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Jimmie Johnson. Robby Gordon. Walker Evans. Brendan Gaughan. Those are just a few of the drivers who used off-road racing as a springboard to careers in NASCAR and Indy Cars. Nick Tyree wants next.
Nick Tyree and his Pro 2 Unlimited Truck
The El Cajon native is coming off a solid showing in his freshman season racing Pro 2 Unlimited trucks in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. Tyree overcame a sharp learning curve to post solid finishes week in and week out. He was rewarded with a 13th place points finish in a series that saw more than 30 drivers compete for championship points.
"I was introduced to the Lucas Oil Series by a friend at the end of 2009," said the former karting and motorcycle racer. "Last season was all about learning for us as a team. It would be hard to pinpoint one specific thing that we learned, because there was constantly an opportunity to learn. I think the value of humility, sportsmanship, and teamwork were front and center for Tyree Motorsports in 2010. We learned how to troubleshoot technical problems and performance issues with help from some of the legends of the sport. That really improved our team."
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Driver Nick Tyree
Tyree is looking forward to 2011, and a chance to stick his name into the discussion for most improved driver. He also wants a win, and he possesses a rare quality that the greats usually have; the ability to be self critical. "I am a perfectionist. I need perfection and I don't stop when I get it. Even when I drive a good race I am constantly looking for more ways to improve. I have a standard of excellence that I hold myself to both on and off the track."
Nick and his father Curtis founded the team in 2010 on the premise of bringing their family closer, and so far it's succeeding. "Tyree Motorsports would not exist without the support of our entire family. All of my crew members are friend and family, and they all have full time jobs to keep up with. Yet they all take time out of their lives to come work in the shop at night. That's what keeps this team going."
On that topic, Tyree says life would be a little less stressful heading into 2011 if more sponsorship could be secured. "The less I have to worry about funding, the more I can focus on our main goal; winning races. I want to focus on my skills as much as possible to ensure a successful season."
K&N bought in to Tyree Motorsports core values and entered into a relationship with the team for the 2010 season. Tyree is even more excited about the relationship heading into his sophomore campaign.
"Everyone knows K&N is a reputable company with a high standard for quality products. That's why we are proud to use K&N products at Tyree Motorsports. I am looking forward to establishing a long running relationship with K&N as Tyree Motorsports continues to evolve into a winning program."
And who knows, maybe a legend will be born as well.
With weather plagued and shortened qualifying sessions for the 2011 NHRA season opener, one could say that Mother Nature actually might have shown who her favorite was during Pro Stock qualifying for the 51st annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals.
NHRA Pro Stock Driver Erica Enders
New Orleans based Erica Enders, who has been a crowd favorite throughout her pro career, returned to her Pro Stock roots for 2011 by rejoining forces with Cagnazzi Racing, a team she has worked on and off with since debuting in the class in 2005.
During the opening session of Pro Stock qualifying one Friday, Enders and her Cagnazzi powered Chevy Cobalt laid down her career best ET and MPH when she posted a 6.553 at 211.69, placing her team at the top and setting the pace for the rest of the field.
That would be the only session of Pro Stock qualifying on Friday with the second scheduled sessions scrapped due to persistent weather delays.
Saturday's plan was to get two more professional sessions in the books, but this time it wasn't just rain that delayed the on track activities, it was a down-pouring of hail during the midmorning hours. With the tight curfew at the Pomona facility, Pro Stock competitors were only afforded one more hit.
During the one and only session on Saturday, Enders dodged a bullet after 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge Champion Greg Anderson came very close to knocking her off the pole with his 6.556 pass.
Not only is qualifying position important for race day ladder placement and championship points, but even more crucial for the NHRA Pro Stock drivers as they vie for a shot at the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge.
An elite field of eight Pro Stock teams, comprised of the top seven Pro Stock qualifiers and the eighth position filled by fan vote, compete for the biggest single payday in all of Pro Stock and the $50,000 Championship bonus awarded to the winner when the showdown takes place in June.
Enders, whose last number one national event qualifier came in 2006, is seeking to make it into the K&N Horsepower Challenge for the second time. She nearly made it in the number eight fan voted position for the 2010 shootout, but was edged out by "The Professor" Warren Johnson.
With only eight events between now and the final event in Bristol for teams to earn K&N Challenge points, for Enders to make her way into the top seven, it will take a whole lot of top if not number one qualifying.
Nonetheless, Enders showed that "ladies are first", grabbing the first Pro Stock pole of the infant season and if nothing else, give a good shake to the standings in the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge.
The K&N Horsepower Challenge is not just for the Pro Stock competitors as it also includes a shot at one of eight trips to the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge event with the K&N Horsepower Sweepstakes. The grand prize winner will drive away in a 2011 Ford Explorer XLT! For complete sweepstakes rules and information plus online entry form, visit today!
