]]> http://www.goracingtv.com/2010/03/10/david-ostella-returns-with-aim-autosport-for-2010-focus-on-strong-second-season-in-star-mazda-championship/feed/ http://www.goracingtv.com/2010/03/10/trans-am-series-adds-autobahn-date-to-2010-schedule/ http://www.goracingtv.com/2010/03/10/trans-am-series-adds-autobahn-date-to-2010-schedule/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:41:13 +0000 author http://www.goracingtv.com/?p=6067

Pro Racing03/10/2010

TOPEKA, Kan. (March 10, 2010) – SCCA Pro Racing and Autobahn Country Club announced today that the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series will make its inaugural appearance to the Joliet, Ill. track for Round Seven of the 2010 series calendar.

The Trans-Am Series becomes a featured event on the Mazda-organized July 30-Aug. 1 weekend, which also includes a host of series in the Mazda racing developmental ladder.

“Autobahn and Mazda worked together to set the foundation in 2009 for a great event,” SCCA Pro Racing President and CEO Robert Wildberger said. “We’re excited to take the Trans-Am Series to the Chicago area, which has long been a central location for great series competitors.”

“The revitalized Trans-Am Series is a perfect addition to our professional racing weekend,” Autobahn Country Club President Mark Basso said. “Trans-Am is an iconic series in North America and we can’t wait to see the ground pounding, 800-horsepower cars hit the track.”

In addition to the traditional Trans-Am Series cars, the race will include a second class of vehicles called “Pro STO” for SCCA Club Racing Super Touring O class cars.

The addition of the Autobahn round brings the 2010 event total to nine, with the season finale still to be announced.

source http://www.scca.com

Craig Treble returns to Don Schumacher Racing to ride the Valvoline Motorcycle Oils Suzuki in this weekend’s NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series’ Pro Stock Motorcycle season-opener at the 41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville.

Treble last rode a DSR motorcycle in a limited season in 2008, winning once in one final round and reaching the semifinals two times. Career-wise, he has won 14 national events in 29 final rounds, including two victories in three final rounds in 2009 running his own team.

Longtime DSR Pro Stock Motorcycle crew chief Steve Tartaglia will tune the Valvoline Motorcycle Oils Suzuki.

“I’m thrilled to be back with Schumacher and with Steve Tartaglia,” said Treble, who will relocate from New Orleans to Brownsburg, Ind. “The NHRA has given the Suzukis 100ccs, which is a huge deal. The way I see it I’m pretty much on the fastest Suzuki in the class, if history repeats itself. And the 100ccs may be what we need to get a real shot at coming after the V-Twins. They’ve been beating the class up pretty good for the last couple of years.” Matt Smith rode the same Suzuki to one final round in 2009 and was No. 1 qualifier twice, ending the season fourth in the standings on the top Suzuki in the class.

“We’re pleased to have Valvoline Motorcycle Oils come on board to sponsor the Suzuki in the first two races of the 2010 season,” said team owner Don Schumacher. “It will help raise the awareness among motorcycle owners that Valvoline offers a high-quality motorcycle oil that is available in retail auto parts stores. We will continue to pursue other sponsorship for Treble to continue to compete for the rest of 2010.”

“It ought to be a very interesting year, to say the least,” added Treble. “We have to come out swinging and kick some butt in the first couple of races. Hopefully we can give Valvoline Motorcycle Oils a good value for their investment. I know we’re going to have a fast bike and Steve is a very smart man.”

“We at Valvoline love racing and love engines of all types — cars, trucks, and certainly motorcycles,” said John Stotz, Valvoline global brands director. “Having Valvoline on and inside Craig’s bike is a great way to remind users of Valvoline Motorcycle Oil that they’re using the best.

“Being with Don Schumacher Racing in Pro Stock Motorcycle brings together two winners,” Stotz continued. “When it comes to drag racing, DSR is unmatched, and when it comes to motorcycle oil, Valvoline is the No. 1 brand in retail auto channels. It’s a perfect fit.”

source http://www.nhra.com

By indycar.com staff

Five things to watch this weekend at the season-opening São Paulo Indy 300 on the 2.6-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit:

The boys (and girl) from Brazil

Tony Kanaan said he’s heard from relatives he didn’t even know he had who are seeking tickets to the opening race. The IZOD IndyCar Series’ first to Brazil is a national event and the native drivers are taking center stage.

Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves have previously competed in CART races at the 1.864-mile Emerson Fittipaldi oval in Rio de Janeiro. Both drivers competed from 1998-2000 with Kanaan’s best finish of fifth in 1999. Castroneves’ best finish was 23rd in 1998. Those races, however, are ancient history so expect to see plenty of motivation from these drivers and the other Brazilians to win in their home country.

Speed of the circuit

Cars will move down a straightaway (Reta dos Bandeirantes) almost a mile long 75 times in the race, so expect to see speeds topping 180 mph. “With long straightaways, it’s certainly going to be fast and you definitely will have challenges,” Castroneves said. But this race will not be about flat-out speed as a 180-degree turn at the end of the straightaway means some heavy braking and a chance for overtaking.

Get it right the first time

There are only two practice sessions on the circuit totaling 150 minutes before qualifications mid-afternoon on March 13 so an efficient effort to find the balance between speed for the straights and downforce to negotiate the tight corners in necessary. Which will teams choose: maneuverability in the corners to overtake or speed on the three straights? There’s also a 30-minute warm-up a few hours before the green flag.

New faces in new places

Every season means change and this year there’s plenty. Start with Ryan Hunter-Reay joining Andretti Autosport, Takuma Sato and E.J. Viso at KV Racing Technology, Hideki Mutoh at Newman/Haas/Lanigan, Justin Wilson moving to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Alex Tagliani at the first-year FAZZT Race Team, Simona De Silvestro at HVM, and Milka Duno at Dale Coyne Racing. There will be more changes to come later in the season, including Jay Howard at Sarah Fisher Racing and Davey Hamilton running three races for Luczo Dragon Racing/de Ferran Motorsports.

King of the road

Dario Franchitti was the series’ King of the Road in 2009, winning three of the seven street/road course races. Ryan Briscoe, Justin Wilson, Will Power and Scott Dixon each had one win each on a street or road courses. With the first four races on street/road courses, whoever posts solid results throughout will have a nice jump in the championship standings.

source http://www.indycar.com

By indycar.com staff

HVM Racing will participate in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season with a car driven by Junior Strous, with the intention of progressing the Dutch racer to the IZOD IndyCar Series.

The 23-year-old driver won two races and led the series point standings in 2009, will pilot the Shell/HVM Racing car, beginning with the series-opening event on the Streets of St. Petersburg on March 28.

“I’m now closer to reaching my ultimate goal and that’s racing the big IndyCars,” Strous said. “If I have a chance to improve my position, I’ll always go for it. The HVM partnership offers me good opportunities both for the short and long term in my racing career. HVM is the place to be to achieve my goals.”

HVM Racing team principal and owner Keith Wiggins recognizes the benefits of a ladder system to develop drivers for the premier-level IZOD IndyCar Series and welcomes the opportunity to work with the young driver.

“Junior is a proven talent,” Wiggins said. “He’s won races, so we know he has good skills behind the wheel. We will start him in a (Firestone Indy) Lights car and plan to do some testing with him in the (IZOD IndyCar Series) car at some point this season also. I have no doubt that with continued development he will be in an IZOD IndyCar Series car in the future.”

Strous will run with sponsorship from Shell and the European-based Car Channel Television Network. Car Channel has acquired the live television broadcasting rights for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights in the Netherlands.

“The IZOD IndyCar Series has a large fan base in Europe,” said Etienne Marijnissen, CEO of Car Channel. “Junior driving for Keith Wiggins and HVM is a great development for European televisions viewers, who will get a better understanding and feeling for the fast and exciting Indy Racing League. We will follow Junior and the team on and off track. It will be an exciting racing season in the highest level of motorsports.”

HVM Racing currently fields the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing entry, driven by Simona De Silvestro, in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

source http://www.indycar.com

By indycar.com staff

Team PBIR (Palm Beach Indy Racing) is hard at work preparing its cars for its second season in Firestone Indy Lights as the opening round of the championship gets closer with each day.

