Leading Queensland businessman Craig Gore has celebrated his team?s victory in last month?s Champ Car Atlantic Series in North America with the delivery of a new road car.
From now on, Gore will leave his Bentley Black Label Arnage T Mulliner at home in his Gold Coast garage and use a new black Chrysler 300C as his daily drive car.
Gore, is co-owner of Team Australia which campaigns two cars in the Atlantic Series as well as two cars in the Champ Car World Series, which has its next round at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of the Gold Coast from October 19-21.
With the Atlantic title and a $US2 million winner?s purse already in the bag, Gore had to re-group for last weekend?s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama, where his WPS Racing team also fielded two cars.
Gore?s commitment to motorsport also includes naming rights of the WPS Porsche Carrera Cup, naming rights of Marcos Ambrose?s NASCAR truck in the US, naming rights of the Bathurst International Motor Festival at Bathurst at Easter, major sponsorship of the Lexmark Indy 300 and naming rights of the Chrysler?s V8 Supercar Safety Car program. It is through the Safety Car program that Gore and his racing operations have developed a tremendous relationship with Chrysler which has experienced a resurgence in Australia during the last couple of years.
Gore?s V8 Supercar team is the only truly ?independent? team in the V8 Supercar series with no manufacturer support from either Ford or Holden and that has encouraged the Chrysler relationship.
As with all the relationships built through Gore?s racing operations, plenty of business to business dealings have resulted.
The partnership with Chrysler has seen Gore?s Wright Patton Shakespeare Financial Services company order 50 retro-styled PT Cruisers which have been painted in his team?s racing colours.
These vehicles can now be seen on the streets of every capital city every day enabling WPS staff to service clients across the city and beyond.
A Chrysler 300C is also currently being given away through WOW Sight and Sound, another of WPS Racing?s sponsorship partners.
?Chrysler has been a terrific partner of ours and the 300C is just a fantastic thing, ? said Gore.
?It looks great, has plenty of power and rides just as good as the Bentley.
?Chrysler has done a terrific job with this car and I think the sales in Australia indicate that.
?Chrysler has been tremendous to deal with on all levels and deserves any success that comes its way. Products like the 300C will certainly increase that. ?
Gore has developed his US racing operations under the banner of Team Australia which is designed to encourage Australia-US business relationships.
That program has already encouraged the involvement of some iconic brands such as Qantas and RM Williams as well as Gore?s own Aussie Vineyards wine label which is now on sale in the US and which will be available in more than 10, 000 outlets across North America by early next year.
Back home, Gore has used V8 Supercars and its Safety Car program to rocket the growth of his WPS brand and business with the company just recording its sixth consecutive month of record growth.
A total of seven State offices have been opened in less than two years on the business created out of the V8 Supercar program and Gore expects a 10-fold return on his investment.
The efforts of Chrysler to leverage the Safety Car program means that Gore is even considering changing the branding of his V8 Supercar team in 2007 ? after all, he has more than 80 companies, which he owns, to choose from.
?Chrysler has certainly done a terrific job leveraging their involvement in V8 Supercar racing through the safety car program, ? said Gore.
?It is a pro-active company which has made use of all the benefits V8 Supercars can deliver.
?The Safety Car program is being worked so well that we may even replace our WPS race team branding with another of our companies next season. ?
WPS Racing will also field two Falcons in the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge at Indy, round 10 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
CONCORD, N.C. -- Scott Riggs knocked Evernham Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne off the provisional pole late in Thursday night's qualifying session, earning the top starting spot for Saturday's Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Driving the same No. 10 car he powered to the pole for the Coca-Cola 600 in May, Riggs turned a lap in 28.203 seconds (191.469 mph), as Dodge swept the top five positions -- until the time of third-place qualifier Kurt Busch was disallowed after inspection. Kahne continued the momentum he gained in last Sunday's 88-point reprieve at Talladega with his front-row performance.
Kahne held the top spot until late in the Thursday's session with a lap at 190.194 mph. Casey Mears (189.613) was third after Busch's disqualification for a right rear shock that did not conform to NASCAR's rules. Elliott Sadler (189.023 mph) qualified fourth, as Evernham Motorsports grabbed three of the top four starting positions.
"I knew we had a shot at the pole," Riggs said. "For us to be able to pull it off, it just makes it more rewarding. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure I didn't make a mistake.
