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Paul Brown Wins Again at Mosport and Regains Lead in World Challenge GTS Championship

11 Jul 2011

Reclaiming the championship lead at the mid-season break was precisely what Tiger Racing's crew needed to keep the fire stoked for the rest of the season according to Brown.

After rounds five and six, the midway point of the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge season, Tiger Racing's Paul Brown has once more reclaimed GTS Driver's Championship lead, and in doing so has helped to increase Ford's lead in the Manufacturer's Championship. The weekend, like the roller-coaster that is Mosport International Raceway, had its ups and downs, but Sunday ended on a high note with Brown taking the checkered flag.

Paul Brown's second win of 2011 at Mosport positions him back on top of the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge season.

When asked about how the Lucas Oil/K&N Mustang Boss 302S was performing, Brown said, "Ford Racing has done such a good job with this new Boss Mustang program that it makes my job easy. The more I drive it, the more comfortable and the faster we keep getting. I would have to add that it was our ERP, custom valved, JRZ shock package that really helped us win this weekend too. This was Brown's second win of the 2011 season on the challenging track located north of Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.

Halfway through the season, Paul Brown has led the most laps in GTS, has put in the fastest race lap five out of six times, qualified on the front row six out of six times, has three poles, two wins, one second place and is leading the Championship. The team is looking forward to a bit of a break, but also plans on some testing, media events and then getting back into it at Mid-Ohio.

Besides having Lucas Oil/K&N Mustang Boss 302S performing at its peak, Brown also credits his JRZ shock package for the win at Mosport.

You do like Mosport, what is it again that suits you so well about that venue?

"Mosport is one of those gut check tracks. In fact, the first time I raced there back in 1994, I slide my car off track and went over a tire wall. Luckily, we didn't do that this year! The track has a tremendous amount of character and I often describe it as a roller coaster for your car. It has huge elevation changes, with diving off-camber corners, rolling into hard uphill breaking, followed by a winding straight. Our Boss 302S has reached 147 mph at the end, before a fast sweeper into some "Esses," then back on the short front straight to do it all over again. It is very much a rhythm track. If you get it wrong, you lose a bunch of time, or can damage a car very quickly, as I found out years ago."

When he's not racing Brown busies himself attending media events such as the weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the 37th Annual Mid America Shelby and Ford Meet.

"Once you connect with the track, it becomes a pretty special place as you're rolling though the countryside, up and down the hills, through the woods and then you think, Mosport dates back to the early days of the thundering, big block, Can-Am cars like McLaren and Lola, and the screech of Formula 1 with Surtees, Stewart and Clark... what a time that must have been. Sometimes I feel privileged to be at these tracks. You almost feel like you become part of history. It's pretty cool."

Talk a little about those new ERP shocks, how much are you enjoying them?

"The guys at ERP (Eisenlohr Racing Products) are the US importer of the JRZ racing dampers and have been great to work with. ERP works directly with the factory in the Netherlands and we've been working together to develop a new shock package for the Mustangs. There are many cars in our series running the JRZs, but we are the only team using them on the new Boss Mustangs, and I think it's paid off. We also have JRZs on the K&N G35 that I drive in Redline's Pro Time Attack series, and I'm leading that championship as well... coincidence?"

"We have spent extra time examining every aspect that might give us that extra tenth a lap. Not only have we done this with JRZ, and helped them develop new parts for the Mustang, but we have also done this with Baer Brakes, who developed a new caliper for the class. Fluidyne upgraded our cooling system and Bassani added a 3" exhaust and free flowing mufflers, to name a few more."

"We've even spent time with the guys in K&N's race shop testing filters just to get that extra three horsepower. At this level, you can't just do what everyone else is doing, you need to do it for yourself and work outside the box.

How's it feel to regain the points lead before the break?

"The season so far has been a roller coaster and to take a break on the up side of things was really the morale boost we all needed. After falling out of Saturday's race with a mechanical issue, we lost the championship lead by 30 points. That was a big hit."

"I knew what I had to do on Sunday. I've won all kinds of races, in all different series, but this one was different. After the ups and downs of the season and the tireless work that the crew has put into this effort, it was the payback that we all needed to keep the fire alive."

When do you get back to racing?

"At this point in my career, I try to keep in a car as much as I can. We just did the Tulsa event for fun, then I jumped in a 1975 Alfa Romeo FIA prototype and spent the weekend testing at Pocono, prepping for a vintage race coming up in September. This weekend I'll be driving the K&N G35 in Redline's Time Attack and Pro Track Challenge to see if we can keep K&N on top there as well. After that we head back to the Midwest to make some required changes to the Boss 302S, do some more testing and then head to Mid Ohio Sports Car Course for the next two rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge Series. It's been a pretty crazy year so far, but I'm not sure I'd have it any other way."

