NMCA West Burns Stainless Open Comp Winners

BAKERSFIELD CA – Congratulations to Dan Gels for winning the Burns Stainless Open Comp event at the NMCA West Street Car Nationals at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield CA.  Dan Marciano was the event runner-up.  

The NMCA WEST Street Car Nationals, presented by Flowmaster, kicked off its second season at historic Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, CA, the weekend of April 5-7, 2013.  The 1st Annual Lucas Oil NMCA WEST Street Car Nationals was a huge success with lots of race cars and fans...proving that the NMCA WEST series has quickly become "the place" to race on the west coast.

All the cars and all the stars of NMCA WEST were in attendance with many competitors from all over looking forward to great weather and 1/4 mile action.  NMCA WEST fans came to see all the wild heads-up and wheels-up classes and they weren't disappointed!  Supercharged, nitrous assisted, turbocharged, and naturally aspirated...the NMCA WEST Bakersfield event had it all.  Particularly strong was NMCA WEST's top class, Garrett Turbo Pro Street with some of the baddest hot rods in the land racing at 6-seconds, 200+ MPH.  NMCA WEST superstar and former NHRA Pro Stock racer, Joe Lepone, Jr., won Pro Street and has taken the points lead in the series.  

The best part of the weekend was presenting NMCA WEST class competitors with Wallys, courtesy of NHRA Unleashed and Aerospace Components.  Don Meziere, the owner of Meziere Enterprises, took home a Wally and is seen below in our NMCA WEST winners circle.

SEBRING - Audi Finishes 1-2, and Corvette Racing wins GT

SEBRING, FLORIDA – The 61st running of the 12 Hours at Sebring resulted in the not-too-surprising 1-2 victory by Team Audi. The 2012 vintage Quottro e-tron diesel-hybrid finished first at the hands of Treluyer/Fassler/Jarvis with the 2013 car of Kristensen.McNish/DiGrassi following in second place. Both Audis completed 364 laps with the third place P1 Lola B12/60 of Prost/Heidfeld/Jani could only manage 359 laps – pretty remarkable really. "Winning with Audi at Daytona already was an incredible experience. But now an overall victory on my first run at Sebring on top of that is more than I’d ever dared to hope for," commented the 29-year-old Oliver Jarvis.

As the results show, the Audis were never seriously challenged, however the No 1 car sustained some damage after hitting some track debris.  The floor of the Audi came loose and could be seen throwing sparks during the night, but it did not seem to hamper the performance. 

There was some disappointment in the Elan camp with the early retirement of the Deltawing.  After a mere 10 laps, the P1 entry retired with an engine failure.  It should be noted that this car was not sponsored by Nissan, nor was it powered by Nissan.  It was a venture by the car’s developer Elan who had designed and built a turbo-charged engine based on a Mazda 4-cylinder platform.  Also on deisplay at the race was the new Deltawing coupe, a rather elegant rendition of the open-cockpit racer.

GT-class was won by the Corvette Racing VR-1 of Gavin/Milner/Westbrook, followed closely by the Risi Competizione 458 Ferrari Italia of Bruni/Beretta/Malucelli.  The Corvette caught a couple of breaks as the one of the Ferrari drivers, Gianmaria Bruni could not complete his final stage requiring the rookie Malucelli to relieve him.  In the final 15 minutes of the race, The Ferrari then experienced an off-course excursion allowing the Corvette to take the lead and it’s first Sebring GT2 -class win.  It appears that once again, the GT-class will have some tough and exciting competition again in 2013.

P2 class was won by Tucker/Franchitti/Briscoe in the Honda Performance ARX-03b, and GTC class went to the MacNeil/Bleekmolen/von Moltke Porsche GT3 of Alex Job Racing.

In other news, The first Formula 1 race in Melbourne Australia saw Kimi Raikkonen again in the winner’s circle with an impressive and dominating performance in his Lotus.  The win was attributed to the excellent tire management of the Lotus team.  Others appeared to struggle with their tires allowing for the two-pit strategy of the Lotus team to end in victory.  Ferrari leads in points after the inaugural race with Alonso and Massa finishing second and fourth.  Vettel completed the podium with a third place win for Red Bull. 

Jimmie Johnson Wins Daytona, Danica Top-10 Finish

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – This year’s Daytona 500 looked like it was going to be different.  With Danica Patrick achieving what no woman has achieved before, placing on the pole at the 500, and the introduction of the new sixth generation cars, we were looking for something different…. 

But, it turned out not to be that different at all.  As is the norm on the superspeedways, the strategy of the day was single file drafting, minimal passing and try to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Jimmie Johnson managed to be at the right place at the right time - at the front of the pack at the end of the race.  With some help from Denny Hamlin, Johnson took the lead with 10 laps to go and remained in front for the rest of the race.  Hamlin finished second followed ever-so-closely by Brad Keselowski.

