Polish Racing Drivers of America Blog " Keeping the Legends Alive "

Brad Keselowski Wins At Kansas!

2011-06-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)— Brad Keselowksi held off Dale Earnhardt Jr to win Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race atKansas Speedway and pick up his first victory of the year.

Keselowski led the final nine laps, conserving just enough fuel to stave off Earnhardt and snap a 75-race winless streak.

Earnardt finished second for the second week in a row in a fuel mileage race. Earnhardt appeared to have enough to make a late charge on Keselowski. That push never came - though Earnhardt did move up to third in the points standings.

Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards.

Pollsitter Kurt Busch led for 152 laps Sunday and finished ninth. He had to stop for gas as the leader with 10 laps remaining.

#2 isn't so bad today as Brad Keselowski wins at the Kansas Speedway in his #2 Miller Lite racecar. It is his second Sprint Cup victory.

Emporia native Clint Bowyer, who won the Truck Series race on Saturday, finished a dissapointing 18th.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. came in right behind Keseloski in second. Pole winner Kurt Busch finished ninth.

From KWCH Eywitness News Chanel 12.

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SECOND ANNUAL SONOMA HISTORIC MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL JUNE 4-5

2011-05-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

MORE THAN 250 HISTORIC CARS FROM CALIFORNIA ENTERED

SONOMA, Calif. (May 5, 2011) - Of the 400 historic cars entered in the Second Annual Sonoma Historic Motorsport Festival, June 4-5, at Infineon Raceway, more than 250 hail from the State of California, a hot bed for collectors of exotic street cars and significant race cars. The event features the McLaren marque, which was a dominant force in the Can-Am, Indy 500 and Formula 1 racing series in the '60s and '70s.

While nearly 190 of the entries list Northern California as home, the remaining are from the Los Angeles and Central California areas. Included in the San Francisco-based cars are a 1934 Bugatti T-59, owned and driven by Charles McCabe, a 1977 McLaren M23 and a 1963 Lotus 27 Formula Junior driven by Danny Baker, and Len Auerbach's 1938 Aston Martin.

Jim Gallucci, of Danville, will race his 1969 McLaren M8C, while Peter Giddings, also of Danville, will compete in his 1931 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3 and 1956 Maserati 250F.

From nearby Yountville, home of the world-renowned restaurant, French Laundry, Steve Cook will race his 1964 March 741 and 1968 McLaren M6B. Jeremy Nickel, also from Yountville, will pilot his 1963 Lotus 27 Formula Junior in one of the 13 races groups that will compete during the weekend. Jeffrey O’Neill, who lives and works in the heart of the wine country in Kentfield, has entered his 1957 Maserati 250F, and Frank Altamura, of Napa, will drive his 1966 Porsche 911S.

Petaluma will be represented by the 1974 Shadow DN4A, entered and driven by Fred Cziska, and the 1963 Corvette of Dan Payne, while the quaint seaside town of Sausalito boasts six entries, including a 1934 Lagonda Rapier (owned and driven by Alan Patterson), David Swig's 1957 Montsterati Special, and Howard Swig's 1931 Chrysler CD8 LeMans.

The L.A.-area entries include Bob Lee's 1968 McLaren M6B (of Rolling Hills), Mitch McCullough's 1956 Lotus 11 LeMans (of Redondo Beach), and from Santa Monica, Dave Hagan's 1960 Cooper T-52 Formula Junior.

"The state of California is well represented at this year's event," said Steve Earle, president of General Racing, Ltd., who for four decades has devoted his life to organizing historic car racing events. He is the originator of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races and the Wine Country Classic that preceded the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival.

"Many of the owners from Sonoma, Petaluma, San Rafael, Sausalito, Novato and Mill Valley could actually drive their cars to Infineon Raceway, and I suspect a few of them will. After all, a drive through the Northern California countryside can only enhance the adventure that will face these owners when they get on track at the stunningly beautiful Infineon Raceway. We expect great late spring weather." A complete entry list may be found at www.sonomahistoric.com.

The weekend’s festivities will also include the Historic Race Car Festival in the Sonoma Plaza Saturday evening benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities, and other special programs to be announced.

A popular event away from the racing action is the Wine Country Pavilion at Infineon Raceway, where the best food and wine from the Sonoma and Napa Valleys may be sampled. Admission to the Pavilion is FREE with an event ticket. Local restaurants participating in the Wine Country Pavilion are Girl in the Fig, Botanical Bakery and CIA Greystone. The wineries include Tin Barn, Dawn Hughes, Frank and Andy Aspina, Clarbec Wines, Sidejob Cellars, Rielle Wines, Meadowcroft, Bennet Lane and Korbel. Additional restaurants and wineries are expected to participate and will be announced in the near future.

Additional information may be found at www.sonomahistoric.com. Companies interested in supporting special events during the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, should contact General Racing Ltd., at 805-686-9292.

About McLaren:
Having dominated the Can-Am series from 1967 through 1971, McLaren was considered unbeatable. There were also McLaren victories at the Indianapolis 500 for American drivers Mark Donohue (1972) and Johnny Rutherford (1974, 1976). In Formula 1 racing, the McLaren name is equally famous. Only Ferrari has competed in more F1 races in the modern era, and McLaren’s driver lineup has included the very best the sport has produced including Bruce McLaren, Peter Revson, Denny Hulme, James Hunt, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonzo and current world champion drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Today, the McLaren Group, headquartered in Woking, Surrey, England, is comprised of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Racing Team and McLaren Automotive. In 2011, the company will introduce its new road car, the McLaren MP4-12C. The carbon fiber composite chassis with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine develops 600 horsepower and has a top speed of 200 mph. The seven-speed gear box with paddle shifter will accelerate from 0 to 124 mph in under ten seconds. The MP4-12C’s shapely form and extraordinary performance pays tribute to McLaren’s racing heritage.

About General Racing, Ltd.:
General Racing Ltd. was formed in 1970 to encourage the restoration, preservation and the use of historic sports and racing cars. Founder Steven J. Earle envisioned an event that would unite former racing greats with enthusiastic amateurs who owned some of the rare motorcars that once graced road courses worldwide. Earle’s vision forever changed the vintage racing landscape.

In 1974, with the support of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance organizers, he launched the inaugural one-day Monterey (Calif.) Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca Raceway. It was a huge success and attracted a field of 66 cars.

It also sparked the interest and vision for what would become the world’s premier historic auto race. In 1975 it became a two-day affair and since then has grown to a full three-day event.

The success of the Monterey Historics spawned additional General Racing events, including the Portland (Ore.) Historic Automobile Races, the Coronado (Calif.) Speed Festival, special events at the Long Beach Grand Prix and the Kansas City Historic Grand Prix, as well as the Wine Country Classic, the forerunner to the current Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival.

In addition, General Racing assisted the organizational team from 2001-2008 at the Lime Rock Park (Conn.) Vintage Festival, held over Labor Day weekend.

Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival
WHAT: Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival
WHEN: June 4-5, 2011
CIRCUIT: 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course
TICKETS: $40 day/$60 weekend; Youth (Ages 13-20): $20 day/$30 weekend; Children 12-and-under FREE and parking is FREE. Each ticket includes entry to the Wine Country Pavilion and souvenir program
INFORMATION: 800-870-RACE, infineonraceway.com/historics, ticketmaster.com

Accredited media wishing to cover the event may apply for event media credentials at www.smicredentials.com and apply for access to the site. Once approved for access, you may log in and apply for credentials.

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2011-01-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net

AUGIE PABST RECEIVES 2010 BOB AKIN AWARD FROM
ROAD RACING DRIVERS CLUB

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2011) - Augie Pabst, described as "one of the fastest, most charismatic and popular drivers in his day" by the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, to which he'll be inducted later this year, was named the recipient of the 2010 Bob Akin Award by the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC). The award was presented at a dinner prior to the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Each recipient of this honor, considered the top award in motorsports for amateur, vintage/historic or semi-professional drivers, is selected by Akin's son Bobby, RRDC members Brian Redman and Archie Urciuoli, and approved by RRDC president Bobby Rahal.

The distinctive trophy was conceived by the RRDC to honor the memory of long-time RRDC member and past president Bob Akin, who lost his life in a racing accident in 2002.

The trophy was designed by Steuben Glass in Corning, N.Y., and is given to a driver who best exemplifies the extraordinary qualities and characteristics that Akin represented, including a passion for motorsports and automobiles, a high level of sportsmanship and fair play, and who has contributed to the sport of motor racing.

A scion of the family that founded Pabst Brewing Company in 1844, whose early racing career spanned a 10-year period (1956-66), Pabst won the 1959 USAC Road Racing Championship and the SCCA B-Modified Championship in 1960. He and his wife Joan reside in Oconomowoc, Wis., and he considers historic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., his home track.

Pabst was presented the award by Urciuoli, Akin and Rahal. "I got to know Bob Akin when I drove with him a couple times in 1979 and 1980,” said Rahal. “Ten years ago Bob and Brian Redman approached me to be the president of the RRDC because they had a great passion for the club and thought maybe I could help them in that fashion. Unfortunately, we lost Bob in an accident in 2002. He represented so many good things and epitomized a true gentleman in the sport."

Added Urciuoli: "Bob was a great fellow competitor who was tragically killed at the age of 66. He had a great 40-year road-racing career and gave generously back to our sport, to his family, his community and his business.

“We're very proud to present the 2010 Bob Akin Award to Augie Pabst.”

Pabst's success in the late '50s and early '60s as one of road-racing's most versatile stars came driving the famous Meister Brauser Scarab, which he today drives in vintage competition. He also scored significant victories for Briggs Cunningham, John Mecom Jr., Carroll Shelby and Luigi Chinetti. He retired in early 1966.

"Like many of us, Augie began racing in regional SCCA events, starting in a Triumph TR3 in 1956,” said Urciuoli. “He had his first major win in 1959 in a Ferrari 500 TR and ended that year as the USAC Road Racing Champion in the famous Meister Brauser Scarab. In 1960 he won five SCCA nationals and the Class B-Modified championship and was named U.S. Driver of the Year by Competition Press. He continues to race in motorsports events at Road America and often had some spirited dices with Bob Akin."

"Bob Akin and I had a lot of fun together in vintage racing in the '90s," said Pabst, a three-time winner of the Road America 500 (1961, '63 and '64). "He had a very fast little Cooper and in the beginning the Scarab that I drove and the Cooper were very similar on lap times and each year the Cooper got a little faster. We used to go down from turn 3 to turn 5 at Road America and the Scarab would pull away from the Cooper. About two or three years later the Cooper would go past the Scarab.

"I feel honored and humbled to receive this award because I thought Bob was such a great person and a fabulous driver. He was a good sport and sportsman. He loved the sport as much, if not more, than we did. He contributed so much, in both professional and vintage racing."

Past recipients of the Bob Akin Award have been Sam Posey, Charlie Gibson, John Fitch, Jim Haynes, Cameron Argetsinger, Jim Downing and Steve Earle.

The permanent trophy, listing annual winners, is on display at the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) in Watkins Glen, N.Y. The recipients receive a smaller, engraved version of the award.

About the RRDC:
The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 as a way to give champion drivers a say in their sport, particularly in the areas of safety, and has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. The Club’s membership includes leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.

