown, N.J., Jay Blake’s Permatex/Follow A Dream team heads to Norwalk, Ohio for the SummitRacing.com Nationals. It promises to be one of the toughest challenges of the season, with top-ranked cars from every corner of the country entered in the event.
“Norwalk is one of everybody’s favorite races every year, just because of the track itself,” Jay said. “The Bader family really knows how to run a racetrack. We’ve got some special things planned for the weekend, including a trip to the Permatex plant in Solon, Ohio, a pit visit by some of the folks from Travel Centers of America, a speech I’ll be giving at the Lion’s Club in Todd’s hometown, and a wedding reception Todd’s parents are throwing at their house Thursday night.”
Driver Todd Veney, who married Jacque Huntley two weeks earlier, on the Friday of the Englishtown race, grew up not far from Norwalk, in Wadsworth, Ohio. “It’s like another home race for me,” he said. “Everybody in the area is proud of the Norwalk track, and I’m really looking forward to hearing Jay speak for the first time ever when he gives his speech in Wadsworth. Plus, everybody on the team will be with us this weekend, just like they were when we got to the semi’s in Gainesville and Englishtown, so we’re looking to get back into the late rounds again at the very least.”
A giant crowd is expected at the northern Ohio facility, which drew a record 45,000 fans for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional event there last month. Two qualifying sessions are scheduled for Friday, with a last-shot session Saturday morning and the first round of eliminations that afternoon. Final eliminations are on Sunday, and the event will be televised the following Sunday, July 4, from 11 a.m. to noon (Eastern time) on ESPN2.
Subaru Road Racing Team Battles to 13th Place Finish
Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante, from Chester Springs, Pa., and Bret Spaude, from Bushnell, Fl., finished 13th in Saturday’s 2.5-hour GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Held on the 2.258-mile, 15-turn circuit, and from a 15th place qualifying position, only 0..765 seconds off the pole, Spaude and Aquilante raced their 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI to as high as seventh place in the 29-car Grand Sport field.
The race was round seven of 10 in the season for the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, race-prepared and tuned by Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa.
The race’s progress in its first half was marred by incidents which five times in the first half of the race had the field under control of the safety car, and there were green flag segments as brief as of three and four laps.
“We were very pleased with the mechanical reliability that we have been getting from the STI, especially in the high temperatures, and continue to work on adding more power and speed” said Phoenix Performance owner Joe Aquilante.
The next GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series event on the calendar, another 2.5-hour race, is scheduled for July 17, at New Jersey Motorsports Park, near Millville, N.J.
The Mid-Ohio race will be televised on SPEED TV to air June 26 at 1pm ET.
Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Ron Davis Racing Radiators, Hawk Brakes, freeM of America, VAC Motorsports, Automotive Racing Products, Rockland Standard Gear, Quarter Master, Ecutek, Lista, Rotary Lifts, Cusco, Carbonetic, Hella, and Perrin.
CPL Racing breaks into the 9’s!
We’ve Done It !!!!!
As I’m sure everyone reading this bulletin will know, CPL Racing have lead the way in setting numerous European records in their Honda Civic Type R over the past six years, being the first Honda in Europe to smash the 12, 11, and 10 second barriers. And now we are delighted to announce that Guy Chamberlain, driving his turbocharged Civic, broke into the 9’s this weekend, running an amazing 9.91 second pass at 149 mph, later backing this up with a 9.93 second pass.
Breaking the 9 second barrier has required unrivalled determination as it needed design from scratch of a drag racing dog engagement gear kit, extensive chassis analysis and suspension setup and lots of sleepless nights finding and designing engine components which could handle the power that we needed in the car. Thanks to Elliot Dason-Barber of Virtual Racer for the extensive analysis work undertaken on the chassis, tyre wear and data-logs, the ARP head studs so kindly designed specifically for us, superior quality lines and fittings generously supplied by Earls Performance and high grade oil supplied by Millers Oils we were slowly chipping away at the times. This time last year we were, however, having problems with spark plugs giving up on us after only one ¼ mile run and NGK kindly stepped in to provide us with something more substantial so that we could at least get the plugs to last for a day’s racing until we could find a longer-term solution over the winter of the car consuming spark plugs quicker than five litres of race fuel!!!!
