Racing News: Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 903 Shows Continued Pace in L.A.

	Scott-Eklund Racing kept pace in round three of the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) in Los Angeles this past weekend.

Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 903 Shows Continued Pace in L.A.
Scott-Eklund Racing continued to show its pace against the manufacturer-run teams in round three of the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) in Los Angeles this past weekend.

Double Formula Drift Champion and 2010 X Games bronze medalist Samuel Hubinette took an immediate lead in the opening four-lap heat, which he extended to more than two seconds on lap one. He powered his Scott-Eklund Racing Saab 9-3 with Eneos Motor Oil to a convincing win, finishing eight seconds ahead at the flag to earn a place in the final.



As part of the 2012 X Games, the driver pairing of Hubinette and Scott-Eklund Racing Team Principal Andy Scott negotiated a 0.7-mile tarmac and gravel surface track around the streets of downtown L.A. 



Competing at the 18th running of the multi-discipline extreme sports competition, alongside many of the world’s top athletes vying for medals in their respective sports, Scott seeded seventh after Saturday’s practice, just ahead of Hubinette. 



At the wheel of his Scott Trawlers-backed Saab 9-3, Scott lined up alongside Travis Pastrana

 in his four-car heat on Sunday. At the lights, Scott lost momentum briefly, but picked up the pace entering turn one. Ahead, Pastrana slowed earlier than anticipated on the entry to the 90-degree right-hander, leaving Scott nowhere to go but into the back of the race leader. The resultant collision forced the race stoppage, while the damage sustained by Scott forced him in for rapid repairs.



The Scott-Eklund Racing crew allowed them to complete the job in time for the Dumfries fisherman to take up a spot in the Last Chance Qualifier—the winner of which would make up the 10-car final grid. However, Scott was unable to capitalize, and finished just adrift of the eventual race winner.



In the six-lap Final, Hubinette lined up alongside eight-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, making a one-off appearance in the GRC. A lightning start by Hubinette allowed him to challenge for the lead into the first corner, until the red flag was thrown to retrieve a stranded car. A false start at the next attempt necessitated a third restart and again Hubinette made a great getaway to place third into the first corner. However, a collision with another car dropped him down to seventh and a lap later, a punctured left rear tire sustained in the incident saw him parked up by the side of the track, bringing his chances of claiming a medal to an early finish. 


	Blackie Gejeian

Celebrity Roast of Blackie Gejeian Pays Tribute to Fresno Promoter
Blackie Gejeian—promoter and Fresno, California, hot-rod kingpin—is getting roasted. The gala event, billed as "The Celebrity Roast of Blackie Gejeian and Salute to Fresno Motorsports Heroes," will take place Saturday, November 3, at The Grand—a newly restored banquet hall in downtown Fresno. 

An all-star lineup of celebrity roasters (expected to include George Barris, Sam Foose, Andy Brizio, Bill Vukovich Sr., Gary Scelzi, Gene Winfield, Darryl Starbird and many more) will honor and tell war stories of the Armenian promoter who founded the Fresno Autorama and packed the stands at Clovis Speedway and Raisin City Drag Strip, where he ran four-wide top fuelers long before Bruton Smith. Goodguys Rod & Custom Association Founder Gary Meadors and NHRA Motorsports Museum Curator Greg Sharp will host the festivities.

Fresno area rodders have joined in to make The Roast an all-day affair with John Lawson hosting an open house at his personal museum (featuring an array of ’32 Fords and memorabilia) from 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m., as will collector Charlie Lambecchio. Additional daytime activities are in the planning stages.

Pre-Roast partying with a no-host bar starts at The Grand, November 3, at 3:00 p.m. At 5:00 p.m., a full gourmet meal will be served followed by The Roast. Tickets are $40. A reserved table of 10 is available for $500, which includes three bottles of premium wine.

For those coming in from out of town, the Holiday Inn Fresno Downtown (559-233-6650) will serve as the host hotel. To reserve your seat or table, visit www.blackieroast.com or call Mary Ellen Pappas at 925-218-9138. You can also send a check to Blackie’s Roast, P.O. Box 9132, Pleasanton, CA 94566.

	L-R: Dusty Brandel, a member of the Hall Of Fame Board of Directors; Ed Justice Jr.; and award presenter Christine Walker.

Justice Brothers Inc. Inducted into 2012 West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame
The West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame was founded in 2001 to memorialize significant contributors to the history and development of stock car racing. Nominees might include engineers, drivers, track owners, promoters, sponsors, members of the motorsports media or any person or company seriously involved in stock car racing.

This year, Justice Brothers Inc., has been nominated and inducted into this group by the Stock Car Hall Of Fame Board of Directors. The ceremony was held June 21, at the Napa Smith Brewery, near Napa, California.

A gala induction dinner commemorates the ninth class of honored inductees. The Justice Brothers have been sponsors and product contributors to stock car racing for more than 70 years.

During the ceremony, Ed Justice Jr., president and CEO of Justice Brothers, thanked the board of directors in the name of his father Ed Justice Sr., and uncles Zeke and Gus, who together not only started the company, but were also avid stock car builders and racers. The award, honoring their achievements, will go on permanent display in the Justice Brothers Museum of Racing and Private Collection in Duarte, California.

	The Quarter Mile Foundation now has secured 163 interviews for the "PROJECT 1320" documentary film series.

