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Eric Holmes Climbs to Second in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Series Points

Jun 7, 2010

Eric Holmes wins Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge 150 at Douglas County Speedway

Eric Holmes is slowly climbing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings. After winning the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge 150 at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Ore., on Saturday night, Holmes nearly cut the lead of David Mayhew in half.

Eric Holmes is Second in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West points

Holmes and Mayhew battled throughout the race at Roseburg. Mayhew won the pole and led the first 52 laps of the race. Holmes squeezed past Mayhew on lap 53 and led the rest of the way.

The race ended with a 15-lap shootout that bunched up the field after a red flag. Mike Self's car, which was running in fourth place at the time, blew its engine and dumped oil around the track during a yellow caution period. The race was stopped as track safety crews cleaned up the oil. When the race resumed, Holmes was in the lead, but Mayhew was right next to him. Holmes nudged out in front and slowly pulled away in the closing laps of the race.

"That was tough," Holmes said. "There was dry sweep all around the track. The track was already slick. Going into turn 3, I didn't know what to expect. David and I got together a little bit. I just had to patient and hold my line, run my line, run my line and not make a mistake. That's all I did the last 15 laps: Be patient and not make a mistake."

The real action took place behind Mayhew and Holmes. Blake Koch weaved his way past Paulie Harraka for third place after the final restart.

"We knew we had one last chance to gain a position," said Koch, who posted his career-best finish in the West Series. "We qualified fourth and we lined up fourth with about 15 to go and Paulie's a tough racer. I knew I had to take advantage of any little thing I could. I was following the 17 of David Mayhew and he got a good restart. I sucked up to his bumper and we got him there on the restart. He ran me clean. I'm very happy that he did that and I appreciate it."

Moses Smith managed a late surge and passed Harraka on the final lap to take away fourth place.

Harraka crossed the finish line in fifth. He was followed by Greg Pursley, rookies Todd Souza, Troy Ermish and Justin Funkhouser. Jonathon Gomez rounded out the top 10.

For Holmes, it was his third West Series win in a row at Douglas County Speedway. It was also his second win of the season. He won the race at Phoenix International Raceway in April.

"It's a track that fits my driving style," Holmes said about the Douglas County Speedway .375-mile oval. "You have to be patient and aggressive at the same time. Use your head the whole race and it just fits into my driving style. Definitely tonight was the toughest one. Mayhew gave me a run for my money and the crew did a great job preparing the car. We had a great car the whole race."

Bill McAnally Racing has won seven of the past nine West Series races at Douglas County Speedway, including the most recent on Saturday night.

"The boss, Bill McAnally, this is the first race he ever promoted," Holmes said. "The first time I ever drove for him was in this race. I've always had incentive to come out and win this race. We have NAPA and Toyota and all our sponsors support this race. We supposed to win it. There's a little added pressure to come here and win."

Mayhew has four top-five finishes in four West Series race this year. He leads the West Series standings by 42 points over Holmes, a two-time West Series champion.

"The points lead is important to us," Mayhew said. "It's real early in the season. These short tracks, we know Eric's going to be tough. We feel like we have a little bit better program on the road course stuff. All the others are kind of a toss up. We really just need to put our heads down and if we can't win the thing, finishing second's the next best thing. As long as we can keep doing that and reel off some wins on a couple road course races, we'll see what happens."

Pursley is third in the West Series standings, 103 points out of first.

Gomez is fourth in the West Series standings followed by rookie Josh Combs in fifth. The next West Series race is at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on June 19.

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.

USAC K&N Silver Crown Series Racer Bud Kaeding

Jun 3, 2010

Bud Kaeding has already won six Sprint Car races in 2010. He won two in Australia, three in California and one in New Mexico. While the wins have been nice, Kaeding has yet to win a race in the series that matters most to him.

Bud Kaeding has three USAC K&N Silver Crown Series podium finishes.

Kaeding wants to win as many USAC K&N Silver Crown Series races as he can this year. So far, he's 0-for-3. But he leads the USAC K&N Silver Crown Series standings after three races.

"We won three championships with the car already," said Keading, a 30-year-old driver from Campbell, Calif. "Our goal this year, obviously, is we want to win another championship. But we want to win more races. Winning one or two races a year isn't what we want to do. This is only an 11-race series; it's a tough series. It's tough to win multiple races."

