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Chris Andrews Motorsports Takes 410 Sprint Car Feature at Fremont Speedway

Four miles south of Ohio Turnpike Exit 91, in the Sandusky County Fairgrounds, you'll find Fremont Speedway. The one-third mile semi-banked clay oval is a familiar site for Sandusky's Chris Andrews, it's practically in his backyard after all, and it suits his driving style just dandy.
The victory at Fremont Speedway tells the crew and Andrews that they are finally getting back on the winning track for the rest of the season.
The victory at Fremont Speedway tells the crew and Andrews that they are finally getting back on the winning track for the rest of the season.


Last Saturday night Andrews Motorsports team raced at Fremont and Andrews set the quick time in qualifying. In the A-Main Andrews kept drama alive by waiting until lap 17 to make his move. Then, in the course of one lap, he went around second and first place to take the lead. Towards the end of the race Andrews got hung up in lapped traffic, but he was able to win the drag race to the checkered flag.

"To get this win means a lot to me because of the tough competition, those guys that were in that race are the best in the country. If you're able to run up front, and can beat them, you know you're in the right ball park."

Andrews won the track championship last year at Attica Raceway Park, another track favorite of his, and overall it was perhaps the best year so far in his young career. 2010 hasn't been as kind to him, so far anyway.

"We've been struggling all year with these new Goodyear tires, which has put us behind the eight ball. It's a very inconsistent tire that reacts completely different in clean and dirty air, which makes it hard to get a good balance on your racecar," explained Andrews.

"But, my crew didn't give up, they kept working, and kept trying to keep me positive. We started to turn things around during Speedweek, slowly but surely, and then we had the good run last night (he started nineteenth and finished ninth at Attica Raceway Park Friday) and then to win here the next night. I normally don't run well on this type of track, when it's slicks off, but the car felt good on the bottom tonight," commented Andrews after the race.

Andrews says that part of the struggle for him this year has been the tire rule change, but the team is starting to find the car's balance and they should be good for running up front again consistently now.

Andrews says he never has to worry about the consistency of his K&N air and oil filters and pre-filters though. "They are simply the best parts money can buy."

"We still have fifteen races yet this season between Attica Raceway and Fremont Speedway with the F.A.S.T. Series, as well as four more races with the All-Star Circuit of Champion races," says Andrews, "And we're starting to feel pretty good now."

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Northwest Division's Mark Faul Earns JEGS' Allstar Win in Joliet Illinois

The big bucks come in the national events and big checks like his one allow Faul to stay on the road fulfilling his dream.
The big bucks come in the national events and big checks like his one allow Faul to stay on the road fulfilling his dream.
It's been a little over eight years since Tacoma, Washington native Mark Faul left his day job as a printing salesman to follow his dream, which first ignited during high school and never refused to stop smoldering. It's been a bumpy ride, but the highs far outweigh the lows, making them easier to ignore altogether according to Faul.
The fourth time was the charm for Faul at the JEGS' event in Joliet, this was his first ever Allstar final win.
The fourth time was the charm for Faul at the JEGS' event in Joliet, this was his first ever Allstar final win.


"Victories like winning the JEGS' Allstars in Joliet (just outside Chicago) definitely make it worthwhile," said Faul. "I'm fortunate to have certain freedoms without a regular job, and wins like this are necessary to be able to keep going."

Last year alone Faul spent 208 hauling his two race cars, a Super Stock GT/EA 1998 Grand Am and a Stock C/SA 1969 Chevelle around the country, competing in over 30 races, including national and divisional NHRA events, a few IHRA meets and a handful of bracket races. Faul was able to add the Allstars hardware, his first, to an already sizeable collection of accomplishments.

Faul's scorecard tallying now stands at 10 Super Stock victories in 13 final rounds, four Stock titles in eight attempts, a Super Comp runner-up in 2002, and a near double at the Fontana Pacific Sports Nationals in 2008, where he won Super Stock and finished second in Stock.

