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Life is like a scale- there are two sides to everything. Custom car building is not much different. There is no getting around that fact that having a helping hand to put a show car together is beneficial but, is it beneficial to deal with the tug and pull of multiple ideas and opinions with deadlines to make?
The Classic Car Studio (CCS) seems to have solved the dilemma. They work great together and have constructed some really nice rides. Noah Alexander at CCS, claims, "We butt heads like any group working together, but we always pull together to problem solve and work towards delivery of a finely tuned product." The red 1969 Chevrolet Camaro they built was brought to SEMA 2011 and certainly raises the bar for a "finely tuned product" by all means.
CCS is a classic car sales organization that allows consumers to drive and own the classic dream car they never had. The motto posted on their website states, "Meticulous service and care for collector and performance automobiles." They offer everything from muscle cars to exotics. Noah is one of the owners and enjoys acting as the project manager for the whole operation. He also provides support at events and auctions to understand the classic car market better.
2011 SEMA Show featured this Chevy Camaro and its 770 hp 598ci Dart Big Block
The 1969 "Hellcat" Camaro seen at SEMA 2011 began with a lot of brainstorming of the customer and those assigned to the project. Once an agreement was reached the car began the build process. A list of reputable aftermarket manufacturers' products were used as well as a bit of custom fabrication. Noah said that, "We perform 90% of our work in house and outsource interior work, specialized coatings, some machine work, CNC work and other very specialized services that we don't handle enough volume of to do at Classic Car Studio." From start to finish the Hellcat Camaro was built with quality in mind.
CCS normally sets out to build a machine that can handle street and track use. Noah told me, "Trailer queens have their place, but I like to see trailer queens that are also used...a lot!" I could not agree with him more. It is hard to understand how someone can build a vehicle with no intention of testing its true capabilities. We are not talking about thrashing a masterpiece but, maybe just let it breathe once and a while. That isn't too much to ask, is it?
1969 Hellcat Chevrolet Camaro at SEMA 2011
The Hellcat Camaro is a highly reliable street car due to the following performance upgrades:
- 598ci Dart Big Block rated at 770 hp
- Pro-1 heads
- Callie internals
- Edelbroch EFI manifold
- Tremec TKO600 transmission
- Baer brakes
- K&N air filter
- Michelin tires
- Full custom exhaust
I asked Noah why they considered using a K&N air filter for this project and he believes, "K&N makes the best filters in the business and we use them on all of our performance cars. K&N offers a huge range of filters so we are always able to find the right filter for our application." As of today, K&N manufactures over 2,000 different air filters.
CCS is constantly progressing and has many interesting projects coming up this year. 2011 was the first year they brought a vehicle to SEMA so, you can expect them to be in attendance for years to come.
Nicoletti finished fifth in his return to the States at Cowboy Stadium, a career high. Photo by Simon Cudby.
As the Monster Energy Supercross Lites West series headed into their mid-season break, the Supercross Lites East kicked off with its first round of the 2012 season in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium. New Yorker, Phil Nicoletti, started his 2012 Eastern Regional Supercross Lites campaign by making somewhat of a statement. After missing an entire year of AMA Supercross, the K&N sponsored rider finished fifth, a career best to date. Last season Nicoletti went to Australia to ride for Monster Energy Kawasaki on Troy Carroll's team.
After missing a full season of AMA Supercross, Phil Nicoletti made a strong showing in the Supercross East Coast Lites season opening round.
"It was real last minute," admitted Nicoletti. "I left pretty much a week before the opening round of East Coast Supercross in 2011. I figured that I had a chance to go do something different, meet new people and experience a whole different lifestyle, so I took it. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go ride a dirt bike and have a whole new adventure."
As adventures are sometimes prone to do, this one veered in an unexpected direction, Nicoletti explains. "Kawasaki of Australia sent in my Visa, and somehow when they sent it in to immigration in Australia, it never got processed. So basically, the whole time I was over there, I was staying there illegally, and not knowing it. I was able to go over there for the first ninety days on a touring Visa, which was going to be fixed, but somehow it got screwed up and didn't get processed. When I went to fly back from Brisbane to L.A., they stopped me at immigration and they were giving me a hard time and saying that I was staying there illegally. It's not what I wanted, and it was so late here, to get a ride. All the teams were already filled up.
Nicoletti was understandably a little iffy coming into Cowboy Stadium, and he remarked "I went in there with an open mind. It was a bit intense for me, you know, missing a whole year of Supercross then just jumping right back in there in a field as deep as it is. I was tight all day, but as soon as the main event dropped, I got my flow back. I still didn't ride the greatest, I felt like I was slow out there, and I have some things to work on in the next couple weeks. I just want to keep improving on what I'm doing. I think I can, that's every rider's goal, to be up on the box, and with the bike that I have and the support I have from the people that have helped me out at the last minute, I believe it can get done in the near future."