Danica started strong from the front row along with Jeff Gordon.  Danica’s team owner, Tony Stewart was right behind her giving her the moral support she needed.  She really did a splendid job finishing in 8th place.  I think Danica showed the fans, and the other drivers, what she is capable of and she won’t just be a pretty face in a bikini (though I hope she doesn’t stop wearing them!).  The face of NASCAR will forever be different.

The C6 cars did not overwhelm us in their performance.  Though a superspeedway restrictor plate race doesn’t lend itself to showing off a cars attributes, Mark Martin thinks they are a strong step forward. “The racing was OK. The car is actually less stable in a big pack than what we've had. We had to keep ourselves separated a little bit more for good measure until it came down to the end -- and then nobody cared. When we get in these things next week (at Phoenix) they'll be stuck like glue and we'll be breaking track records. Kudos to the Gen 6 car.”  (Read more: 

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130224/nascar01/130229889#ixzz2LwzhzUzN 
Follow us: @AutoweekUSA on Twitter | AutoweekUSA on Facebook)

Other big news of the weekend was the crash at the Nationwide race on Saturday during which Kyle Larson’s 32 car flew into the fence separating the fans from the cars.  Unfortunately, some debris, including a wheel, from his car landed in the grandstand.  28-33 fans were injured, with 14 requiring a trip to the hospital.

The Rolex 24 - Ganassi Wins, Shank Fined

In the midst of spectacular Florida winter weather, the Rolex 24 Hour race was won by The Ganassi BMW-Riley piloted by Montoya/Pruett/Rojas.  The WTR DP Corvette of Angelelli/Hunter-Reay/Taylor came in second followed by the Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley of Allmendinger/Ambrose/Negri.  The Action Express DP Corvette of Barbosa/Frisslle/Rockenfeller was fourth but was in contention for the win many times in a race with a total of 74 lead changes.

 In the grueling 24 hour race, the BMW-Rileys appeared to dominate.  Not only did they qualify 1-2 on the grid, had the BMW-Riley of Franchitti not dropped out with driveline issues at about the 20^th hour, it may also have been a 1-2 finish for Ganassi and company.  The BMW powered prototypes set the pace for the race.  But in 24 hours, being fast does not always mean a good finishing position.

In late-breaking news, Michael Shank Racing has been fined $35,000 dollars after their Ford-Riley was deemed to be illegal.  Apparently, the engine had mechanical adjustments resulting in “performance levels outside the documented maximums.”  GRAND-AM had earlier issued new “Balance of Performance adjustments” that limited the rpms for the Fords by 300 rpms, and increased the revs of the Chevrolets by 100 rpm with an added air restrictor.   Could it be that the Shank crew forgot to change the rev-limiter, or were they just upset with the changes?  The top-three finishing cars were impounded and are being sent to the NASCAR technical facility for further inspection.

In GT, it was an impressive performance by the Audi R8s.  The Alex Job Racing Weathertech entry placed first followed closely by the APR Motorsport R8.  It was an emotional win for Alex Job.  "I had no team orders," Job said. "My goal was to win, No. 1 for WeatherTech, No. 2 for AJR, and do the right job for both brands. I explained that to Porsche and I explained that to Audi. We went after it that way.” He continued, "It was a little anti-climactic at the end. We didn't finish 1-2. The Audi clearly had the speed and was positioned to win. We were on a different strategy with the other car and it didn't quite work."

The Ferrari 458 Italias placed 3rd and 4th with the Michelotto entry having the advantage.  The Magnus Porsche GT3 was the highest placing Porsche in 5th place.

The GX class pitted Porsche Cayman’s and turbo-diesel powered Mazda 6s.  The Mazdas in their debut had teething problems and retired early in the race giving the privately-developed Caymans a clear shot at podium finishes.

Burns Stainless wins prestigious SEMA Global Media Award, Best Product

LAS VEGAS, NV – Burns Stainless LLC has won the SEMA Global Media Award for Best Product.  A panel of 15 journalists from around the world reviewed the new and featured products at SEMA.  The Burns Stainless Merge collector was chosen by renowned international motorsports journalist Tony Tobias of Race Car Engineering.  “We are excited to win this award in our first showing at SEMA.  We are blessed to have our work recognized in such a prestigious event”

Also, check out this great video interview by Jessica Barton of PowerTV regarding Burns Stainless LLC.  

Rebellion Racing On Top At Petit Le Mans

 BRASELTON, GA – The 15th Petit Le Mans ran last weekend at the beautiful Road Atlanta circuit in the peach state. The 1,000 mile endurance race is the season finale for the American Le Mans series and the European Le Mans series. The overall victory went to Rebellion Racing in the P1 Toyota powered Lola B12/60 a full three laps ahead of the nearest competitor. The Lola was piloted by Neel Jani in the final laps with co-drivers Nicholas Prost and Andrea Bellichi. "I think the start was the toughest part of the race, at least for me," Jani said. "It was a big fight with the Muscle Milk car. He was always on my tail, putting a lot of pressure on me... It looked like he took a little bit too much risk, or something went wrong there. From then on, it was just about bringing the car home and not taking too many risks."

