The store will not work correctly when cookies are disabled.
We use cookies to make your experience better.To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
Corey LaJoie won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season.
Corey LaJoie won his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season and Chase Elliott had a record-breaking night at Langley Speedway in Virginia. LaJoie put the pressure on Brett Moffitt on the track and on Elliott in the K&N Pro Series East standings.
Corey LaJoie has two Pro Series wins and five top-five finishes in just seven races.
Moffitt led the most laps in the race, 115, but LaJoie overtook Moffitt on lap 165 and led the rest of the way in the Visit Hampton VA 175.
Moffitt held on for second place at Langley. Elliott, who won the pole and set the track record in qualifying, was third.
LaJoie led only 40 laps in the race and was able to trim Elliott's lead to one point in the East Series standings. LaJoie has two wins and five top-five finishes in seven races. Elliott has one win and six top 10s.
"It's awesome -- especially when you get that first one, you want to get that second one so bad," said LaJoie. "And now I want to get that third one so bad because we're in the championship hunt. I've been telling a lot of people all year we're going to win the championship and so far I'm backing up my words."
LaJoie became the first two-time winner in the K&N Pro Series East Series this season. The top four drivers in the East Series standings have at least one win.
Chase Elliott won the pole and broke the record of 16.439 seconds set by Coleman Pressley last year at Langley.
Elliott won the pole in 16.400 second around the .4-mile oval. He broke the record of 16.439 seconds set by Coleman Pressley last year at Langley.
Elliott also became the youngest driver to win a pole in a K&N Pro Series East race. At 16 years, 6 months and 26 days, Elliott broke the mark set by Moffitt by nearly a month and half. Moffitt was the youngest driver to win a K&N Pro Series East pole at 16 years, 8 months and 10 days.
Elliott led the first 20 laps of the race before LaJoie him on lap 21. The first caution came out on lap 42 when Akinori Ogata spun out in turn 2. Moffitt took the lead on the ensuing restart and held it for the next 85 laps.
"I think we had a better car than where we finished," Elliott said. "Unfortunately we were just good enough to get back in the top five. I'm really proud of everybody for staying behind me. We definitely need to do better. These guys are good. I think they're a little bit better than us right now. We have to get ourselves together and do better the next race."
Moffitt and LaJoie raced side-by-side and survived a number of cautions and crashes until lap 163. Kyle Larson spun out to bring out the seventh caution of the race.
"It's a lot of fun," Moffitt said. "At these short tracks, you never know exactly what's going to happen. It's great short track racing."
LaJoie took the lead from Moffitt on lap 165 and led the last 11 laps of the race.
"I just needed to roll the bottom like I did all night," LaJoie said. "Our car was really good on the bottom. It got a little tight toward the end. I was able to get a good jump on the restart, roll the bottom and bring home this bad boy right here."
The next K&N Pro Series East race is the Samuel 150 at CNB Bank Raceway Park in Pennsylvania on July 14.
David Gilliland won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race in Sonoma.
The Gillilands and the drivers for Gene Price Motorsports had a stellar weekend at the road course in Sonoma. David Gilliland won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race in Sonoma. His dad, Butch Gilliland, a two-team winner in the West Series at Sonoma, was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
David Gilliland took the lead on lap 44 and held it until the checkered flag.
Greg Pursley, one of the drivers for Gene Price Motorsports, posted his best finish in a K&N Pro Series West race at Sonoma.
Dylan Kwasniewski, Pursley's teammate at Gene Price Motorsports, maintained his lead in the K&N Pro Series West standings.
David Gilliland, a regular on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, won his second West Series race at Sonoma, matching his father's two wins at the track. David Gilliland was also the crew chief for his dad for one of those wins, so he probably has bragging rights, if only on a technicality.
Seeing Butch Gilliland inducted into the Hall of Fame was just as special as winning the race in Sonoma, David Gilliland said.
"Obviously a huge thing for our family," David Gilliland said after the race. "A very special achievement and I got to induct him into the Hall of Fame, so it was pretty cool. He lives in Dubai now, so I don't get to see him very much. He's won here twice and I've only won here once. Today we had to tie it up."
David Gilliland didn't take the lead in the race until the second half. A string of West Series regulars were out front for the majority of the race.