"The car did exactly what I wanted it to do, and it was an awesome-feeling lap, but I'd definitely trade this pole for a win."
With a second-place finish at Talladega, Kahne gained 88 points on Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup leader Jeff Burton, who finished 27th. Now ninth in points, Kahne is 185 behind Burton with six races remaining.
"I feel like we have a shot at winning races and running up front and doing everything we can to challenge for the Nextel Cup," Kahne said. "We had a couple of bad breaks and got behind a little bit, but this is a good team. They give me great cars every week. It's just a matter of circumstances, and hopefully we can run up front all weekend long."
Burton (188.574) will start sixth behind teammate Kevin Harvick (188.739 mph). Burton and Mark Martin posted the exact same time (28.636 seconds), but Burton got the nod for the sixth position because he's ahead of third-place Martin in the standings.
Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and Jimmie Johnson completed the top 10. Johnson has won four of the last five races at LMS. Of the remaining Chase competitors, Matt Kenseth will start 11th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 16th, Kyle Busch 18th, Denny Hamlin 22nd and Jeff Gordon 41st. Busch will start at the rear of the field and may face further sanctions next week. Fighting an extremely loose racecar, Gordon had to take an owner points provisional after posting a lap at 183.100 mph.
Notes: Carl Long and Kenny Wallace crashed during qualifying but were unharmed in their respective accidents ? In his debut in the Team Red Bull/Victory Junction gang Dodge, Bill Elliott failed to make the field.
PADDOCK TALK - - Dodge Motorsports competes in Topeka, K.S., this weekend in three different divisions among a field of 700 road-racing aces in the Sports Car Club of America Club Series Runoffs. The Runoffs are considered to be the Super Bowl of amature road racing, and Dodge has successfully put five drivers in the top-10 in qualifying for the event at the 2.5 mile Heartland Park Topeka road course.
Dodge took the pole position in the T1 qualifying session with Washington native Scotty B. White?s run in the No. 3 Kumho/SRT/Forgeline/Corsa Dodge SRT10. He beat second place driver by six-tenths of a second and grabbed the top-spot with time of 1:47.034 seconds. The effort makes it two years in a row that he has sat on the pole in this event. He finished second last year.
?I feel good about being on the pole for two years in a row. It?s a good place to start,? said White. ?This SRT10 is super strong. It?s a nice little hot rod. The adjustability of the car is great and the guys on the team have been working hard to get it running fast. We think we have a good shot at a top-finish in the race.?
White says he enjoys the track and racing at Heartland Park Topeka, but not all the other competitors feel the same.
?I really like the track here in Kansas. It?s a technical race track and there?s a certain rhythm to it,? said White. ?It?s like a Beatles song?it?s got a fairly complicated rhythm but can be followed easily. Some of the other guys are having a hard time getting a handle on it. It?s definitely not simple, but we?ve got it figured out.?
Half of the top-10 starters in the T1 division are Dodges, giving Dodge Motorsports a good shot at breaking Corvette?s streak of six years straight as the division winner at the Runnoffs.
Dodge rounded out the top-five with Pennsylvania?s Andrew Aquilante qualifing third, female driver Cindi Lux of Aloha, Ore., qualifing fourth and Michigan native Jeffrey Robbins qualifying fifth. Robbins has high expectations for the weekend after a solid week of practice and a top-five qualifying run.
?Our Dodge is great. It?s handling well and has gotten faster and faster each time I?ve gotten behind the wheel.? Robbins said. ?It?s a rocket. We?re expecting to do well in the race?we?re thinking at least a top-five finish, maybe even a win.?
Dodge holds four of the top-five starting positions and the seventh place position with Jim Lynch of Chesterfield, Mo., in the No. 98 Dodge Viper.
The final Dodge driver in the field, David Pintaric, qualified in the 13th position in his No. 40 Kyderacing/Hoosier/WRP Dodge.
Cindi Lux won her division and the June Sprints at Road America before being given the invitation to the Runoffs. If she were to win the Runoffs, she would take home the prestigious triple crown.
The T1 division race is scheduled for Saturday at 5:10pm. Speed channel will broadcast the event, with air times TBA.
In the T2 Division, Dodge has two SRT4 drivers in competition for the prestigious race win. George Biskup of Naperville, Ill., and Adam Treadway of Findlay, Ohio. Biskup qualified his No. 15 Biskup Motorsports Dodge SRT4 in the 15th position. Treadway will start in the 28th position after posting a lap of 2:03.130 seconds in his No. 08 Treadway Chrysler Dodge SRT4.
