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We had a great experience in Ocala, and we really did learn a lot about running a dirt car.
California sprint car star Kody Swanson got a jump on brother Tanner and the 2012 season during Speedweeks in February. Kody and his Ted Slinkard-owned dirt sprint car traveled to Ocala, Florida for the Winter Dirt Games as part of the USAC National Sprint series.
Kody, who has limited experience on the dirt, debuted the new coil-over #19 entry, improved each time he hit the track and ran with the leaders for much of the final night. Kody ended the night by capturing a respectable eighth place finish.
I would be happy if either Kody or I take home the Silver Crown championship and also the Xtreme Sprint Series championship.
"We had a great experience in Ocala, and we really did learn a lot about running a dirt car," Kody said. "My ability to run dirt has been questioned before, and it was great to find out we could start moving forward with this program in such a short amount of time."
The dirt car is a nice break for Kody, who will campaign a Team 6R Racing Beast/Toyota in the USAC Silver Crown series as a teammate of Tanner's full time this season. Kody said that while his goal is to win both the Silver Crown championship and the Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series championship, the deal with Slinkard's team is all about having a good time.
"(Ted's) just looking to have fun," Kody said. "The goal is to not only run well and learn a lot, but to have fun doing it, and to make it fun for Ted, for who I am so fortunate to run this car."
Since 2005 we've raced our family owned TK Motorsports Sprint Cars, and we trust our engines to K&N products.
While Kody prepares for his two full-time rides, as well as his run in the Wilke-PAK Motorsports midget in the USAC National Pavement Midget series, Tanner has been hard at work outside of racing. "I am attending Fresno State University, working towards my Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Business," Tanner said, "but it doesn't help. I want to get out of the classroom and start spending my weekends at the racetrack… I am getting very restless. We have put a lot of work and marketing into the 2012 season, but it's not nearly as exciting as getting out there and working on and driving the cars."
Tanner is also planning on running in the Xtreme Sprint Series and will also campaign a midget in the USAC Pavament series on a limited basis, competing for RFMS Racing in the #3F. His first race in the midget is scheduled for March 30-31 at Ace Speedway in North Carolina.
My ability to run dirt has been questioned before, and it was great to find out we could start moving forward with this program in such a short amount of time.
The brothers have a full schedule once again in 2012, but Tanner remains confident that they will continue to win races and hopefully the Silver Crown championship as well. "I would be happy if either Kody or I take home the Silver Crown championship and also the Xtreme Sprint Series championship. I definitely think it's a good possibility, and I look forward to seeing how the season will unfold. We are also hoping to expand our marketing opportunities this year and try to really build bridges into the NASCAR community and try to fulfill our dream of becoming NASCAR superstars."
The Swanson brothers have long been a part of K&N's racing stable. From wins at the historic Turkey Night Grand Prix to victories at the Night Before the 500 and the Ted Horn 100, K&N and this bright, young racing family have been connected in a winning way.
"K&N is a tremendous help to Tanner and I," Kody said. "Since 2005 we've raced our family owned TK Motorsports Sprint Cars, and we trust our engines to K&N products. It started with their High Performance Air Filters, led to their Wrench-Off Oil Filters, and now they've introduced their In-Line Fuel Filters. K&N has a great reputation and ability to provide quality products, and that's why we choose them for our engines, our investments."
Kody continued, "K&N have been great supporters of Tanner and I, as well as the teams we drive for, including Team 6R Racing. We are definitely looking forward to getting this year rolling and putting K&N in victory lane."
At the University of California Irvine, students join together to spend time learning and understanding the ins and outs of the cars they drive.
Building a sweet ride requires significant financial backing, but money is not necessary to become a hardcore car enthusiast. The upfront cost of enjoying automobiles is time and effort. There are many people out in the world that spend time attending car shows and club meetings without even owning a vehicle. Not having a car to work on should not hinder people from getting involved into automotive related hobbies. At the University of California Irvine, students join together to spend time learning and understanding the ins and outs of the cars they drive. They work together on anything form oil changes to custom body work.
The club's main focus is import vehicles but, there were quite a few American made vehicles as well.
A few weeks ago the UCI Import club held their 6th annual car show on the UCI campus with about 325 vehicles in attendance. The club's main focus is import vehicles, but there were quite a few American who made vehicles as well. There was a mixture between tuner cars, muscle cars, and even exotics. The show began at 10am, which is about 7am according to the internal clock of an undergraduate student. All the show cars packed into a sizeable parking lot on the South Side of campus. It was very interesting to see the student body come together and share a common interest with the public.
A few judges were selected to rate the cars and put them into their pre-selected categories. For example, a 1990's Acura NSX took the "Most Unique" award and a 1980's Nissan 240SX took the "Dirtiest" award.
The UCI Import club recently held their 6th annual car show on the UCI campus with about 325 vehicles in attendance.