Greg Pursley won the pole and led the first 23 laps of the Pick-n-Pull Racing To Stop Hunger 200
Pursley won the pole and led the first 23 laps of the Pick-n-Pull Racing To Stop Hunger 200. David Mayhew passed Pursley for the lead on lap 24 and held it for six laps.
Eric Holmes took over the lead from Mayhew on lap 31 before Gilliland worked his way to the front.
Gilliland took the lead on lap 44 and held it until the checkered flag.
"This race is awesome," Gilliland said. "My dad has had a lot of success out here. I've had a lot of success out here as a crew chief. I've got my career best Cup finish here. We finished second. It's an awesome race track. I love coming out here and racing."
Derek Thorn, making his first K&N Pro Series West start at Sonoma, was second.
"We had one final shot with Gilliland at the end," Thorn said. "Following him helped me learn some stuff. With the experience he has, he was able to pull away from me a little bit. It was awesome to run up front like that. The whole combination of our team came together today. Second place, for this being my first time here, we're ecstatic."
Pursley posted his best K&N Pro Series West finish at Sonoma coming in third. He was fourth at last year's Sonoma race. He was able to close the gap a little in the K&N Pro Series West standings and trails Kwasniewski by eight points after eight races.
"Very good points day," Pursley said. "Led a bunch of laps and we'll get some points out of that. Dylan finished great. He finished fifth today. All in all a great day for Gene Price Motorsports. The guys did a great job and they work hard. Gotta give it to them."
Jim Inglebright was fourth followed by Kwasniewski in fifth to round out the top five.
The Pick-n-Pull Racing To Stop Hunger 200 will be televised on Speed on July 12 at noon PDT.
The next K&N Pro Series West race is the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Gene Price Motorsports at Evergreen Speedway in Washington on July 14.
Synchronized truck flights are always a huge fan favorite.
Fidel Gonzales had us with "Come out to a race and we'll set you up with a truck to drive around the track." That's like offering pharmaceutical-grade adrenaline to a race junkie. Gonzales is the Media Marketing Director for SuperLite Championship and that's what they do, they set up professional racers and budding racers with race-ready trucks, and/or parts and equipment as they compete in the SuperLite Class in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series. They also attend a myriad of special events throughout the season. The "Championship" part is a little confusing, being that they aren't an actual championship; it's the name of their company, or program. Yet, regardless of how they escape being boxed-in or labeled, their impact on short course off-road racing is undeniable.
LOORRS is packed with bangs and thrills, and when bumping damages trucks, SuperLite Championship is onsite with three semi-trucks packed with replacement parts.
Gonzales explains it like this "The intent and purpose of the SuperLite Championship Arrive and Drive program is to serve as the launch pad for professional short course off-road racing. We do this by providing the fully prepped truck and its support infrastructure, which includes a racing school, instructors, mechanics, a professional pit, media, marketing, PR and a dedicated television package that provides extensive exposure on CBS, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Speed TV and MavTV."
At only 15-years-old Sheldon Creed already has the steely stare of a champion.
Put another way, the SuperLite Championship Arrive and Drive program is a gateway for anyone looking to jump behind the wheel of a jacked-up, high-flying race truck for the sheer thrill, or as a professional venture. Understandably they have amassed a notable list of celebrities and crossover athletes from action sports and other venues.
"This is a win for the series, its trucks and its racers," said SuperLite Championship General Manager John Harrah regarding K&N's decision to product sponsor them. "K&N is an automotive and Powersports icon for performance. SuperLite is the off-road racing gateway for crossover motorsports pros and action sports athletes. The partnership will improve our results on and off the track."
Creed is ready for his post race close-up.
SuperLite Championship will present racers with K&N product vouchers throughout the 2012 SuperLite Class Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series effort, which includes $100.00 for first place, $50.00 for second and $25.00 third.
Truck out-riggers would come in handy here.
When purchasing a SuperLite Championship truck you have two options; you can either buy a completely built truck according to your specs or at a discount by purchasing a crated race truck kit. The race-ready truck is delivered completely assembled, fully tested and ready to race. The powerful Mazda-Speed Rotary Engine is built to SuperLite Championship specs and it's vigorously dyno tested. The Build-It-Yourself-Kits consist of pre-assembled components that are crated and shipped direct to you, and either way they now come equipped with K&N filters.