The T2 Dodge SRT4s will take on the rest of the field of Runoff competitors on Saturday at 1:30pm.
In the SSC Division, Dodge has two Neons entered into the competition. Paul Sherman of Andover, K.S. in the No. 94 Dodge Neon of Jim Eli of Birch Bay, Wash., in the No. 9 UPR.com/Dodge/Kumho/Upr Dodge Neon. Sherman qualified in the 18th position while Eli posted the 22nd quickest time in his 2002 Dodge Neon.
This, the 43rd running of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs? is the first to be held at Heartland Park Topeka. The Runoffs, commonly referred to as the ?Olympics? of grassroots motorsports, have this year 755 entrants in 25 classes. Dodge Motorsports is competing among these 750 plus racers for the honor to call themselves the best amateur racers in the country.
Cindi Lux Podiums with Hard-Earned Second-Place at SCCA Runoffs in Topeka
NayKid Racing's Scotty B. White Forced to Pit While in Lead
TOPEKA, Kan., October 15, 2006 -- The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Touring One (T1) class race for production-based sports cars was expected to be the highlight of the National Championship Runoffs weekend here at Heartland Park Topeka (HPT). It did not disappoint. NayKid Racing's Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) earned second in the event; ranking as the highest-placing NayKid Racing driver and the highest-finishing Dodge Viper SRT10. Lux started fifth driving the No. 78 KUMHO Tires/Dodge Motorsports/SRT/Nike/MOMO USA/Forgeline Viper while teammate Scotty B. White (Puyallup, Wash.) started from the pole position but would finish 17th, one lap down to winner Lance Knupp (Fenton, Mich.). White was leading in his No. 3 KUMHO Tires/Dodge Motorsports/SRT/CORSA Exhaust/Red Line Oil Viper when a left-rear tire was punctured forcing an immediate stop for new KUMHO rubber - the NayKid crew changed both rears as a precaution. In total, the Dodge Viper SRT10s of NayKid Racing led all but two laps of the event but came 1.262 seconds short of their first Runoffs victory.
The tight, 2.5-mile "Grand Prix" layout of HPT set the tone for a dramatic duel to the end. Lux, who made a spectacular jump from fifth to third on the first lap, stalked and then masterfully out-braked the Ferrari of Edward Zabinski on the sixth lap to move to second. When White, who held an eight second lead at the time, was forced to stop three laps later in the 18 lap race, Lux assumed the top spot. At approximately the same time, Knupp had moved into second from his sixth-place grid position. The four-time Northern Pacific Division Champion charged lap-after-lap but watched the lighter Corvette slowly eat into her lead. On lap 16, Knupp's quickest of the event, he closed on, then edged along-side the 1999 American Le Mans Series Women's Global GT Series Champion. The two touched for the second lap in a row -- this time mirror-to-mirror contact -- as they rushed onto the main straightaway. Knupp took the upper hand moving past the black and neon-orange V10-powered machine and into the lead. Lux fought to regain but would be unable to rally.
Lux narrowly missed becoming the first T1 class driver to ever win the prestigious SCCA "Triple Crown" for earning victories in the Kohler/Chicago Region June Sprints at Road America, a divisional championship- Lux won her fourth-straight Northern Pacific (NorPac) Championship with six victories- and the Runoffs. None-the-less, it was her highest-ever finish at the Runoffs and matched Dodge's highest finish (White took second in 2005) with the newest iteration of the Dodge Viper SRT10. Coming into the Runoffs, NayKid Racing had won 11 of 13 races, earned 12 pole positions and set eight track records.
NayKid Racing has played key roles in the event for the past several years and Saturday's winner-takes-all championship event was no different. Both Lux and White led (White laps 1-8, Lux laps 9-16) and White won the pole with a lap of one minute, 47.034 seconds to establish the Runoffs record at HPT. Lux's qualifying time of 1:48.728 assured that four of the top-five grid positions were held by Dodge's premier muscle car, the Viper SRT10. Overall, seven of the 24 cars entered in the T1 class were Vipers matched against a pair of Ferraris, one Porsche and a flood of Chevrolet Corvettes. Dodge would earn two of the podium positions and four of the top-10 spots with its SRT-tuned supercar. White set the fastest race lap in the class driving the No. 3 Viper SRT10 with a time of 1:49.818 on the fourth circuit of the event. He nearly beat that in the closing stages as he fought to get back to the front after pitting during the 35 minute race.