Tony Hunt plans to race in the USAC Western Classic Racing Series in 2011
Some people are just born for the driver's seat. That's one way you could describe Tony Hunt.
United States Auto Club Sprint Car Racer Tony Hunt
The Southern California native is gearing up for another exciting season of United States Auto Club Sprint Car racing. Hunt is coming off an unprecedented 4th Championship in the AMSOIL Western States Sprint Car Series, and this season, he plans on competing in the newly founded USAC Western Classic Racing Series, which will test his skills on both asphalt and dirt in a grueling 16 race season.
"We have a desire to defend our Western States championship, but we want to challenge ourselves in 2011," said the Hollywood stunt driver. "That's why we are running the Western Classic Series this year."
Hunt is coming off a whirlwind season, in which he added to his career totals in wins (52) and poles (63) in USAC sanctioned events. His fourth championship was the culmination of a three year engine development program that left the team frustrated at times.
AMSOIL Western States Sprint Car Series Champion Tony Hunt
"It was going to be hard to duplicate our success from 2006, when we scored a record number of series victories and captured our third championship. In 2007 we decided to engage in a engine development program with two different manufacturers. It was a period of research and development time, and a huge learning experience. Fortunately our efforts finally paid off with another great season in 2010," said Hunt after returning from a business trip.
Hunt began racing at the age of five when he competed at the Pomona Valley quarter midget track east of Los Angeles. His father, Tommy, was a renowned racer at the world famous (and now defunct) Ascot Park in Southern California. Hunt's grandfather, Joe, owned a slew of Indy Cars for over 30 years. His drivers included Indy legends Tony and Gary Bettenhausen, Johnny Parsons, and Al and Bobby Unser.
Tony wasted no time making a name for himself. In 1992, Hunt finished second in the USAC Russell Pro Series. The next season, he won the championship. In 1998, Hunt captured Rookie of the Year honors in the Western States Sprint Cars. 2001 saw Tony win his first Western State Sprint Car Championship, with a second title coming in 2004. Now he is on a drive for five.
"There's really no specific reason for our success. Many key elements play a factor. I've always had a strong work ethic and stay very involved in the shop. I was always interested in the mechanical development of the cars I've driven. My team owner and crew all work on the same principals and adhere to a routine approach that allows us to maintain a winning consistency."
Did I mention Hunt is well spoken? Hunt's relationship with K&N Filters began nearly two decades ago in 1993. Hunt was a competitor in the K&N Grand National West Series, and the two have been together ever since. K&N is proud to have been on board with Hunt for all four of his USAC AMSOIL Western States Sprint Car Championships.
"Since 1993, K&N and I have enjoyed many years of racing accomplishments that have grown into a mutually rewarding, long-term relationship. K&N offers our team a high quality product line. Whether they are providing maximum filtered intake flow or premium oil filtration, our team can always rely on K&N's proven performance."
Ice, ice, baby - Allyx needs to train and little frozen precipitation isn't going to stop her.
When the world outside is frozen solid with ice you could cozy up with your Wii, go vroom and pretend you're riding a motorcycle, or you could bundle up and churn some ice on a real bike.
"We have been riding on the ice this past winter to train, and we're looking forward to the start of the 2011 season," remarked Adam and Allyx Camp's dad, Stan. "And we are very happy to have K&N onboard again this year."
Adam churning up the muck in a race at Galesburg, Illinois last year.
Stan is the Dirt Track Director for AMA District 17, a position he understands all too well. Stan raced for a couple of decades himself, as a junior in the AMA professional ranks, until moving into stock cars for a few years. Stan also understands that the family that races together, well, they spend a good deal of time together, and that's just as he and his wife Holly planned it. They have three kids, the oldest son Adam is 17, their daughter Austyn is pushing 16 and the youngest girl Allyx is 13. All three started racing early. Adam for example already has ten years of racing experience and Allyx is right behind with nine years. Austyn doesn't race anymore, but between her and her mom, they handle all the logistics that allow Adam and Allyx to stay focused on the track, or the ice, as is the case currently around their Farmington, Illinois home.
Same form and technique, but different surface, Allyx racing in the 250 class last year at Walnut, Illinois race last season.
"Last year was a learning year for both Adam and Allyx," says Stan. "Allyx's highlight was probably second place finish in the state championship TT race in the 250cc class. And Adam finished top three at a couple of the local races in the pro class. Our first race hopefully will be March 19th at DeQoin, Illinois. That will be a warm up for The April 19th National."
Allyx's goal for this year is a top three overall finish in the 250cc class, which would be a significant accomplishment, being how very competitive the group of 250cc riders will be this year.
Adam's goal is to make a GNC Pro Class program. "We were very close last year," adds Stan. "With hard work and a little luck I feel both goals are reachable."
