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K&N Sponsored LTD SuperSport Racing Team Looking Good Halfway Through the 2010 Season

Jul 14, 2010

Huntley Nash takes 1st place at Road America.

The 2010 season has been a good season so far for LTD racing's SuperSport team. Riders Thomas Puerta and Huntley Nash on their LTD Yamaha R6s are doing very well as the halfway mark for the season has just passed.

Thomas Puerta and Huntley Nash celebrate with a big burnout!

Thomas Puerta is tied for 2nd place and Huntley Nash is sitting in 4th, just one point behind Puerta and another rider, Cameron Beaubier. This coupled with a 3rd and 1st place finish respectively last month for Puerta and Nash at Road America means that the LTD team is a strong force to be reckoned with as the swooping hills of Mid-Ohio and treacherous chicane of Laguna Seca must be precisely navigated before the end of the month.

K&N recently had the opportunity to interview Jason Parker of LTD Racing and get a first hand testimony of how their season is going to date and how the team feels about their performance.

Huntley Nash after the checkered flag

Has your team experienced any challenges with bike setup? What's working well and what isn't?

"In 2009 we fought with many challenges with bike setup. To start with, the Yamaha R6 was a new bike to us and the riders. Every track we went to, we had to start from scratch with chassis setup and the riders were taking huge bites off of their lap times each session. Just when we thought we were dialed in, the riders would often drop another second or two riding at their race pace, and their bikes just were not set up for that. Subsequently, we had many crashes. All in all, that season was a success and we had several podium finishes."

Nash and Puerta leading the pack, leaning way over into the corner.

How does this year compare to last year?

"2010 has been a much different and more successful season. With the riders becoming more familiar with the Yamaha R6 and the tracks it just got easier. A key component was the addition of Gary Medley to the crew, along with some other hard working technicians. Gary, a veteran of pro racing, brought with him the knowledge of what it takes to be a championship team and combined with all the data we had acquired over 2009, brought us to the top. Now we are the team to beat."

Huntley Nash celebrates with a big smoky burnout!

What have you learned in terms of personal growth and technical growth?

"As far as personal growth, when we formed the team in 2009 I only had experience as a racer and a technician. We had very few sponsors and our budget limited us on team members; therefore I took on several duties: manager, crew chief, technician, etc. It was very overwhelming but at the end of the season I was very rounded.

Nash and Puerta coming out of a corner ahead of the pack.

On the technical side, we now put a lot of focus on the electronics technology that is available to us. With that we are able to fine tune each bike to its rider and in turn get better results."

How do you feel about the team's performance this year?

"The team's performance this year has been nothing short of outstanding. We began the season with a podium sweep at Daytona, so we set really high expectations for the team and the rest of the season. We have had some challenging rounds but all together I am proud of the riders, the crew, and everyone who has supported LTD."

What challenges are you expecting in the next race?

"The only challenge I foresee is getting all my riders on the podium at once. We did it at Daytona but we would love to do it again. Right now everything is working very well. The riders and crew have bonded into one fine tuned mechanism and everyone wants to win."

Things seem to be coming together over at LTD Racing, both technically and personally, as this young team finds their stride in just their second season. It will definitely be an exciting race at Mid-Ohio, "the most competitive track in the U.S," and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca never fails to entertain when AMA SuperSport comes through. LTD Racing is poised to be a strong contender for the podium in both races with Huntley Nash and Thomas Puerta riding to near perfection. Motorcycle racing fans won't want to miss the exciting finale to the 2010 AMA SuperSport 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.

2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes Winner Stephanie Dunn Ready for the Open Road

Jul 14, 2010

Stephanie Dunn wins 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Bob Motorcycle

Each season, K&N Engineering crowns a NHRA Pro Stock driver for their tremendous efforts over the last twelve months in the K&N Horsepower Challenge, all while awarding them with the single biggest payday in all of NHRA Pro Stock and a cool $50,000. The professional drivers aren't the only ones who get to participate in the excitement. K&N also offers the fans a chance to win big as well.

Stephanie Dunn and NHRA Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson accept Greg's winning check

For 2010, K&N announced that the K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes would continue and this year not only would eight lucky finalists be swept off to Norwalk, Ohio for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, but the one lucky fan who had been paired with the Challenge winning Pro Stock driver would be driving their very own 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Bob Motorcycle.

The eight lucky finalists arrived for the event and were paired at random with a Pro Stock driver as follows: Frank A. Santos (Q1 - Mike Edwards), Alan Rickert (Fan Pick Q8 - Warren Johnson), James L. Hasch (Q5 - Jeg Coughlin), Charles R. Burgoon (Q6 - Ron Krisher), Joe Soucek (Q7 - Roger Brogdon), Geoffrey B. Dana (Q3 - Allen Johnson), Robert A. Foos (Q4 - Jason Line) and the only lady in the competition Stephanie J. Dunn (Q2 - Greg Anderson).