Keading won the Silver Crown championship in 2006, 2007 and 2009. He started the 2010 Silver Crown season with a runner-up finish at USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. He qualified eighth and moved his way up to the lead, but he lost it on the last lap of the race and finished second.

He followed the Tucson race with a third-place finish at Iowa Speedway on May 22.

"We started 10th in Iowa and got to second real early in the race," Kaeding said. "We had a restart on lap 12, running second. On the restart, our engine didn't take off. We fell back to like 11th. Throughout the race, just kind of picked cars off. I think I used up my car too early, used my tires up way too early. The last few laps of the race we were running second. We got a yellow with like eight laps to go. On the restart, we just really didn't have enough left for the leader. On the restart, we lost second place and we ended up third there."

At the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Kaeding finished second to Shane Hmiel on May 28. It was his third podium finish in a row and gave him an 18-point cushion over Jerry Coons Jr. in the Silver Crown standings. The next Silver Crown race is July 8 at Illiana Motor Speedway in Indiana.

Kaeding traveled to Australia in January to race at Brisbane International Speedway. He won two races there and said he had little competition in the second win.

"We killed them that race," Kaeding said. "We won by nine seconds. It was a pretty exciting race for us. We started fourth and got the lead on like lap eight. From there on, we checked out. It was one of the best cars that I've had in a long time."

When he returned to the United States, he won a race in Las Cruces, N.M., and followed with a win in Tulare, Calif., at Thunderbowl Raceway. He agreed to race in New Mexico as a favor for a friend.

"A buddy of mine's got a Sprint car out there," Kaeding said. "He hadn't raced it in a couple of years and wanted me to come out and shake it down for him. We got it going pretty good and picked up a win out there."

"In that race, we started sixth and we had a yellow flag with four or five laps to go. On the restart we just kind of squeaked by the guys leading the race. They have double file restarts. That put us right in the second row. Our car was real good in clean air. Once we got out in the lead, we kind of checked out in that race again."

Kaeding won back-to-back races at his home track, Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., in April. In his most recent win, Kaeding said he was able to pass the leader through lapped traffic late in the race. He took over the lead with about 10 laps to go and pulled away from the leaders. Kaeding said it was a case of experience over youth.

"If we're not winning the races, we're right there to win them," Kaeding said. "That's what it takes to become a consistent winner is learning how be up there. Once you start winning a race or two, that's when they start clicking off. There's a lot of momentum going with our team right now. Running up front it keeps everyone excited and enthused. That's what we need."

Bud Kaeding Racing and K&N have been working together for about six years, Kaeding said.

"It's been really good," Kaeding said. "The people are really easy to work with there. There's never really much of a hassle. Our engine builders love their stuff. The product's proven. We're a team that likes to run in the front and likes to win. That's what K&N expects of us."

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.

K&N Driver Peter Biondo Wins at Cecil County Dragway

Jun 2, 2010

"Ever since the K&N Spring Fling 20's race that we put on I have really gotten the itch to race," remarked Peter Biondo the Clarksburg, New Jersey racer.

Peter Biondo Dragster

The bread-butter part of Biondo racing season is still approaching and he's jonesing a tad, so to tune himself up some, and have little fun in the process, he headed up to Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Maryland, for a little bracket racing. When the smoke settled and the last two dragster parachutes deployed, Biondo not only hoisted the trophy, but he also finally held the answer to his long running K&N air filter theory.

"I have been telling a few friends of mine to run the K&N filter for a while now, because it's not only better for you motor, but it also gives your carb a cleaner air signal, which equates to more consistent and quicker elapsed times. I finally proved it to be right," explained Biondo.

"My K&N filters equipped dragster was deadly consistent all day long. To fill my own curiosity I made the first run without the air filter on and ran a 7.39. On the second run I put my K&N air filter on and the car ran a 7.36. It was nice to prove my theory." We wondered if that sort of relaxed, experimental approach to entering the race at Cecil County Dragway had anything to do with is victory?

"That's a good question, and yes I do. Anytime you go to a race and have the nothing to lose attitude, you always drive better and more aggressive. The combination of those two things gives you a great chance of doing well. I held a driving school two months ago, and I told the students that if they can adopt that attitude all the time, even when the big money is on the table, they will win many more rounds."