The favored Pickett Racing Muscle Milk entry of Graf/Luhr/Dumas met an unfortunate fate in the first hour of the race. The Green Hornet GTC-class Porsche driven by Peter LeSaffre was exiting the pits when the blindingly fast P1 car driven by Luhr contacted the slower Porsche sending both cars into spins. The point leading HPD ARX-03a was sidelined for 65 minutes repairing the damage from the collision. The Muscle Milk car needed to finish 70% of the race to be declared P1 champion, so the pressure was on for the pit crew to get the car together to complete the race. "Until the race was over, I tried not to think about the championship too much," Graf said. "We won a lot of races this year and certainly deserve it at Muscle Milk Pickett Racing. This is my first championship; I came in second for the last two years, so this is very rewarding for me." For the race, Pickett Racing ended up 33rd overall and 3rd place in P1.

The other podium spots went to Level 5 Motorsports with team owner Scott Tucker driving in both cars... The two P2 entries completed 391 laps with the 95 car of Diaz/Bouchut/Tucker placing second. The 055 car of Franchitti/Franchitti/Tucker placed third. Level 5 also won the P2 championship. "We had been through this before with our first PC championship where it came down to the last race," Tucker said. "We knew it was going to be tight this year and Conquest were great competitors. We knew what we had to do. Getting to 70 percent is no easy task. We had to take it easy there... My hats off to my teammates. It's a great day for us."

In GT, the mighty Ferrari 458 Italia of Extreme Speed Motorsports and piloted by Vilander/Van Overbeek/Sharp took the class win. Second place went to the Corvette C6 ZR1 of Taylor/Garcia/Magnussen followed by The BMW entry of Summerton/Auberlein/Muller. The Corvettes spent much of the race running close, but a steering problem in the No 4 Corvette dropped them to a 12th place finish. The Corvette Racing team of Milner and Gavin finished top in points in GT.

The innovative Nissan Deltawing designed and built by Dan Gurney’s All American Racing and financed by Don Panoz and powered by a turbocharged Nissan 4-cylinder engine ran in its own class and finished 5th overall. It was an impressive accomplishment made even more astonishing by the fact that it suffered a roll-over crash (VIDEO) during practice when a GTC-class Porsche ran into the Deltawing. The car was brilliantly rebuilt and completed the race without a hitch.

Matt Kenseth Avoids Melee to Win 'dega

TALLADEGA, AL - Tony Stewart maybe tried a bit too hard to hold the lead on the final lap at Talladega.  Feeling the pressure with Matt Kenseth passing on the outside and Michael Waltrip benefiting by a push from Rick Mears on the inside, Stewart came down to block Waltrip making contact and causing a 25 car pile-up on the final lap.  The wreck took Tony Stewart on a wild ride tumbling atop his fellow competitors.  Watching from Clint Bowyers dash cam, Stewart’s car came at him on its side as Bowyer T-boned him.  Stewart then spun on its side into Kasey Kahne before landing atop the # 5 car.

Benefitting from the melee, Matt Kenseth took the lead and was the first car to cross the finish-line and was declared the winner by NASCAR as he was in first place at the time of the accident.  "The track kept getting looser for me as the day went on and we never could get it tightened up," said Kenseth.  "On the last lap, that's why I chose the middle groove.  I knew I couldn't be on the bottom or I'd get spun out, so I had to run the middle or the top to try to make a move. . . .  I didn't know what was going happen and I'm still not sure what happened.  Somehow, I think Tony got turned and caused a big wreck."  Kenseth’s handling problem turned out to be a blessing.

Tony Stewart took full responsibility for the accident.  "I just screwed up," Stewart said.  "I turned down across -- I think it was Michael -- and crashed the whole field.  It was my fault, blocking to try to stay where I was at.  I take 100 percent of the blame.  I was trying to win the race, trying to stay ahead of Matt there, and Michael got a great run on the bottom, had a big head of steam.  When I turned down, I turned down across the right-front of his car.  It was just a mistake on my part, but it cost a lot of people a bad day because of it."

Another beneficiary of the pileup was Jeff Gordon.  Running in about 13^th place, Gordon was able to avoid contact and take second place followed by Kyle Busch.  "I don't know how we made it to the white flag," said Gordon.  "Coming through that tri- oval, being hit from behind, hitting the guy in front of me, you're sandwiched in between, basically.  There are cars doing the same thing on that side of you, cars on that side of them doing the same thing.  I really don't know how we made it to the white flag.  It was just insane.  But you're doing all you can to try to move your lane and hope that you make it back around.  In today's case, we did."

The first three spots in the Chase remain unchanged with Kieslowski, Johnson, and Hamlin on top.  Jeff Gordon benefits the most from Talladega moving up four places to the 6^th spot.  Stewart loses two spots to 7^th, while Dale Jr. suffered the most dropping 4 places to 11^th.