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NHRA National Racing's Greg Ventura Wins at Jeg's Pacific Sportsnationals

7 Jul 2011

Greg Ventura wins at the Jeg's Pacific Sportsnationals presented by K&N

K&N Engineering currently has about 30 employees who are active racers and deeply involved with the development of products. This means that the employees are dedicated to their product just like any racer is dedicated to their vehicle. The passion for great performance runs all through everything K&N does. Greg Ventura, who happens to be a Material Life Cycle Analyst at K&N, happens to be one of those passionate individuals.

NHRA Super Street Racer Greg Ventura

Like so many others, Greg is a second generation racer. His father, Al Ventura, was born and raised in Maui, HI, and began racing in Hawaii in the early 1960's. Upon moving to California in the late 1960's, he first competed in a 1957 Chevy at Lions, Orange County International Raceway (OCIR) and Irwindale. He later raced a 1955 Chevy from 1976 to 1992. That same year Greg graduated from high school. The new Graduate began racing his current competition vehicle, a 1966 Chevy Nova, in 1993. In 2004 he took his current car apart to revamp the chassis and apply a new paint scheme. This ended up being a 5 year project. In the meantime, Greg raced the family's other 1966 Nova from 1999 to the present time in Super Gas & Super Comp. Greg owns and competes with two 1966 Chevy Nova's, one black and the other orange.

Greg Ventura's 1966 Chevy Nova

Greg won the 2002 Southern California Pro Gas season Championship. Greg's first NHRA National Event win came in 2004, "I won the 2004 AC-Delco Las Vegas Nationals in Super Comp which is un-common for a door car to win this class, as this class is predominantly all dragsters." Greg also won Super Street class at the 2011 Jeg's Pacific Sportsnationals presented by K&N with his black car. At the same event, he also went to the semi-finals in Super Gas in his orange car. So he almost doubled up, meaning getting two wins at the same race in two different cars. "It was most definitely a career weekend for me and my dad, Al Ventura who has been my crew chief since I began racing in 1993. Winning this race at the Jeg's Pacific Sportsnationals presented by K&N was just about a dream come true, as I have always wanted to win a National Event in Super Street, plus the event being co-sponsored by K&N was a great feeling." To top off this great weekend showing for the Venturas, Greg also won the shoot-out race on Saturday in Super Street, so his black car was undefeated in competition for that weekend, which was the first time that has happened for him. "None of this would have been possible without the help of my sponsors, as well as K&N."

Greg is proud of his racing accomplishments but also as equality as proud of the products he helps to create at K&N. "Not only am I employed there, but I trust all of the products we make, and I run them on not only my race cars, but my everyday street driven vehicles. In my opinion, there are two kinds of people in the world; People who use K&N products, and the people that should. Folks will see the value in using our products, in not ever having to buy another air filter for the life of their vehicle, with our air filters being washable & reusable. Our oil filters offer premium engine protection, in filtering out the dirt and any other engine harming particles. One thing your vehicle absolutely needs, is clean air & oil."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

INEX Legend Car Driver Tyler Hughes is Dedicated to Success

7 Jul 2011

Tyler Hughes' INEX Legend Car

Tyler Hughes started racing Quarter Midgets at the age of 5. He began on the dirt tracks in New Castle, Delaware, and Hagerstown, Maryland. In 2004, he tried a few asphalt races and made the move to asphalt-only tracks in 2005. He continued racing at Quarter Midget tracks in Wall, New Jersey, and Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. His family also travelled to places like Florida, North Carolina, New York and Indy to race. In 2007, while still racing Quarter Midgets, Tyler's Dad, Don bought a Modified-Lite.

Tyler Hughes wins at Old Dominion Speedway

Mod-Lites are dwarf cars that look like a full-sized Dirt Modified. Tyler ran that car at a 1/4 mile dirt track in Middleford, Delaware, with a 600cc Suzuki GSXR motor with much success. He finished that year with seven feature wins and the rookie of the year title. In 2009, his dad, Don, stepped him up to the 1000cc stock class, he usually raced two classes on those Friday evenings, the Pro Stock Class and the TUSA class. Due to Tyler's driving ability and the great teamwork of his family behind him, he had feature wins in both classes. Tyler finished his Quarter Midget career with many feature wins, including Sponsor Cup wins, and a Track Points Championship.

Tyler's dream is to some day race in the Nationwide series or even Nascar.