Quarter Mile Foundation Adds 15 Interviews
The NHRA/Holley Hot Rod Reunion (June 14–16) at Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Beech Bend Raceway helped secure interviews for the Quarter Mile Foundation’s “PROJECT 1320” documentary, which chronicles the early days of drag racing and the performance aftermarket. A total of 16 new interviews were conducted at the track during the three-day event celebrating the legendary stars and the cars that made them famous.

The interviewees included:

The Foundation now has secured 163 interviews for the "PROJECT 1320" documentary film series.

	Brad Keselowski takes No. 2 to Victory Lane at Kentucky.

Bosch Spark Plugs Sweep Top Finishers at Kentucky as Keselowski, Penske and Dodge Take Third Win of Season
Running Bosch spark plugs, Brad Keselowski out-raced Kasey Kahne as he took the checkered flag in the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kentucky race last Saturday night. Bosch plugs swept the top five finishers and eight of the top 10 in the race, which featured Keselowski, Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, A.J. Allmendinger and Kyle Busch.

It was the third win this year for Keselowski’s Number 2 Dodge and Penske Racing. Keselowski's team put together a backup car in only hours after Keselowski wrecked his No. 1 car in practice Friday. The race lead changed hands several times during the race, with Keselowski out in front from lap 212 until he won on lap 267. Busch led for 118 laps, but fell back with a broken shock mount.

Scott Bove won STO on Sunday, but fell just short of the overall race win at High Plains. Photo: Jay Bonvouloir

Winners Crowned At BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Rocky Mountain Super Tour
Last Sunday’s BFGoodrich Tires Rocky Mountain Super Tour at High Plains Raceway began with an overall battle for Group 1 supremacy. With neither Jim Valdez of Denver, nor Scott Bove of Conifer, Colorado, willing to concede the overall victory and both clear of their closest class competitors, the race came down to the final corner for a pair of BMWs.

Valdez finished just a 0.412-second ahead of Bove for the overall win, reversing the finishing order from Saturday’s SafeRacer National Series race.

Saturday’s Spec Racer Ford winner Keith Verges displayed a bit of resiliency in the No. 69 Apex Driving Academy SRF machine to make the finish exciting. However, Verges was not able to take advantage of a draft up the long backstraight that often happens at High Plains, and attempted to pull side-by-side through corner eight. Denny Stripling took the Super Tour victory.

In the Group 3 race, Matt Reynolds ran away with the Spec Miata class win in the No. 74 Reynolds Bros. Racing Mazda Miata. Reynolds showed up again in Group 5 where he gave chase to eventual E Production winner Jesse Prather’s No. 34 Jesse Prather Motorsports Mazda MX-5. In that race, Reynolds fell behind in the No. 71 Reynolds Bros. Racing Mazda Miata, then pitted with mechanical issues while Prather cruised to victory by 23.136 seconds.

Joining Jesse Prather as a race winner in that Group was his father, Kent Prather. The defending GT-Lite National Champion was locked in a race-long battle with Jonathan Goodale’s No. 04 MAZDASPEED/Hoosier Mazda MX-5. The two showed strength on different parts of the circuit with the gap hovering essentially at less than a second for the entire race before Prather hung on for the win in his No. 26 Prather Racing/MAZDASPEED Mazda Miata.

Michael Pettiford of Louisville, Colorado, did manage to take two wins on Sunday. Pettiford drove the No. 41 Go 4 It Racing School Pontiac Solstice to the Super Touring Under win in the morning, then repeated with a Showroom Stock B victory in a less-prepared Solstice later in the day.

	A cash bonus available to Coyote Stock competitors at the NMRA Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Strange Engineering NMRA Coyote Stock Bonus Announced
Strange Engineering—title sponsor of NMRA's Coyote Stock class—will up the ante with a cash bonus available to Coyote Stock competitors at the NMRA Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky. There are three ways to win, and a possible $1,000 at stake. First, the winner of the Coyote Stock class will receive a $500 cash bonus. Second, the Coyote Stock racer with the fastest reaction time in class eliminations will win $250. If the same racer gets the best eliminations reaction time and wins the event, Strange Engineering will add an additional $250 for a total of $1,000. For more information on NMRA, visit www.NMRAdigital.com. 

Brian Deegan claimed the bronze medal at X Games 18 RallyCross.

Brian Deegan Battles to Bronze at X Games 18 RallyCross
Metal Mulisha founder, X Games 2011 RallyCross Champion, and the only athlete to compete in every X Games since 1999, Brian “The General” Deegan clocked a Bronze finish in RallyCross and his fourth X Games Rally medal in three years.

In last Sunday’s race, Deegan started in the second row and came out strong. After the first lap there was a red flag restart where Deegan was sent to the back of the pack after judges said he jumped the gun and started early. Despite being last in the lineup, Brian dodged a few crashes and battled into third place in the second-to-last lap where he then set his sights on closing the gap on second-place driver Ken Block. Deegan cut a six-second deficit down to a car length at the finish as he just narrowly missed passing Block for the silver. 

Deegan pulled multiple celebratory donuts after crossing the finish line, not because he was extremely happy with not winning gold, but pumped with how he drove the course, especially considering he battled from last place.

On Friday night, Deegan competed in his 14th consecutive Moto X Step Up. It came down to the final three riders and Deegan was the first to jump a record-breaking 40 ft., claiming the bronze medal.