Stephanie wasn't the one who first found out about the K&N HPC Sweepstakes. "Actually it was my husband, Curt," she admitted. "He saw the contest in a magazine he was reading and said 'oh you have to enter this contest right now', so I ran down and got on the computer and entered."

While Stephanie's husband Curt drag raced many years ago, she herself had never seen a drag race let alone ever attended an event. That was all about to change for the Northeast Ohio resident, when a FedEx envelope arrived announcing that she had been selected as one of the eight finalists.

"I couldn't believe it," she said of receiving the notice from K&N. "I was like what, are you serious? I told my mom and step-dad and they didn't seem to believe it and said well you're definitely not going to win the Harley."

"The whole experience was just awesome," she continued. "The folks from K&N treated us all like royalty the entire weekend. It was so exciting. I may not have ever seen a drag race before, but I am certainly a fan now."

Once the finalists had been paired with their driver, Dunn noted that Frank Santos who had been paired with Mike Edwards, was feeling quite good about his chances of winning the Harley.

"Whenever we were waiting for the cars to run in the shootout, Frank would tell me he wasn't a bit worried since Edwards has been running pretty good, I think we've got this one in the bag," she laughed.

Dunn was paired with number two seed and previous K&N Challenge winner, Greg Anderson and he reflects on meeting the eight finalists, including Dunn and Santos. "Before we started first round of the challenge, we all met the lucky people who had the chance to win the Harley. I met my girl Stephanie there, and she's all excited. Then I meet this guy who is representing Mike Edwards and this guy is just smiling ear-to-ear," he pauses. "I mean he knows he's got her in the bag. That he's going to be the one that will be driving that Harley home at the end of the day."

"I already wanted to apologize to my girl," Anderson laughed. "I mean she got me, she drew the short straw."

As luck would have it, it came down to number one Edwards and number two Anderson for all the glory and cash in the final round of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, with their respective paired finalists, Santos and Dunn.

Unlike the previous rounds of the competition, for the final round, the finalists were not at the starting line, but taken to the top end of the track where they could watch the race and greet there driver as soon as the rounded the corner, hopefully to congratulate them and begin the victory celebration.

"I was pretty nervous," Dunn said of her state of mind before the final. "Frank was cool as a cucumber. We waited what seemed like forever for our race to come up and we were going to watch on the monitor that ESPN set up for us. There were so many cars before our race and I don't know, I must have missed ours because I looked at one of the other guys down there with us, I don't know, it could have even been my husband, it was all so much and they said he won."

It took a moment for it to sink in that Anderson had won the Challenge over Edwards which meant she had won the 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Bob Motorcycle in the K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes.

"I said 'what, my guy? He won?' I just stood there for a second and then it was all over," she giggled. "I started jumping up and down and then Greg came around and he was jumping up and down."

"Greg was really sweet," she continued. "He said that he had been having a rough go lately and that I must have been his good luck charm."

"The entire experience was unbelievable. The people at K&N are just wonderful people. We had so much fun and met some really nice people, including the others in the contest," she added.

Dunn may not have previously been a fan of drag racing, but she and her family have been long time fans of K&N and all of their filter products.

"My husband, Curt has been using K&N products for years from when he was in auto repair to even now that he works in aviation," she noted. "We know that K&N air filters not only increase fuel mileage and horsepower, but they are also environmentally friendly since you can reuse them for a very long time."

Dunn doesn't currently have a motorcycle endorsement on her driver's license, but she assured that will change very soon.

"My parents all ride. My dad and my step-dad both have Harleys and I will absolutely learn to ride it and get my license," she said.

With the 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge and Sweepstakes in the books, the excitement has already started to build for the 2011 edition. Keep watching www.knfilters.com for weekly qualifying updates and how your favorites NHRA Pro Stock driver is doing and all the latest news on how you can enter for a chance to take part in the next K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes.

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.

Bill Balog and B-Squared Motorsports Win Sprint Car Event at Wilmot Raceway

Jul 14, 2010

The commanding win at Wilmot Raceway was team B-Squared's first of the season, as they work towards securing their third consecutive IRA Championship. Photo by: McKay's Digital Images.

"It feels awesome to finally get our first win of the year. We have been very close on many occasions and we finally put it all together. Hopefully this is the first of many for the year," exclaims Chippawa Falls, Wisconsin racer Bill Balog.

This was the second of five trips to Wilmot Raceway for the B-Squared Motorsports team, and with track conditions less than favorable, Balog still managed to turn the fifth quickest time of the night, despite being the 25th car on the track. He finished his heat in third place.