President Bobby Rahal is the 1986 Indy 500 winner and is co-owner, with David Letterman, of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winning Rahal Letterman Racing team. Six-time SCCA National champion John Fergus is the Club’s Vice President/Treasurer, and five-time SCCA National champion Tom Davey is the Secretary.

In addition to RRDC members lending their expertise to up-and-coming drivers, the Club presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award for rendering outstanding service to road racing; the Mark Donohue Award for personal spirit and performance at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs; and the Bob Akin Award – the top award presented to amateur and semi-professional racers - for speed with style, passion, sportsmanship and contribution to motorsports.

The RRDC also supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990.

Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. Additional information on the organization may be found at http://www.rrdc.org/ .

Photo of Augie Pabst, center, receiving the 2010 Bob Akin Award at the RRDC dinner in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Jan. 26, from Bobby Akin, left, and Bobby Rahal. Photo credit: Jeff Tan

RRDC/FIA YOUNG DRIVERS SYMPOSIUM ATTRACTS LARGE AND APPRECIATIVE AUDIENCE

2010-12-17T03:34:00.000-08:00

HILLIARD, Ohio (Dec. 16, 2010) – A capacity crowd of 150 young drivers, family members, managers, coaches and assorted guests participated in the Road Racing Drivers Club/FIA Young Drivers Symposium on Dec. 11, at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show in Orlando, Fla.

Hosted by RRDC President, Indianapolis 500 winner and BMW-Rahal Letterman Team co-owner Bobby Rahal, the third in a series of free “Safe is Fast” workshops – with S.A.F.E. an acronym for Skilled, Assured, Fit, Empowered – was supported by a grant from the FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund.

The three-hour program featured a total of six industry experts who relayed a wealth of information and know-how covering such topics as mental preparation (Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D, founder and president of Prime Performance), physical fitness (Jim Leo, C.S.C.S., president of Pit Fit Training), safety (Stephen Olvey, M.D., and Terry Trammell, M.D., founding members of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences and founding fellows of the FIA Institute for Motorsport Safety), integrated driving and coaching (Michael Zimicki, president of Sliderule Motorsport) and sponsorship and branding (Jim Jordan, Manager for Alternative Marketing at Mazda North American Operations).

The symposium attracted drivers from a wide variety of race series and activities ranging from karting and quarter-midgets through all branches of open-wheel, sports car and stock car racing. Among them, the attendees represented all the major race sanctioning bodies in North America, including American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am, IndyCar, NASA, SCCA, USAC, NASCAR, ARCA and a plethora of karting entities.

“We couldn’t have been more pleased with the response,” said Rahal. “We saw drivers from just about every discipline you could imagine, and it was exciting to see how enthralled they were with the presentations.”

Attendees were equally effusive in their praise for the symposium: “I found it very educational,” said Collete Davis, 16, a student of mechanical engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., who hopes to race in the 2011 U.S.F2000 National Championship. “I learned in just a few hours what people would usually take years to learn.”

“This was the second time I had attended the symposium at PRI,” said Trent Hindman, 15, from Wayside, N.J., who last week won a full scholarship to contest the 2011 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Championship Presented by Mazda. “This year, to be honest, I was a lot more prepared to take in all this information. Dr. Dallaire’s method of thinking really helped me out a lot, so I’m going to try to take all of that and apply it and hopefully go faster on track.”

It wasn’t just the youngsters who picked up valuable information to help them maximize their potential. “I thought it was excellent,” said former IndyCar driver turned television analyst Scott Goodyear, who was joined by his 14-year-old son Michael, a burgeoning kart racer. “There was a lot crammed into a short period of time, but I think that if you can just even take away 10 or 20 percent of what you heard, that’s going to make you better both on and off the track. For me personally, it was an opportunity for my son to hear all these things from a different source – because I’m talking about it all the time – so he can then understand it and realize the importance of it all.”

“I really enjoyed the mental and the physical fitness side of it because that’s one thing that isn’t always foremost in your mind when you go to the race track,” added former Atlantic competitor John Thompson, from Perkaise, Pa., who accompanied his 16-year-old son, Colin, a competitor in this year’s VW Jetta TDI Cup Series. “The fact that it’s a seven-day, 24-hour-a-day activity really makes sense. You really can’t just prep yourself for the weekend, you’ve got to prep yourself all week for what you’re going to be doing at the weekend.”

About the RRDC:
The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 as a way to give champion drivers a say in their sport, particularly in the areas of safety, and has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. The Club’s membership includes leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.

President Bobby Rahal is the 1986 Indy 500 winner and is co-owner, with David Letterman, of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winning Rahal Letterman Racing team. Six-time SCCA National champion John Fergus is the Club’s Vice President/Treasurer, and five-time SCCA National champion Tom Davey is the Secretary.

In addition to RRDC members lending their expertise to up-and-coming drivers, the Club presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award for rendering outstanding service to road racing; the Mark Donohue Award for personal spirit and performance at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs; and the Bob Akin Award – the top award presented to amateur and semi-professional racers - for speed with style, passion, sportsmanship and contribution to motorsports.

The RRDC also supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990.

Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. Additional information on the organization may be found at www.rrdc.org.

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PRDA MEMBER TOM STYCZYNSKI WINS THE PENNSYLVANIA HILLCLIMB ASSOCIATION 2010 VINTAGE 1 CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP

2010-10-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

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The final championship points for the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) sanctioned Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association (PHA) 2010 time trial and hillclimb series were released, on 03 October 2010. We are pleased to announce that Tom Styczynski, The Clarksville Garages team driver of the #38 1959 Austin Healey Sprite, placed first in points for the Vintage 1 class (1950-1962 Sports Cars and Sedans under 2000cc).

In 2010 Tom competed in 5 of the 8 events accumulating 3 – 1st place finishes (uncontested but the times were better then the previous year), 1 – 2nd place (behind to Dave Smith in a Bugeye Sprite but again faster then last year) and a hotly contested 3rd place in one of the largest fields of Vintage 1 racers (4 cars with 5 drivers). This places Tom Styczynski in the PHA record book among other noted Vintage 1 champions including Lloyd Geib Jr., Dave Smith and other people you do not know.

After the announcement Tom thanked the staff at The Clarksville Garages for their support in making this championship possible. The following were singled out for their effort:

Team Manager – Tom Styczynski
Chief Mechanic – Tom Styczynski
Shop Support Crew – Tom Styczynski
Parts/Logistics Department – Tom Styczynski
Transporter Driver – Tom Styczynski
Team Photographer – Carla Styczynski (assisted by Tom Styczynski)
Moral Support – Carla Styczynski
Immoral Support – Various Sources

The plans for the 2011 season are uncertain. Rumors persist that #38 is for sale and Tom is planning a move to the West Coast. Tom has rejected the offer from Najwyższym Biegu w Polsce (translation - Top Gear in Poland) to replace Stash (translation – Stanley) the performance driver.

UMW Triumphs at Road & Track Concours d’Elegance

2010-07-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Elkhart Lake, Wisc. 21 JUNE 2010 – After five years of restoration work, UMW’s former Penske Racing 1972 International Fleetstar 2110A did the unthinkable this past weekend in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, winning ‘Best in Show’ at the Road & Track Concours d’Elegance, an event that is coupled annually with the Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman at the four-mile Road America racing facility and the streets of Elkhart Lake.

It all started Friday evening on the streets of Elkhart Lake and the grounds of the fabulous Osthoff Resort, where the team’s freshly-restored 1972 transporter came away with a class win in the retired racecars class, beating out many famous racing cars; including the team’s 1972 All-American Racers Indy Eagle. From there, the truck was displayed at Road America for much of the weekend, where it served as a landmark for the 2010 Mark Donohue Reunion tent before Sunday’s overall Concours judging.

Showing the hauler alone with the ramps out would have only told half the story to the thousands of fans who made it out to the KIC. Thus, UMW team manager Rick Dresang consulted with Matt Drendel of Heritage Motorwerks, owner of the 1973 Porsche 917-30 on display under the Reunion tent. Rick and Matt came to the decision that the 917-30 would look great parked at the end of the International’s loading ramps to give the complete ‘Tonka set’ look to the truck. After checking with the judges, the 917-30 was allowed into the gated Concours area, and parked at the end of the loading ramps for the first time in over 36 years. When the final votes were tallied; the UMW crew, headed by team manager Rick Dresang, took home the ‘Best in Show’ award.

‘It is a great honor to take home the Best in Show award at the Road & Track Concours d’Elegance,’ said Dresang. ‘The truck was a massive undertaking to restore. We couldn’t have done it without the help of Dick Saleva, Heinz Mihm, Calico Hand Painted Pinstriping, Paul Jay, Dan O., Rick U., Jon ‘Wadewerx’ Wade, Gary Welk, Southland International Trucks Ltd., Lakeside International and the former Penske team members for their help in bringing the transporter back to former glory. A big thank you also goes out to Matt Drendel and his Heritage Motorwerks crew for helping complete the display with their Porsche 917-30.’

The team also had their ’72 Eagle-Offenhauser on-track during the course of the weekend with team driver Paul Jay taking the turbocharged Offy up through the gears on the car’s first laps of the Road America circuit. The UMW team will be seen next during the weekend of August 6-8, 2010 at the Road America circuit where team driver Jacques Dresang will make his 2010 debut in SCCA competition in the team’s newly-restored 1977 All-American Racers DGF Formula Ford. It will be the team’s first foray into formula car competition.

UMW is a team dedicated to the integrity and preservation of the history of motorsports. Since 1996, UMW has competed in various forms of racing; always with the same attention to detail that can be seen today in the various machines currently raced and restored by the team. For more information, please visit www.uemsimotorwerks.com.

# # # # #

Photo Credits:

AtSpeed.jpg – UMW driver Paul Jay at-speed in the team’s 1972 All-American Racers Indy Eagle #7225. (UMW Photo)

Teamset.jpg – The 1972 International Fleetstar 2110A transporter was reunited with Heritage Motorwerks’ 1973 Porsche 917-30 for the first time in over 36 years. (UMW Photo)

Bestinshow.jpg – UMW team manager Rick Dresang, left, and Heritage Motorwerks’ Matt Drendel share the accolades of the ‘Best in Show’ award at the Road & Track Concours d’Elegance. (Steve Zautke Photo)

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Lyn St. James announces “ACCELERATE with Lyn St. James”

2010-06-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Racing legend Lyn St. James announces “ACCELERATE with Lyn St. James” to debut on NewsProNet

Available Through Hundreds of Local News Sites, the Program is Targeted to Women Drivers and Auto Buyers

MIAMI, FL, June 29, 2010 – NewsProNet, the leading provider of original syndicated video news to local broadcasters and online news destinations, today announced a new automotive program targeted to women with famed professional driver, Lyn St. James. Debuting in January, “Accelerate with Lyn St. James” will be seen three times per week on hundreds of local news sites and other NewsProNet worldwide syndication outlets.

Ms. St. James is best known as the trailblazing motor racing professional who was the first woman to win a North American professional road race driving solo (Watkins Glen, New York in 1985). She competed in the Indianapolis 500 seven times and is the first woman named Indy 500 “Rookie of the Year” (1992).

“I’m excited about sharing a lifetime of experience behind the wheel,” said Ms. St. James. “Many women are uncomfortable financially and mechanically with cars, but it's no different than taking care of your body. The first step is knowing the basics and building on those.”

Women account for about 50% of vehicle purchases and 80% of auto maintenance and repairs.