"My racing season is going to really start to heat up," said Biondo. "My schedule is filled up with NHRA National Events and Big Money Bracket Races. My goals are to drive every round with that 'I have nothing to lose' attitude, and if I do, I am sure it will lead to a few victories." For the next three consecutive weeks Biondo will be racing in national events in Chicago, Englishtown, New Jersey and Norwalk, Ohio.

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.

NHRA Pro Stock Driver Mike Edwards Brings it All Home for Mom & Dad at Topeka

May 28, 2010

Mike Edwards Penhall/K&N Pontiac GXP

In a season filled with numerous number one qualifiers and four NHRA Pro Stock event victories, one could safely say that Mike Edwards, driver of the Penhall/K&N Pontiac GXP, has certainly been enjoying a very successful 2010 thus far, heading into the most recent event in Topeka, Kansas.

Mike Edwards secured the number one spot for the 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge

Edwards, of Coweta, Oklahoma, who is also securely in the number one spot for the 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge, has achieved many accolades during his Pro Stock career, but even with all his event victories, never with his mom and dad in attendance.

That was about to change.

During the 22nd NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka, Edwards found himself in the familiar number one qualifying position, but it didn't come quite as easy as other events.

Friday's qualifying sessions proved to be the best for the Pro Stock drivers, as extremely windy conditions prevailed for both sessions on Saturday along with considerable "bad" air for the naturally aspirated engines, which slowed the cars down by a tenth of a second or more.

"On Saturday and Sunday, Saturday especially, we had some big wind and luckily it was a dead-on head wind," said Edwards. "If it would have been blowing across the track, I'm not even sure we could have run because it was very-very strong.

Edwards' runs in the early sessions on Friday would be his best of the weekend and the 6.638 pass, made during the second session, would hold off number two qualifier, Allen Johnson, by almost two full hundredths.

Come race day, the Penhall/K&N team made their way through round number one, when Edwards posted a 6.713 to Justin Humphries 6.763. His horsepower packed domination continued in round two and when Ron Krisher went red in the semi-finals, he sailed to the final round, where he would find himself in a rematch from the previous year's event, Allen Johnson.

Normally professional NHRA teams have seventy-five minutes between rounds, but during this event that was shortened to forty-five, which one may think is a little tight, especially if you needed to change an engine.

"Our guys have got it down," explained Edwards. "It really doesn't take that long. We've got it down to about twenty minutes."

With as tight and competitive as NHRA Pro Stock is, one may think that changing an entire engine in the middle of race day would be a little unnerving, not so according to Edwards. "We take one engine out and the other is complete. We know a lot about each engine and are always comfortable in changing them."

The stage was set for the final, much like in 2009, when Edwards faced Johnson and his parents, A.C. and Gladys looking on.

"My parents have supported me a lot. They don't get to go very much because they are up in their years. But they keep up with it and everything that is going on, it was great having them here this weekend and it really made it all very special," he said.

Leading up to the final, Allen Johnson consistently posted the quickest E.T.'s of eliminations, staying in the 6.70 range all throughout. This would give him lane choice over Edwards in the final.

"They just have all together well-rounded team," Edwards said of his final round opponent, Johnson. "They are really making good runs and have exceptional power. They are definitely going to have a say in what's fixin' to happen the rest of the year."

But what happened in the final was all Edwards on the line and just when he needed it to take a holeshot victory by a mere three-thousandths of a second margin at the stripe, posting a 6.717 to Johnson's 6.710. "This win was just truly extra special. This is the first race I've won with mom and dad being at the race," said an elated Edwards.

Never much downtime for a Championship winning team such as Edwards Motorsports as they spent the Monday and Tuesday following their Topeka win testing, since the upcoming schedule won't allow much time for that over the new few weeks.

The next event for Edwards and his Penhall/K&N Pro Stock team is the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois, June 3-6.

2012 Lexus LFA Gets an Exclusive Four Hour Test Date with K&N's Dynamometer

May 28, 2010

2012 Lexus LFA

Why is it that so many otherwise rational individuals morph into gibbering, bug-eyed, knuckleheads at the mere mention of supercars? We knew a guy that compromised his 10-year anniversary dinner, and his relationship, for a half-hour sprint up Pacific Coast Highway in a Bugatti Veyron. Sure, the forbidden fruit aspect is a part of it, although more accurately, it's that they are ridiculously inaccessible to all but a few, not so much forbidden.