In the 30-lap feature the number 17B car took the initial green flag from the sixth place starting position. After the top two cars got involved in an incident on lap one, Balog restarted the race from outside of row one this time. On the ensuing restart, Balog battled with the pole sitter for the first lap, but then quickly opened up a sizable lead on the field. By the time the next yellow flag came out on lap 15, Balog had opened up a half track lead on second place. With each ensuing restart, he quickly increased his already sizable lead, and he would easily go on to collect his eighth career IRA feature win, and the first of his 2010 season.

B-Squared Motorsports combines the efforts of driver Bill Balog and crew members Ryan Buesser and Jeff Bonilla, to form a Sprint Car racing team that is truly a force to be reckoned with. The award winning team is based out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

B-Squared Motorsports has experienced a good deal of success merging careful engineering with an undeniable understanding of racing. A few of B-Squared Motorsports' accolades include, driver Bill Balog being named Bumper-to-Bumper IRA Rookie of the Year, GFRA Rookie of the Year and Champion, and back-to-back IRA Champion 2008-2009. The team competes with the Bumper-to-Bumper IRA Sprint cars fulltime, and with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at select races. Balog says he is grateful for his continued support from his sponsors such as K&N.

"Our relationship with K&N has been great. We have always gotten everything we wanted plus more. They do a fantastic job with supporting the short tack racers," says Balog.

"We currently use the Sprint Car air boxes, oil filters, filter oil and filter cleaner. We feel these items are the best on the market today."

For the remainder of year the team says they hope to pick up a few more wins before the season draws to a close. States Balog, "We are working on securing our third consecutive IRA Championship with the help of our K&N product."

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.

Josh McGuire Racing Sweeps Dirt Late Model Events at Rocky Top and Ohio Valley

Jul 13, 2010

The biggest race of the year is still ahead of the team, and with their momentum and sponsorship support they are feeling confident.

"Racing is such an up and down sport - some weekends you just get lucky I suppose," remarked Josh McGuire the Grayson, Kentucky native. It's tough to be humble when you rack up win number four and five for the Dirt Late Model season, but McGuire pulled it off. Josh McGuire Racing (JMR) swept their events at both Rocky Top Raceway in Coal Grove, Ohio and at Ohio Valley Speedway near Washington, West Virginia last weekend.

Team JMR swept all their races at both Rocky Top and Ohio Valley in dominate fashion.

At Rocky Top on Friday night, McGuire won his heat race in preliminary action, and later led all forty laps of the main event to score a dominant victory, nabbing the $4000 winner's check. Then on Saturday evening, in a rare trip to the Ohio Valley Speedway, McGuire once again swept the night's races taking home another $3000.

"It was an awesome weekend for our team and everything went just as we had hoped when we left the race shop on Friday morning," said McGuire. "We qualified well both nights and won our heat races, so that obviously put us in a great position when feature time rolled around. I can't thank everyone associated with our race team enough for their support and hopefully we can keep this momentum going.

The team admits that this is the just sort of year they have been experiencing, many peaks and valleys, with this clearly being a crest. Although they have had some very strong performances at many races, they have also been sidelined several times with mysterious mechanical gremlins.

"As a race car driver you always want more wins, I'm not sure you can ever satisfy a driver," laughs McGuire. "I suppose we are very fortunate though to have these wins at this point in the season. Much of our success has to be attributed to the remarkable support of our sponsors, product sponsors such as K&N, our crew, and of course my family - winning is really only possible when all of the pieces of the puzzle are present."

McGuire continues, "Our relationship with K&N is strong, we are so happy to have them as part of our team and to be able to utilize their products. Their oil filters, air filters, cleaners, and other products are always dependable and withstand the test of time in Dirt Late Model racing."

Probably one of the team's biggest events coming up this season is the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in Wisconsin on August 6-7. The Josh McGuire Racing team has secured the U.S. Steel sponsorship (also the title sponsor for the event) for this race and they are very excited to don the U.S. Steel logo as an addition to their many other sponsors.

"This opportunity has been a true blessing and we hope to be able to make this event a successful venture for all parties involved, adds McGuire.

"We hope that our momentum can continue, fortunately our team has a past record of having stronger ends of the seasons than beginnings, so hopefully we are on the right track again. The next several months are packed with many prestigious, big money races and it is always our goal to just make the starting lineup and then set our standards from there. A good attitude - supportive sponsors - and a strong team goes a long way."

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.

Video - Mike Cronin Jr. and Quirt Crawford Discuss Their Modified Redline Time Attack Race Cars

Jul 13, 2010

Redline Time Attack Super Modified Racer Mike Cronin Jr. discussed his highly modified Nissan 350Z with just under 500 horsepower. Cronin is also president of Fontana Nissan. Quirt Crawford of Crawford Performance also speaks about their Subaru race cars that have been modified for 550 and 600 horsepower.