In 2010 at the age of 13, Tyler gave up the Quarter Midgets and the Mod-Lites to race in the INEX Legends series. He races mainly at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. The family travels two and a half hours each way to Old Dominion since that's the closest to their home. They don't mind because they are all dedicated to Tyler's success. He has also raced at Shenandoah, Speedway and Langley Speedway just a few times. Last year Tyler finished his season at Old Dominion with 17 races, 1 win, 13 top fives and 16 top tens. He also finished the season 3rd in track points, and also garnering the Rookie of the Year title.

Tyler is now 14 years old, resides in Cordova, Maryland and attends Easton High School. In addition to his school work he's managed to race 7 races at Old Dominion, has 4 wins, a 5th place finish and a 7th place finish. He has also raced at Shenandoah Speedway this year and finished in 6th place. Racing is truly a family sport, in addition to his dad, Tyler's mom, Donna, travels along to help out. Tyler is a young driver with a great future ahead of him. He knows, just like the pros do, you can't win races with out the best equipment, and that's why he uses K&N Filters in his racecars. Tyler's dream is to some day race in the Nationwide series or even Nascar.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge Champion Greg Anderson Makes It Two in a Row

6 Jul 2011

This victory marked Greg Anderson's fourth K&N Horsepower Challenge Championship and ties him with Kurt Johnson for the most wins.

After a full year of grabbing all the qualifying points they could manage, the top seven NHRA Pro Stock drivers and the eighth by fan vote readied themselves for the biggest single payday shootout and the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge. The stage was set and the pairings were finalized during the Bristol event, just less than a week before the teams would lay their cards on the table in Norwalk, Ohio.

2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge Champion Greg Anderson

Multi time K&N Challenge Champion, Greg Anderson came into the event as the number four seed, but as he put it "any one of the eight drivers could win from any position" and he didn't take a one lightly.

"You have eight great drivers, eight great cars, you really can't pick a favorite," he said. "It's not like you go in to this just overflowing with confidence just knowing you are going to win this race. You come in with what you think is about a one in eight chance of winning fifty grand."

"You just can't think you are anything special," he continued. "First round I have Ron Krisher. Of course we made our very first qualifying round on Saturday morning where Krisher and I ran within one thousandth of a second of each other. So I could see how things were going to shake out there. It was going to be a hell of a drag race and come down to who could get off the starting line first."

NHRA Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson wins the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge jackpot

The first round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge was also going to be the final qualifying session for the Pro Stock drivers, thanks to the entire day prior being washed out by persistent rain.

While Anderson came out on top in round one, due to the misfortunes Krisher experienced in the other lane, it wasn't really the run they were looking for. "We didn't make a real clean run but we were able to get some more data," he explained of his 6.605 ET. "With that, we were really able to turn it around for the second round."

During the first round, Erica Enders, in the Challenge by fan vote, laid down the best pass thus far of the weekend and managed to grab the low qualifying spot on her way to meet up with Anderson for the next round in the Challenge. An elapsed time that did not go unnoticed by Anderson and his crew.

For the semi-finals, Anderson pulled out all the stops by first nailing the tree with a .008 to Enders .037 and it was all over from there. Anderson extended his starting line advantage, dominating both ends of the track and easily taking the win light with a 6.583 over Enders much slower 6.649.

The round win would send Anderson into the K&N Horsepower Challenge final for a fourth consecutive year.

"She had lane choice, but the guys just did an outstanding job on the car," said Anderson. "She would have been the favorite in that race for sure as she was quicker in first round. We stepped up to the table and she was driving great but I did a decent job, got off the starting line ahead of her and we outran her. Now we had lane choice going into the final and we were the favorite."

"Things changed in a hurry," he added of his change in confidence throughout the rounds. "It was an up and down day, but once we made that second round and learned what we did there, we felt we had a good package for the final."

Over on the other side of the ladder, K&N's Mike Edwards was making his way to meet up with Anderson and a repeat of last season's matchup.

"We knew it was going to come down to driver again," he said of the final. "Mike [Edwards] absolutely did a great job. He got me pretty good on the starting line, but my car was so good, the guys did such a great job, that I just chased him down and got that big trophy."

Edwards had Anderson by over two hundredths on the tree, but could only manage a 6.632 while Anderson nearly duplicated his earlier ET with a 6.587 and took nearly six feet at the stripe.

"I'm glad I didn't look over 'cause I would have been scared to death with Mike ahead of me all the way down the race track," he confessed. "I stay focused and stayed forward and never looked over until the end of the race track and when that win light came on. I was a little bit surprised and a little bit shocked."

"Happy as hell to be honest," he exclaimed of his winning moment. "I got very excited inside the race car. The Challenge is just a neat-neat deal, neat race and I love K&N and what they do for the sport. It's the most fun event to race and win all year long."

