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The New Year brought a lot of changes for CJM Racing. The team has a new driver, a new crew and a new 2009 Toyota Camry for the 10-month long NASCAR Nationwide Series.
NASCAR Nationwide Series Team CJM Racing Driver Scott Lagasse Jr.
Scott Lagasse Jr. started out in kart racing, then the modified division. He moved on to drive a truck for Bobby Hamilton Racing in 2006 and competed in two Nationwide Series races in 2007. He
also stood out after securing a victory in his first ARCA appearance in the 2008 racing season. The move was noticed by NASCAR Nationwide Series
Team CJM Racing and together they mapped out a future.
New NASCAR Nationwide Series CJM crew will help pilot Scott Lagasse Jr. contend for NASCAR National and Regional Rookie of the Year award
2009 Toyota Camry is new team car for CJM Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series
Over the course of the 2009 season, Lagasse will pilot the No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota full time and compete for Rookie-of-the-Year (ROTY) honors. NASCAR’s National and Regional Touring Series select’s a ROTY by looking at points and conduct. Past NASCAR Nationwide Series ROTY winners include Carle Edwards and Kyle Busch.
Paul Wolfe is CJM Racing’s America’s Incredible Pizza Company Race Team’s new crew chief. “Paul brings a wealth of knowledge to the table,” said CJM’s Media Relations Manager Shayna Keller. “He has worked with past NASCAR ROTY’s and will lead Scott in the No. 11 car.”
One thing that has remained constant for CJM Racing is its use of K&N products. “K&N provides us with excellent power and filtration,” said Keller. “It also protects our engine on the race track.”
The 2009 NASCAR season opens at Daytona International Speedway on January 24th. The event, known as Speedweeks is considered the Super Bowl of racing and includes, the 24-Hour Rolex race, Gatorade Duels, Bud Shootout, the Nationwide Series, the Camping World Series and the Sprint Cup Series (Daytona 500).
The house was packed with with more than 40,000 fans in Anaheim, California for round three of the AMA Supercross
Series. Rockstar Energy Hart and Huntington Honda SX team rider Troy Adams made the final twenty man field and raced his way to 15th place.
Hart and Huntington Team Rider Troy Adams
“I felt good all day and the track was really tough,” said Adams. “With the help of my mechanic and the whole team, I felt like I had a good night. We also learned new things.” Adams is now 21st overall in series points. Hart and Huntington team rider Josh Hansen had a few crashes and arm pump problems. He failed to make the final event.
Hart and Huntington Team Rider Josh Hansen in Anaheim, California
Freestyle pioneer and Hart and Huntington Team Owner Carey Hart
The opening round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series also took place in Anaheim, where team riders Troy Adams and Josh Hansen both experienced trouble and failed to qualify for the main event. Adams had a few bad starts and a first turn crash as Hansen’s opening night arm pump did him in.
Although the team has had a few mishaps throughout the season so far, the riders are prepared for top ten finishes throughout the Monster Energy Supercross Series. The team is owned by freestyle pioneer and celebrity Carey Hart.
Adams and Hansen are currently running prototype designs of K&N’s XStream Series Air
Filter for the 2009 Honda CRF450. The 2009 Honda CRF450 has a much larger airbox to increase horsepower and torque while providing excellent filtration.
“We need to be better as a team and I think we will be,” said Team Manager Kenny Watson. “I’m happy with Troy’s finish but I know he can do better and Josh will be on it next weekend in Houston, Texas.”
El Gato Racing’s Shawn Walters took first place in the M.O.R. E. (Mojave Off-Road Racing Enthusiast) Series. The team was awarded its second 1st place championship trophy in two years in the 1450 Sportsman Class division.
Mojave Off Road Racing Enthusiast Series Racer wins 1450 Sportsman Class Division
El Gato Racing is based in Big Bear Lake, California
“We are so excited to receive another trophy,” said Shawn Walters. “Our 1985 Chevrolet 1500 truck puts out just over 400 horsepower with its 350 crate motor. My dad Carl can tear engines apart and put them back together. I take care of suspension and fabrication.”
El Gato Racing competes in Barstow, California and the Lucerne Valley in San Bernardino County
1985 Chevrolet 1500 truck puts out just over 400 horsepower
Shawn Walters is from Big Bear Lake, California. He is a snowboarder and wake boarder in this mountain resort community. Walters also wanted to be a desert racer and started out on a pit crew for SCORE and CORR racing trucks.