“Like your body, if you take care of your car, your car will take care of you,” added Ms. St. James.

Ms. St. James has worked as an on-air auto racing commentator for ABC and ESPN, and has authored three books, “Ride of Your Life,” “Only This Morning You’re All Grown Up” and “The Lyn St. James Car Owner’s Manual for Women.”

Ms. St. James will serve as co-producer, scriptwriter and on-camera talent for the new program, which will be seen three times per week. Using a format of two-minute segments, Ms. St. James will cover driving safely, auto maintenance and ownership. She’ll also give viewers a sense of what it’s like to be behind the wheel competing in some of the most famous motorsports events in the world.

“We're thrilled to have Lyn St. James as the driving force behind our latest video syndicated offering,” said Bob Rodriguez, chairman, NewsProNet. "We believe that Lyn's vast knowledge, her passionate love of autos and her ability to relate to men and women everywhere will create a huge following for ‘Accelerate.’"

NewsProNet news segments reach more than 50% of U.S. TV households and millions of online visitors every month. “Accelerate” provides national advertising and sponsorship options including pre-roll, video overlay, and display advertising opportunities. Additional advertising and sponsorships are available through the local media outlets that carry the video content on their websites.

“Accelerate with Lyn St. James” is co-produced by Tel-Air Interests, Inc., a full-service film/video production and development company located in the Hollywood Production Complex in Hollywood, Florida. Tel-Air's Studio facilities support a full range of video and audio services, with two film and television stages and state-of-the-art video tape and non-linear digital editing bays.

NewsProNet provides syndicated news content to major market TV stations across the U.S., including local NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates. A trusted source for premium video news content for more than 12 years, the company is also the creator and syndicator of short-form programming in key vertical audiences licensed to more than 300 Web sites worldwide.

“Accelerate” is the latest in a series of NewsProNet initiatives to distribute high-quality online video news content co-produced with some of the most-recognized names in business and consumer news. NewsProNet’s HealthDay TV service is a joint production with HealthDay Consumer News Service, and “The Main Street Money Minute” Web video news reports are co-produced with TheStreet.com’s personal consumer finance news site, MainStreet.com. HealthDay TV is available daily in the MSN global network.

About NewsProNet
NewsProNet Video, Inc. with headquarters in Miami and offices in Boston and San Diego, is a privately held company that produces original syndicated news services for local broadcasters and online news destinations worldwide. NewsProNet news segments reach more than 50% of U.S. TV households and millions of online visitors every month. NewsProNet provides content services to stations and websites owned by major affiliate groups, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Scripps Broadcasting, Cox Broadcasting, BELO Broadcasting, Raycom Media, Meredith and others. For more information visit www.newspronetvideo.com/

Watkins Glen F5000 Revival Weekend

2010-06-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Watkins Glen F5000 revival weekend last was good, however spotty weather, some nice days during the week, started to turn overcast with intermittent rain showers. As you know we don't run the F5000 cars in the rain, too dangerous and cars are too valuable... say nothing of the drivers ??? Oh heck most of them are too old anyway...

Sat qualifying race , weather good, however I had some issues with the RIAM Eagle, throttle pedal placement position change when brake pedal started dropping during the race. Quite unnerving,had to rely on my left foot braking technique to make it through the race. Otherwise my right foot would get caught up between the brake & gas pedal, no room for down there in the foot box to have this happen. I soldiered through the race finished 3rd in class and 5th overall. Not too bad for an ole guy, oldest racing a car like the Eagle. Amazingly we were 4 seconds a lap faster than last year, 'Fast is Never Fast Enough" My Left Foot Breaking technique saved the day...

Sunday rain came in , we missed the only early practice session and later in the afternoon F5000 feature race was gridded. The Fog rolled in big time... We delayed for awhile, hoping it would lift, than ran two pace laps under yellow and called it a day. Fogged out of the race... so bad you couldn't see the corner workers at flagging stations until you got right on top of there location. Our Sat qualifying race results held for our final weekend F5000 revival.

My good friend Will Silk exec editor of Sports Car Digest www.sportscardigest.com was on hand for the 3rd consecutive year to help out RIAM Master mechanic Bill Losee and Team owner Doug Magnon. It is really amazing to meet up with 6 or more of New Face Book friends at the Walter Mitty and the Glen . My ole friend Joe Cali was on hand as well as Oscar Koveleski, Prez of the Polish Racing Drivers of America, to give moral support...PRDA racing tips.? Just a Great Weekend !

Next F5000 race event will be at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in July 15-18 . RIAM and crew of the Eagle is all race prepped and ready to go ! RA is one of my favorite places the Eagle does well there.

All the best Best Tony a2zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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WOMEN IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE FOUNDATION

2010-03-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation Announces New Project Podium Grant Program

PHOENIX (March 23, 2010) – The Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, founded by Lyn St. James, announced Justine Jackson as the recipient of the newly-established Project Podium Scholarship in conjunction with Volkswagen of America Inc. The scholarship was established in partnership with a number of the series sponsors to provide support for female drivers in the SCCA Pro Racing 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series.

The eligible candidates had to compete in the Final Driver’s Selection event, which was held Feb. 7-9 at the South Point Hotel Casino and Spa Resort in Las Vegas. Jackson, who was a 2007 Foundation Driver Development Academy driver, earned the scholarship that will enable her to compete in the entire 2010 season.

Jackson was born in 1990 in Kingston, Jamaica, and started competing in go-karts at the age of 12 in the Junior Sportsman Rookie Class, racing for the Jetcon Racing Team. In 2004 she raced in the Junior Sportsman Yamaha class and in 2005 and 2006 in the Junior Rotax Class, finishing third in the championship both years. In 2007 she raced in the ICC 125cc Shifter class, attended the Skip Barber Racing School and the Women in the Winner’s Circle Driver Development Academy. In 2008 she finished second in the Rotax Sr. Championship and fifth in the 125cc Shifter Class. In 2009 she moved to the United States to study Motorsports Management at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.

One of five women who participated in the Jetta TDI Cup tryouts and one of only two selected to compete in this year’s championship, Jackson had this to say: "The Jetta TDI Cup Driver Selection event was an intense experience that tested me on all levels. For me it was the first time driving a TDI and I absolutely loved it, and I am thrilled to be a part of the 2010 driver lineup. A big thank you to Project Podium and its partners for this amazing opportunity."

“I’m so pleased the partners of the Jetta TDI Cup Series made the decision to support female drivers within our Project Podium Grant Program," said St. James. "And Justine has worked extremely hard on getting experience to prepare her for this opportunity. We’ll be working with her throughout the season and will do whatever we can to help her be successful."

About Project Podium:
Project Podium is a scholarship fund within the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1994 by Lyn St. James. To date, just over $95,000 in value has been distributed to young female drivers who compete in all forms of motorsports including karting, quarter midgets, drag racing, sports car and oval track racing.

The overarching goal of Project Podium is to provide financial assistance in the form of matching grants to female drivers to help further their professional careers. Secondarily, the Project Podium process introduces or further provides experience for drivers in the very important business aspect of the racing industry by the matching fund requirement.

The SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup Series Project Podium Scholarship has received support from the following: iRacing.com, Arciero Miller Racing, and Pirelli Tires. Other Project Podium partners include: Grand-Am, NHRA, Rolex, Newman’s Own, Toyota, Mazda, and Mike Helton.

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Terri Deren, PRDA Member #40, Passes Away

2010-02-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry to Report- SCCA, IMSA, SVRA Road Racing Loses Another Friend and Competitor To Cancer- Terri Deren, Carbondale PA

Jack Deren's wife Terri, AKA Evelynn D. died February 21 after brief illness. The full Obituary is online below, and if you click on the words 'light a candle to share your thoughts and memories' the family will receive them at the funeral home. 'Follow 'prompts' it is a safe site.

http://parisefuneralhome.com/obituary_view/71630

Jack Deren And Terry Thompson's Love Story Started With A Dangerous Spark!

The Auto World Can Am Racing Team was formed in 1969 and did fairly well. . Until the Sept...'Big Bang!' Chief Mechanic Jack Deren was seriously burned when a 'corroded' natural gas line leaked gas inside the building's cinder blocks. A tiny spark from a light switch Jack turned on exploded the gas and blew all four walls out destroying the building, several cars, and the team's 1969 McLaren MK 6B. It was a disaster. Jack was burned terribly......given a slight chance of surviving.......and Team Auto World shut down.

A Marriage Made In Heaven -The Comeback Kids....

Evelynn D. 'Terri' Thompson was working in sales at Auto World, was interested in auto racing and visited Jack daily and became his Angel of smiles... Terri started nursing him back to health. A friendly and beautiful lady who also modeled various items for the auto world catalogs. Jack wanted to go racing again, Terri and Jack both worked well together and Auto World got back on track racing in May 1970- with a used McLaren, Bruce McLaren's MK8B team car...... Oscar Koveleski drove in SCCA races and Can Am's in 1970, winning the SCCA National Championship and in 1971 Tony Adamowicz placed as high as 3rd in the Can Am series and Oscar finished 2nd in SCCA National Championship behind Jerry Hansen. The 5 person team was doing pretty well....During this season, the team really bonded when Jack and Terry got married...!!!!!!

A Race Team Of 'Pranksters' Including the Girls

When Tony Adamowicz and Brad Niemcek formed the PRDA ...Polish Racing Drivers Of America..they convinced Oscar to act as President ..various events were held at the races, slot car racing, radio control races, creeper races, presenting pole position trophies.....The two gals on our race team...went along with the pranks and did there own........at Road America Can Am .....Terri Deren and Elaine Koveleski emptied the Johnson Wax cans ad filled them with butterscotch pudding for the party....even Stirling Moss.....had to 'try this!'

After Team Auto World shut down in 1971.......Jack and Terri continued racing in SCCA, IMSA, SVRA....winning many events in USA and Canada...
against many factory teams....meeting new people, making new friends.....Yes we will miss Terri....how can we help????

LET US CONTINUE TERRI'S WE CAN DO IT SPIRIT! .....IN RACING AND HOW SHE SHARED HER EVERYDAY LIFE WITH A SMILE AND HELPING HAND TO PEOPLE IN NEED.....Thanks Terri, RIP.........your Team Auto World/PRDA friends.............

Oscar Kovelseki

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RRDC SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES INAUGURAL RRDC/FIA YOUNG DRIVERS SYMPOSIUM

2009-12-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

ORLANDO, Fla. (Dec. 13, 2009) - The Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) successfully completed its inaugural RRDC/FIA Young Drivers Symposium held at the Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 11, in front of an audience of over 150 young drivers, parents, media and RRDC members.

Drivers from a wide variety of motorsports disciplines, including karting, Skip Barber, Jim Russell, Star Mazda, drag racing, SCCA club racing, Legends racing, Late Models and professional sports-car racing, participated in the four-hour workshop, featuring industry experts Townsend Bell (sponsorship/branding), Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D. (mental preparation), Jim Leo, C.S.C.S. (physical fitness), Stephen Olvey, M.D. (safety), and Michael Zimicki (integrated driving).

Indy 500 champion and RRDC president Bobby Rahal was the moderator of the workshop, made possible through a grant from the FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, lending his professional racing expertise to the group. Between speakers, Rahal introduced "Rev" video features (courtesy of Mazda and OnCars.com), covering pertinent subjects of performance, safety and training. Each participant took home a comprehensive workbook, which expanded upon the points made by each speaker.

