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Casey Currie spent time working with Kyle Leduc and as a driver for Art Schmitt
At age four, Casey Currie began racing motorcycles, and continued to do so on and off for several years, though not professionally. By the time he turned 16, his mom understood that racing was in his blood, but sure wanted him in something a little safer…maybe something with more than two wheels. As luck would have it, Casey's Dad Ray, owner of Currie Enterprises, came to the rescue.
Casey Currie has used K&N filters for as long as he can remember
Currie Enterprises, well known in the off road world, specializes in building rear ends and suspension kits for jeeps and hot rods. In fact, they design, build, modify, test, sell, and install rear end and drive-train products, all under one roof in their 27,000 square-foot complex in Anaheim, California. With humble beginnings in 1959 fabricating and assembling rear ends for personnel carriers, electric carts, tugs, scissor lifts and other specialty vehicles, Currie Enterprises expanded in 1970 into the development of superior aftermarket rear ends for Jeeps. It was not much of a stretch for Dad to build Casey his own race vehicle, which he raced for four years in the stock Jeep Speed class (which of course made Mom breathe a little easier). He then began to feel a familiar pull back into racing motorcycles, and together with cousin Brandon Currie began racing in the Super moto class (which of course had Mom all nervous again, but hey, he was over 20 by then). The decision however was a good one for Casey and Brandon, as they learned a lot about competition and were able to win the # 1 plate after getting 1st place in the AMA Supermoto Lites Team Championship. They then went on to be ranked 5th in the nation in Supermoto on their lime green Kawasaki KXF's.
After a time, Casey felt a calling by the great outdoor spaces, and became involved in the courses of Championship Off Road Racing (CORR). He spent time working with Kyle Leduc & the Leduc team, and as a driver for Art Schmitt, he ran in CORR's Pro Lite division behind the wheel of a Nissan Frontier, with a number of podiums during the 2007 CORR Pro Lite series.
Having learned a great deal about the sport by then and also having a strong entrepreneurial spirit in his blood, Casey formed Casey Currie Motorsports in 2007. His company not only builds race trucks, they do everything associated with the sport in-house. Today, Casey and his team race in The Off Road Championship (TORC) series, sponsored By TRAXXAS, which was formalized in 2008 to unify formerly fragmented short-course drivers and organizations into a cohesive nationwide series. TORC events are packed with flag-to-flag fender banging as drivers push the limits over whoop and jump filled natural terrain racetracks.
"This year, we were able to win two rounds under the lights, one at the Texas Motor Speedway in round one, and the other the last round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway," says Casey. "And with the younger, edgier fan base that TORC attracts, there's nothing like coming under the flag a winner to the screams of this kind of crowd."
Casey has used K&N filters for as long as he can remember. "They make the best filters for my trucks and motorcycles when I train" says Casey, "So when I met one of their representatives at a show, serious discussions ensued, and it only fit like a piece of a puzzle when we formalized a partnership. I know for a fact that when I run a K&N air filter, it increases airflow and collects more dirt than any other brand. And the oil filters flow more oil and collect more metal than any other filter."
With this kind of race history behind him, and at only age 26, there's no telling what else Casey has in store for him, but you can bet it'll be fun, and that K&N will be right there with him!
The 2009 Pro Pulling League (PPL) season has been a year full of success and broken records. Increased payouts from companies including K&N Filters have enabled an average of 17 Super Modified Tractors to compete at the league's highest level on the Champions Tour. Despite economy concerns, the Lucas Oil PPL saw record-breaking numbers in live event attendance nationwide over the previous year. Due to a great 2009 television package, the Lucas Oil PPL could be seen by all motorsports enthusiasts on ESPN2, Speed Channel, and Versus.
Knoxville 2009
"Our competitors on a nightly basis punish their machines to try to gain a victory over the toughest pulling competitors," says John Mears of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League. John has been with the league since its inception in 2006 as one of the co-creators of the largest pulling sanctioning body in the United States. "K&N Filters have a high-quality product that can stand some of the most stressful situations on the planet," he continues, "which in turn keeps them on the track and out of the pits."