After a combined total of 13 rounds in two classes, Biondo proudly shows off his latest Wally's in Super Stock and Super Gas in Gainesville Winner's Circle.
If you feel you just read this story or that maybe it's just déjà vu, never fear this is the latest news on the extraordinary 2011 season start that belongs to K&N sportsman racer Peter Biondo.
K&N's Peter Biondo has already won back-to-back NHRA Super Gas Events in this 1963 Corvette Roadster.
Before the elation of his victory in Super Gas and his semi-final finish in Super Stock, that Biondo had just bagged a few days earlier in Bradenton during the NHRA Division 2 season opener, could hardly begin to fade, he was back at it again for the next scheduled Division 2 event in Gainesville, Florida.
Biondo once again entered both Super Stock and Super Gas and like all other drivers at the event he couldn't say he didn't have a chance to get both himself and his cars dialed in with the five time runs for most of the classes.
"It was the 'Time Trial Nationals'," he laughed. "We all got plenty of time runs, really more than anyone even needed. I guess they have their reasons, but I don't understand why they just didn't try to get in first and maybe even second round in on Saturday."
Let the celebration begin for Peter Biondo shown here with the Super Stock Camaro and the Super Gas Corvette Roadster after his two holeshot final round victories.
"It ended up being the same exact scenario as Bradenton, where we were really rushed in the later rounds on Sunday night to hot-lap so they could get everything done," he added.
There is always a very good chance that giving someone like Peter Biondo all those extra time runs and opportunities to study the track and weather curves, especially after having so many laps in both cars the previous weekend, will not bode well for the rest of the competition.
"It was just one of those weekends where everything just fell into place," he reflected. "It all started with first round of Super Gas when the guy went red against me by two-thousandths. I was set up to run an eighty-seven and luckily I picked my spot and dropped and it went a 9.900. So that qualified me number one on the ladder and so then you get the first bye-run."
Biondo's placement on the Super Gas ladder faired very well for him. Since there were thirty-three cars going into round two, which meant there would be not one bye but a shot at a second bye in rounds to come, on his side of the ladder.
"Getting a shot at two bye runs very rarely happens," he pointed out. "I just felt like I did my job every round and maybe felt like I got away with squeaking the finish line a little too tight once when I was running Caruso. I went down there and was whomping him and got there by a thousandth. I didn't mean to make it that tight but everything was just clicking."
It wasn't the only class things were "clicking" in for Biondo during the Gainesville event. He was also slashing his way through the rounds all the way to the final in Super Stock.
"Both cars were just so 'dial-able', so predictable and so consistent," he reflected. "It was just a matter of A, I screwed up or left the window open for someone or B, somebody just put down a really good run. Fortunately for me, neither one of those things happened in either class."
"I had a lot of momentum going into the Gainesville event after winning at Bradenton," he said. "I had a lot of confidence and that's probably the biggest thing that carried over from the prior weekend."
Biondo first found himself with a Wally in Super Stock after giving himself a huge holeshot advantage and plenty of room to reel in the victory over division three racer Jerry Silveus.
The celebration would have to wait just a few minutes longer while he literally raced back up to the lanes to finish his other final round in Super Gas. After seven tough rounds, he pulled out another holeshot win and defeated Carl Freeman when the numbers on the boards both came up 9.918 and the margin of victory for Biondo was his .006 advantage at the tree.
Making it to a final at this level is not an easy thing to do and chances that a driver will do so in two classes, let alone double up, are extremely rare.
Biondo is not your ordinary racer and with his latest accomplishment of doubling up at the Gainesville NHRA Division 2 event, that makes it three times in his astonishing career that he has achieved this level of success.
"In the mid-nineties I won Super Comp and Super Stock and in the late nineties I won Comp and Super Stock," he said. "Getting a shot to double up like this, well your chances are few and far between. It's a very special occasion for sure."
"It's really hard to finish twice like that, to do it all in one day and I've been very close a lot of times," he continued. "For those drivers who haven't been there, those last couple of rounds are so hot-lapped, it really is tough to keep focused on the task at hand. Your adrenaline is going two to three times more than it has been pumping the rest of the race, because you are literally physically running around. That part is really challenging."
Biondo and both of his entries loaded up with nothing but the finest products including K&N air and oil filters, proved that they were certainly up for the challenge, after the 'dress rehearsal', so to speak with his first near double in Bradenton and finishing the job at Gainesville.
In only the two events in the books and back to back weekends for Biondo in 2011, he already has 3 NHRA Division wins and a semi-final; one would think he wouldn't want to take a break from the on-track action now.
"Well there are two sides to that," he confessed. "It was hot lap city down there [Florida events] and I feel like I really need a weekend off and of course the other side of that is strike while the irons hot. Part of me wants to keep going and part of me wants to rest."
"After one weekend off, I'll be fired up and ready to go again," he added.