There were a few students in attendance from surrounding universities including UC San Diego and even UC Riverside. The UCI club has 30 active members and a respectable alumni support which makes about 200 members in total. The club is a non-profit organization that supports many causes, one of them being Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The best part might be the fact that it is free to join.
A few of the student organization's sponsors were in attendance including K&N Engineering. They provided product information and displayed their very own Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for students to check out.
Christine, the public relations chair, motivated the club to hand out flyers and reach out the participating alumni. She was very appreciative that K&N came out to support. She mentioned, "K&N has some particularly awesome products. K&N is known for their air filters, but the oil filters are also great." In fact K&N offers an air filter for most applications on the road. Christine went on to say, "Overall, I feel that K&N has outstanding design and quality that makes all the difference in their products."
Every so often Steve Gibson, a program coordinator at K&N Engineering, performs product trainings for the student organization to further educate them on not only K&N products but, basic functions of an automobile. This is a great way for K&N to reach out and further educate the younger generation.
The UCI car club will be hosting a tech day in the near future that involves the club members getting together to work on their cars.
Boutté says he feels optimistic heading into Las Vegas with the way his car is currently set-up and running.
Check close enough and you're bound to find a definition of "busman's holiday" with Greg Boutté face beaming alongside it. Boutté races a Super Comp dragster and he works for K&N where he - wait for it - focuses on making cars run better and faster. More to the point Boutté is a Product Specialist working in customer service and sales. "I travel to the National events, whether I race or not, and support our sponsored K&N racers, as well as support the drivers in Pro Stock, for the K&N Horsepower Challenge."
He is also involved in K&N's Heavy Duty filter program for the trucking industry and clearly one effectively feeds off the other as he's really good in all arenas. Last weekend at the 28th annual NHRA Arizona Nationals contested at Firebird International Raceway, Boutté notched his first victory of 2012, it is his third National event win in three final trips. Boutté won the final dual on his opponent's 0.004 red-light. Boutté marked with an 8.898 ET and 174.71 mph.
Regarding his win over Steve Whitfield in Super Comp at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Boutté remarked, "Mr. Whitfield is a good racer, so you don't want to lose in the final after the last six rounds. With that in mind, I set the car up to run a 8.91 in the final knowing if I was wrong I would run a 8.89, it ran a 8.898. You don't want to go red so I added .010 more to my delay box, but when I got my time slip and saw the .047 light, wow, was I glad he went red. He would have cleaned my plow."
Greg Boutté's win at the 28th annual NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Arizona Nationals was his third of the 2012 season.
Boutté is a definitive wily veteran, having competed in Super Comp for 21 years, running in about 20 races a year, beginning at Pomona, California in February and ending at Pomona in November. Back in 2003 he won the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7 in Super Comp in Arizona.
We wondered if the Loma Linda, California driver made any changes to his race car or his GB Motorsports race program during the off season. "My motor and converter and rear wheels are all different. Wayne Silvia (Silvia Construction) lent me a Chevy 565 motor and Hughes Performance lent me a 8" converter. I ran that combination in Pomona at the Winter Nationals and Phoenix. If my Heads are not back from Brodix, I will use the same winning Combination in Las Vegas for the Div-7 race and then the National event the next weekend."
A large part of racing is confidence and momentum and Boutté is justifiably feeling strong about both heading into Las Vegas. "I am feeling very optimistic at this point of the season. I won the make-up Arizona Nationals at Infineon in 2010 on the Monday before the Division-7 race. Last year I was runner up to my friend Justin Morgan in Vegas. I have had very good luck the last three seasons at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The track is one of the best in the Country and NHRA preps the track very well too. If my car is as predictable there next month, as it is now, I hope to get to the winners circle again."
Austin Reed recently finished fourth in the USLCI Nationals at Las Vegas, Nevada.
Austin Reed and his crew recently pulled into Las Vegas, Nevada, anticipating what would transpire at The Bullring at the LAS Vegas Motor Speedway. The eighteen year old Semi-pro Legends driver was no stranger to the sport of racing, but was preparing to line up against some of the best drivers throughout the country in the U.S. Legend Cars International (USLCI) series Nationals.
Winning the California State Legends Championship, the driver had earned the opportunity to kick the weekend off by competing in the Race of Champions. Pacing the field for the first fifteen laps, Reed finished second in the all-star event.
"Earning a spot in the USLCI Nationals race was an accomplishment alone," recalled Reed, "and to be able to start in the top five made it even better. Going into the Race of Champions, my confidence level seemed very high. I had raced against many of the people before and had a lot of track experience. I actually had led the first half of the race, until two cars were able to draft up to me, making it possible for one of them to pass me," he recalled. "We spent the remainder of the race battling for the first position. Spencer Saunders took the lead from me. I finished the race in second. I think if I would have driven the first half of the race a little more cautiously in order to save my tires and the race car, I would have had a better chance of staying fast toward the end of the race."