Quotes:
Cindi Lux: "I believe that will go down as one of the most eventful races in a long time. We had the fans on their feet the last two laps. It was a classic GM-Dodge battle. Our SRT10 Vipers were on rails this entire week and I am so proud of our NayKid Racing team. The new size for the rear KUMHO tires were the ticket. By the time I had fought and clawed my way past the other Vipers and the Ferrari, Scotty had a really large lead. I could not believe my ears when he said he had a flat tire and had to come in the pits! At the end of the race, unfortunately, my car really started to feel the negative effects of the 140 pounds of weight the rules added to us a few weeks ago. I couldn't hold off the Corvette. I gave it everything I had but just came up one lap short. Disappointed? You bet! But overall, it was a great week for Dodge, KUMHO Tire and all of our guys who worked non-stop. We did everything correct all week; pole, new track record, both drivers leading the race. It would have been so darn cool to come in one-two but it just didn't work out that way."
Scotty B. White: "Was that a shame or what? We came here thinking we didn't have a prayer and then the next thing you know we are the car to beat! All I can say is the months of hard work by the NayKid gang and the Dodge Motorsports guys added to the sheer awesome engineering masterpiece of the SRT10 Viper. Altogether that really showed through on the new Viper-size KUMHOs. The problem is we are just too heavy. At 3840 pounds any small pebble could go right through any tire and that was the race. I guess that's why they call it racing instead of winning, huh?"
Gary Johnson, Dodge Motorsports, Road Racing Manager: "Dodge couldn't be any prouder of NayKid Racing's effort. The race was well done from both a crew and driver standpoint. Carroll Shelby once said that in racing you don't necessarily need good luck; you just need an absence of bad luck. I think that is very appropriate this time. Cindi and Scotty didn't need any good luck; they just didn't need the bad luck to come into play. Unfortunately, they didn't get the results they were hoping for but they really put together the right race weekend. Dodge was very pleased to be a part of the NayKid Racing effort again in 2006."
Podium Finish at 'Final Fight' Seals the Deal on Hubinette's Second Championship
[SIZE=1][Mopar Speed][/SIZE]
Team Mopar's Samuel Hubinette, the inaugural 2004 Formula D champ, set forth on a mission in 2006 to reclaim his title, after finishing second in the '05 points battle. The "Crazy Swede" can now say "mission accomplished," as his third-place showing on Saturday at Southern California's "House of Drift," Irwindale Speedway, earned him the 2006 title and brought home Mopar's first championship of the year. Hubinette entered the "Final Fight" at Irwindale, before the largest crowd ever to witness a drifting event, with a 36-point lead on Rhys Millen, and claimed the title by advancing to the Final Four round. The "Crazy Swede" qualified his NuFormz Racing Mopar Dodge Viper SRT10 second, and then defeated Mitsuru Haraguchi to advance to the Elite Eight. Millen kept the heat on with round wins of his own, making Hubinette's second-round match-up against Kenji Yaminaka all-important.
Hubinette and Yaminaka both went all-out, but a mistake in the corner by Yaminaka proved the difference, as the judges advanced Hubinette, earning him the championship. Hubinette and his team, the NuFormz crew of Shaun Carlson (owner) and crew members Kenny Nevins and Tim Dunbar, along with team manager and DaimlerChrysler Youth/Urban Marketing Manager B.J. Birtwell, high-fived in celebration in pit lane.
In the Final Four round, Hubinette was unable to advance past event winner Daijiro Yoshihara. With Tanner Foust unable to stage for the third-place race, Hubinette took the last podium spot and marked his championship with a victory lap in his trademark style, hanging out the door of his Mopar Dodge Viper and unleashing plumes of tire smoke on the cheering Irwindale crowd. The outing was Hubinette's fifth podium finish in seven races, and his three wins were the most on the series this year.
"It's been a pretty big year," observed Hubinette. "I took part in my first feature film [The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift] as a stunt driver, I got engaged, I became an American citizen, I won my second championship, and I'm getting married in December. Wow! 2006 has rocked for me. We're going to come back just as strong next year and look to capture our third championship, this time in the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT8."
For more information regarding Samuel Hubinette, Mopar or the Formula D Drift Series, log on to samuelhubinette.com, mopar.com, moparspeed.com or formulad.com.
