 John Force, the 15-Time NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion and driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, helps kick off the 25th Annual Performance Racing Industry Trade Show with a special appearance at the Grand Opening Breakfast. |
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John Force to Join Dave Despain During the 2012 PRI Trade Show's Grand Opening Breakfast
On the morning of November 29, 2012, Dave Despain will present a live version of his Wind Tunnel TV program that airs on Speed Channel during the Grand Opening Breakfast on opening day of the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show.
And joining him this year will be 15-Time NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car
Champion and driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang John Force.
Over the years, such respected racing figures as Bobby Rahal, Humpy Wheeler, Dale Inman, Smokey Yunick, Jack Roush, Robert Yates and many more have participated as speakers at the Grand Opening Breakfast.
The Grand Opening Breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m., Thursday, November 29, 2012, with doors set to open at 7:00 a.m. It will be held in the northwest corner of the exhibit hall that houses the PRI Trade Show. Show credentials are required for entry. The PRI Trade Show takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday, November 29–December 1, 2012, in the North/South Building of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Approximately 1,100 racing industry suppliers occupying 3,200 booths will exhibit the latest developments in auto-racing technology before 38,000 attendees from throughout the United States and 72 countries. The Show offers unparalleled access and exposure for racing businesspeople, including retailers of racing components, race-engine builders, performance WDs, race-car builders and race-track owners and operators, as well as professional race teams.
Motorsports professionals are encouraged to pre-register now for credentials for the PRI Trade Show. Early registration will ensure Show materials arrive in the mail prior to your departure for Orlando.
 Rhys Millen finished the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a record time of 9:46.164 while driving his Motul-supported ’13 Hyundai Genesis Coupe race car. |
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Motul Celebrates Ultimate Success at Pikes Peak
Rhys Millen—overall winner of this year’s 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb—finished the event with a record time of 9:46.164 while driving his Motul-supported ’13 Hyundai Genesis Coupe race car.
Postponed from its usual July date because of the devastating forest
fires in the Colorado region, the event was run for the first time over a
100% asphalt course. Extreme weather conditions over the 14,110-ft.
ascent forced race officials to shorten the course due to snow, rain and
near-freezing temperatures at the finish line on the summit. It is only
the third time in the race’s 90-year history this has happened. Before
this, a number of high-profile entrants went off track or failed to
finish due to technical issues.
Millen, who finished second in last year’s hill climb, achieved victory
by just 0.017 seconds over the more powerful Porsche of Le Mans 24 Hour
winner Romain Dumas—one of the closest margins in Pikes Peak competition.
Rookie Andrew Comrie-Picard finished third in the Exhibition Powersports class and in 65th place overall with his Scion xD; Travis Tollett, a quadriplegic driver, took his Polaris RZR to 121st out of a total of 170 entries.
 Driver Bill Schueler and co-driver Craig Scanlon earned a first-place finish in the Sportsman Class UTV in the Vegas to Reno off-road event. |
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Team Falken Shines in Vegas to Reno Race—Billed "Longest One-Day Race in U.S."
Falken Tire-supported entries in the 534-mile Vegas to Reno off-road event—the longest single-day race in the U.S., sanctioned by Best in the Desert—earned a first-place finish in the Sportsman Class UTV with Driver Bill Schueler and co-driver Craig Scanlon. In the Pro UTV Class, Jagged X Racing driver Matt Parks and co-driver Mike Carr took second.
Falken also united with 4400 Class entry Ultra4 Team Race Prep Racing, supporting the team as it finished 12th without a single tire problem. Key to the team’s accomplishment was fielding the only race vehicle entered on all-terrain street tires. By completing the event in the 4400 class, Race Prep Racing earned a spot in the 2013 King of the Hammers event.
Ford Power Prevails in Motor City
Greg Biffle took home the trophy and grasped the points lead after a victorious run at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. He now leads the Sprint Cup Championship standings by 20 points over Ford teammate Matt Kenseth.
Biffle stormed past Brad Keselowski and was running a close second to Jimmy Johnson when, with eight laps left, Johnson started to slow due to engine troubles and Biffle breezed by to take the win.
Shortly after Biffle sailed by for the lead, there was a caution for oil on the track. Biffle held Keselowski off during the green-white-checkered finish to take home his second win of the year.
After taking a four-month absence to pursue his NASCAR Nationwide series aspirations, Josh Richards was back in Victory Lane. Richards was victorious at Merritt Raceway in Merritt, Michigan, after winning the World of Outlaws-sanctioned NAPA Auto Parts Merritt 50. His teammate and fellow Roush Yates Engines driver Brandon Sheppard finished out strong at second place.
Sierra Jackson became the first woman to win the 52nd annual Daffodil Cup at the Canadian-American Western Winged Sprintcar Series at Western Speedway in Victoria, British Columbia, with her Roush Yates Ford 360 engine. In addition, Jack Dover took the checkered at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, with the Speedway Motors ASCS Warrior Region.
 Summit Racing Equipment and tuner shop Smokey’s Dyno have teamed up to build a GM LS-powered BMW E30 |
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Summit Racing Equipment and Smokey’s Dyno Put Big LS Power in a BMW E30
Summit Racing Equipment and tuner shop Smokey’s Dyno (North Canton, Ohio) have teamed up to build a GM LS-powered BMW E30 for road racing, standing mile competition and just plain fun on the street.