The victory marked Greg Anderson's fourth K&N Horsepower Challenge Championship and with the feat is now tied with Kurt Johnson for the most wins. In the history of the Challenge, Anderson's back to back victory makes it the fifth time that a driver has won two consecutive seasons. In addition to Anderson grabbing the highly coveted trophy, the championship ring and the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge jackpot, he also had one very excited K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstake contestant, who was paired with him earlier in the weekend.

"When I came around that corner [at the top end of the track] and you see that fan and how excited he is that I won, so he won, too," he said. "It's the neatest thing in the world to be able to do something for someone else. You feel a little guilty when they first pick your name out of the hat, thinking boy what if I let them down and I'm the only one that didn't let their person down. It was very exciting and just the coolest thing ever."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Greg Pursley Wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Race at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale

6 Jul 2011

Greg Pursley battles to win the Southern California Toyota Dealers 200

Greg Pursley's record at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale is pretty impressive. He won a NASCAR Whelen All American Series national championship and a Toyota All-Star Showdown late model race at the track. By his count, he won 28 Super Late Model races and a couple of NASCAR Soutwest Tour races over his career at Irwindale.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Driver Greg Pursley

The only thing missing was a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win at Irwindale. He changed that on Saturday night in dominating fashion. Pursley won the pole and led a race-high 164 laps in the Southern California Toyota Dealers 200 presented by King Taco. It was his first win at Irwindale in 48 career West Series starts.

"It's huge. I keep telling everybody we've won everything there is to win here," said Pursley, a driver for Gene Price Motorsports. "We've won a national championship here. We've won two championships in the Super Late Model here. We've always come so close in the West car. We almost won the Showdown last year with eight to go and had a flat tire. That's the way our season was last year. This is a great win for the Gene Price Motorsports team and myself. Hopefully we can come with that same car for the Showdown."

Pursley led the first 66 laps of the race and gave way to Micheal Self until the midway point when drivers had to make mandatory pit stops.

Greg Pursley wins NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Race at Irwindale

"Ever since we unloaded the car off the trailer, it's been really good. We led for quite a bit," Pursley said. "We were running the pace I wanted to run there at the first 100. The 21 car (Self) came up on us and wanted to get by us. I told my crew chief I'm just going to let him go. I don't want to go any faster. We need to save our stuff for the end. We let him go and came in under the break and did a few adjustments on the car."

It didn't take Pursley long to regain the lead. He passed Self on lap 103 and was out front for the remainder of the race. The only caution in the final 100 laps of the race came when Justin Funkhouser's car caught fire on lap 158.

"Took off on the second 100 and got out there a little bit, got a little bit of a cushion and eased up and ran my pace that I wanted to run for a while there until the final yellow flag there," Pursley said.

It was the fifth win in seven K&N Pro Series West races for Pursley this year. He has a commanding 278-point lead over Moses Smith in the West Series standings. Pursley was asked after the race if all his success is making him nervous.

"It's making me nervous because I don't want to stop doing it," Pursley said. "I'm so fortunate to have my team right now. Gene Price has given us the best resources to work with. My team is great. It's just all working out. It's all just coming together this year. I'm just going to try and ride it as long as I can."

Derek Thorn, making only his third K&N Pro Series West start of the season, was second. It was his second top-five finish in three races.

"It was really good, didn't get the qualifying lap that we had hoped," said Thorn, who started eighth. "We were first in that last practice session, so we were really hoping for the pole position. Fighting the car a little bit. We only had the daytime to kinda get the car where we wanted it. It kind of gave us a false reading with Irwindale turning into night here. The track really didn't gain as much grip as we had hoped. We kind of stayed on the neutral side for the first 100 laps, just holding on for dear life, trying to save positions. We ended up back to seventh for the first 100. After that we climbed up back into the top five."

Dylan Kwasniewski, Pursley's 16-year-old teammate at Gene Price Motorsports, came in third, putting both GPM cars on the podium. It was Kwasniewski's fourth top-five finish of the season.

"The first portion of the race was pretty bad," Kwasniewski said. "The car was a little upset, it was just loose, couldn't handle the car. We were trying to keep our compsure at the beginning of the race. We started to fall back and I got a little bit worried. We made a lot of changes, took a couple swings at it. It definitely made the car better for the second portion of the race. We got to pass a lot of those cars back. Maybe we had a chance to go for the first or second place finish. I'm happy with a third-place finish. I'm glad we got back up there."

The K&N Pro Series West race from Irwindale will be broadcast on Speed on July 21 at 6 p.m. ET.

The next K&N Pro Series West race is at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., on July 10.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.