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European K&N Sponsored Drift Racer Lars Verbraeken Ready to Reclaim 2011 Season

28 Jun 2011

When speaking about his BMW e30 Verbraeken says, old love never dies, as his competition car started out as his road car over ten years ago.

Long before the drift racing got its professional start here in the U.S., somewhere around 2003 or 2004, depending on who you ask, it was already smoking hot in Japan, the country of origin. It continues to be one of the fastest growing motorsports, and as rapidly as its popularity grows in America, so too, is it blowing up in Europe.

The Netherlands Lars Verbraeken got his start drifting in 2007, without any previous experience in any other forms of racing, and he immediately proved he was a natural. The sport was still in its infancy back then, and in Verbraeken's first ever drift competition, he qualified a very impressive third.

K&N sponsored European drift racer Lars Verbraeken believes his cars woes of last season are now behind him, and he is full-throttle into the 2011 season.

In the following 2008 season his string of successful race results continued to pile up, so much so that in the winter of 2008/2009 he was asked by, Remmo Niezen, from the Falken Drifteam Europe to join their team. Then, with the support of his new team, Verbraeken participated in the German IDS competition. And after a season filled with only firsts, seconds or thirds, and only two years after his first race, Verbraeken became the 2009 Driftmaster.

Last season, hoping to defend his title, Verbraeken switched from his trusty 300hp BMW V8, to a Toyota 1JZ, with more than 450hp, but unfortunately it was not at once a winning combination for the talented K&N sponsored driver.

"I built a new Toyota 1JZ - GTE engine in my (BMW) e30 in the winter of 2010, and during the season were many problems, mostly with the driveline," Verbraeken told K&N Race News. The cause of the problems was that I didn't manage to fine tune the car. Now it looks like everything is solved, and I have already had lots of diving time to get used to the car. The car has lots of grip because of the placement of the engine (30cm trough bulkhead) and the placement of the radiator, and with the gas tank in the trunk."

With his car troubles behind him Verbraeken says"There's hope again for another good season and a chance to win more competitions. Having K&N backing me as a new sponsor adds even more confidence."

The plan is to attend as many big drift events as possible, such as Sport Auto Drift Challenge held during the Tuner Grand Prix, then the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, and the Truck Grand Prix. The Falken Drifteam also performs many drift shows during many of the biggest European races and tuning events.

"I'm really happy with my car, I have owned it for more than ten years, it used to be my street car," Verbraeken adds."So old love never dies. And I think the car is getting even more attention now with K&N's big name on it."

This season Verbraeken has also added some more Gymkhana (jim-kah-nuh) drifting events to his repertoire. It's a form of drifting that takes place on an open field, or parking lot, and requires drivers to negotiate around a series of cones, slaloms, 180 and 360 degree turns, figure eights and any number of other obstacles, using extreme acceleration, braking and of course, drifting.

"It's really new for me," Verbraeken says,"but it's a great sport for the spectators and there are lots of them! In my last event, which was the Tuner Grand Prix Drift Challenge, there were about 25,000 spectators." Verbraeken qualified second in that event and finished fifth out of 75 competitors.

Next up on the calendar for Verbraeken is a drift-demo during the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring."When people are a bit tired of straight line racing they can come over to a little track next the nordschleife and see us drifting. I think it will be a big success."

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Joey Logano Wins the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Race at Infineon Raceway

28 Jun 2011

Joey Logano celebrates his victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at Infineon Raceway

A pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers stole the show in the K&N Pro Series West race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma on Saturday.

Joey Logano, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup series, won the Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200. David Gilliand, a driver for Front Row Motorsports in Cup, was second.

Joey Logano won the Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 at Infineon Raceway

"Racing against David there at the end was a lot of fun," Logano said. "We had the car to do it for sure. We did everything we were supposed to do."

Logano, the 2009 K&N Pro Series East champion, won the second West Series race of his career. He won in his West Series debut at Phoenix International Raceway in 2007.

Logano said working with Max Papis and Cup series teammate Kyle Busch helped him win the West Series race at the road course at Infineon Raceway.

"We built a two-seater car. Me, Kyle and Max went to Road Atlanta together and basically just played around in the thing," Logano said. "(Papis) ran a few laps, I'd ride with him, ride with everybody, see what everybody's doing and try to learn from each other." One of the things Logano learned was how to navigate his car around the track.