The 12 and 11 second barriers were reasonably comfortable to achieve given our growing knowledge at this time of the Honda engines and gearboxes. Helped by the winning Clutchmasters clutch and Quaife differential combination that we were the first to use in Europe. In addition the Hondata engine management gave us exactly the flexibility we needed with all the various N/A, supercharged, turbo and nitrous setups that we experimented with in this period, and Doug and Javier at Hondata kindly gave us extensive technical support to enable us to push the boundaries ever further with the car.
Getting into the 10s was much more challenging as we were starting to break numerous standard parts on the car such as gearboxes, driveshaft and engine mounts, but we achieved this exactly three years ago in June 2007, which meant we had to call on the services of Hauser Racing to provide us with a high specification roll cage to meet the strict safety standards of the MSA and Santa Pod officials.
Despite pushing the car to its limits this weekend it is still
very much intact and having hit 149 mph we are resigned to the fact that
having spend the past six years getting weight off the car, we will now
have to add a little to the back by fitting the parachute that Hauser
Racing have donated to us.
Hairston Motorsports Statement re: LVMS
Hairston Motorsports & Racing Qualifies #1 In Las Vegas & Goes to The Finals
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (June 18-19, 2010) – The Hairston Motorsports & Racing team attended the Pacific Street Car Association (PSCA) California Nationals, in Las Vegas this past weekend. Clint “The Milkman” Hairston of Bakersfield qualified #1 with a 6.18 @ 238 mph, achieving both top speed and low E.T. of the day.
Clint and the Jerry Bickel built 2007 GTO made it to the final round on Saturday against Randy Walker’s 1974 Chevrolet El Camino, the reigning 2009 PSCA Pro Street Champion. The final race ended in controversy. During engine maintenance between rounds, the Walker team was unable to replace damaged oil rings on the driver’s side of the motor. In the staging lanes, Walker’s crew warned us that the engine would probably smoke until the nitrous system was activated but they didn’t think it would be problem. Unfortunately the engine smoke was much worse than expected and in HMR’s opinion may have affected the timing system allowing the Walker car to leave the starting line early without red lighting.
An official statement from the PSCA states “Representatives from Hairston Motorsports along with Track Manager Chris Blair, Nate Hirshi and PSCA President Mel Roth reviewed the LVMS video replays and could not find conclusive evidence that Walker’s car left the starting line before the tree went green.. There was questions raised that Walker left too early but the smoke prevented the red light to activate…” What was not mentioned is that because the smoke was so thick several of the camera views were obstructed. When asked about looking at any other video evidence, Chris Blair said that only official track video could be accepted.
Walker’s time slip numbers were not realistic showing a 5.886 ET, .468 60’, 2.301 330’ and 3.698 1/8 further indicating a timing system malfunction. Mel Roth, PSCA President and Race Director, also agreed the time slip was not valid and decided to disallow the numbers but awarded the win to Walker. Although we agree that the Race Director does have the final word when there is controversy, Mel’s decision is not consistent with the National Hot Rod Association’s race day competition guidelines. There is much precedent in this area both at NHRA National and Divisional events. Had this same situation occurred at an NHRA event the run would have been disallowed because of the invalid time slip. Further, if NHRA officials determined that the timing system failure was caused by one of the competitor’s cars, the offending competitor would have been disqualified regardless of the win light results. If no fault could be found with the car then a rerun would have been required.
HRM wants to make it clear that in know way do we feel that Walker Racing did anything wrong. Although their car was smoking badly literally obstructing our driver’s view of the track, the LVMS starter found no reason to shut their car off and motioned for both cars to stage. Again it is HRM’s opinion that the smoke created an unacceptable safety situation because of limited starting line visibility. Video of the run can be found on our website www.hairstonmotorsports.com showing visibility in our lane.
HRM thought it important to share our position on this incident with our sponsors, fans, interested racing media; LVMS track personnel and management and PSCA officials. We have the utmost respect for the LVMS race track officials and PSCA officials and although we disagreed with the outcome, our team will move on to the next race with no hard feelings only disappointment.
Hairston set the event low E.T and high MPH on Saturday, 6.12 @ 240 MPH, and still holds the Pacific Street Car Association Pro Street National E.T. and MPH record that was set at California Nationals, in Fontana on May 23, 2010. (6.084 @ 238.30 mph)
Hairston Motorsports & Racing would like to give special thanks to Lucas Oil for being our title sponsor this year and also thank our many other loyal sponsors; Pertronix, Duttweiler Performance, PrecisionTurbo, XS Power, Powermaster, Racepak, Hoosier Tire, K&N, Crower Clutches, Lenco, Comp Cams, Hogan Manifolds, Jesel, Strange, Motive Gear, SCE Gaskets, Starside Design, Specialty Fasteners, Russell, Brodix and ARP for their continuing support. Special thanks go out again to Doug Stewart, Bill Hickok and Tom Esbri for their amazing support for this team.