"It's been a real roller coaster this year. I started slowly, and then was runner up in my Chevelle at the IHRA national in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Then I hit a slump for a month with early exits, until I won the divisional event in Boise, Idaho. Then some more bad luck at the next three races, including blowing up my best engine in my Grand Am in Fontana this year. But things went well in the Allstars, so my confidence is better again."

Faul has earned the right to be a JEGS Allstars on five different occasions, but has come up short until now. And three times before Faul accumulated enough points to race his Super Stocker at this event, but disappointingly went out in the first round each time. This year though in the Super Stock final, Faul put the full force of his years of experience to work, notching a better light and running closer to his dial - an 11.851 on an11.80 dial.

Faul says he sincerely thanks the support he's been given from K&N over the years and that he's pleased for every single victory he can share with his sponsors. "I use their air and oil filters exclusively on the racecars and my streetcar," adds Faul.

Even though he has dialed back his marathon schedule a tad this year, aiming to spend no more than a month on the road at a time, "There's still a lot of racing left this year," he says.

"Next week I'm in Sonoma again, then there's a divisional race in Spokane, Washington. Then I have a week off before Brainerd, Minnesota, and then I'm back home to another Seattle divisional event. I'm unsure about Indy and the next few races after that, but for sure I'm running in Las Vegas and Pomona at the end of the season."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Mike Ferderer Pulls Off the Stop at Sonoma National for His First Top Sportsman Victory

Three-time World Champion Mike Ferderer
Three-time World Champion Mike Ferderer
Three-time World Champion and reigning Northwest Division Super Gas Champ, Mike Ferderer is obviously no stranger to what it takes to put himself and his K&N Pontiac Grand Am in a final, after all he is the Winningest Super Gas Driver in NHRA history. During Ferderer's most recent NHRA National Event in Sonoma, California, it wasn't his familiar Super Gas class that he chose to enter, but a brand new class to the NHRA National tour for 2010, Top Sportsman.
Mike Ferderer and his NHRA Super Gas K&N Pontiac Grand Am
Mike Ferderer and his NHRA Super Gas K&N Pontiac Grand Am


Top Sportsman and its close cousin, Top Dragster, are classes a little more familiar to those on the eastern side of the county and up until the current season, have never been offered at NHRA National events. The Top Sportsman class consists of "door car" only entries and a quick 32 qualified field, paired on a ladder starting with round one and providing some of the fastest bracket racing you'll see anywhere.

Up until the Sonoma event, Ferderer had not competed with his Grand Am in any other class during 2010 other than Super Gas, where his car utilizes a throttle stop to slow the car down to the high 9-second range.

"I was surprised the thing went as fast and as quick as it did," Ferderer said of his first no throttle stop passes since a Las Vegas meet last season. "I mean 186 [mph] and 7.37, that's quite good."

As a highly accomplished racer, Ferderer notes some of the differences between Top Sportsman and the Super Classes.

"Well, you don't have to be as accurate as a driver, because the cars in Top Sportsman are going so fast, it's harder to be as accurate," he explained. "Super Gas, in my opinion, is a lot harder driving-wise, because you have to be so accurate. In Top Sportsman, you are relying on the car so much more than you do in Super Gas."

Ferderer reflects on some of the more memorable rounds of the weekend that got him to the Top Sportsman final, starting with the very first match up and the remarkably high speeds for the class.

"During the first round, I go double-oh and take a four-thou stripe against a car going 197 MPH," he noted.

The next two rounds came a little easier for the multi-time champ, when a couple of cases of the "right time, right place" played into his hand with back-to-back round wins thanks to his opponent's redlights, and he sailed his way into the semi-finals.

The semi-final match-up would pair Ferderer against one of the quicker cars participating in the event. After almost dead-even reaction times, separated by just two-thousandths of a second, Ferderer was ready to play his hand at the stripe.