"I'm extremely pleased with the RRDC's first effort in organizing this symposium," said Rahal. "The lecturers were absolutely the best and are true leaders in this industry. The information was concise, and having the workbook to take home just cements what the young drivers heard here. The fact that everybody was very attentive for four hours, didn't move and didn't fall asleep speaks a lot to the quality of the symposium and I'm very proud of the efforts of (event organizers) Tamy Valkosky and Jeremy Shaw and numerous RRDC members who helped make this first symposium a success."

"I thought it was very beneficial," said 18-year-old Brett Smrz, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, a Jim Russell and Skip Barber series racer who also received an RRDC-supported Team USA Scholarship this year. "What I learned about safety and mental preparation in the four hours I was here will help me step up in my career."

His mom Shirley Smrz added, "I thought the symposium was very informative and the information invaluable. I know my son is going to take a lot of this with him to help him further his career."

Said Nathaniel Steele, 21, of Syracuse, N.Y., an FRCCA (Formula Race Car Club of America) racer and a marketing/communications college major, "I learned a lot from Dr. Dallaire. He had a lot of good mental tips, which are very important. It was great to learn so much about safety as well as getting advice from the experts."

Fourteen-year-old Natalie Fenaroli, of Kansas City, Mo., a Mazda Miata racer at Hallett (Okla.) Motor Racing Circuit, impressed the crowd when she performed over 30 push-ups at the request of Jim Leo. "I learned so much," she said. "The PitFit presentation (Leo) was really interesting. I'll have to keep up with that. And I learned a couple of new exercises that are going to help me. I thought Mr. Zimicki's presentation was really important, as well as Townsend Bell's. We do mainly cold calls (seeking sponsorship). It will be interesting to try his techniques. I think it could yield much better results."

Two additional RRDC/FIA symposiums are planned: in April, in conjunction with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and in May, around the Indianapolis 500.

The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 as a way to give champion drivers a say in their sport, particularly in the areas of safety, and has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. The Club now has more than 150 active members, including leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.

President Bobby Rahal is the 1986 Indy 500 winner and is co-owner, with David Letterman, of the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winning Rahal Letterman Racing team. Six-time SCCA National Champion John Fergus is the Club's Vice President/Treasurer, and five-time Formula Super Vee champion Tom Davey is the Secretary. In addition to RRDC members lending their expertise to up-and-coming drivers, the Club presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award for rendering outstanding service to road racing; the Mark Donohue Award for personal spirit and performance at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs; and the Bob Akin Award for speed with style, passion, sportsmanship and contribution to motorsports.

The RRDC also supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990.

Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only.

Photo is of Jacques Dallaire, Ph.D., during a mental preparation test at the RRDC/FIA Young Drivers Symposium. Photo credit: Dan Boyd.

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Happy Holidays from the PRDA

2009-12-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

Click for larger image:

Man Distracted by Pelican Drives Bugatti in Marsh

2009-11-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

LA MARQUE, Texas – A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston.

The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.

Gilchrist said he doesn't know if the car was salvageable, but in his words, "Salt water isn't good for anything." He says the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was not injured.

A 2006 Bugatti Veyron was recently offered for sale in Jonesboro, Ark., for $1.25 million.

From Yahoo News.

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Keselowski & No. 88 Team Scores 4th Win of 2009

2009-11-01T03:45:00.000-08:00

[Memphis] Brad Keselowski displayed JR Motorsports strength by taking his fourth win of the season in Saturday’s Kroger “On Track for the Cure” 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Memphis Motorsports Park. Keselowski led twice for 34 laps in the No. 88 Delphi Chevrolet, and held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch on a green-white-checkered finish to cruise to his sixth career victory. With the win, Keselowski earned an additional $75,000 from Nationwide’s “Dash 4 Cash” program. It was his second "Dash 4 Cash" victory this season.

Teammate Richard Boswell resembled anything but a rookie in his Nationwide Series debut, qualifying third and racing in the top 10 for the first quarter of the race. The No. 5 RCCA Chevrolet finished 23rd after sustaining damage to its front grill and needing extensive repair time to fix it. Following Keselowski to the line was Busch in second, Jason Leffler third, Mike Bliss fourth, and Brendan Gaughan fifth.

No. 88 Delphi Team / Keselowski
Start – 7th / Finish – 1st / Laps Led – 34 / Points – 190 / Point Standings – 3rd

Starting seventh, Keselowski found trouble early when he sustained damage during a fight for the second position with Justin Allgaier. The team called its car to pit road to repair the fender, and sent it back out in 31st. From the lap-41 restart, it took only 29 laps for Keselowski to climb back through the field and take his first lead of the race.

Keselowski relinquished the point to Mike Bliss on lap 86 and fell back to sixth position, but with fast pit work, the Delphi team gained Keselowski spots on pit road under a lap-124 caution, boosting him back to third.

Following a red-flag period on lap 165, Keselowski came to pit road one final time on lap 228 for fresh tires. Three cars remained on track with old tires, and when they bottled up the restart, Keselowski quickly moved from his sixth-place restarting position and took the lead with a three-wide pass in turn two. With the No. 88 back out front, the race was slowed by three more yellow flags, the last which resulted in a green-white-checkered finish. It was that two-lap sprint in which second-place Busch climbed to the bumper of Keselowski and gave him a nudge in a last-gasp effort to claim to the win, but Keselowski held on to score the win and take home the popular “Elvis” trophy that Memphis Motorsports Park awards its winners.

The win is Keselowski’s fourth of the season and sixth of his career. It continues his success at short tracks, in which he has scored two wins and six top-five finishes this year. Keselowski has now won at all three Nationwide Series tracks in Tennessee – Nashville and Bristol in 2008 and Memphis in 2009. Keselowski’s DNF streak now stands at 64 races.

From BradRacing.com.

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Man pleads guilty to DWI in motorized La-Z-Boy

2009-10-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

DULUTH, Minn. – A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk. A criminal complaint says 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson told police he left a bar in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor on his chair after drinking eight or nine beers.

Prosecutors say Anderson's blood alcohol content was 0.29, more than three times the legal limit, when he crashed into a parked vehicle in August 2008. He was not seriously injured.

Police said the chair was powered by a converted lawnmower and had a stereo and cup holders.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Heather Sweetland stayed 180 days of jail time Monday and ordered two years of probation for Anderson. His attorney, David Keegan, did not immediately return a call for comment.

From Yahoo News.

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Ford Mustang Goes NASCAR

2009-10-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

From FoxNews.com:

NASCAR's Nationwide series will be getting a new look starting in 2010, as family cars move over for muscle.

The Roush Fenway racing Ford Mustang is the first of the new breed of racer that will debut in four races next year, before running full-time in 2011. Based on the 'Car of Tomorrow' used in NASCAR's top-level Sprint Cup series, the Mustang will eventually replace the Ford Fusions used today.

In an effort to further differentiate the two racing series, NASCAR is pushing for automakers to swap the four-door sedan profiles currently used in Nationwide, for sportier two-door coupes. Along with Ford, Dodge is expected to unveil a Challenger-based car in the near future. Chevrolet and Toyota will be sticking with the Impala and Camry, respectively...for now.

The Roush Fenway Con-way Freight Mustang will be driven by 21 year-old Colin Braun, who is moving up to Nationwide from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

[Editor's Note] Call it what you want... A new nose on the Ford Fusion does not a Mustang make. Looking at the car, if you take away the Mustang nose, it is still the same car they called the "Car of Tomorrow". When I first heard this story I was very excited, with flashbacks to the old Trans Am racing days. When I saw the actual picture of the car, a saying came to mind that I think fits: "No matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd." Don't make me bring up the lipstick on a pig cliche'. This is my personal opinion, and not necessarily that of the PRDA. ~ Alleydude.

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You're Very Welcome!

2009-10-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

Click for larger image...

Happy Birthday To The Dean of American Motorsports

2009-10-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Chris Econimaki, born October 15, 1920, will be celebrating his 89th birthday this month. Christopher "Chris" Constantine Economaki, better know as Chris Economaki, started his career in journalism at the age of 13 by selling the National Speed Sport News, and at the age of 14 was writing articles for the National Auto Racing News. In 1950, Chris became the editor for the National Speed Sport News.

He later became an announcer at race tracks, and became notable for his coverage of race events on ABC Wide World of Sports, covering numerous races from Indy 500 to the Daytona 500 and Le Mans.

Chris managed to compete in one race himself. Oscar interviews Chris about that one and only race. You can read about it HERE.

Happy birthday, Chris, from the PRDA, and auto racing enthusiasts everywhere!

Report from 2009 SCCA Runoffs

2009-09-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

2009 Runoff Report

by Don Knowles

The SCCA’s 46th running of the National Championship Runoffs moved to Road America this year.

Our first year at Road America was exciting, with over 600 competitors. In the showroom stock and touring classes, it seems like we had a record number of big time crashes, with several competitors going to the ICU and a number of cars totaled.

In several other classes, where drafting is important, it appears that the racers have not all determined the best way to proceed, with many attacks very early, making it possible for the leader to get away. Additionally, brakes are more important here than at recent Runoff tracks. Drivers will need new strategies put in place by next year if they want to contend for the win. The track has several much faster turns than the two prior last Runoff tracks (Mid Ohio and Heartland Park Topeka) and I expect all competitors will adjust to the new track by next year.

RRDC Members Competing:

The following members competed in the races this year:

Jim Dentici—GTL-1st
Nicki Coello—FC-1st
Don Knowles—T2-1st
Justin Pritchard-FC-2nd
Jim Goughary-GT2-3rd
Tom Schweitz-FF-3rd
Jim Downing-CSR-5th
Kent Prather-GTL-11th
John Fergus-S2-12th
Pete Peterson-GT3-DNF
Carl Jensen-GT1-DNF
Dave Weitzenhof-FC-DNF

Under the heading of proud parents, John Fergus’s son Corey started on the pole in S2 and finished 2nd, and Kent Prather’s son Jesse started 2nd in EP and finished 6th.

RRDC Member Dinner:

Tom Dehn, with his son Frank, Frank’s fiancée Kimberly Benson and her mom Susie, and with Jim and Toni Haynes, organized, orchestrated, and provided a wonderful dinner for us on Tuesday night. We had about 60 attendees and enjoyed the live music, festive decorations, open bar, and the finest Runoffs dinner ever held at the event. Tom persuaded a friend to fly in from California to roast seasoned chickens on a spectacular, hand made, open “twister”. Simply fantastic.

The event was held in the Briggs and Stratton Motorplex, which is centrally located in the infield and gives us a nice and weather proof place to socialize. We invited the SCCA board of directors, the SCCA national staff and the Road America staff to join us. RRDC member Jim Haynes, former Road America track owner and manager, recounted some history for us, as he celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of his early wins. The current track manager, George Bruggenthies, was also present and said a few words. The dinner was followed by 2 large cheesecakes for dessert, one topped with a great RRDC logo in icing. Our team truck driver, Bob Gorman, who is 79, said it was the first time since his wife died 17 years ago that he had found any cheesecake good enough to eat.

PRDA Awards:

RRDC member Oscar Koveleski was an original founder of the Polish Racing Drivers of America, back in 1970. This year, he created “Pole Awards” for RRDC members to present to the pole winners in their respective classes. The awards were designed to look like Academy Awards (“Oscars”). Many members followed through and the pictures will be posted on the PRDA website.