The team is now fully owned by Ron Dixon, father of two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, and Kane Williams, two New Zealand natives who combine their passion for racing to form the driving force behind the race team.

Team PBIR plans to field a two-car Firestone Indy Lights entry for 2010 as well as exploring options on the Road to Indy ladder system. The team moved to a new race shop (the former Sarah Fisher Racing headquarters) not far from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The change in location has given the team a “we are ready to go racing feel.”

“Our team cars will again carry their team’s distinctive orange and blue color scheme, and along with the team engineers in a newly designed race-day uniform that’s bound to turn heads,” Dixon said. “The cars are in the final stages of car preparation and a full body fit has just been completed on both cars. With the final painting also near completion. the team looks forward to the start of what will be another great season in the Firestone Indy Lights.”

Source http://www.indycar.com

Susan is the National Vice-President of the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association and is a regular contributor to National Speed Sport News, Competition Plus, and Drag Racing Action, as well as The Newark Star-Ledger, The Chicago Tribune, The San Bernardino Sun, and other newspapers throughout the country.

March 9, 2010 4:21 PM —

RICHMOND, CA - The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) is pleased to announce that Toyo Tires has been named the presenting sponsor of the 2010 NASA Championships to be held at Miller Motorsports Park September 16-19, 2010. In addition to the Toyo tires contingency program which is currently available to every NASA member competing in a NASA class which specify the use of the Toyo Proxes RA1 or R888 competition DOT radial Tires, Toyo has also elected to continue their generous contingency program which allows top-finishing racers at the Championship event to walk away with up to $4,000 cash, for a class win. The contingency program worth over $200,000 in cash and “Toyo Dollars” will be open to competitors competing at the NASA Championship on the Toyo Proxes RA1 or R888 competition DOT radial Tires. Complete details on the 2010 Toyo Tires contingency program including payout structure and requirements can be found here. 2010 Toyo contingency details.

source http://www.nasaproracing.com

REACTION TIME

By Susan Wade

Two drivers.

Two cars.

Two tune-ups.

Two narrow ribbons of asphalt.

One prize.

That winning E.T. slip.

Drag racing and its elapsed times. It seems like such a simple proposition, such a  simple sport.

It is and it isn’t.

The embodiment of the post-World War II American car culture, drag racing is the late Wally Parks’ legacy — and the focus of this new “Reaction Time” column.

Parks, the patriarch of drag racing and the patron saint of reckless street toughs, founded the National Hot Rod Ass’n. in 1951. Or as “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who in 2001 was voted the No. 1 drag racer in the sanctioning body’s history, put it, “Wally took a bunch of leather-jacketed hoodlums off the street and made them legitimate.”

Car racing was at a fever pitch when Parks came home from his World War II military service. But the dry lake beds of the Mojave Desert and abandoned air strips weren’t going to hold this new breed of restless tinkerers and aggressive personalities who had just shown in the European and Pacific theatres that they could conquer the world. America’s love affair with cars was in its heyday.

Parks had some experience fiddling around with Chevy fours and stripped-down Model Ts as a teenager, but he was becoming corporate-savvy by then. He heard the car-crowd’s crescendo and knew he had to act. He had the skills to lead, had proven that by helping form the SCTA — the Southern California Timing Association, which was preoccupied with land-speed-record events — in 1937. He also had helped publishing partners Bob Petersen and Bob Lindsay get Hot Rod Magazine off the ground. He put his stamp on the classic magazine as editor. His resume also included being a road-test driver and process engineer for General Motors. So he knew how to gather likeminded people to focus on a common cause.

And with guidance from the Boy Scouts of America handbook, he crafted the NHRA.

“My role is the dreamer,” Parks said in a 2004 in a conversation about the explosive growth of the organization. “I’m not a businessman. Most of my life I’ve been in journalism and public relations. I sit around thinking up dumb ideas and seeing what becomes of them. We made this up as we went along. Of course, there’s always room to improve what we’re doing — if we ever figure out what it is.”