Known for its tuning prowess with high-end cars, such as Maseratis, Porsches, BMWs, and Corvettes, Smokey’s didn’t want to do something as "ordinary" as an LS/BMW swap. The shop approached Summit Racing Equipment with a plan to build a 600-plus-hp car that can race at the track, yet will take you to the store.
Summit Racing and Trick Flow supplied the components for the engine. It is based on a GM Performance LSX 6.2L aluminum block filled with a Callies Compustar 4-in. stroke crank, Howard’s 6.125-in. billet rods, Wiseco pistons and a Trick Flow TrackMax Stage 4 camshaft. Up top is a pair of Trick Flow GenX 235 CNC-ported cylinder heads, a F.A.S.T. LSX intake and F.A.S.T. fuel rails with 60 lb.-hr. Trick Flow fuel injectors. The fuel system is from Aeromotive. The engine is mated to a T-56 six-speed transmission.
The E30’s suspension has been totally revamped with components from a Z3 M roadster. The brakes are from a BMW M3. Covering those brakes are Billet Specialties Pro Touring wheels (18x11 front, 18x13 rear) on Toyo Proxis tires. The car also has a DTM Fiber Werkz body kit.
The E30 is currently in the final stages of completion (exhaust system fabrication, body kit fitment, body wrapping, etc.). It is scheduled to be displayed at the DTM Fiber Werkz booth at the 2012 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Smokey’s Dyno plans on running the car in road course competition in 2013 and attending East Coast Timing Association (ECTA) standing-mile events and a possible stint on the Hot Rod magazine Power Tour.
 Zak Brown won two races in the IMSA GTP class in his #16 ’86 Porsche 962 at last weekend's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. |
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Zak Brown’s Two Race Wins at the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion
At last weekend's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Zak Brown took a convincing victory in both races in the IMSA GTP class in his #16 ’86 Porsche 962.
During last Friday’s qualifying, Brown put his Porsche into second position on the grid for the first race on Sunday. He took the lead two laps from the end of the race. In race two, Brown started from pole position, and again took victory.
This car has won before at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, taking victory at its debut at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2010, driven on that occasion by ex-Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson.
The Porsche 962 has accumulated 54 wins in IMSA competition alone, 40 of which came between 1985–1987. The 120 chassis, owned now by Zak Brown, was heavily modified by Dyson Racing. A high-downforce nose and air tunnels under the car were designed by aerodynamicist Dick Yagami.
This car won in its debut at the 1986 Six Hours of Riverside, commencing a streak of four podium finishes to start the season. Additionally, it earned wins at Charlotte and Sears Point helping Price Cobb finish second in the 1986 IMSA GTP Championship and Dyson Racing win its second Porsche Cup. It went on to collect a win at Watkins Glen in 1987 and another at Miami in 1988.
 David Pintaric is one of the BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour winners up for a custom Bell helmet. Photo: Kenneth Hawking Images |
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BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour Champs Crowned For 2012
With points tallied from all nine BFGoodrich Tires SCCA Super Tour races in 2012, six drivers clinched top category honors, including cash and product awards, and are in contention for the top prize—a custom painted Bell helmet commemorating the series title.
National class racers were divided into six categories, with the top two point scorers earning $500 and the third-ranked driver earning $200. Points for the BFGoodrich Tires Super Tour were calculated based on the SCCA SaferRacer National Series Point Structure, including bonus points.
Each of the six drivers will be awarded a set of BFGoodrich Tires that can be used on either the street or the race track.
In addition to the cash and product prizes, BFGoodrich Tires has placed each of the six category top point earners into a drawing for a helmet custom painted by Indocil Art. The custom design will be a joint collaboration between the winning driver and Indocil Art, who does helmets for Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell and Austin Dillon, among many others.
The grand prize drawing will be held during the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America, September 18–23.
SCCA Club Racing National classes were divided into six categories: Small Formula classes (Formula Enterprises, Formula F, Formula Mazda, Formula 500 and Formula Vee); Small Bore (E, F, and H Production, GT-Lite, Super Touring Under and Super Touring Lite); Big Bore (GT-1, GT-2, GT3, American Sedan, and Super Touring Over); Spec (Spec Racer Ford, Spec Miata), Touring/Showroom Stock (Touring 1, 2 and 3, Showroom Stock B and C), and Big Formula and Sports Racing (Formula Atlantic, Formula 1000, Formula Continental, C and D Sports Racing and Sports 2000).
The top three point scorers in each category are:
- Small Formula: CJ McAbee (F5), Charles Hearn (FV), Stuart Rettie (FM)
- Small Bore: Jesse Prather (EP), John De Barros (STU), Jim Drago (STL)
- Big Bore: David Pintaric (STO), Robert Herman (GT3), Michael Lavigne (AS)
- Spec: Denny Stripling (SRF), Craig Berry (SM), Christopher Haldeman (SM)
- Touring/Showroom Stock: Jim Place (SSC), Toby Grahovec (SSB), Steve Jenkins (T2)
- Big Formula/Sports Racing: Jean-Luc Liverato (CSR), Jacek Mucha (CSR), Chuck Moran (FC)