“The combined experience on the slopes and in the pits gave me the opportunity to fulfill my dream,” he said. “My sense of balance helps me with the controls on a desert racer. We also plan to introduce a new truck into the 1400 class in 2009.” El Gato’s 1989 Ford Ranger will enter the 1400 class in selected B.I.T.D (Best in the Desert) and SCORE Desert Racing Series venues. It is a 302 powered 4 link Ford Ranger which cycles 21 inches in the front and 16 inches in the rear.
El Gato puts K&N products on all of its vehicles. “K&N protects our engines in extreme desert racing,” said Walters. “I have K&N on my chase vehicle, our racing vehicle and my 1998 Ford F150 with a 4.8 liter V8 engine. K&N makes all of our engines breathe, whether we are at high elevation or in the desert.”
Walters’ will next compete in Barstow, California at a M.O.R.E. Series race.
The Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio hosted the top AMA Arenacross racers in the country. The pros competed in the first once-race weekend of the 2009 season in front of a sold-out house.
AMA Arenacross Round Four at Broadbent Arena in Louisville, Kentucky, photo by Will Pattison
Team Babbitt’s Kawasaki rider Chad Johnson took second place in his heat race and went on to finish 6th in the main. The Rhienlander, Wisconsin resident is the AMA Arenacross defending series champion and two-time title holder. Johnson has been a full time Arenacross competitor since 2001 and has arguably logged more laps on the challenging, technical layouts than any of his competitors.
Team Babbitt's Kawasaki is ready for the world's best AMA Arenacross competitors, photo by Will Pattison
Team Babbitt uses K&N products during competiton. “We dyno tested K&N air filter (KA-2506XD),” said Team Manager Denny Bartz. “The result was one horsepower gain. That is a huge amount in
Arenacross racing.”
Team Babbitt’s lites rider Leighton Lilly finished sixth in his heat and eleventh overall, which was a great weekend for him at the Nutter Center.
Bartz is working on replacing the injured Kelly Smith, who is expected to sit out the rest of the season with a broken leg. Smith has raced professional since 1998. He has been a part of both AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross. He was a preseason favorite, but was ultimately unable to start the season he had hoped for. Bartz will soon announce the new rider. He is looking at some of the best talent out there for his bikes.
Team Babbitt’s next race will be Round Four in Louisville, Kentucky. The series will return to its two race weekend format on the Broadbent Arena floor.
South America hosted the 31st Dakar for the first time in the race’s history. Organizers changed the location from Africa to South America in 2009. The 2008 event was cancelled because of terrorist activity along the race’s route in Mauritania. Organizers were determined to have a rally in 2009.
Michel De Groot drove the Mc Rae Enduro in the 2009 Dakar Rally
One of the best Dutch female drivers, Gaby Uljee, navigated through 9,000 km of different terrain in South America for the Dakar Rally
Nearly 850 racers with 500 vehicles spent their last day before the
January race in the Argentine capital readying for an extreme adventure between two oceans. The round trip started and finished in Beunos Aires.
The Dutch Vicking Team used K&N filters to help get through Chile's Atacama Desert in the Dakar Rally
The 2009 Dakar started in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Patagonia, into the Andes Mountains and then Chile's Atacama Desert back to Buenos Aires
Competitors faced a number of different terrains and obstacles south to Patagonia, to the Andes Mountains and then through Chile’s Atacama Desert. Dakar Rally drivers are familiar with the problems of sand in the African desert where eight of the fifteen stages of the rally were held in previous years.
K&N sponsored racer Michel De Groot finished the Dakar twice on a motorcycle in 2006 and 2007. The Dutchman hit the South American continent in a car for the first time in 2009. He said he does not have a preference between motorcycles or cars, he just had to wait longer to race a car in the Dakar because it cost more to operate. De Groot was teamed with fellow Dutchman Gaby Uljee, a navigator who finished the Dakar in 2007. The Dutch Vicking Team car was built by Alister McRae, brother of the famous WRX champion Colin McRae.
De Groot and Uljee hit the first stage of the race in La Pampa. They faced more than 400 km of rolling routes and vast plains. The second stage of the Dakar was 837 km from Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn and was the longest of the stages. It was full of difficult sand. De Groot has been a proud user of K&N for several years. He is familiar with the engine protection and filtration K&N filters provided through the dust, silt and sand.
The Vicking Team encountered a big change in the terrain in Patagonia with more hills, and lakes that border the route during the 694 km stage three from Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci. The Rally course was 9,000 km with seventeen stages. The Dutch team said there main goal was to finish the Dakar and they did. Overall they placed 39th and first in their class (T3).