"Biggest thing was braking. At the beginning of this race, I got used to braking with my Cup car," Logano said. "Where my marks were with that is quite a bit backed up compared to where these are. These cars are lighter and got less motor, not going as fast. It took a few laps to get back to where I was when we were practicing here the other day. Everyone did good today and Max definitely helped out a lot."

Pit strategy played a big role in Logano's win as well. Logano took four tires on his second pit stop when several drivers, including Gilliland, decided to take only fuel. Logano had to race his way through the field, banging and bumping his way back to the front.

"The part that I was worried about was when I knocked my fenders in," Logano said. "I felt like I was quite a bit slower. I definitely wasn't wide open in the spots that I was before. In the high speed stuff, I was a little nervous about it."

Logano caught and passed Gilliland for the lead on lap 56 of the 64-lap race. Logano held the lead for the remainder of the race, including a two-lap dash to the finish after a caution.

"We had a good day. It's a long race," Gilliland said. "You know there's going to be a lot of cautions out here. Basically there wasn't a scratch on our car. We just tried to keep the fenders on it. Our plan was to go the whole distance on tires and just stop for fuel and that's what we did. I had a good lead and there were some cautions there at the end."

Logano startred on the front row with pole winner Brandon Davis and led a race-high 28 laps. He was out front for the first 19 laps before giving way Gilliland. Jim Inglebright, Todd Souza and Paulie Harraka took turns leading the race during pit stops. When the drivers filtered through pit road, Gilliland had the lead and held it for 22 laps.

"My car actually needed about three laps to really get going, for the tire pressures to come up," said Gilliland, who won the K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma in 2009. "Just came up a little bit short. Joey came in and got tires. That was an advantage there at the end. I love the West Series. It was a lot of fun.

Eric Holmes was third and was the highest-finishing driver who races regularly on the K&N Pro Series West.

"We lost a few spots at the beginning of the race. Used our pit strategy and got some of them back," Holmes said. "The 17 car (David Mayhew) got into me. The 17 got into me and hooked my car. We lost like eight, 10 spots there and we had to work our way back up. The last lap was a little more exciting than I wanted it to be. I got bounced around enough. That was good enough for me today."

Holmes moved up to third place in the K&N Pro Series West standings, but is still 258 points behind Greg Pursley, the West Series leader.

"Not enough. We've just had a rough year," said Holmes, a driver for Bill McAnally Racing. "Good to finally just get a good finish. We came here to win and hoping Pursley would have a bad day. That would have been good for us. Didn't come out with a win, but behind Logano and Gilliland here, that was the best as far as the series regulars."

Pursley was fourth, followed by Brian Wong in fifth. Pursley padded his lead in the West Series standings to 215 points over Moses Smith, who finished seventh at Infineon Raceway.

The Thunder Valley Casino Resort 200 will be broadcast on Speed at July 14 at 6 p.m. ET.

The next K&N Pro Series West race is at Toyota Speedway at Irwndale on Saturday.

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Corvette Racing Celebrates Chevrolet's 100th Anniversary with Victory at Le Mans

27 Jun 2011

Chevrolet celebrates its 100th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the team's first Le Mans victory in 2001.

"Drama, excitement, all the way to the end" is how Radio Le Mans described the 79th running of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. For Pratt and Miller/Corvette Racing, their victory in the 2011 endurance contest comes as Chevrolet celebrates its 100th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the team's first Le Mans victory in 2001. It was the sixth Le Mans title for Beretta, the third for Garcia, and the first for Milner.

The Compuware Corvette C6.R No. 73, driven by Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia won the GTE class, completing 314 laps and finishing two minutes and 29 seconds ahead of the runner-up Ferrari.

The K&N sponsored No. 73 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by, Olivier Beretta, Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia, unremittingly pursued the class-leading No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia, cutting their margin by seconds with every lap. American driver, Tommy Milner, overtook Ferrari driver, Toni Vilander, with two hours and 10 minutes to go, and steadily increased his lead as he completed his double stint.

Garcia next took over the yellow and black car for the last hour and the final run to the checkered. The winning Corvette completed 314 laps and finished two minutes and 29 seconds ahead of the runner-up Ferrari. The victory was the seventh class win at Le Mans for Corvette Racing, and it's first in the GTE Pro category.

The 2011 endurance contest victory was the seventh class win at Le Mans for Corvette Racing, and it's first in the GTE Pro category.

"In the final minutes, everything comes into your mind," Garcia said. "It went perfectly, a real easy last stint compared to all the ones before it. This was the first time I drove a car at the finish at Le Mans, and it was very special. There is no better time to win this race than in the centennial year for Chevrolet. Now I'm already thinking about next year."