"I saw him coming and I knew he was going to get around me, but I didn't think it would be that close," he said of his win light over Slatten. "He broke out by five-thou and I shut mine down a little bit and there you go, off to the money round."

A character both on and off the track, Ferderer shared a light-hearted moment that took place during his final round with eventual Top Sportsman runner-up, Gary Forkner.

"We have radios in the car and Travis, our guy that works on all the cars for Steve, he was helping me back up because the smoke was just laying on the track and I couldn't get a good bearing," he said. "He said ‘right, right, OK straight' and then ‘OK you got it'. So I pulled it in a little and put her into pre-stage and I told Travis, ‘win or lose, I want a drink, a cigar and my cell phone down at the end of the track' and his reply was, '10-4'."

One might note that while other drivers are nothing but completely and utterly serious during any round and possibly even more so in a NHRA National event final, Ferderer is about as relaxed as they come. Possibly a huge secret to his unprecedented successes over the years and something other drivers should take a lesson from.

Ferderer and his K&N Pontiac Grand Am had quite a starting line advantage over Forkner and easily held on for his first Top Sportsman National Event win in his very first attempt, bringing his NHRA National win count to twenty-one.

"It was very-very neat to win at the Fram Nationals with the World's Best Air Filter, K&N in my car," smiled the newest Top Sportsman champ.

His event winning Grand Am is loaded with all the latest K&N products, from oil filters to the K&N Hood Scoop, which dons a K&N race specific high flow air filter and Ferderer had these words to share with any skeptics of K&N filters in racecars that sport large cubic inch motors.

"Well, there are some people that say that K&N doesn't have the technology to make an air filter that will allow the car to run speed," he said. "Well I ran 186 miles-an-hour with a single 1050[carburetor] on a 565 cubic inch motor in a door car and that's haulin'. And I think the K&N filter actually helps improve the speed."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Shawn Langdon Returns to Sportsman Racing and Back to the Winner's Circle at Sonoma National

NHRA Super Comp World Champion Shawn Langdon
NHRA Super Comp World Champion Shawn Langdon
Former multi-time NHRA Super Comp World Champion, Shawn Langdon has been living the dream of many a racer for the last several years. First with his championships and then his lightning move up through the sportsman ranks to Top Alcohol and now professional ranks of Top Fuel as the driver of the Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper entry.
Shawn Langdon and the Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper Race Car
Shawn Langdon and the Lucas Oil/Dixie Chopper Race Car


Much like several other drivers, who have obtained the level of success Langdon has, even with being a part of a NHRA Top Fuel team, he stills loves sportsman competition and has been pulling double duty at several NHRA events during the 2010 season.

"I just really started running back in the sportsman classes too during the last couple of races just to get a little more seat time," Langdon said. "I just enjoy racing sportsman cars, too, since that's what I grew up racing."

Langdon took a little time off from his roots to first make sure that things were in place with himself as well as the Top Fuel team he drives for.

"I kinda wanted to take the first year and just really concentrate with the fuel car," he explained. "We've got a good rhythm down now with the fuel car, so that allowed me time to run the Super Classes at the National events."

While there are numerous sportsman drivers who compete in multiple classes, some drivers may find it distracting to do it the way Langdon is, one sportsman and one professional, which are two completely different beasts.

"I was very-very busy," laughs Langdon. "Actually Saturday night, I had a dinner meeting to attend as part of my fuel driver's duties, but I was also running second and third rounds in Super Gas. So I was juggling all of that, running back and forth. Then Sunday morning, Super Gas eliminations continued as I was also trying to get the fuel car warmed up for first round."

"There were some times where it got very hectic, but that's what I enjoy," he added.

Things can get quite fast and furious, even when you are only competing in one sportsman entry let along Langdon's special situation, once you start making it to the later rounds. Langdon notes that while he was doing most of the between round preparation for the car he did have some help when he needed it.