Everyone seems to have a different vision of what drag racing truly is.

Dean Skuza, one of the more colorful Funny Car drivers in a rich history of them, said of drag racers, “We don’t conserve tires. We don’t conserve fuel. We don’t conserve nothin’! What’s more American than that?!”

Former Pro Stock driver Tom Martino, said, “We are the epitome of the American people.” And he likened his doorslammer car to a fruit cart: “Everything on there is perishable. It’s only going to go bad — so use it!

That attitude is what makes drag racing the most dazzling of motorsports, the sleekest, sexiest, scariest — and shortest but satisfying. If it were vying for an Academy Award, it might win an Oscar for best sound, best cinematography, most original screenplay, best leading actor, best leading actress, best supporting actors and actresses, and above all, best special effects.

Two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon absorbed all that as a child. He and brothers Cruz and Frankie tagged along with driver dad “Flamin’ Frank” Pedregon to the racetrack. He earned his nickname by possessing the distinction of igniting the tires on his fuel coupe and keeping them lit all the way down the quarter-mile dragstrip. Oh, it was a sight. No one knew for sure how he did it; maybe he didn’t know, either.

But what young Tony found fascinating was the artistry of it all. A painter today in his precious-little spare time, he discovered early on the gauzy smoke, the golden flames with their tinges of crimson, the blur of boldness against a backdrop of captivating colors, shapes, patterns, and textures. He had an eye for the abstract. He saw the lines, the curves, the angles.

“My childhood memories aren’t of going fishing and camping,” Tony Pedregon said. “They’re of going to races and watching our dad race . . .  and occasionally catch on fire. That was our playground.”

For John Force, the 14-time Funny Car champion who has won more races (127) than any other driver, drag racing was salvation.

Force, easily the sport’s most popular and recognizable ambassador, said he fell in love with fast cars because it eased what he called “the pain of growing up in poverty.” The lure of Parks’ sport was simple, too: “Drag racing was something a kid could do with his mom’s car and a helmet Wally Parks started the concept, and we all went with him.”

Force’s struggle to break into drag racing and to survive in the process is legendary itself: eating boiled eggs and drinking diet cola, living in his car in brother Walker’s driveway, irritating the neighbors with the constant d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d of his engine, holding the car together with what a horrified Walker swore was just baling wire and duct tape, and traveling almost like a hobo to nearly 70 NHRA races before he wound up in the winners circle. And it was all because of what Wally Parks had established and promoted.

In drag racing’s infant stages, we saw racers — that word alone . . . racers . . . exudes exotic, matchless appeal –  each with a swashbuckling dash of audacity. Don “The Snake” Prudhomme was one of the legends. Rake-thin with a cocksure gait, he had the glamour of a Georgio Armani model, with his snarl of dark hair, blue eyes like icy pools of water, and a Machiavellian ruthlessness on the starting line. He oozed “Drop dead” vibes toward his opponents.

But along came Shirley Muldowney, a feisty female from the unsupervised streets of Schenectady, N.Y. She asked nobody’s permission and received almost nobody’s approval when she barged into drag-racing 40 years ago. She single-handedly rocked that male bastion, proving that Top Fuel dragsters run on grit and nitromethane rather than testosterone.

Thanks to her, the NHRA has a record of female participation and diversity that is the envy of NASCAR. While the stock-car posse is still drooling over Danica Patrick, who isn’t even a trailblazer in open-wheel racing by a long shot, drag racing literally has dozens of women drivers, winners, and champions. Women race. Men have adjusted. And the sport has widened its appeal.

Ashley Force Hood, John Force’s daughter, said many of her on-track rivals have known her since she was in diapers and said that women “are welcome in drag racing. Our competitors are happy to have us here.”

Maybe they shouldn’t be. Often the women have outperformed the men.

So drag racing is a crazy sport, a growing and evolving sport, one that speaks so differently to so many individuals. It’s the triumph of technology and the heart of humanity, wrapped into one

“Reaction Time” will bring you the inside look at this sensory-overload subculture as the season unfolds. Please peek in on it at GoRacingTV.com!