The Hairston team’s next event will take place at the Pacific Street Car Association California Nationals in Fontana, CA on September 10-12, 2010.
Tim Allison Update
Hello and good day! This past weekend we were supposed to get 2 races in, and we almost did- but mother nature is not being nice to us this year. Friday night we were at Lima Land Motor Sports Park and we started off with a high number pill draw again and that put us starting in the 4th heat and the last row. We got going good and made it up to 2nd and that got us qualified for the feature and the inversion was an 8 so that put us starting in the 4th row outside. As the feature started, we jumped up to 4th on the first lap only to have mother nature win again on this night as the rains came and there will be a make-up feature in 2 weeks for this race,
Saturday night we went K-C Raceway for our first visit in about 5 yrs and we got a good draw and started 1st in the first heat and finished 2nd and that got us qualified for the feature and the inversion was a 6 and that got us starting 4th in the feature and the feature went non-stop with no passing as the track was super dry with hardly no passing from anyone, you either lost a spot or two or gained one or two, not a good racing surface at all. But we ended up finishing in the 5th position, another good run and another great night for gaining points and getting us very close to taking over the points lead, we are off this weekend with double features on July 2nd at Lima Land Motor Sports Park.
Kathy Fisher on Inside Drag Racing
LIMA, Ohio – A last minute schedule addition, of the NHRA Thunder Valley
Nationals for Performance by Fisher Racing, would put team driver Kathy Fisher and
her Dragon Racing Fuels/K&N/Ohio Crankshaft/Amalie Oil Super Comp Dragster in
front of the cameras for “Inside Drag Racing”.
“The Bristol event was just something that came together very quickly for us,”
explained Kathy. “Since we have two team cars, my Super Comp and my husband
Kevin’s Top Dragster, we try to only go to events where we can compete with both.
Top Dragster wasn’t offered during that event, but it didn’t take much convincing to
get Kevin to go and just take my car.”
The trip to the famed Bristol Dragway, nestled between two mountains adjacent to Bristol Motor
Speedway, was a first for The Fisher’s.
“One of the reasons we went was just to see the track,” she continued. “Bristol has always been on
our list of places we must race and we were not disappointed in the least with the breathtaking
views and the outstanding facility.”
When Ted Jones, of Bristol, Tennessee based Masters Entertainment, became aware of Fisher’s
trip to the NHRA National event, he asked her to be a part of a special sportsman episode of
“Inside Drag Racing” which airs nationally on Fox Sports.
“Inside Drag Racing” is a highly successful drag racing TV magazine show currently in its 16th year. The
program has received multiple broadcasting awards and covers numerous drag racing events from various
sanctioning bodies all across the U.S. The series can be seen Sunday mornings at 11:30a and repeats Mondays
at 4:30p, in all time zones.
Fisher, a National and Divisional event winner in the 8.90 category, was joined by fellow sportsman
competitor Skip Walls and his Lokar Motorsports Super Comp car for the show’s taping during the
Bristol event.
“Our Super Comp class is one of the very popular index classes contested by NHRA (National Hot
Rod Association) on both the National and Divisional level,” noted Fisher. “This class has an 8.90 second quarter mile index, which makes it a breakout class and one where most all of us are using throttle stops to slow the cars down time-wise, while still holding on to higher mile-per-hour, ranging from as low as 150’s to well into the 180’s. But we all must stay at or slower than the 8.90 index.”
“It can be quite complicated class to explain and I hope that what the viewers will witness during our show,
will help them better understand all that is involved with not only competing in these index classes, but also at
this level of our sport,” she added.
Fisher is no stranger to the camera and has hosted various shows on ESPN, Fox Sports and The Outdoor
Channel, but notes that being on the “other side” as she put it was quite different.
“Even though I do a little work in the television broadcast field, I thought it may be a little distracting
to have all the cameras on my car and around us during and after my runs,” she reflected. “But to be
honest, I didn’t notice them at all. It was an outstanding experience all the way around and we
look forward to seeing the show next month.”