Mark Donohue Award:

For the 39th time, the RRDC has selected a recipient for the Mark Donohue Award. The award is given to “one driver in the annual SCCA National Championship Runoffs who RRDC members feel has stood head and shoulders above the crowd in terms of personal spirit and performance behind the wheel.”

For a number of years, the award has consisted of a glass table top to go on a wheel donated by a club member, the wheel having come from a significant race car and event from the prior year. We had the 2009 Mark Donohue Award on display at the member dinner. The wheel was donated by member Duncan Dayton, and had been driven by Scott Sharp and David Brabham on their Patron sponsored LMP 1 winning Acura during the 2008 race win at Lime Rock, the first overall race win for Patron Highcroft Racing and the first Acura win in ALMS. As is also a tradition, the wheel came complete with a little race incurred battle damage, which adds to the presentation and the significance of the wheel.

The award was won by Michael Varacins, who won the FV race by over 25 seconds, the largest margin of victory in FV since Dave Weitzenhof’s victory by 63.8 seconds in 1972. He was selected “not only because of his outstanding performance in dominating his race, but because of his determination, sportsmanship, competitiveness and humility, the traits which best exemplify the spirit of the multi-talented champion and road-racing legend for whom the award is named. Michael builds his own cars, working with his father and family, and also builds parts for other FV competitors. He may join us at the RRDC dinner at Daytona on the Wednesday night before the 24 Hours of Daytona. The award will be presented at the SCCA convention in Las Vegas in late January 2010.

Members in attendance:

John Fergus
Don Knowles
Jim Goughary
Nicki Coello
Dave Weitzenhof
Carl Jenson
Pete Peterson
Tommy Schweitz
Fred Clark
Tom Dehn
Jim Dentici
Jim Downing
Jim Haynes
John Heinricy

Upcoming events:

The RRDC will present a symposium at the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show in Orlando, FL on Friday, December 12, from 9 am to noon aimed at helping drivers get off on the right foot in racing.

Here is a link to further information for the symposium:

http://www.performanceracing.com/tradeshow/events/road_racing_drivers_club_sympo.html

The Club is also planning its annual dinner in conjunction with the 24 Hours of Daytona. The dinner will be held Wednesday night, January 27, 2010. More information will be forthcoming.

Looking forward to seeing you at one of our future events.

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Gurney Eagle F5000 car returns to Glen

2009-09-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

By Ron Levanduski • rlevandu@gannett.com • Staff Writer Star-Gazette • September 12, 2009

WATKINS GLEN -- Tony Adamowicz never dreamed he'd be racing the same Gurney Eagle today that he won the Continental Formula 5000 Championship with in 1969.

The only American to win a Formula 5000 title in an American-made car did that last year at Watkins Glen International to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the class.

The car had been in storage for 37 years until Doug Magnon purchased it and began restoring it in 2006 at his Riverside (Calif.) International Automotive Museum.

"I never thought in a million years that I would one day be back in this car," Adamowicz said. "We are very pleased to be able to take this project over and bring it back and show people a little bit about the car. It's a championship car and it deserves to be out there."

The historic car, from the top open-wheel road race series of its time, is one of nearly 400 vintage cars taking part in the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at the Glen.

Drivers took part in qualifying and six-lap qualifying races on the Glen's 3.4-mile Grand Prix configuration on Saturday.

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association-sanctioned event closes out the 2009 season here with 15 vintage races today starting at 8:30 a.m. Among them are four featured races, including a Formula 5000 race at 3 p.m.

Adamowicz, who also won three IMSA GT titles and a Trans-Am championship, retired from professional racing 20 years ago. At 68, the Port Henry, N.Y., native, who now lives in Costa Mesa, Calif., is happy to be back competing in vintage racing. He won his FA-class qualifying race at the Glen.

"It's an honor to be back in the Eagle and it feels good to win again," Adamowicz said. "Forty years later, this is a handful to drive. I don't really remember it that way back then but I was much younger then and a lot braver."

The annual New York Governor's Cup race, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will be an open invitational event with the top 60 cars from five different race groups participating. A Centennial Jubilee race, celebrating 100 years of the featured marque -- the British Morgan -- starts at 2:30 p.m. The 25th anniversary of the first Collier Cup race for MG cars takes the green flag at 11:30 a.m.

Lyn St. James, the events featured guest, spoke during a Fan Forum and signed autographs on Saturday. The former sports car race winner and Indianapolis 500 competitor will return to do both again today.

Another of the significant cars on hand is a 1971 McLaren M8F that Peter Revson won the Can-Am Championship with in 1971. It's only one of three factory cars that were built and was featured during McLaren's 40th Anniversary Can-Am celebration at its base of operations in Livonia, Mich. in July. The M8F was restored last year and is making its first appearance here in more than five years.

"It's a huge a privilege and we are proud to be here and very delighted to show it off to everybody," said Scott Hughes, of Sunset, S.C., who owns and drives the car.

1975 Jerobee RC Car Sells For $285

2009-09-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

Recently on eBay a 1975 Jerobee RC car, similar to the real car owned by Oscar Koveleski and driven by Tony Adamowicz, sold for $285. The car was in it's original packaging and showed little use. Here is some of the description by the owner:

Up for sale is this 1975 Jerobee Commando RC car in its original box. I recieved this as a 15th birthday present back in Aug of 1975 when i was living in New Jersey at the time. Due to the bad winter weather and pot holes in the street Ii only used the Jerobee car a few times then it was put in the basement and forgotten about 'til just recently. I also was just learning how to drive real cars at the time so i really didn't have time for the Jerobee.

Anyway, my brother was cleaning out the basement recently so he could sell the house when he discovered the Jerobee car hidden under some boxes and some other stuff that had accumulated over the years. I live in florida now and totally forgot about this Jerobee car. My brother then shipped the Jerobee car down to me in Florida and I was amazed at the condition of the car as well as the original box the car came in after all these years of sitting in the basement gathering dust.

It's in mint condition with all of the paper work inside the box such as drivers manual, Jerobee brochures, parts price lists, ect.

When I first got the car as a birthday present I went down to a hobby shop which was a few blocks away from where i lived and bought a extra body as well as extra parts thinking that i was going to keep and use the jerobee car for a long time which didn't happen.

I have not tested the radio or the engine to see if they work however i pulled on the starter cord a few times and it pulls as if it were brand new with no kinks or binds whatsoever. As I mentioned earlier i have a extra red Dodge Challenger body as well as a assortment of Jerobee parts that are brand new in there packages. The body that is on the car now is a orange McLaren body with all body pieces in place and in mint condition such as drivers head, roll bar, windshield,a nd engine pipes. This is a complete package for the serious collector and I hope it will go to a new home.

Keselowski's Continues Short-Track Prowess with Top-Five Finish

2009-09-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 11, 2009) – Brad Keselowski led one time for 70 laps in the No. 88 Lipton Chevrolet en route to a fourth-place finish Friday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. It was Keselowski’s fifth consecutive top-five finish, and it keeps him solidly in third place in the championship standings.

Carl Edwards won the race, his fourth victory this season. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch followed in second and third, with Keselowski and David Reutimann rounding out the top five.

Start – 5th / Finish – 4th / Laps Led – 70 / Points – 165 / Point Standings – 3rd

Starting fifth, Keselowski raced his way to third and used quick pit work during the Lipton team’s first stop to take the lead on lap 42. Keselowski would not relinquish the top spot until lap 112 during a green-flag run. The 70 laps led were Keselowski’s second-highest total this season, 41 laps shy of the 121 he led in a winning effort at Iowa Speedway.

Racing steadily in the top-five, Keselowski’s crew used pit stops on lap 127 and 230 to continue working on the car’s handling, while performing fast enough pit work to gain a position each time. Keselowski took the final restart in fifth place on lap 230. He made quick work of David Reutimann for fourth, and spent the last 14 laps chasing down Busch for third. He came within a car length, but couldn’t make the pass. Keselowski took the checkers in fourth place.

The finish in Richmond was Keselowski’s 16th top-five and 21st top-10 of the season. It was also his fifth consecutive top-five. With the laps led at Richmond, Keselowski has now led in 13 of 27 races this season, or just under half, for 302 laps. Keselowski continues to excel on short tracks with one win and five top-five finishes on the last five short track races, with an average finish of 3.2.

Picture and story from BradRacing.com

PRDA 5000th Member To Speak At Watkins Glen "Legends Speak'

2009-09-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Watkins Glen, Sept. 11th, 2009

Leo Mehl (5000th PRDA Member) first visited Watkins Glen early in his career as a Goodyear Race Tire Engineer working on Carroll Shelby’s Cobras, and as boss of the Formula 1 Team in the Era of Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, Graham Hill, and Mario Andretti.

As General Manager of Goodyear’s Worldwide Racing Program from 1974-1996, he has visited Watkins Glen on many other occasions throughout the years, overseeing tire performance of Sports Cars, F5000, NASCAR, and Indianapolis-type cars.

Mehl joined Goodyear as a tire compounder in 1959 and moved into the racing department in 1963 when Goodyear began to look at a bigger involvement in the sport. He played an important role in developing the tires with which Goodyear won the Indianapolis 500 that year and later that year was posted to Goodyear's European headquarters in Wolverhampton and was made head of European Racing, replacing Fred Gamble. In October 1971 he became chief engineer of all Goodyear Racing activities and three years later took over as Director of Racing. His final promotion was to be head of all Goodyear competition activities in 1979. He retired from Goodyear in 1996 and became executive director of the Indy Racing League and a vice-president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He remained in that role until the end of 1999 when he retired from the sport.

Lyn St. James and others are also scheduled to speak.

For more information, see GrandPrixFestival.com.

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TUSKEGEE AIRMAN RACE CAR

2009-09-08T03:50:00.000-07:00

[Vegas, Nevada: September 17th, 2009] The Silver State Classic Challenge is an International Open Road Event, Recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records.

Michael Joseph, of Corning, NY, will enter his 1969 Buick Electra GSX, dubbed “Faithful Pursuit” in the annual 90 mile rally. The 1000+ HP Twin-Turbo Buick was displayed in Las Vegas at the Tuskegee Airmen’s National Convention in August. It was specially built to achieve speeds approaching 200 mph. Formula Drift driver, Tony Brakohiapa, will pilot the big Buick land speedster which was financed, conceived, and driven mostly by persons of African descent.

One run will be dedicated to the late Tuskegee Airman Roger “Bill” Terry, who confided in Michael of his own ambition for Land Speed with a LaSalle based car. There was no sponsorship for Blacks after WWII, Bill told Michael.

The 194.9mph target honors the Tuskegee Airmen who won the United States Air Force’s First Fighter Gunnery Meet in 1949. Michael noted “The Buick is an unusual entry, amidst the Corvettes and Ferraris and other exotic sports cars racing against a clock. By competing we hope to inspire Black youth to pursue careers in technology.”