National Runoffs: Dodge Motorsports qualifying report
Racing series SCCA-RACE Date 2006-10-14 10 DODGES COMPETE IN SCCA CLUB RACING RUNOFFS, THE 'SUPER BOWL' OF AMATURE ROAD RACING
Dodge's Scotty B. White Grabs Pole in T1 Division, is One of Five Dodges to Start in the Top-10
TOPEKA, K.S. (October 14, 2006) -- Dodge Motorsports competes in Topeka, K.S., this weekend in three different divisions among a field of 700 road-racing aces in the Sports Car Club of America Club Series Runoffs. The Runoffs are considered to be the Super Bowl of amature road racing, and Dodge has successfully put five drivers in the top-10 in qualifying for the event at the 2.5 mile Heartland Park Topeka road course.
Dodge took the pole position in the T1 qualifying session with Washington native Scotty B. White's run in the No. 3 Kumho/SRT/Forgeline/Corsa Dodge SRT10. He beat second place driver by six-tenths of a second and grabbed the top-spot with time of 1:47.034 seconds. The effort makes it two years in a row that he has sat on the pole in this event. He finished second last year.
"I feel good about being on the pole for two years in a row. It's a good place to start," said White. "This SRT10 is super strong. It's a nice little hot rod. The adjustability of the car is great and the guys on the team have been working hard to get it running fast. We think we have a good shot at a top-finish in the race."
White says he enjoys the track and racing at Heartland Park Topeka, but not all the other competitors feel the same.
"I really like the track here in Kansas. It's a technical race track and there's a certain rhythm to it," said White. "It's like a Beatles song--it's got a fairly complicated rhythm but can be followed easily. Some of the other guys are having a hard time getting a handle on it. It's definitely not simple, but we've got it figured out."
Half of the top-10 starters in the T1 division are Dodges, giving Dodge Motorsports a good shot at breaking Corvette's streak of six years straight as the division winner at the Runnoffs.
Dodge rounded out the top-five with Pennsylvania's Andrew Aquilante qualifing third, female driver Cindi Lux of Aloha, Ore., qualifing fourth and Michigan native Jeffrey Robbins qualifying fifth. Robbins has high expectations for the weekend after a solid week of practice and a top-five qualifying run.
"Our Dodge is great. It's handling well and has gotten faster and faster each time I've gotten behind the wheel." Robbins said. "It's a rocket. We're expecting to do well in the race--we're thinking at least a top-five finish, maybe even a win."
Dodge holds four of the top-five starting positions and the seventh place position with Jim Lynch of Chesterfield, Mo., in the No. 98 Dodge Viper.
The final Dodge driver in the field, David Pintaric, qualified in the 13th position in his No. 40 Kyderacing/Hoosier/WRP Dodge.
Cindi Lux won her division and the June Sprints at Road America before being given the invitation to the Runoffs. If she were to win the Runoffs, she would take home the prestigious triple crown.
The T1 division race is scheduled for Saturday at 5:10pm. Speed channel will broadcast the event, with air times TBA.
In the T2 Division, Dodge has two SRT4 drivers in competition for the prestigious race win. George Biskup of Naperville, Ill., and Adam Treadway of Findlay, Ohio. Biskup qualified his No. 15 Biskup Motorsports Dodge SRT4 in the 15th position. Treadway will start in the 28th position after posting a lap of 2:03.130 seconds in his No. 08 Treadway Chrysler Dodge SRT4.
The T2 Dodge SRT4s will take on the rest of the field of Runoff competitors on Saturday at 1:30pm.
In the SSC Division, Dodge has two Neons entered into the competition. Paul Sherman of Andover, K.S. in the No. 94 Dodge Neon of Jim Eli of Birch Bay, Wash., in the No. 9 UPR.com/Dodge/Kumho/Upr Dodge Neon. Sherman qualified in the 18th position while Eli posted the 22nd quickest time in his 2002 Dodge Neon.
This, the 43rd running of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs? is the first to be held at Heartland Park Topeka. The Runoffs, commonly referred to as the "Olympics" of grassroots motorsports, have this year 755 entrants in 25 classes. Dodge Motorsports is competing among these 750 plus racers for the honor to call themselves the best amateur racers in the country.
-credit: dodge motorsports[SIZE=2] [/SIZE]
By Tim Spencer, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday November 22, 2006
12:31pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.