"I was doing the majority of the stuff with the Super Gas car," he said. "The Lamb family was there to help, if I needed anything. For the most part, they kinda let me do my own deal."

Every racer who makes it to a final, no matter what the rank of class, has a lucky round or two along the way. Although Langdon was certainly doing his job in the 1968 Camaro Roadster he was racing in Super Gas, including some of his notable rounds with Steve Williams and Ryan Mangus, he did had a few lucky rounds come his way by virtue of his opponents' redlights, including his final round competitor Val Torres's .002 red in the final, giving Langdon his sixth NHRA National Event victory.

"You can be the best out there, but you have got to have that luck or it's just not going to happen," he said. "After a couple rounds started to go that way I told my buddy ‘this race is mine'. I knew I couldn't have that many lucky breaks and not finish it off." Langdon points out that being as busy as he was during the weekend may have played in his favor.

"I didn't really have a chance to look at the ladder to see who I was running or who may be coming up," he explained. "The guys I ran throughout the day were some of the best Super Gas racers on the west coast. That can be very intimidating if you are looking at all that, I was just so busy that many times I didn't even know who I was running until I got up into the lanes to get paired. I really think that all was to my benefit."

"It was something else," he said of his rounds in Super Gas at the Sonoma National. "The last five of my seven rounds were all decided by three-thousandths of a second or less."

"The car did awesome and I was just in the right place at the right time," smiled Langdon.

Langdon is also looking forward to his new TNT dragster to be completed shortly and to debuting it during the NHRA U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend. The car will be capable of competing in both Super Comp and Top Dragster and just like the Super Gas Camaro he wheeled to the winner's circle at Sonoma, well equipped with both K&N High-Flow Air Filter and K&N Oil Filter.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Folk Race Cars' Brian Folk Gets IHRA Win at Byron Dragway

The inside of Folk's office looked in order and ready to race.
The inside of Folk's office looked in order and ready to race.
Spend your young, formative years, toying around a dragstrip and the chances of developing a bond with the place become pretty strong.
After winning the Super-Rod class on Saturday Brain Folk followed that up with a semi-final finish is his Top Dragster.
After winning the Super-Rod class on Saturday Brain Folk followed that up with a semi-final finish is his Top Dragster.


"There is something about Byron Dragway that I have always liked , it's very possible that it is because I grew up at the track, with my mother and father, riding my bike with friends when I was five years old," explains Durand, Illinois native Brian Folk.

"Which is really neat to me now, because I race against some of those same friends that I grew up with around the track. So needless to say, having my immediate family, wife Jill, sons Aaron and Evan with me, as well as my brother Nick, father Ron and mother Vicky, as well as several cousins, and mother in-law and father in-law there - It was a very gratifying win."

The win in Byron, Illinois came after several rain delays canceled racing on both Friday and Saturday morning. Racing finally got underway again at 5:30 that afternoon. Brian's patience paid off as he won the Super-Rod in his Camaro Roadster, a few ticks after 9:00 pm.

Brian's remark about the late race was, "No lights - kinda cool." Then on Sunday in the Sportnational, Brian raced his Top Dragster to a semi-final finish. Adds Brian, "It was the best we could muster that day, although every team member, including dad, Nick and family friend Forrest Lipke all went rounds."

For team Folk Race Cars racing is a family affair, always has been, headed by patriarch and racer, Ron "The General" Folk.

"K&N is one of the biggest product sponsors we have, and they are so into the racer, that it makes you feel special, especially when they write these articles about our team on the their webpage," says Folk with a smile. "We use K&N Oil filters on all seven of our racecars. Bob Harris accused us of eating them because we use so many."

"This win definitely helped my confidence going into the next few months," says Brian, "We will be doing a lot of bracket racing. Then we will be going to Martin, Michigan for the Moser Axle Mania Shootout, then on to Indy for the US Nationals, and we will stay there for the Million Dollar Race the following weekend."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.