WHEN: 17 – 20 September 2009 WHERE: Silver State Classic Challenge, Ely, Nevada CONTACT: Steven or Gail Waldman, (702) 451-1513, (702) 631-6166, stevezw@cox.net

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ATLANTA - BRAD TAKES FOURTH

2009-09-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

At Atlanta the top-three remained the same for much of the race -- Harvick, Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and thatís just the way they finished. Late in the race, Earnhardt Jr. tried a fuel mileage strategy - while most pitted with 10 -15 laps to go for a splash of fuel and a couple of tires, Earnhardt Jr., teammate Brad Keselowski, and Carl Edwards opted to conserve fuel and stay out. They were quickly caught up. "I guess it was the right call, "Said Dale Jr. "We just didn't have enough at the end to hold them off. I tried to get going when they were coming." Keselowski finished in the fourth position, the only non-Sprint Cup regular to post a top-five finish.

From BradRacing.com.

Earnhardt's advice helped Keselowski join Penske

2009-09-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Brad Keselowski will admit, it was the hardest decision he's ever had to make. But having the blessing of Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it a little easier.

Keselowski, the sought-after NASCAR phenom who won a Sprint Cup race at Talladega earlier this season in a part-time car, has signed a multi-year contract to compete for Penske Racing, beginning in 2010.

The deal puts Keselowski in Roger Penske's No. 12 Sprint Cup car, where he will replace current driver David Stremme, as well as in a new, full-time Nationwide Series ride where he will compete as a teammate to Justin Allgaier.

"I want to be the guy that comes to Penske Racing and gets them their first NASCAR championship. I want to be that guy," Keselowski said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. "For everything that's been accomplished here, that's the one thing that's missing, and I want to be the guy that gets it done."

Visit Nascar.com for the full story.

Keselowski Takes 5th Place in Montreal

2009-08-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Brad Keselowski managed to keep his car going in a straight line when most of the field turned circles on a rain soaked Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Carl Edwards went on to win the race after the field switched to rain tires to finish the Nationwide Series race in Montreal.

Brad is solidly in 3rd place in the Nationwide championship points standings.

Brad wasn't the only Keselowski in the race. Older brother Brian Keselowski started the race but retired after only one lap due to brake failure. Brian has made 16 Nationwide starts this year and is currently 25th in points.

Both Brian and Brad are sons of Craftsman Truck team owner/sriver Bob Keselowski.

Kubica Pulls Off A 4th Place Finish In Belgium

2009-08-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Robert Kubica managed to pull off a solid 4th place finish in the Belgian Grand Prix behind Kimi Raikkonen (winner), Giancarlo Fisichella (2nd) and Sebastian Vettel (3rd). Kubica driving his BMW Sauber earned 5 points towards his championship standings.

Robert Kubica is currently 15th in the World Championship points standings.

Keselowski says he won't return to JR Motorsports

2009-08-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

MONTREAL -- Brad Keselowski declined to comment on reports he'll drive in the Sprint Cup Series for Penske Racing next year, but he did indicate Thursday to Sporting News he won't be back in JR Motorsports' Nationwide car next season.

Asked whether he expected to return to JRM, Keselowski said, "At this time, no," during a boat tour of the Old Port in Montreal.

Kelly Bires reportedly is the leading candidate to replace Keselowski in the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet.

"I heard that, too," Keselowski said when asked about the possibility of Bires driving for JRM. "It's hard to tell. I know they've talked to a number of drivers, and I wish them the best on whoever gets in there, and I expect big things from them, as I'm sure the team does.

"I look forward to seeing somebody get the opportunity that I got."

Keselowski's departure from JRM lends credence to reports, which surfaced last week at Bristol, that he'll join Penske Racing. Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has said if Keselowski were to drive a car make other than Chevrolet in the Cup Series, that would preclude him for driving for JRM's Nationwide program.

Keselowski, 25, has won three Nationwide races for JRM this season and is third in the standings behind Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. He also won the April Cup race at Talladega, driving for James Finch. Keselowski has competed in five Cup races for Hendrick Motorsports, with a best finish of seventh at Darlington.

In response to a question about the possibility of moving from part-time Cup status at Hendrick to a full-time Cup ride somewhere else before the end of the current season, Keselowski was noncommittal.

"Man, that's hard to say at this time," Keselowski said. "I really don't have an answer for that. I wouldn't say yes or no. I would say that time will tell."

From Nascar.com.

~

BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team Scores First ALMS GT2 Victory

2009-08-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

[Elkhart Lake, Wis. – Aug. 16, 2009] The BMW M3 returned to the American Le Mans Series winner’s circle with a 1-2 finish by the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team at today’s Time Warner Cable Road Racing Showcase.

The No. 90 M3, driven by Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen, achieved the new M3 racing program’s first victory. Teammates Tommy Milner and Dirk Mϋller in the No. 92 M3 scored their fourth podium finish of the season.

As the race began, starting drivers Bill Auberlen, in the No. 90 M3, and Tommy Milner, in the No. 92 M3, took advantage of their front row starting positions and opened a lead on the GT2 class. Only 15 minutes in, an early yellow slowed the field, but instead of reducing the BMW M3’s lead to mere feet, it increased it to almost a full lap as both M3s received a wave-by when the pace car picked up the overall leader. Before the race went green again, both M3s were able to pit for fuel, and Milner picked up the lead through pit-stop speed.

At the one hour mark Milner still held the lead over Auberlen, but as the race’s second caution period occurred a “race within the race” began. Pitting both M3s under yellow, the crew of the No. 90 M3 got Hand serviced just a tick of the watch ahead of Mϋller to take the lead. Unfortunately, too many men over the wall for the No. 92 M3 resulted in a 60 second penalty, putting Mϋller an additional minute behind Hand, but still in second place.

Pitting a second time under the race’s third caution period, the M3s cycled through two more fast stops for fuel and new Dunlop tires. Today, able to keep the competition in check, the two M3s stayed in front for the remainder the contest to open another winning chapter in the history of BMW Motorsport and the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team.

Bobby Rahal, Team Principal:
“It can’t get better than this! Great for the team and great for BMW. Everyone did a super job today!”

Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsport Manager:
“Yesterday I was asked about the best moment of this program and my answer was bringing the new BMW M3s to the grid at Sebring. After today, I would give a different answer. We were fast from the beginning of the weekend and brought home the first victory for the program. We had incredible support from all our partners and especially Dunlop, who continue to deliver for us. We have now arrived at a level where we can fight for top honors and that’s what the program was designed to do. Today was BMW’s day.”

Bill Auberlen, No. 90 M3 (first):
“This is what this team has earned. Everyone has worked so hard. Thanks to BMW, RLR, and Dunlop. The win seems long overdue and I can’t be any happier. Road America is where I won my first professional race and now it is where we won the first one for this team. Awesome!”

Joey Hand, No. 90 M3 (first):
“Bill and I called this win. Babe Ruth style. I told my wife before I left that I knew something really good was going to happen. Bill got the No. 90 M3 out front and I just brought it home. The team knows how to pit like nobody else. Every part of this team pulled together today. We earned this win.”

Dirk Mϋller, No 92 M3 (second)
“One – two, oh so nice. Incredible! The No. 92 M3 was fantastic. I am really happy for the team.”

Tommy Milner, No. 93 M3 (second):
“A great result for sure! We had one hiccup today, but in the end we overcame it. A great job by Dirk to run for second.”

Round 8 of the American Le Mans Series will be held at Mosport International Raceway on August 30th.

From http://www.rahal.com/ .

[Note] Bobby Rahal And David Letterman are PRDA Members.

Robert Kubica Gains Valuable Point In European GP

2009-08-24T05:42:00.000-07:00

Polish Racing Driver Robert Kubica in his BMW Sauber battled his way into the last points paying position, 8th place, gaining one point towards the Formula 1 World Championship points race.

Rubens Barrichello won his first Formula 1 race since leaving Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes lead much of the race, but after a long pitstop managed to secure a solid second spot, followed by Kimi "The Ice Man" Räikkönen in his Ferrari.

More information and pictures on http://www.formula1.com.

~

Keselowski 3rd at Bristol

2009-08-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Brad Keselowski made his fifth NASCAR Nationwide Series start for JR Motorsports at Bristol this weekend and started from pole position. An early collision with the #12 car seemed to end BK's race chances but a fired-up Brad took his patched up machine back to 3rd place.

Picture and text from http://www.bradracing.com

~

PRDA & KidRacer at Pocono F500 Challenge Cup

2009-08-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

Repeat Cup winner Mike Brent receiving award from PRDA Member, KIDRACER representative and kart racer, 6 year old Emily Ryan, White Haven PA. PRDA member Sam Ryan (Emily's father) won the Formula Mazda SCCA NEDIV Divisional Championship and will be racing at Road America in the National Runoffs on Sept 22-27.

You can find out more about this event, as well as final standings, on the eFormulaCarNews website and forum HERE.

Thanks to PRDA Member Lou Schultz for the photo.

THIS IS HOW PRDA GET'S INVOLVED!

Nuts The Squirrel Becomes PRDA Member

2009-08-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

Nuts the squirrel accepts membership along with Bobby Rahal from Jolene McClellan. Nuts went on to say that he must be "Nuts" to be part of the organization, but was honored none-the-less.

Brad Keselowski WINS at Michigan!

2009-08-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

A caution with under 20 laps to go called for a bold decision by Tony Eury Jr., crew chief for the #88 GoDaddy.com entry of Brad Keselowski. Two tires instead of four put Keselowski on the front row for the restart. After falling back to 3rd place, another caution brought the field back to gether.

As the race restarted one last time, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch, who dominated most of the race, fought hard for the lead. Vickers fighting to keep the #1 spot, Kyle Busch fighting hard to take it away from him. Vickers trying to keep his loose Toyota going straight, Busch doing everything he could to get past. As the two battled it out, Brad Keselowski, with two laps to go, found his way past the two contenders and on the last lap secured himself a hometown win.

Kyle Busch, after the race remarked to ESPN that "The guy that won didn't deserve it." Brian Vickers told ESPN that he was thrilled for Brian, and didn't see him coming."

Brad Keselowski is currently third in the Nationwide Series points standings.

Photo from http://www.bradracing.com/ .

PRDA Member Bobby Rahal to Bring Road Racing Driver Symposium To PRI Trade Show

2009-08-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

An Indy 500 winner as both a driver and a team owner, Bobby Rahal is organizing a Road Racing Drivers Symposium to be held at this year's PRI Trade Show. It will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, December 11, in a meeting room in the North/South Building of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Rahal, as president of the Road Racing Drivers Club, will be the featured presenter at the Symposium, which will offer insider tips for drivers to stay on track for a successful career in road racing. Additional guest speakers will share their insights on a wide variety of topics, from gaining experience to getting the right management help, public relations to exploring the various ladder systems to the top.

Go to the PRI Website to read all about it.

PRDA VP Tony Adamowicz on Vintage Motorsport TV

2009-08-08T08:24:00.001-07:00

Tony Adamowicz, VP of the PRDA was interviews recently, talking about his 1969 Gurney Eagle and Road America. Go to Vintage Motorsport to see the video of Tony's Interview.

Vintage Motorsport TV

Keselowski Wins Iowa Inaugural

2009-08-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

NEWTON, Iowa -- Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with eight laps remaining and went on to win the inaugural Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Busch had pitted for two tires under the race's 10th caution, while Keselowski chose to keep his No. 88 Chevrolet on the track. The race went green on Lap 219 of 250, and Busch needed six laps to pass Keselowski.

But after another caution, Keselowski stormed back to take the lead and earn his second win of the season. And with the victory, Keselowski won an extra $75,000 via Nationwide Insurance's Dash 4 Cash program, honoring full-time Nationwide drivers who win select races, with Iowa being one of the four.