Dale Jarrett
With the exception of the 2006 Banquet that is scheduled for December 1st the season has come to a close with many disappointments and many changes in store for next year already taking place.
Dale Jarrett announced long ago that he would leave Robert Yates Racing at the end of the year to join Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 as they are one of the new factory teams for Toyota. Jarrett will not only be leaving, but UPS has decided to follow and signed a two year deal with MWR to sponsor Jarrett there.
Jarrett?s time at RYR was one of the longer stays of NASCAR drivers. Jarrett stayed with RYR through the highs and lows of 12 years. Jarrett?s high for the team was when he captured the title for RYR in 1999. In that 12 year tenure the team managed 29 wins and 16 poles.
Jarrett wanted to leave the team on a good note, but it just wasn?t meant to be. His bad luck started in the last practice session when he crashed his primary car and was forced to a back up car which would not run fast enough to make the field and forced him to use a provisional to start the race 41st. Jarrett then found himself a lap down after lap 15 when the team made major adjustments to the car because it was lacking grip. On lap 44 Jarrett receive the ?Lucky Dog Award? and was back on the lead lap. With the adjustments not helping Jarrett?s cause on lap 88 he found himself falling into the leaders grip again and went a lap down and finished the race in the 31st spot.
RYR not only will be losing Jarrett, but they also lost Elliot Sadler who has moved over to Dodge to drive for Ray Evernham, a move that happened in the middle of the silly season when Evernham released Jeremy Mayfield. Rookie David Gilliland will be piloting the #38 next in 2007.
Also joining Jarrett at MWR next year will be David Reutiman and of course Michael Waltrip for a total of three teams.
Mayfield, who was put out at Evernham Motorsports will be moving to Bill Davis Racing. Mayfield will be teammates with Dave Blaney.
Mark Martin had a year that many would be proud of. Martin made the Chase, but was not productive in pursuing the Chase as the title eluded him once again. Martin also be ended his ride with Jack Roush Racing at the checkered flag at Homestead. Martin and the Roush Racing spent nearly 20 years together chasing the championship. Martin finished in the top five in points over half of the years that he spent at Roush.
The shock about Martin?s career change has taken the racing industry by surprise. There was rumor that Martin was not going to run in the Cup Series in 2007 that Roush was putting together a truck ride for him. However, Martin has decided to stay in Cup Series. The surprise is that he will not be driving a Ford next year as he will be taking Joe Nemechek?s ride in the MB2 #01 Chevrolet.
Roush had already filled his rides for 2007 when Martin decided to stay in Cup. Roush?s hands were tied as NASCAR has put a limit on the number of cars a team can provide and Martin was forced to look else where for a deal.
Nemecheck will not be replaced as he will just be changing car numbers, #13, as he will continue his stay at MB2.
The 2002 Daytona 500 winner, Ward Burton, also made his come back after nearly two years out of NASCAR. Burton was found driving the later part of the season with Morgan-McClure Motorsports. Burton managed a 25th place finish at Texas, 28th place finish at Phoenix and a 26th place finish at Martinsville. While it may not be a finish a lot of teams would be proud of, it is was of the best finishes that MMM saw all season.
Brian Vickers after posting 23 top ten?s, ten top five?s and one win will be leaving Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers ran for Hendrick for three plus years after being moved into the seat after Ricky Hendrick stepped out of the driver seat. Vickers up and down again year in 2006 even got him eliminated from team meetings after deciding leave Hendrick stables.
Vickers is another one who not only will be changing teams for 2007, but will be changing manufactures. Vickers has signed to drive the #83 Team Red Bull Toyota Camry in 2007 along with AJ Allmendinger who will pilot the #84 for the same team.
As the new season settles upon us in 80 days I?m sure it will prove interest. As these are not the only changes to come, but some that will have major impact on the 2007 season as another Silly Season will commence.
NayKid Racing announces 2007 program
Racing series SCCA-WC
Date 2007-03-22
Club Series Success Encourages Northwest-Based Team to Return to Pro Racing
PUYALLUP, Wash., March 22, 2007 -- Over the last several seasons, NayKid Racing has set the standard in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Touring One (T1) class. The Dodge Viper SRT10s of Cindi Lux (Aloha, Ore.) and Scotty B. White (Lake Tapps, Wash.) have won multiple SCCA Club Racing Divisional titles, the prestigious June Sprints at Road America, sat on the pole position for the SCCA Runoffs and dominated that event before circumstances pulled them from victory. This combined success has encouraged Lux and White to purchase two Dodge Viper Competition Coupes and enter a minimum of five races for the 2007 SPEED GT championship. The team will debut their Dodge Vipers in the internationally renowned Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15.