Regarding his plans and options for the 2012 season, Nicoletti says, "Well, it's not an option for me at this point to go back to race in Australia, I can't go back. I really don't know what I'm doing after Supercross, I don't have anything. Right now I'm just with Eleven-10 Mods for Supercross. I'd like to stay with them for outdoors, but who knows. I'll just keep plugging away and doing what I'm doing and hope for the best. I'd like to stay here in the States for the outdoors, but if I get a call to go to Europe, I wouldn't mind trying that too, it'd be a cool experience."
Corr's pole start was the first for Roush-Yates Engines at Daytona International Speedway in 11 years.
In 1999 at age 15 when Goshen, New York native, Sean Corr made his racing debut at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York, his to-do list no doubt included leading the pack into high profile races. On February 15 Corr was able to check-off the 80-lap, 200-mile ARCA Racing Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway from that list.
All through practice Sean Corr's Empire Racing Ford was consistently one of the fastest cars on the track.
Seducing the very best from the Roush-Yates power under the hood of his No. 82 Empire Racing Ford, Corr earned his first career ARCA pole position heading into the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. With a time of 49.271 seconds and a lap speed of 182.663 mph, he squeaked by the second-place time of Ryan Reed by half a blink, a mere .089 of a second. This was the first pole award in 11 years for Roush-Yates Engines at Daytona International Speedway, and it was the first time a Ford has won the pole for the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 since Kirk Shelmerdine won it in 2001. (Note: Earlier this week Roush-Yates FR9 engine won their second consecutive Daytona 500)
Corr celebrated his February 21 birthday early after he inherited the top starting position from Bobby Gerhart, when Gerhart's car failed post-qualifying inspection. "It's unfortunate that Bobby got disqualified. I hate to see people lose positions that way. But this is definitely a dream come true," beamed a thrilled Corr. "If there's ever a race to get my first pole, it's definitely Daytona. There's no better place to get a pole."
The indicators were in evidence early, as all through practice Corr's Empire Racing Ford was consistently one of the fastest cars on the track. "The car was really smooth, it's been working great all week," added the K&N sponsored driver in the post-qualifying press conference. "The Roush-Yates engine pulled great and the car felt really smooth. When it came off of turn-2, it hit a little bit of a headwind and I felt like the slowest guy ever going down the backstretch, but I guess it really wasn't."
"The car was really good yesterday in practice, drafting, running side-by-side, and even in single-car runs," added Corr. "It was still very fast. I think we have a good shot at our team's first top-five for tomorrow."
In 2011, Corr accomplished what most ARCA drivers couldn't get done all year. He finished all 19 races. Corr also experienced his career best finishes in the ARCA series with a 7th place finish in Madison and a 9th place finish in Iowa. He also had four 11th place finishes, twice at Pocono Raceway, and once each at Duquoin and Springfield. Corr finished 9th in the points race for ARCA. He also took 2nd place for Rookie of the Year and finished 93.43% of all laps raced in 2011.
Demonstrating unqualified confidence in their talented driver, Corr's team is providing him with every opportunity at winning races in a stock-car. For the 2012 season Empire Racing LLC will run the full ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule this year, under the guidance of crew chief Ben Leslie and team manager John Bellesfield.
Bogacki first had his appreciation for Corvettes imprint on his race DNA by his dad, additionally he believes that Super Gas will afford him a better than average shot at winning a championship.
Re-establishing order heading into the 2012 NHRA season was the theme when we last spoke with Luke Bogacki. After 2010, in which he earned the NHRA Division 2 Championship in both Super Comp and Stock Eliminator and led the National Super Comp standings late in the season before being overtaken by Gary Stinnett, 2011 in comparison was a letdown.
"2011 wasn't one of my better years on the race track," Bogacki admitted flatly. Yet with the close of the season the race gods smiled upon him in the form of a pair of $5,000 wins at Palm Beach International Raceway 5-Day Bracket Championships, teasingly suggesting at the possibilities for a strong 2012 season. "It was a nice shot in the arm and created some much needed momentum going into the offseason," remarked Bogacki at the time.
In preparation for the 2012 NHRA season the K&N sponsored driver recently took delivery of a new Charlie Stewart Race Cars 1963 Corvette bodied roadster. When completed, the car will accompany the team's 2010 American Race Cars dragster along an aggressive schedule of NHRA Full Throttle and Lucas Oil Series events, as Bogacki pursues the NHRA Lucas Oil Championship in both Super Comp and Super Gas.
"Everyone likes the Corvette, right? My father was always enamored with the Corvette line, and I think that kind of stuck with me," said Bogacki when asked why he went with the Corvette. "More than anything, though, I just feel like Super Gas is a good class for me. I can incorporate the bulk of the knowledge and setup database that we've accumulated in Super Comp – the throttle stops, engine combination, trans and converter, etc. - is all similar to what I know and I'm comfortable with. So I'm confident the learning curve won't be too steep. Plus, chassis builder Charlie Stewart is a great guy, I've known him and his son Jason for most of my life. The opportunity to work with them on a car was a deciding factor in going this route as well."