Dirtslinger with K&N Products
Nancy Weller of Taneytown, Maryland is the 2009 East Coast Pullers Champion and has been pulling for 13 years. Nancy leads somewhat of a double-life, as she pulls on the weekends and is a Public Defender for Baltimore City during the weekdays. "When I show up to court in my suit and heels and I tell them what I do on the weekends, it's always a big surprise," says Weller.
Nancy Weller is the 2009 East Coast Pullers Champion
Weller drives "Hot Damn" in the Modified Tractors class along with her teammate and father, Earl Howard. "When I started in 1996, there was a ton of pressure on me for being a woman in a male-dominated sport," she says. "It made my push to win even stronger."
K&N Filters is a contingency sponsor of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League. "The drivers and competitors of the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League are extremely product-loyal," says Mears. "Hence, they trust their high-horsepowered machines on the track with K&N, which transfers to their daily drivers. When fans and spectators talk shop in the pits, they realize that K&N is truly the best air filter on the market."
For the 2010 season, the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League will stop at a few new venues across the United States and the upcoming season's television package will be released in the near future.
Tino Aaltonen is recognized for providing the best training available in all of Europe
"The Flying Finn" was a nickname originally given to a group of Finnish middle and long-distance runners. Later, inspired by world-class Finnish performances in motorsports, the term was extended to include distinguished Finnish sportsmen who drove cars fast. The early generations of Aaltonen family racers are very much the corner stones of those notable, transitional sportsmen.
Tino Aaltonen's BMW rally car
In order to fully appreciate the big picture of respectability that surrounds the Finnish K&N importer Aaltonen Motorsport, we need to go back to the genesis of the family's racing heritage - to August Aaltonen. August began his career in motorcycle racing before World War II. On January 7, 1938, the Aaltonen racing gene pool doubled, with the birth of August's son, Rauno.
In the late '40's, as Rauno was growing up, his father was busy introducing the spectacular sport of speedway racing to Finnish motorsport fans. It was during this period that August also began building race bikes for other racers. Rauno grew up immersed in the adrenaline rush of racing, the clattering roar of engines, and the smell of petroleum. His destiny had been irrefutably imprinted early on.
Aaltonen Motorsport Enduro Training
Rauno began his own career with speedboat racing, winning the Nordic Championship at the age of 16. It wasn't long after that when he turned to motorcycles, encountering a notable amount of success with motorcycles as well. In 1956 in Hedemora, Sweden, Rauno won a TT World Championship event, becoming the first Finn to ever do so. A number of racing accidents however had him reassessing the overall career longevity of a motorcycle racer. In the late '50's he decided to start rallying, driving a Saab.
Rauno Aaltonen won the Nordic Championship at the age of 16
At first he considered car racing as only a hobby, but based on his immediate and formidable achievements, Mercedes Benz requested that he drive for the factory team. In 1962 Rauno joined forces with BMC, driving a Mini Cooper, and the legend of the Flying Finns was redefined. Teamed up with another Finn, Timo Mäkinen, and an Irishman Paddy Hopkirk, Rauno and the BMC works cars won pretty much everything there was to win on the European rally circuits and racetracks.
Tino raced in the Finnish Production Car Championship and became known as the fastest Touring Car racer in all of Finland
Although Rauno preferred hard surfaces to gravel, and was actually better at racing than rallying, he was never-the-less, the most successful rally driver on the planet in the 1960's - winning more rallies than anybody else. In 1965 he won the European Rally Championship (equivalent of today's WRC). Arguably though, the most recognized single victory in Rauno's career was the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally. Along with his navigator, Timo Mäkinen, he mastered the difficult conditions driving a Mini Cooper S.
Nicknamed "The Rally Professor" Rauno introduced many new techniques to the sport, such as left foot braking. Rauno kept rallying professionally until the mid-80's, but he has participated in many rallies and other forms of racing ever since. Rauno has competed in nearly every venue requiring an engine, and has done so in an astonishing 127 countries.