"It sure means a lot to win this race," Keselowski said. "The Dash 4 Cash program that Nationwide has, to be the guy that wins that ... and to be a full-time Nationwide guy that wins it that doesn't run full time in the Cup Series, it kind of feels like you stake a claim for the series by winning that.

"The inaugural race here at Iowa for the Nationwide Series and, really, for NASCAR, and to win here in front of a crowd we had here [Saturday], that's pretty awesome.
"And it was a good race, too. Just everything about [Saturday], I couldn't ask for more. I couldn't ask for a better finish."

Keselowski ended up leading four times for 121 laps.

Nationwide rookies Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier posted identical qualifying times earlier Saturday, but Stenhouse was awarded the pole on owners' points. Allgaier grabbed the early lead and kept it for 35 laps, by far the most of his young Nationwide career, but he was bumped on pit row and Keselowski surged ahead.

It didn't take long for Busch to catch the leaders. Busch quickly vaulted from 43rd to fourth, and he grabbed the high groove and zipped past Darnell for the lead about a third of the way through the race.

Though a few other drivers threatened from time to time, Keselowski and Busch combined to lead all but 45 of the 250 laps.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Condensed from Nascar.com.

~

PRDA At The McLaren 40th Anniversary Party

2009-07-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

[Livonia,MI] It was a toasty warm day in Michigan when two guys with a mission showed up at the 40th Anniversary Party for McLaren Performance.

The poor webmaster had a tough time keeping up with the energetic Oscar Koveleski as he darted from person to person, display to display, display to person to display, to... well, you get the picture. Oscar is a human dynamo.

The cars on display were exceptional. From McLaren Can Am cars right out of the late 1960's to the early 1970's, to Johnny Rutherford's 1974 Indy 500 winning car, to David Hobbs' BMW race cars, and all the other McLarenized wonders, this was among the best shows a motorsports enthusiast could hope to attend.

The people were top notch, and among the "royalty" were such names as Johnny Rutherford, David Hobbs, Bobby Rahal, Jack Deren, and some guy named Oscar Something...

Johnny, David and Bobby all became honorary members of the PRDA, and Bobby agreed to take David Letterman his honorary membership as well. In addition to the afore mentioned new members, there were a dozen other new members initiated into the elite ranks of the PRDA.

If McLaren ever has another 40th Anniversary party I HIGHLY recommend you make it a point to attend.

Many pictures to be posted in the coming days.

~

Fast And Furious College Kids

2009-07-27T05:05:00.000-07:00

Reported July 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Students from all over the country compete in a racecar competition engineered to test what they've learned. One amateur racing team could give any professional racer a run for their money.

They're fast and they're furious. Powerful miniature Indy-style racecars are entirely built, tested and driven by very proud students.

"It's a lot of sleepless nights," Michael Palaszynski, an engineering student at the University of Maryland, in College Park, Md., told Ivanhoe. "It's a lot of hard work, but we're a team."

"Being able to drive something that you helped build, and spent so much time and money on yourself -- it's a really great feeling," Scott Mingay, a mechanical engineering student at Rutgers University in Washington, D.C., said.

At the season opener for the Society of Automotive Engineer's formula car competition, cars are judged on design, acceleration, handling and endurance. , Mark Sproul, a computer engineer and advisor at Rutgers University, put his students to the test.

"The competition is an engineering competition," Sproul explained. "It's not about who can build the fastest car. It's about how well do you know what you built."

Acceleration tests resemble drag races. Endurance tests require cars race for long distances, and a popular event called skid pad measures a car's cornering ability -- a hard test for drivers.
"You sit in the car, wear a hot suit on a hundred degree day, it's still fun," Palaszynksy said.
For some students, their racing efforts translate into jobs with recruiters from Honda and Toyota.

"What's unique about this car is that we have a complete wireless stat acquisition system," Mingay explained. "It sends all of our data wirelessly back to the pits to our computers."
This year, top teams were from Missouri, Oklahoma and Illinois.

"I get to get off of school to go racing and I get school credit for it," Palaszynksy said.
He got extra credit for living life in the fast lane! Teams spend up to a year designing and building cars to conform to a set of rules. Although, there's room for a few added features of their own.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.-USA, and the American Association of Physics Teachers contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.
Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Nancy Lewis
Corporate Communications Manager
SAE International World Headquarters
Warrendale, PA 15096-0001
(412) 977-2894 nlewis@sae.org

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
IEEE
Pender McCarter IEEE http://www.ieee.org
IEEE-USA http://www.ieeeusa.org
p.mccarter@ieee.org

American Association of Physics TeachersCollege Park, MD
(301) 209-3311
http://www.aapt.org/

Gas-2-3 Clutch-2-3 Brake-2-3

2009-07-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you worried about the size of a "foot box?"

If it wasn't recently, then you probably aren't concerned about going fast in a 40-year-old race car. Especially one like the RIAM Eagle Mk5 that Tony Adamowicz is reaquainting himself with in the 2009 Historic Formula 5000 racing series.

That Eagle, typical of the designs of the day, has a narrow profile from front to back, much narrower than more modern race cars. And it is especially narrow in that critical portion near the front where the clutch, brake and throttle pedals are mounted.

Somehow, Adamowicz dealt with that problem 40 years ago when he drove the Eagle to the 1969 Continental Formula A championship. Cars don't shrink, drivers grow larger. Even their feet, apparently.

A small foot box means that the pedals are very close together and that means it's easy for a "big footed" race driver to accidentally push two pedals at once, especially under severe braking/downshifting maneurvers. The problem grows even more serious as the brake pedal "softens" as a race goes on.

It's a problem Adamowicz had to contend with at Road America. The team hopes to deal with it before the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix weekend, September 11-13, at Watkins Glen.

Making the foot box larger is not an option, of course. So the team will concentrate on making the pedal surfaces smaller to produce more space between them.

No consideration has been given to making the driver's feet smaller. Tony is already doing his best: At Road America, he stuffed his size 11 1/2 feet into size 10 driving shoes. And "danced" carefully.

~

Another spin around the track

2009-07-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Eagle's still got it, decades after win
By Dave Kallmann of the Journal Sentinel

Elkhart Lake — It might seem strange for a grown man to feel sentimental about aluminum and steel and rubber and gasoline, but that's what car guys do.

So forgive Tony Adamowicz.

He has always been a car guy. And he'll always have a special place in his heart for a slick, white No. 7 Eagle sculpted more than four decades ago in Dan Gurney's All-American Racers shop.

Adamowicz raced it to the 1969 Formula 5000 championship, he won with it that July at Road America and he drove it again Sunday in the Kohler International Challenge vintage races on a circuit that has changed little in the 40 years since.

"Back in the day we probably were a little bit closer racing and took a lot more chances . . . and we were a lot younger," the 68-year-old Californian said after finishing second in his class.

"There's a . . . value in what we do today, to be able to bring these cars out of yesteryear . . . and showcase them at a beautiful track like Road America.

"We try to do some racing within the safety confines of the car. We know that they're all historic, and we really don't want to bring them back rumpled up. We want to bring them back in a whole piece and continue on showing these cars."

Nearly 400 high-priced, high-powered toys went on high-speed display during the International Challenge. Only a handful will need another round of restoration before being seen again.

Adamowicz's particular piece of history spent more than 35 years tucked away in storage, unused, unshown and all but forgotten by nearly everyone but its driver.

Finally, as preparations were being made for a 40th anniversary of the Formula 5000 class, Adamowicz worked a deal for its purchase by Doug Magnon, president of the Riverside International Automotive Museum in California. They went together to pick it up.

"I hadn't seen it since December of 1969, the last race at Sebring," said Adamowicz, who remains the only person to have raced the car.

"It was a time warp, going back to see that and to see all the patina that had built up from that race was still there. It was just an amazing time."

Although the car was in great shape, overall, time did take a toll. Adamowicz, Magnon and others spent about a year getting it ready to run again last summer.

Suspension components were rebuilt with stronger steel. The wings and engine are new. Sagging springs were replaced, along with a tachometer that no longer worked and the windscreen, which was pitted from a 13-race season.

"All these pieces were made in the spirit of the way the car was originally, but they're new, fresh pieces to go racing," said Adamowicz, who oversaw the restoration. "We're actually geared for about 190 mph here, so it's a significant speed for a 40-year-old car, let alone a 40-year-older driver."

Through the years, some of the details of Adamowicz's Road America triumph also have faded, and others have been lost in the jumble of hundreds of races in series at tracks all over the world.

He remembers the event involved three 100-mile heats. He remembers seeing Jerry Hansen's car, upside down and dripping gasoline, after a first-lap accident. And he remembers the more significant accomplishment of that day, the first lunar landing.

"It certainly overshadows my win at Road America," Adamowicz said, "but we like to say we're partners in honoring them, Buzz Aldrin and the NASA guys, with their Eagle win on the moon."

It's an interesting tidbit. So was the notion that 40 years later, Adamowicz would return to the site of an important victory and race in the very same car.

"I'm just honored to be here to show it to people," Adamowicz said. "Some of them even remember the car from '69, so that's even more special for them."

And for him.

Oscar Driving? Polish Sausage?

2009-07-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. – One southern Wisconsin homeowner is probably not in love with the Oscar Mayer wiener. The famed hot dog's Wienermobile crashed Friday into the deck and garage of a home in Mount Pleasant, about 35 miles south of Milwaukee.

Police said the driver was trying to turn the Wienermobile around in the driveway and thought she was moving in reverse. But she instead went forward and hit the home. It sat in the driveway as if it were stuck in the garage Friday afternoon.

No one was home and no one was injured. No citations were immediately issued.

Both the home and vehicle suffered moderate damage, which Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sydney Lindner says insurance will cover.

Police hadn't been able to speak to the homeowner as of early Friday evening.

From Yahoo News.

Lifelock.com 400 Bad Lock For Keselowski

2009-07-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

IN THE #25 AT CHICAGO: Driving the No. 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, Brad Keselowski was running in 10th with just 14 to go when a re-start got out of shape. Brad Keselowski got the worst of it and got a massive tire rub sending him off the lead lap and two laps down. He crossed the line P32. The 25-year-old Michigan native had made two previous NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at the 1.5-mile racetrack, where he most recently scored a third-place finish last July after starting 13th.

From the Official Brad Keselowski Website.

New PRDA Products

2009-07-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

I know what your thinking. You're thinking "Whoa, I knew they were going to try to shove products down our throats, them marketing guys, trying to make a buck, only thinking about money. This isn't the PRDA I remember...". But as the old saying goes, if you can remember it, you did it wrong.

These are all new products so that you can proudly display your loyalty to the PRDA and all it stands for. When we know what we stand for, we'll let you know, but in the mean-time, check out these products, buy lots, and get your friends to buy too. Sell them the plan... wait, that's another company.

You can check out the new PRDA products HERE.

One Small Step, One Giant Leap

2009-06-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

With Woodstock yet a month away, July 20th 1969 marked one of the greatest milestones in history. Two men piloted a small craft down to the surface of the moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first man ever to set foot on the moon. "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," were the words heard around the world.

This forty year milestone anniversary is shared by an event that was marked by another famous one-liner: "Gentlemen, start your engines!". The Road America Kohler International Challenge coming this July 16-19 is the 40th anniversary of PRDA's own Tony Adamowicz's win at Road America.