Sheldon Creed, the 15-year-old race prodigy would be one of the first to tell you he's enormously pleased with his SuperLite Championship truck. At Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah last Saturday, Creed tallied his fourth victory in round 7 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, and he had to do it the hard way. Off the start, jamming into turn one, the leaders were three wide, and Creed caught an edge and rolled. Remarkably, he powered back through the pack, seemly passing at will, and wound up on top of the box with the $2500 purse.
All SuperLite Championship trucks, whether race-ready or crated, will be breathing through K&N filters.
The weekend of August 3rd to the 5th LOORRS moves to Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California for rounds 9 and 10.
"We have Sheldon Creed, Drew Britt and Ryan Hagy in a sniper hunt for the coveted championship," said Gonzales. "There is always talk about a conservative race, but that podium is like fresh meat to a blood-thirsty tiger. You have some fierce competitors out there, with throttles that seem more like an 'on-off' switch that is welded to the rev-limiter. And you also have a roulette wheel of drivers that enter into the series who are determined to make their presence and sponsor list known before the watching eye of the TV cameras. Anything can happen. And it usually does. With Glen Helen Raceway serving as the proverbial Mecca of the off-road racing and extreme action sports lifestyle, the crowd will be remarkable and the excitement-meter will clearly be pegging."
Menzies and Red Bull teammate Travis Pastrana have been testing the new Dart all week, and Menzies gives it a thumbs-up for X Games 18 this coming Sunday.
Last year was a benchmark season for Bryce Menzies as he won both the 2011 SCORE Trophy Truck and TORC Pro-2 Championship. Then, in what was arguably Menzies Motorsports biggest race of their 2011 season, he capped off the year winning the 44th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. It was the team's first attempt at the Baja 1000.
In his first ever X Games RallyCross, Bryce Menzies will be introducing a new car to the event, a 600hp Dodge Dart.
Yet, as blazing hot as he was last year, Menzies has his sights set on slaying even larger dragons this year. Menzies has been invited by fellow Red Bull Athlete, Travis Pastrana to compete in the RallyCross portion of the 2012 X Games. Pastrana made a highly successful transition from motorcycles to cars and has amassed a total of 11 MotoX and Rally gold medals so far.
"Being asked to team up with Travis for this event is an amazing opportunity," remarked Menzies. "Travis is such a well-known athlete and the chance to learn from him about a different form of motorsports is an opportunity I can't be thankful enough for."
Menzies enjoys the challenge of being one of the younger competitors in this year's RallyCross event and he's focused on displaying his entire skill-set.
Menzies and Pastrana will both be competing in Dodge Darts, which is a new vehicle to the RallyCross competition lineup . The European production based all wheel drive car produces 600 horsepower, 60lbs of boost, and can go from 0-60 in just two seconds. To put that in perspective, that's similar to the performance of a Formula-1 car, which is why the Dart is one of favored cars in this year's event. The two drivers have been testing throughout the week and they have total confidence with taking both cars to the course this coming Sunday for X Games 18.
RallyCross has been described as "autocross-on-dirt", or a combination of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. The thoroughly compelling, fan thrilling event focuses more on driver skill and car handling, rather than speed and horsepower. RallyCross was first introduced two years ago at ESPN's Summer X Games 16 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Menzies will need to contend with competing against some of the biggest names in the sport such as Ken Block and Rhys Millen, as well as Brian Deegan, a familiar foe from his off-road racing conquests. Menzies and Deegan have squared-off in the Pro-2 ring numerous times, with Menzies finding the top of the podium over Deegan more times than not.
"Racing against Deegan in a different atmosphere will be a great learning experience. He is great at what he does and it should make for some fun and friendly competition," said Bryce Menzies. Menzies will be one of the youngest RallyCross competitors in this year's event and he will be going head-to-head against some of the pioneers of Rally. It's a position Menzies welcomes, as it motivates him to showcase his talents on the stage.
This year's RallyCross event will take place in Downtown Los Angeles, right outside of the iconic Staples Center and will feature a ramp-to-ramp jump, the only jump of its kind in the RallyCross competition that sends the drivers flying 70-feet through the air.