The special episode of “Inside Drag Racing,” filmed with Fisher and her Dragon Racing Fuels/K&N/Ohio
Crankshaft/Amalie Oil Super Comp Dragster at Bristol Dragway during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, will
air on Fox Sports Sunday July 11th at 11:30a and repeat Monday July 12th at 4:30p.
Race Winners week ending 6/20/10
Nascar
Nationwide Series- Road America- Bucyrus 200- Carl Edwards
Sprint Cup Series- Save Mart 350- Jimmie Johnson
NHRA
| Tony Schumacher | Top Fuel |
| John Force | Funny Car |
| Mike Edwards | Pro Stock |
| Von Smith | Pro Mod |
| Bob Dennis | Super Stock |
| Slate Cummings | Stock |
| Lloyd Parfait | Super Comp |
| Ed Apple | Super Gas |
Tim Allison Update
Hello and good morning! This past weekend mother nature won again as the heavy rains came in late in the afternoon. It’s been a rainy year so far off. This weekend we will be at Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday night and on Saturday we will have our first visit to KC Raceway on Saturday night in about 5 yrs. Mother Nature is calling for a chance of rain again both nights; let’s hope she is wrong!
Subaru Road Racing Team Eager for Mid-Ohio Return
Subaru Road Racing Team Eager for Mid-Ohio Return
– Team has won twice at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course –
Phoenixville, PA. – June 16, 2010
Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude are looking forward to an upswing in the team’s fortune as the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series races this Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, site of two of the team’s past wins (2007, 2008).
The 2 1/2-hour race on the 2.258-mile circuit near Lexington, Ohio, is round seven of 10 in the season, and will take the green flag at 1:15pm.
Driving a Grand Sports class 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI race-prepared and tuned by Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., co-drivers Andrew Aquilante of Phoenixville, and Bret Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., have logged a season’s best fifth place at Lime Rock, Conn. Both drivers are looking to capitalize on the continual car development that has been the focus of the team this year.
“I raced at Mid-Ohio a half dozen times in my karting career,” Spaude said. “I’ve done a lot of WKA Grand Nationals here and won three or four of them.” Spaude has also won an SCCA National Championship in a car built by Phoenix Performance.
“We know it’ll be a challenge on the front stretch and the back straight at Mid-Ohio,” said AJ Aquilante, of Chester Springs, Pa. “But I feel the ‘esses’ plus ‘Thunder Valley’ and all the way back to the starting line, we have the pace over anybody because of Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system.”
Aquilante added, “Our team’s 2007 and 2008 wins at Mid-Ohio with our third place in last year’s Street Tuner class race, show the Subaru Road Racing Team can win.”
The Subaru Road Racing Team’s two wins at Mid-Ohio were partially attributable to tactical pit stop timing along with rain showers at times during both races, proving a sizable advantage with the benefit of having the Subaru symmetrical AWD system.
“If there was a nice summer thunderstorm about halfway through the race Saturday, just enough to make the track wet but not bother the fans, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to us,” Andrew Aquilante said, in a playfully wicked tone of voice.
“Barring any mishaps, and on a track where we’re right at home, we can focus on refining our race strategy and leveraging our efforts in car development,” said Joe Aquilante.
Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., “Mid-Ohio really rewards a well-balanced car and poses a challenging drive. That said, we have proven the team management is adept at timing strategic pit stops. Adding our core Subaru technologies, which include the Subaru symmetrical AWD system and boxer engine, we should be in good position come the end of the race.”
The race will be televised by SPEED TV to air June 26 at 1pm.
Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Ron Davis Racing Radiators, Hawk Brakes, freeM of America, VAC Motorsports, Automotive Racing Products, Rockland Standard Gear, Quarter Master, Ecutek, Lista, Rotary Lifts, Cusco, Carbonetic, Hella, and Perrin.
About SRRT Phoenix LLC
SRRT Phoenix LLC represents Subaru of America Inc.’s road racing effort in the 10-round GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series and is owned and managed by Joe Aquilante of Phoenix Performance, LLC. The team’s 32,000 sq. ft. facility is in Phoenixville, Pa., 40 miles west of Philadelphia, PA. Team drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude race a Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the Grand Sport class.
From one of our Open House guests
More Fun Than a Bucket of Bolts
Thanks Martinez family for joining us at the Open House and bringing your Rover. Nice pictures!