"This is my first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but I've watched Corvettes race here my whole life," said Mark Reuss, President GM North America. "To come here for the first time on the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet, and to have another Corvette victory is beyond words."

As advertised, the race was clearly filled with drama and excitement, as the No. 74 K&N sponsored Corvette C6.R of, Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Richard Westbrook, suffered a stunning dose of misfortune. After leading for nearly 16 hours, the car was extensively damaged in a crash in the 17th hour. Although Magnussen was uninjured in the high-speed shove, the car was retired on the spot.

The No. 73 Corvette C6.R had been running in the top five, and the No. 74's bad luck moved it to second in the GTE standings. More than a lap behind the No. 51 Ferrari 458 Italia at the time of the accident, the No. 73 Corvette drivers chased down the class leader. As rain began to fall in the 20th hour, Garcia was gaining 1.5 seconds per lap. Milner took over at the 21st hour and continued to reel in the Ferrari, gaining as much as six seconds per lap during his stint. Milner made the pass for the lead on the Mulsanne Straight on lap 283.

"That was the hardest drive of my life," said the 25-year-old Milner. "It would have been a lot easier if it hadn't been sprinkling, raining, not raining, and then wet - all that plus the pressure of the situation. I'd been super comfortable in the car all day long, but I was certainly not comfortable then. I was just trying to drive the car to what the track would allow. Every lap it changed, every corner it changed."

Beretta became ill after driving behind the safety car during an extended caution period, and drove a limited time in the second half of the race.

"Today was not my sixth win, but a win for the team, Tommy, Antonio, and all of the engineers and crew who did a wonderful job," Beretta said. "I was sick in the middle of the night from following the pace car, but I recovered. I'm very happy for the entire team."

"If I were to write a script to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Chevrolet and the 10th anniversary of Corvette Racing's first win at Le Mans, this would undoubtedly be it," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "Louis Chevrolet was himself a racer, and his motto, 'Never give up!' is a philosophy we embraced from our first visit here. I think the result today embodied the spirit of Chevrolet's co-founder and of that iconic phrase."

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K&N Sponsored Michael Lewis Earns Formula 3 Podium Finish at Franciacorta

27 Jun 2011

K&N sponsored driver Michael Lewis is currently in second place in the rookie championship battle.

The first two rounds of the Formula 3 Italia Championship got underway at Italy's Franciacorta Circuit. And, following up on his extremely successful preseason testing efforts on the track, American Michael Lewis found the podium in only his second race. Lewis' strong times from preseason testing, carried over first into the practice sessions, where he recorded excellent times in the two free practice sessions, and then into race two on Sunday. After the 30-minute contest Lewis crossed the finish line in third place, nearly two car lengths ahead of the fourth place driver.

Lewis contested for second place briefly in Race 2, but his front wing damage created too much under steer.

"Every time we visited Franciacorta, we were always setting the pace," Lewis told K&N Race News. "Honestly, the Prema Powerteam and I were able to make the car work for me during each test prior to the race weekend. There are many slow corners and you need to turn the car quite hard, rear traction exiting the turns is extremely important as well. So we found a solution to turn the car, and exit well, without creating additional problems."

Going into his first ever Formula 3 Italia qualifying experience Lewis said his goal was to qualify in the top three. He came up short of his goal by just one-tenth of a second. "I knew that I would have to push hard in Race 1 to run up front with the leaders after that," Lewis said.

Race 1 earned the "wet track" designation requiring all the competitors' to use "wet" tires. Running in his sixth place starting position, with only five laps remaining, Lewis got tagged from behind, and as a result he made a one half spin, losing several positions. He finished Race 1 in tenth position.

Race 2 brought out the sun and a completely different race scenario, with Lewis starting third on the grid this time. After a frenzied start exiting turn one, Lewis and another driver collided as they raced side-by-side and Lewis' left front wing got damaged. However, the damage did little to affect his progress as he exited turn one in third place.

Finding the podium in only his second race of the season was a tremendous boast for the young California racer.

During the early stages of the race Lewis challenged for second place briefly, but because of the increasing loss of function of the front wing, the car developed a tremendous under steer condition that lasted the entire race. Lewis worked hard to keep his position and fend off the challenges of the fourth place driver.