During our last pass with Bogacki we also discussed 2011 highlights and in a candid moment he revealed that his priorities are clearly in alignment. The most important moment of last year wasn't an impressive track victory, it was in fact a runner-up finish. "I got the chance to race my fiancée, Jessica (Camden), in the final round of Super Pro at our home track, I-57 Dragstrip in Benton, Illinois. She beat me in the final. It was just a regular weekly event at home, but it was one of my best racing memories."
You're a month into married life, how's it treating you at this point? Is it good to have someone in your corner that understands racing?
"It's great. We honeymooned in Punta Cana and just had a blast, it was beautiful and relaxing. Outside of the new title and a heavier left hand, life doesn't really seem any different, we've lived together for nearly two years, so it's not as if marriage was a drastic life adjustment! I am incredibly fortunate to have Jess in my corner, she's the rock in my life. As a racer herself, she understands the motivation behind what I do, and she's extremely supportive and understanding of the time and effort that I put into it."
Will you be doing any driving at all before April 20-22?
"A little bit. I'll take my Vega to the first Tenn-Tuck Triple Crown event in Bowling Green in late March. Other than that, I might bracket race once or twice locally. As soon as we get the 'vette done I'll start testing it rigorously. "
The team looks to complete the new CSRC roadster by late March and begin testing in hopes of making their NHRA debut at the Texas Motorplex LODRS event April 20-22 before continuing south to Houston Raceway Park for the NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals the following weekend. In total, the team will attend nine NHRA Full Throttle Series National events and eight Lucas Oil Division Series Events in pursuit of an NHRA Lucas Oil Championship in 2012.
"We've got a lot of work to do, but the ball is rolling in the right direction and I'm extremely excited about the season," said Bogacki.
At the conclusion of the six-race Winternationals at East Bay, Cook held fifth place in the final DART Winternationals point standings. Photos by Rick Schwallie Photos.
East Bay Raceway in Gibsonton, Florida entered its 36th year of operation in 2012. It's an unassuming one-third mile oval made of fine Florida clay. Some have called it a "magical track" which might just be true, as it's held a spell over Brasstown, North Carolina's Ray Cook for more than a decade. Last weekend the hex was broken when
Cook and the D&R Motorsports team reached victory lane for the first time in 12 years at the East Bay Raceway, in the third round of the "Winternationals."
Ray Cook made it back to victory lane East Bay Raceway after a 12 year dry spell. Photos by Rick Schwallie Photos.
Cook finished fourth fastest in his group during Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series qualifying and later won his heat race. The "Tarheel Tiger" started fourth on the grid and led the 35-lapper on two different occasions, securing the lead for the final time on lap 31 and held on to earn the $7,000 top prize. With this win Cook now has two trips to victory lane in 2012 already.
Cook and the D&R Motorsports team have now returned back home following their successful stint in Georgia and Florida during "Speedweeks 2012." Overall the no.53 team entered eight high-profile Dirt Late Model events from February 10-18 at three different southern venues: Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Georgia, Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick, Georgia, and the East Bay Raceway event. Cook was fast at all three facilities, as he accumulated one victory, two runner-up finishes, and two additional top-ten performances.
Cook commented that he couldn't be happier with how his D&R Motorsports team performed throughout Winternationals. Photos by Rick Schwallie Photos.
Cook's runner-up efforts came early during the "Speedweeks" and with the benefit of hindsight they appear to be only a warm-up. In Georgia Cook finished second in the $20,000 to win "Winter Freeze" at Screven, while he also secured a close second only a day later in the $10,000 to win 'Super Bowl of Racing' at Golden Isles.
At the conclusion of the six-race Winternationals at East Bay, Cook was credited with a fifth place finish in the final DART Winternationals point standings. The popular driver known as the "Tarheel Tiger" currently finds himself tied for fourteenth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point standings, which were comprised only of the final two nights at East Bay.
"I am ecstatic on how we performed throughout Speedweeks and I can't thank my team and everyone associated with it for all of their support and dedication," remarked K&N sponsored driver upon arriving back home in North Carolina. "My hat is off to the whole MasterSbilt gang. They built me and (Don) O'Neal new cars this off-season and they were extremely fast right out of the box. We had a couple of close runner-up finishes in Georgia that got our trip off to a great start and then the win at East Bay really capped it off. Historically, I have not been very good at that place, but to win there for the first time in 12 years was special and it really gives me some confidence heading into the rest of the season!"
The next event for Cook and the D&R Motorsports team is the 15th Annual 'Bama Bash' on March 2-3 at the Green Valley Speedway in Glencoe, Alabama. The unsanctioned, two-day program will be headlined by a $15,015 to win, 75-lap main event on Saturday night, March 3. Cook won the event in 2009 and 2010 and finished a solid ninth last year despite getting caught up in a wreck early in the race.