Lux will pilot the No. 2 Mintex Brakes/Red Line Oil Dodge Viper Comp Coupe while White will be behind the wheel of the matching No. 3 Corsa Performance/Forgeline Dodge Viper Comp Coupe. Following Long Beach, the team will enter the GT races at Miller Motorsports Park (May 17), Toronto, Canada (July 6), Mosport International Raceway (August 24) and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (November 19). NayKid Racing is currently working on further marketing partnerships which will allow other events to be added to the schedule. The SPEED World Challenge, which runs one hour events with standing starts using high performance, road car based machines, opened its season at Sebring International Raceway on March 16.
Lux will be making her debut in the SPEED World Challenge GT class this year. While other female drivers have competed in the Series, none enters it with the background of Lux. She has won eleven road racing championships, earned more than 75 victories, over 150 podium finishes and nearly 50 pole positions. Among her highlights is the 1999 American Le Mans Series Women's Global GT Championship, two SCCA June Sprints ('04,'06) titles in T1, four Northern Pacific Divisional T1 class championships in four attempts and the 2003 Oregon SCCA National Driver of the Year Award
White will be returning to the SPEED World Challenge for the first time since 2004 when he made one start at Portland international Raceway. The six-time SCCA T1 Class Divisional Champion (1999, 2001-'05) was a regular in the SPEED World Challenge GT class in 1999 and 2000, winning the Rookie of the Year title in '99. The three-time SCCA Pro Solo Champion was the first driver to win in SCCA Pro Racing with a Corvette C5 in '99 (Toronto) and followed that with three top-10 finishes in the series in 2000. In total, White has won sixteen motorsports championships, fought to more than 80 victories, over 100 podium finishes and nearly 70 pole positions since 1998.
NayKid Racing, working in conjunction with Dodge Motorsports and Lux Performance, LLC, will begin an intense testing and development program in the coming weeks. Both Lux and White will enter the Long Beach Grand Prix with aggressive attitudes but conservative expectations
Quotes:
Cindi Lux: "Who wouldn't be excited to move into the World Challenge Series? Man, just look at all the diversity of drivers and manufactures in GT! It's time for a new challenge for me, Scotty and the entire team. This year is all about learning and getting seat time. Being a rookie in this series actually takes the pressure off. I am just going out there to have some fun and drive the wheels off that Viper. Even though we are learning the ropes, I'm not going to change my driving style. I am still all about winning these races."
Scotty B. White: "This feels so good! Coming back to SPEED GT, which is really where I started, just feels so right. I know it's kind of backwards to start here then go to club racing then back to GT but who cares? I'm just jacked-up to be back! What a hot rod to be back with. These cars are fast, hot, smelly, nasty, loud, badass and everything else a race car should be. The Dodge boys did it right! I've popped in to see a race and visit the paddock a few times over the last few years. I always feel welcomed and remembered by the drivers and officials so I am really excited about coming back. This awesome Viper is such a hoot to drive I can hardly wait to go out there and knock around a little with some of my old pals!"
March 22, 2007 6:36 pm | Filed under: EMS, Dodge News
AUBURN HILLS, MI (March 21, 2007) ? The Dodge Avenger, which joins the Dodge Charger in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition this season, makes its racing debut Sunday in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway ? the first NASCAR Car of Tomorrow (COT) race.Preparing for NASCAR?s 16 COT races in 2007 has kept the candle burning at both ends for most NASCAR NEXTEL Cup teams since the end of last season. The Avenger, Dodge?s racing version of the COT, has been tested at tracks throughout the country getting ready for the ultimate test in Thunder Valley, Tennessee this coming weekend.
The all-new 2008 Dodge Avenger, the street-legal version of this great new race car, is a mid-size sedan combining bold, aggressive Dodge styling with innovative interior features, high-levels of safety and reliability, exhilarating performance and excellent fuel efficiency of 30 miles per gallon (mpg) on the highway (32 mpg based on 2007 EPA fuel economy standards). Production of the all-new 2008 Dodge Avenger began at the Sterling Heights (Michigan) Assembly Plant in February and will start to arrive in dealer showrooms next month.