"The Prema Powerteam has given me fast racecars this year and we work very well together," Lewis commented. "I feel as if the team is a part of my family. My engineer Fabio Zilio and the team principals Rene Rosin, Angelo Rosin, and Grazia Troncon have created an atmosphere that allows me to succeed. I enjoy driving and being around those people. For the remaining events, the team and I are continuing to develop the car in order to set the pace."

Angelo Rosin, Prema Powerteam Team Principal, spoke about his team's three drivers, Michael Lewis, Raffaele Marciello, and Andrea Roda, after the race.

"I'm satisfied with how the first weekend of the 2011 Formula 3 Italia championship ended up for us. Our drivers finished on the podium in the two races and they captured good points in the standings. Marciello went really close to record his maiden formula 3 win, but despite committing a mistake, he showed that such results are clearly in his frame. Lewis scored a podium finish too, despite a front wing problem that certainly hit his car's potential. I feel for Roda, who was unable to get to the results he deserved, but I'm sure he will in the next round of the series at Misano."

After the race in Misano, Lewis told K&N Race News, "I was more nervous than normal in my first qualifying effort, and it's not the best to be on edge while driving. The second race weekend in Misano, I approached qualifying as I normally approach any session, in a calm manner. As a result I was nearly on pole and ended up P3, in Misano. Basically, just doing what I had to do, and concentrating on nothing else is the way."

With his second and sixth place finishes during rounds three and four at the Misano Circuit in Italy this past weekend, Lewis, from Laguna Beach, California now claims third place in the Formula 3 Italia Championship points standings, and second place in the rookie championship battle.

"I am pushing to win the rookie championship," Lewis said. "That is my goal, and I will do everything in my power to achieve that goal."

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Jason Johnson and JJR Team Continues Hot Streak at I-30 Speedway

27 Jun 2011

2010 ASCS Champion Jason Johnson

Throughout the month of May, Jason Johnson and the Jason Johnson Racing Team experienced their fare share of success. On June 4, Jason and his crew rolled into the I-30 speedway, at Little Rock, Arkansas with anticipation of continuing their hot streak. After finishing the runner up in their heat race, Jason and his team earned the fourth starting spot in the A-Main Event. When the dust settled at the night's end, Johnson and his team had earned a victory.

"It's definitely important to finish a month strong and carry that momentum into the next month," explained Johnson. "When we pulled into Little Rock, everyone had confidence and was upbeat."

This was not Jason's first race at the I-30 speedway. In fact, according to the driver, it is one of his favorite tracks. "In the past, it's been a really great racetrack," shared Johnson. "It develops a top groove and a bottom groove, but the last few years it has kind of been one way or the other, with a single file on the top or on the bottom. During our most recent race it was like the old days. It was a lot of fun."

Upon his arrival to the track, Jason Johnson was also aware that the competition would be stiff. According to Jason, the ASCS National tour is the toughest 360 division throughout the world. He also was confident that the I-30 speedway sported very talented and competitive local drivers as well, who had a good understanding of the track and where the grooves will develop. "It's probably one of the most challenging places to go and try to win a race. The competition is definitely up there."

When a wave of the green flag deemed the race underway, Tim Crawley jumped out in the lead, but Jason followed closely behind. During the seventh lap, Johnson made his move on the high side, overtaking his competitor. After battling back and forth with Crawley for first place, Jason took the lead in the 24th lap, a position he continued to hold until the completion of lap number 35, deeming the race over and Jason and his team the victors. "I had to go where I thought I would be quicker that night," stated Johnson. And things kind of fell our way."

According to Jason, positioning is the key to winning in the ASCS National Tour. "If you can work your way up through the heat race, get a few points and get yourself in the right position to start in those first four rows, you have a chance," he said. "We just want to capitalize anytime we can start up front like that."

When asked what it would take to experience success throughout the remainder of the season, Johnson stressed that it is important to continue driving year-around, which in turn helps keep him sharp at the wheel. He also stated "The main thing is to keep focused as a driver, keep everyone encouraged, and keep your momentum rolling week in and week out."

Jason Johnson is acutely aware that keeping his car in tip top shape is essential if he plans to continue his run. "K&N Filters are the number one filtration system out there on the Market," explained the driver. "At the caliber of racing we are doing, it's important that we finish every event. We race in a dirty environment. They keep our engines clean and help keep us up front."

Jason Johnson was quick to say that he and his team appreciate the support of their fans and sponsors. "The support we receive from all of our partners is appreciated greatly," shared Jason. Referring to the fans, he continued, "It's really awesome to see the following that we have week in and week out."

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