"The Gauntlet" at Wall Stadium was accurately named as the racing was edge-of-the-seat thrilling all weekend.
"Winning this event feels awesome, We have been working very hard to claw our way back up to the top, and to do it so close to home, with so many friends and family in the audience is just awesome," remarked Vaughn Gittin Jr. "This win speaks volumes about our team's attitude and commitment to never give up, no matter what, and we plan to carry this momentum throughout the rest of the year. It is our goal that when the smoke clears this season - we will have had one of the best comebacks from a rough start to the season this sport has ever seen!"
Vaughn Gittin Jr. was sweeping the bank and scraping the wall, leaving his rear bumper in the blue tire smoke on route to victory.
Gittin's understandable confidence stems from his Round 4 Formula Drift win last weekend at Wall Stadium in New Jersey. The event was fittingly referred to as "The Gauntlet." In Medieval times throwing down the gauntlet was the knight's method of choice for challenging another knight to a duel. Picking the gauntlet up was the signal that the challenge had been accepted. Looking to restore order in his camp after a shaky start, and collect some crucial points in the chase for the FD Championship, Gittin got medieval on the competition. After numerous extremely tough battles against fierce competitors, the K&N sponsored driver drove his Mustang RTR all the way to first place.
To reach the top of the podium Gittin needed to get by teammate, Daijiro Yoshihara, the only competitor he's never defeated after numerous attempts.
Wall Stadium is only a few clicks from where Gittin and the rest of Drift Alliance in fact began to hone their drifting skills back in 2002. A decade later, Gittin has a Formula Drift Championship, with multiple wins and podiums trips inked in the record books. Accomplishments he once only dreamed about. Round 4 saw yet another sold-out crowd and the live Drift Stream saw over 200,000 total views in a 24-hour period. Even with Friday's semi-wet track conditions, Gittin was able to perform a near-perfect run that earned him a score of 96 and the second place qualifying spot.
During Saturday's main event, Gittin fought his way to the semi-finals after beating out Miro Ovcharik in his battle of the top 32, Robbie Nishida in the top 16, and then Matt Powers in the top-eight. He met with his Drift Alliance brother and good friend, Chris Forsberg in the semi-finals. This was a highly anticipated match-up as these two are known for holding nothing back when lined up against each other. As billed it was a thoroughly exciting battle that disappointed no one.
Pardon me, but do these K&N air filters make my Ford Mustang look phat?
Gittin took the lead position first, sweeping the bank and scraping the wall, leaving his rear bumper in the blue tire smoke pluming from behind. He continued to blast through the course undeterred with maximum angle and put his car exactly where it needed to be as defined by the Formula Drift judges. When it came time to give chase, Gittin followed Forsberg into the bank and remained glued to him throughout the entire run. With a better lead run and closer proximity on the chase run, Gittin earned a trip to the finals, where he faced his arch nemesis and Falken Tire teammate, Daijiro Yoshihara.
Yoshihara was the only competitor that Vaughn Gittin Jr. had faced numerous times and had never defeated. So, in addition to his desire for the top-tier of the podium, Gittin desperately wanted this win against his rival. Gittin once more took the lead first and threw down the gauntlet with an amazing run, while Yoshihara pushed just to stay close. Yoshihara, feeling the pressure pushed a tad too hard, causing him to straighten up which gave Gittin the advantage.
The Round 4 Formula Drift win and 2nd place qualifying moves Gittin into 4th place overall in the championship.
Then it was Gittin's turn to give chase and he never let up once, dialing up the pressure to eleven and sticking to his competitor's door like white on rice. When the engine echoes faded and the smoke lifted, Gittin was crowned the victor of the final battle and 1st place winner overall of Formula Drift Round 4.
"It took me a little longer than expected to harness this brand new 2013 Monster Energy Falken Tire Ford Mustang," said Gittin after the event. "But we overcame the challenges and got back on the podium and it feels amazing!"
With the points earned from his 1st place finish and 2nd place qualifying, Gittin moves up to 4th place overall in the Formula Drift Championship. Next up on the FD circuit is Round 5, July 21 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington.