NASCAR?s Car of Tomorrow program is a collaborative effort by the sanctioning body, manufacturers, teams and industry suppliers to develop a safer, less expensive race car using a more common design. The common design will debut on a very uncommon track where the winner is often determined by survival of the fittest as well as fastest.
The intimidating .533-mile Tennessee oval is the highest-banked and fastest short track on the circuit. It?s banked 36 degrees in the corners and 16 degrees in the straight-aways. Five hundred high-speed laps at Bristol are not for the feint of heart.
?Dodge is ready for the challenge at Bristol, and we think the Dodge Avenger is the car to beat,? said Mike Accavitti, Director - Dodge Motorsports and SRT Marketing, Chrysler Group. ?We believe that the Avenger can bring Dodge a championship in the future, and we can?t wait to start that campaign this weekend.
?And, for the first Dodge driver to win a COT race, we will donate an all-new Dodge Avenger to the charity of his choice,? Accavitti added.
Dodge drivers also feel the new Dodge Avenger has great potential for the future.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Avenger, holds the qualifying record at Bristol with a sub-15-second lap of 128.709 mph set on March 21, 2003. Newman and his Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Avenger, joined about 50 other teams for a COT test at Bristol in late February.
Many Dodge teams were pleased and eager for a return visit to see how their Dodge Avengers stack up against other Cars of Tomorrow in race conditions.
?You can test it all you want, but we?re not going to know what we?re really dealing with until we race it,? David Stremme, driver of the No. 40 Coors Light Dodge said. ?Some of the guys have been complaining about it, but I?m anxious to race it. Anything can and usually does happen at Bristol, so it should be a very interesting race for the competitors and a very entertaining one for the fans.?
Busch won last year?s Food City 500 in only his second start in the Penske Racing Dodge. The 2004 series champion has won five of the last 10 races at the .533-mile track, and No. 2 Miller Lite crew chief Roy McCauley said he?d bet on his driver to win a dump truck race at Bristol.
?With the Avenger there?s a large window of opportunity, and the people that do their homework the most will exploit that window of opportunity initially,? McCauley said. ?The garage area is full of the smartest racers in the world, and they will catch up. Everybody will catch up, but I think a couple of cars will be dominant initially because they?ve done their homework ahead of time.?
Former Bristol winner Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, is chomping at the bit to become the first driver to win in a Dodge Avenger and also the first NASCAR driver to take the COT to victory lane.
?I think we?re all excited about getting the Avenger on the racetrack for the first time and to carry it to Bristol of all places, we?re definitely going to test its durability and how it holds up under pressure,? Sadler said. ?Bristol is an action-packed race, and it?s always a tough race. Being the first COT race in the history of NASCAR makes it even more exciting.
?Everybody will bring their best stuff,? added Sadler. ?You want to get started on the right foot. The Avenger is a great tool. We feel like Dodge has done a great job giving us everything to work with correctly. Hopefully, we can put it all into motion and have a good weekend. ?
Some drivers contend that it will be more difficult to pass at Bristol with the COT, subsequently resulting in more caution flags in the 500-lap event. Other drivers maintain that the COT will not get a true test of its potential until later in the season. Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, says the Dodge Avenger 500 on Mother?s Day weekend in May in Darlington, S.C., will provide the first real test for the COT.
?That will be the first bigger track we have with the Avenger,? Kahne said. ?It?s going to be an eye-opening weekend. It?s going to be tough to make that car work there. It?s going to be much different than what it?s been in the past, but I?m looking forward to the challenge.
?I think Darlington is going to be a bigger change in the way cars run than Bristol. I think Bristol will be similar to what it?s been in the past with the COT, and Martinsville will be similar. Darlington will be a big change, and that?s when all 43 drivers and teams will figure out the cars are a lot different than what we?ve been racing.?
Like Bristol, Darlington demands the most out of man and machine. The aerodynamics of the Dodge Avenger might not be tested on the short tracks at Bristol and Martinsville, but drivers will become familiar with the car that?s scheduled to compete in half of the final 10 Chase races.
Bristol will provide the first hurdle for the COT, and that?s just fine with Busch.
?I just always get a spring in my step when we come back to Bristol,? Busch said. ?I enjoy this place like no other. At this place, 500 laps is without a doubt the hottest ticket in NASCAR.
?We?re definitely excited about the Dodge Avenger and what it can do for our team. Having the first COT race at Bristol will be just like jumping into a full tank of sharks and swimming around with them. It?ll probably come down to survival.?
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