Austin Reed has experienced a stellar season in 2011, and although planning to attend college next fall, still plans to participate in the sport of racing.
The driver then lined up in a field of twenty four starters, each and every one eager to battle for the checkered flag in the thirty-lap feature event. At the waving of the green flag, Austin Reed once again earned a place amongst the fastest drivers early on, but as luck would have it, mechanical malfunctions threw a wrench in his plans when he lost his clutch during the first caution. Although faced with dealing with the issue, Austin never gave up, and in turn still managed to cross the finish line in fourth place.
"During the feature, I felt very confident that we could get a top five finish by the end of the race," explained Reed. "I started fourth and knew I would be able to maintain that position. During the race, my clutch pedal lost a bolt. If we had not experienced that mechanical issue, I think I could have been a part of the battle for third. But my restarts were not up to speed due to my clutch."
When asked how he managed to hold on to fourth place in spite of mechanical failure, Austin said, "Our fourth place finish was a lot of the car. We worked hard all week to make sure the car would be perfect for the main event. I also think that my aggressive driving strategy played a big part in our finish after most restarts. I lost a position and had to find a way to quickly make my way back up through the traffic," he continued. "I was very happy with a fourth place, although our team would always like to finish better."
I couldn't have been happier with my season results. We finished thirteenth in the nation and first in the California state points!
Referring to the entirety of 2011, Austin said, "I couldn't have been happier with my season results. We finished thirteenth in the nation and first in the California state points! The one thing I enjoyed most about my racing this year was being able to travel from track to track throughout the country and gain experience."
When asked how he would prepare for 2012, the driver explained, "Our racing program doesn't have an "off" season really, so while everyone else is at home, we're spending time gaining more seat time and perfecting our race car."
Austin Reed was more than happy to credit his team as an element of his success. "My team is extremely important to me," shared Reed. "Without a good team behind a driver, there is no way to be successful in racing."
As one might suspect, the driver is also acutely aware of the importance of maintenance, and depends upon K&N products to protect the internal components of his engine. "We started using K&N products while I was racing Trophy Karts Elites in championship off-road racing in 2004, and continued using their products as we transferred on to pavement into a Legend car. We currently run their oil filter and air filters and breathers. I definitely credit some of my success to K&N," explained Reed. "Their products have proven to be the best for competition and on the dyno."
Nearing the end of his high school tenure, the young driver appears to already have his ducks in a row. "I plan on attending Cal State Bakersfield, and continuing my hobby and addiction in racing." In conclusion Austin Reed said, "I would like to thank all of my sponsors. Without them, it wouldn't be possible for me to enjoy the life of racing. I also can't thank my fans enough for supporting me, and I hope to see them all at future races to come."
Dan Fletcher and his K&N Clad Stock Chevy Camaro head to Gainesville next.
"I just returned home last night from a grueling three week stint to begin the season," reported Dan Fletcher. "Fortunately, I came home with two wins at the first two NHRA National Events of the season, so it makes it all worthwhile. The SS (Super Stock) win at Phoenix was number 75 overall, so that was a pretty big milestone."
Fletcher's Super Stock win at Firebird International Raceway places him in rarified air as just the seventh driver in NHRA Drag Racing history to collect 75 NHRA Full Throttle national event victories.
It's a bit of a peculiarity, but the more accomplished drag racers get, the more understated they appear to become. Fletcher tosses out his overall win tally as though all the kids are doing it - "Pretty big milestone?" With his recent Super Stock victory at Firebird International Raceway, Fletcher became only the seventh driver in NHRA Drag Racing history to collect 75 NHRA Full Throttle national event victories. Fletcher defeated Ken Etter in the final at Firebird to reach the landmark. Fletcher was just 0.004 quicker than his dial for the win, with a 9.376 ET and 144.04 mph.
In 2012 so far lucky number seven has come up often for the multi-time NHRA world champ from Churchville, New York, as only seven days earlier Fletcher scored his 74th victory with his Comp win at the 52nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona, California.
With his victory at Firebird, the K&N sponsored driver is now tied with former Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Fuel racer, Pat Austin, for sixth place on NHRA's all-time win list. More than half of his victories, 38 in all, have come in Super Stock. Fletcher has also has 38 combined national event runner-ups, and he's collected NHRA Wally awards in Comp, Stock, and Super Gas.
"A little room to breathe," says Fletcher referring to his 2012 NHRA season start, then he adds with a chuckle, "It's nice to start out making some bank after a long winter of not plowing snow."
Nothing about his approach the rest of the season changes though says Fletcher, "I'll still go out and work as hard as I can every week and hope for a positive outcome. I will be in Gainesville next week racing the K&N Stock and Super Stock Camaros."