Lexus LFA Supercar at K&N

Supercars are just that - they're super - superior in every way with the transporters we commute in daily. They're tremendously faster and more powerful, created by skilled hands, not soulless robots, and they are capable of doing stuff beyond our shallow driving imaginations. Much like racecars, which falls within the genre most supercars are designed after. Every specialized nut and bolt that goes into these vehicles is put into place by a professional who takes the time and has the knowledge to manufacture something distinctively extraordinary. They are adventure and gadgetry, speed and sex-appeal, rolled into an elite work of art.

2012 Lexus LFA interior

Typically, when we think supercar its Porsche Carrera GT2, Ferrari, or Lamborghini type images that color our motoring fantasies, but with the debut of the 552-horsepower 2012 LFA, Lexus intends on expanding the profundity of those dreams. With a street value of around $400,000, and the added exclusivity of only making 150 cars available in the US, there's little to doubt that they will succeed.

Lexus USA owns but one LFA, a jet-black model used for advertising and potential customer events. The white one, which was offered to Motor Trend magazine for a zippy 12-hour only review, was on loan from Japan at substantial cost to the company - air freight alone was $40,000. Complicating things further is that the white one is what's referred to in industry terms as a "crusher", a preproduction prototype. It has no VIN or license plate, and rolls on non-DOT-approved tires, so testing on the street was out. To ensure the car was treated with the utmost respect at all times, two vigilant bodyguards watched over the car at all times. Yet, forlornly ironic is when it gets shipped back to Japan, it will most likely be smushed into a table lamp.

Hence, the editors of Motor Trend carefully divvied up their 12-hour test allocation in order to gather the most comprehensive results. The first one-third of the evaluation stipend was spent on riding the dynamometer at K&N's R&D, with Bert Heck and the dyno crew.

K&N dynos hundreds of cars a year in order to establish baseline figures and track performance of its products. This is precisely why they always function even better than advertised. Last year alone K&N cycled its dynos over 6,400 times.

"We have five dynamometers total, three chassis dynos, one for powersports applications and one engine dyno," explains Heck, Performance Kit Manager for K&N.

"A cycle is one pull on the dyno, once the vehicle is strapped to the dyno, we make a pull. What you do is bring the vehicle up to a certain rpm, then open the throttle wide open until it reaches a maximum rpm, then get out of the throttle, and let the vehicle come back to a idle. We let the vehicle sit for three to five minutes to get the operating temperatures back down to its normal operating range, and then it's ready to start over."

After successive pulls, and un- baffling the spine-tingling, Yamaha music department tuned LFA racecar acoustics, K&N experts had their raw numbers: 447.1 horsepower, 294.5 pound-feet of torque. After SAE correction, LFA's output drops to 430.3 horsepower and 283.1 pound-feet of torque. The car's speedometer flashed 207 mph before they lifted off the gas.

Motor Trend's Ed Loh, wrote, "Sure, there is no wind resistance on the dyno, but that only makes the exhaust note from the triple pipes sound that much more unholy -- like the union of a jet engine and Ducati race bike. No production V-10 has ever sounded this good."

Not only did Yamaha tune the V-10's sweet notes, they designed and built the engine - a virtual race powerplant that weighs in less than a typical street V-6. The entire LFA is in fact made of 65-percent carbon-fiber reinforced polymer, that's been finished up to strict aeronautics standards.

"Any doubts that the Lexus is anything but a legitimate supercar are absolutely gutted on the test tarmac. Only supercars manage to brake from 60 in under 94 feet and pull 1.05 g on the skidpad," wrote Loh.

LFA stands for Lexus Fuji Apex. Fuji Speedway is the Toyota owned racetrack where the ISF and LFA performance line was born and developed. Apex simply means it's the pinnacle flagship vehicle for Lexus.

After completing the four hour test at K&N Heck commented, "The car was out of control, the fit and finish of all that carbon fiber was just outstanding. Once the vehicle was on the dyno and making a pull, the engine was so smooth in the high rpm's that you could tell Lexus put a lot of engineering into this vehicle. This would be one cool car to have sitting in your garage."

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.

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