Towards the end of his rally days, Rauno started a new career as a driving instructor. His groundbreaking, innovative notions regarding driving and car dynamics, backed by his vast experience with performance driving, have made him a legend - not only as a driver, but also in the field of driving techniques. In the late '70's he founded the BMW Driver Training program for the Munich, Germany manufacturer. To this day, the "Rally Professor's" ideas and training programs continue to be in high demand worldwide.
Next in line for Aaltonen family motorsport greatness is Rauno's son, Tino. He began his racing career in the late 80's, on the rally special stages. Tino raced in the Finnish Production Car Championship (Sport 2000), and became known as the fastest Touring Car racer in all of Finland. In 1991 he established Aaltonen Motorsport as his own racing team.
Aaltonen Motorsport has prepared countless successful racing cars for the Finnish and European racetracks. Tino has also raced in the German DTC Touring Car Series with good results. After his racing career, Tino also started giving driving lessons to both average motorists and racers.
Today Aaltonen Motorsport Ice Racing School is widely recognized for providing the best training available in all of Europe. Tino has also been conducting instruction programs for several of the most prestige's manufacturers in the world, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW and MINI, to name but a few. In addition to the Ice Racing School, Aaltonen Motorsport is regarded as a respected Finnish importer of preferred performance and motorsports products, such as K&N.
Considering their pure race pedigree, when Tino and Rauno talk cars and performance driving, people tend to listen. According to them, good air filtration is just as important as free airflow.
"Our regulations used to state that we had to use original sized air filters, so we had a real problem with getting the air properly filtered to protect our carefully prepared engines," explains Tino.
"If the airflow was sufficient, then the filtration was poor, and vice versa. K&N air filters give us the ultimate combination of filtration and flow. Also, the airflow stays consistent during even the longest events. Any resistance caused by the air filter means power loss, which again could cost the victory," continues Tino.
"In the 1967 Safari Rally in East Africa, we actually had our car stall and the engine destroyed, because it was unable to breathe through the dirty air filter," explains Rauno.
"Since K&N air filters don't get clogged as easily, engines will have virtually unrestricted airflow and excellent filtration, even on the dustiest roads. With K&N, your engine will produce maximum horsepower under all conditions."
"I pride myself in offering only the best products to my customers," says Tino, adding, "K&N truly make the world's best air filters. All our company cars, including the ice racing cars, and my personal vehicles have K&N filters installed. This way I know they'll get all the clean air their engines require. It's like K&N and Aaltonen Motorsport belong together," smiles Tino.
Seven time Canadian ATV Champion Richard Pelchat - Photo by Harlen Foley
It would be reasonable to make the comparison that seven time Canadian ATV Champion Richard Pelchat is the Tiger Woods of Canadian ATV racing - in the purest sense of athletic achievements only mind you. Pelchat first began racing in 1999, meaning he has won the championship seven out of ten attempts, and the first five came in a row. Using baseball as another sport analogy, that's a 700 batting average. We wondered how that kind of ATV racing dominance was even possible - so we asked him.
Richard Pelchat began racing with his brother and a friend on a race quad they pieced together - Photo by Harlen Foley
"I have always put all my heart into each race and into every season. In my mind, with every race, failure or second place is not an option. It can be very difficult and exhausting to remain focused like that, but at the end, I come home with the number one plate."
"I also always make sure I have the best possible ATV, for the past two years my Can-Am DS 450 has really helped to make my job easier. I also never take my competition for granted, so I always make sure I have done my homework. I am never overly confident, but deep down I always believe I can do it. As far as how many more I can win, well, the competition is getting deeper, but I still do think I will win a few more."
"2009 was my tenth year racing ATVs, but with all the memories I have already acquired, it seems like 30 years."
Richard Pelchat has been racing ATV's for 10 years - Photo by Harlen Foley
Pelchat began racing with his brother and a friend, on a pieced together race quad. He enjoys all motorsports in general and says that if it has an engine and it's race-ready, you can count him in. However, he doesn't see making the leap to another professional motorsport anytime in the near future.