Unfortunately, this time around will require "One Giant Leap" to get there in running order. Mid-Ohio has taken it's toll on Tony's ride after encountering an oil slick and getting intimate with a guard rail. With merely two weeks until Road America, Tony and his crew are frantically looking for a replacement rim for his Eagle.

We will keep you posted as to Tony's progress.

Conquest Racing - Polish LFS Racing Team

2009-06-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

Conquest Racing was established in May 2008 by Foqs, Kamo, Makao, LONT, qstomeq and ziomm. Foqs hit on idea of Polish team, which would participate in top leagues in late April 2008, when he wanted badly to take part in IGTC, but he couldn't find anyone to race with him. So he recruited a couple of people to his secret project and in two weeks he starded work on Conquest Racing.

Kamo took up hosting matters (thanks to him we've got S2 host and TeamSpeak server), Makao made the website, which is currently in second version, and together they made our forum. Jotemi in blistering pace painted our skinpack. As they've done everything, after two weeks of hard work the team was ready to be announced. We didn't have to wait for long to drive in first seriouns event. The debut was made in round 4 of IGTC 2008 season by the team which has been formed only a month before. The result wasn't satisfying because of engine problems during the race. But we were pleased to finish our first endurance race ever. In the end, after five rounds, we took 17th in final result. That was a ticket to MoE - the most prestigious LFS competition. In half a year we managed to achieve our goals we intended.

[Alleydude] LFS=Live For Speed, and online racing simulator that has a large community of racers, teams, and leagues. For more information, check out http://www.lfs.net/.

PRDA Road Atlanta ... Revisited?

2009-06-28T19:10:00.001-07:00

RIAM Eagle at Mid Ohio, June 25-27, 2009

2009-06-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

The RIAM Eagle's first flight for the Historic F 5000 vintage race is at Mid Ohio, Mansfield Ohio June 25,26,27, 2009. For more information, check out The Historic F-5000 Registry.

Kohler International Challenge July 16-19

2009-06-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman presented by FORD

This signature event draws over 1000 entries for racing, touring and the Road & Track Concours d'Elegance. GT40 event marque festivities include a feature race, special guests and activities. Historic Grand Prix adds zip to the international flavor.

PRDA Members will be present! Meet the people that brought you the PRDA.

"Historic F 5000 40th Reunion association will be on hand to race. Our RIAM F 5000 Professional 1969 Championship Winning Gurney Eagle will be on hand to race. It was 40 years since I won at Road America, along with the Apollo 11 Eagle moon landing. Great Feature article by John Zimmermann of Vintage Racecar in the July Issue of the magazine."

- Tony Adamowicz

FORD FAN ACTIVITIES
A great line-up of activities will be available for spectators all weekend including a giant FORD display, Drifting Experiences, Ride & Drives and special Mustang Alley parking. Plus ALL drivers of MUSTANGS get FREE event admission on Mustang Saturday, July 18th.

Road & Track Racecar Concours d' Elegance on Friday
Parade of racecars departs Gate 5 at approximately 6:00 PM. Racecars are on display from 6:00 PM-8:30 PM.

Road & Track Sports Car Concours d' Elegance on Saturday
Sports cars are on display from 6:00 PM-9:00 PM.

PUBLIC KARTING
Many of today’s racing stars got their start in a kart!
Now race fans can test their skills on the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America!

WHO: Ages 14 and older. A parent/guardian must be present if under 18. No experience necessary.

WHERE: Briggs & Stratton Motorplex, infield over Carousel Bridge, near Turns 7 & 8
COST: $20 per session or $250 unlimited weekend pass. Pay at Briggs & Stratton Motorplex.

Karts reach speeds of up to 50 mph. Daily prizes awarded for best lap times.

For More information and ticket prices, click HERE.

For Information on Road America, click HERE.

Florian Jenett Can-Am Corolla Goes Green With Recyclable Aero Aids

2009-06-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Back in the mid-90s, Florian Jenett wanted to go Can-Am racing. Never one to let obstacles dismay him, he ignored people that told him, “You can’t afford to go racing on a German artist’s salary” or “Can-Am racing died in 1974.” Instead, he put together the Corolla-based racecar you see here. Complete with a homemade K&N filter conversion (necessitating a hood bulge) and sans catalytic converter, it was capable of over 100mph — at which speed its handling became unpredictable.

To solve this problem, Florian fitted aerodynamic aids both front and rear. While he never had the time to test their effect in a wind tunnel, the artist estimates they provide upwards of 350kg of downforce at 85 mph. Florian went so far as to ship the car to America for the 1996 race season before discovering that the series no longer existed. Faced with returning home to the “I told you so’s” of his neighbors, Florian decided to pass the car off as an art project, stating, “I dunno, I guess it’s a comment on the materialism of performance or something.” [Florian Jenett via Autofiends]

More Pictures HERE.

Polish Rally Champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz

2009-06-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

Awesome video footage, though I would prefer to hear the sound of the car over music any day.

The official Kajetan Kajetanowicz Website.

Front Row Joe Nemechek

2009-06-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

Joe Nemechek began his racing career in motocross at age 13 taking home more than 300 trophies in six years. Making the transition to stockcars in 1986, he has posted victories in every series in which he has raced along the way.

Early achievements include All-Pro Late Model Rookie of the Year in 1989 and NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1990. He led his family-owned team to the NASCAR Busch Series Championship in 1992 and was named Most Popular Driver in 1992 and 1993.

Nemechek made the jump to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 1994. Since 1997, he has collected nine pole awards and numerous front row starting spots lending credence to his claim upon the nickname “Front Row Joe.”

His victory in the 1999 Jiffy Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, however, stood out as the first major milestone of a promising career. Win number two came in the late stages of the 2001 season when Nemechek dominated the Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway.

In 2003, Nemechek took over the wheel of the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevy driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Only 11 races into the season, he claimed victory in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Later that year, Nemechek was named as driver of the MB2 Motorsports/U.S. Army entry for the 2004 season.

In October of 2004, Kansas Speedway set the stage for Nemechek’s most successful career weekend. Front Row Joe reconfirmed his name as he picked up the Bud Pole award for the NEXTEL Cup race, but he didn’t stop there. He went on to sweep the weekend with wins in the Busch Series race as well as the NEXTEL Cup Series race putting him in the records books as the first driver to pick up the triple crown.

Through his NEXTEL Cup success, Nemechek has continued his NEMCO Motorsports Busch Series operation with which he competes on a limited-schedule basis. Known throughout the sport as one of the premier operations, Nemechek himself boasts 16 wins, 18 poles, 73 top-fives and 120 top-ten finishes to date.

Building on the success of the team, the NEMCO operation expanded in 2001 with the addition of a second Busch Series entry. Since then, many drivers have achieved success in NEMCO cars including Kyle Busch, Ron Fellows, David Reutimann and Greg Biffle. In the 2003 season alone, Nemechek and Biffle’s combined efforts led to five wins and seven poles, with an additional pole added by Reutimann.

Late in the 2004 season, the NEMCO team endured major personnel changes leading to the addition of crew chief Gary Putnam. In only his third outing, Putnam led the team to the memorable Kansas victory reinforcing the team’s presence in the series. Continuing to rebuild throughout the 2005 season, Nemechek grabbed the season-opening pole at Daytona and posted top-ten performances at Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dover and Watkins Glen.

With his US Army, NEXTEL Cup ride settled for the next two seasons, Nemechek now looks for a partner to join his NEMCO Motorsports team to support a full Busch Series season in 2006.

From The Official Joe Nemechek Website.

BRAD KESELOWSKI WINS AT DOVER!

2009-06-10T05:15:00.000-07:00

5/31/2009

Brad Keselowski has raced to his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season, taking the lead off a restart in the final laps at Dover International Speedway. Kyle Busch led most of the second half of Saturday's race and appeared on the way to his third win of the season. But he seemed to have tire trouble off the restart that came after the caution with seven laps left.

Brad was there to take advantage and the checkered flag, perhaps taking away some of the sting of failing to qualify for Sunday's Cup race.

Brad made his fourth start for JR Motorsports at the one-mile concrete track. In his last three starts for JRM, Keselowski has an average starting position of 13.3 and an average finish of 5.7 at the 'Monster Mile'. In last season’s fall event, Keselowski started 12th and finished third.

From the Official Brad Keselowski Website.

Auto World Can Amp

2009-06-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it that there just might be an Auto World Can Amp racer sometime next year, maybe around the time of the next Indy 500. Hush hush, now. This is top secret and sponsorship details are still being worked out, so don't go posting it on the interweb.

And The Oscar Award Goes To...

2009-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Got to give a PRDA award to this vehicle... Oscar.

A Lap Around Road Atlanta 1970

2009-06-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

Oscar pilots the Auto World McLaren around Road Atlanta in 1970. Oscar narrates this video around one lap. See this and more on the DVD 1969-1971 Can Am McLarens available at http://www.autoworldmobilia.com .

2009-06-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings again fellow PRDA enthusiasts,
The PRDA would not have happened without first the idea, after my 1969 Continental Championship F 5000 Eagle, I thought it was time to present my idea to Oscar Koveleski. Oscar was the President of Auto World , the largest mail order model car and race car accessory company in the country. I knew Oscar and Auto World had ability to reach out to the masses with is established business. I had sent a drawing of what I thought was a reasonable version of the PRDA logo. Oscar contacted his friend Brad Niemcek, who was the PR director for Johnson's Wax, the major sponsor for the Can Am series. Between Oscar and Brad, the art work was finalized and the initial introduction of the PRDA began with the exclusive ground rules for membership and Brad' s carefully prepared PRDA newsletter. Unanimously , Oscar was declared the President with Brad and myself as dual back up Vice Presidents. You have to ask yourself, Why 2 Vice Presidents ? Well we never said the PRDA was an efficient organization, Oscar being the PR whirlwind and race driver , his schedule always kept him busy. It took 2 VP's to follow up on his escapades. The rest is pretty much history as the PRDA became the most sought after membership in the history of motor racing. Tongue and cheek humor was the order of the day, however never to defame the great Polish people. Tony Adamowicz, VP of the PRDA

The Devil Wears PRDA

2009-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

PRDA Ball caps are available on the a2zRaceGear website and can be yours without membership. The PRDA decided that it was unfair to not offer these great caps to those not fortunate enough to meet the strict membership criteria, so they are now available to the public. Visit a2zRaceGear.com today to order your exclusive PRDA ballcap today. Or tomorrow. Or wait until payday. All the cool kids are wearing them...

Putting The Call Out For Pictures

2009-06-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am trying to gather color pictures of the Chevy "Briggs" van used by Oscar, Tony, and Brad in the first Cannonball Run. Any pictures would be greatly appreciated but color pictures are badly needed. You can post them here, or eMail them to ken@alleydude.com.

Any other information, such as the year of the van, colors, or anything else would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

Alleydude.

The Official PRDA Website

2009-06-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

After many years of arduous and sometimes heated negotions with the Polish Government (who think they own the rights to anything Polish), the American Government (who think they own the rights to anything "Racing"), the NRA (who think they own the rights to anything "Association"), Car and Driver Magazine (that whole "Drivers" thing), and a small organization in California that thinks they own the word "Of", a settlement has finally been reached and the Polish Racing Drivers Association will now have an official webpage! Stay tuned as we get this site up and running!