"My fiancé really likes car drag racing though, like NHRA, so I might be doing some crew chief work and get her to race a '69 Camaro. Hum, crew chief... maybe for half a season only, and then I'll get a car for myself. A faster car of course, because I hate to lose," adds Pelchat laughing.
"I have been using K&N air filters with great success and for quite a few of my championships. I really like the added horsepower and the easy cleaning, easy oiling. The filters are super easy to use."
"As of right now, we are working on the schedule for my tenth season, but so far nothing is set in stone, except that I will be on the starting line with the will to win - even more than ever."
Shelley Kujat demonstrated the power of the Shell-Camino Monster Truck
Shelley Kujat from Plymouth, Michigan, is a professional Top Alcohol Monster Truck driver, and a mom, and a small business owner, and a FEDEX truck driver. Kujat says she became a monster truck driver to make the point that women can do whatever they focus on. She's also makes the point very loud and clear that she isn't one for simply sitting around.
Top Alcohol Monster Truck Shell-Camino
"Ron (husband) and I own and run an automotive repair shop, and I've also worked for FEDEX driving a truck for 20 years. Ron has always been a gear head and loves wrenching. Ron and our two sons (Josh and Adam) did a lot of drag racing when they were in high school. We spent many weekends together as a family. It was a perfect hobby for them and it kept us involved in family activities on the weekends. We found it a good way to stay active in their teen years and keep them out of trouble," says Kujat.
"When the boys grew up and moved out, we needed something fun for a hobby. It had to be something in the race world - although I didn't care much for the idea of racing so close to the ground. The obvious choice of course was monster trucks. It is rewarding to be able to go out and put on a great performance in a truck we built that holds together so well."
"The most rewarding part is meeting great people and fans. The positive encouragement we receive from our fans and our sponsors helps to ease the many challenges of this business and sport," adds Kujat.
Shelley Kujat and and the Shell-Camino Monster Truck
2009 turned out to be a great year for Shelley, Ron and the Shell-Camino truck. They started the season out strong with a set of brand new shocks. It took some time to get them dialed in, but they now seem to be getting closer to finding the winning combo. They ran hard all year long and will finish pretty high in the overall standings (final results are still pending). Shelley survived a couple severe crashes this year, but she never missed a single show.
"Our first truck, Aces High, is an all steel body 1972 Chevy El Camino, it's an old school monster truck," says Kujat. "It has a 383 small block Chevy alcohol motor that produces around 1200 hp."
Aces High was the second El Camino monster truck ever created and the only one still in existence. Aces High competed with well-known trucks such as Bigfoot. Throughout its years it has proven itself many times from its flame throwing exhaust, to being rewarded the world's record for wheel stands, performed in Las Vegas.
Kujat will tell you that she views Aces High as is a flawless piece of art .The complete frame is powder-coated. The body is an original all steel 1972 Chevy El Camino.
Shelley and Ron recently had to make a difficult decision when deciding to retire the Aces High truck from the competition circuit. They will however still continue to perform with a guest appearance forum within the circuit. The two have constructed and completed the clone of Aces High, called Shell-Camino, which debuted in 2007. Simply put the Kujat's say it's "Old School, New Rules!"
"Shell-Camino, our newest truck, which took us 16 months to build, houses a 512 cubic-inch big block Chevy engine. This blown alcohol power plant produces around 1600 hp. We have found this combination to be quite bullet proof," claims Kujat.
"We currently use the K&N conical reusable air filter and the pre-filter wrap. We have noticed significantly less blower wear and cylinder wall scuffing using this combination."
"We are constantly upgrading our truck. We are still in fact tweaking the shocks. We plan on participating in some large venues this year. We have a busy schedule planned including some out of the country venues. I took out some big names this year, and I intend to continue going down my list, checking them off, says Kujat with her game face on.
"I would like to say thanks to K&N and our fans - just remember "Girls Rock!"
