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Western Speed Racing Rules USAC Pavement Midgets at Vegas & Sprint Team Invade Irwindale

Sep 21, 2011

Two-time Focus Midget champion Tim Skoglund has been very close to three wins this season, only ill-timed race luck prevented him from closing the deal.

If there was a driving-skill meter at K&N sponsored Western Speed Racing it would continually peg somewhere between, "flat-out smokin" and, "are-you-kidding-me-fast." Take 13-year-old driving prodigy, Brodie Kostecki for example. Kostecki recently continued his domination in the USAC Western States Pavement Focus division at the blindingly fast Las Vegas Bullring Speedway. In the Full Focus Midget event he won the first of two 30-lap Main Events, and finished second in the other. Then in the Young Guns Focus Midget class, he won both of the 20-lap Main Event races. For 2011 Kostecki is presently positioned to win as many as five championships.

Western Speed Racing teammates Brodie Kostecki and Cody Gerhardt strike a pose at their recent Toyota Speedway at Irwindale event (Left-to-right).

"He has won 18 main events this year, he has brought a lot of recognition to the team, and has opened quite a few eyes along the way," team owner, Kevin Gerhardt told K&N Race News. "Brodie, at the young age of 13, is wise beyond his years. His driver feedback along with his father's (Andrew Kostecki) vast years of experience has greatly accented our team and allowed us the dominance we have experienced this year."

Following up on Kostecki success in Vegas, team Western Speed Racing's sprint car drivers next invaded Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, California. There Kevin's son, Cody Gerhardt and Tim Skoglund competed on the half-mile paved oval, where the ultra-light, high horsepower sprint cars hit over a 140mph at the end of the straight-aways. The team raced multiple cars in two divisions.

Tim qualified second quick and Cody fifth. It was Cody's first race at the facility, which is also the largest track the series runs on. In the main event Cody turned the fastest lap and led 22 of the 40-lap race, and technically finished second. The sanctioning body however would relegate Cody to fourth place, claiming later he jumped a late race restart.

Commenting on the decision Kevin said, "Long story short, what the sanctioning body said was proper to do at the drivers meeting, was not what they followed in the main event. On the last restart Cody started at the throw of the green flag and passed for second place and finished in second. The chief steward (who has since quit USAC) decided he jumped the start and was therefore penalized two positions. He was upset, but I was very proud he did not lose his cool and accepted it as a racing incident."

Skoglund finished the race in third place, despite having to overcome an early race crash, after another racer ran into him, which put him in the back of the field on the restart. "Tim (Skoglund) got crashed into about five laps into the race, he had to come in the pits and get a flat tire changed and started last. The third place finish on a 40 lapper was real good for the last place restart," remarked Kevin.

"Tim actually ran our sprint car when we had Toyota power," continued Kevin. "He started with us in 2006 and 2007 in the Focus midget series and won two championships back-to-back, as well as 12 main events along the way. In some form or fashion Cody has been racing with Tim since he was six-years old."

Cody has already clinched the 2011 Rookie of the Year title and he's currently sitting in third place overall for the series championship, with Tim in fourth place and both drivers are only 10 to 15 points out of first place.

Team Western Speed Racing heads to Madera Speedway in Madera, California this weekend. "The sprint car team is trying to get a championship for Cody or Tim," adds Kevin.

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.

First Time U.S. Nationals Final for K&N's Brian Browell for NHRA Competition Eliminator

Sep 20, 2011

Indiana drag racer Brian Browell at NHRA North Central Division Summit Racing Series Finals.

Although Brian Browell lives less than an hour away from the legendary NHRA track outside of Indianapolis if you should ask him about his history for the U.S. Nationals, his first response would be "hot and cold". But if you ask him only about 2011, the response might just be "much hotter" as Browell drove his V6 Chevy powered 2008 McKinney dragster to the Competition Eliminator final, which was notably his first final ever at the event.

Brian Browell drove his V6 Chevy powered 2008 McKinney dragster to the Competition Eliminator final

"I've qualified everywhere from number one to number sixty-four to not even qualify for the event some years," he explained of his history at Indy. "Prior to this year, my best had been to get down to four cars and I've managed to do that three times, but this was the first time I have ever made the final."

Browell, who resides in Lafayette, Indiana, notes that doing well at Indy, takes a lot of luck. "It's simply because of the length of it. You run Thursday, then you only run once on Friday and then your one run on Saturday. The conditions are always so different, it's just one of those races that can really beat you up."

It's just amazing what the competitors in Comp Eliminator, a class where your designation is based on many factors including cubic inches to weight, are able to squeeze out of their combinations. Browell makes the most of his 265 cubic inches, running numbers that would make many big block racers jump for joy. Qualifying number eight with his D/D dragster when he ran a 7.295 and doing so in the ferocious heat that the competitors were dealt during the first few days of the event.

The tremendous swing in the weather conditions greatly affected those in Comp and how they would approach each round of eliminations. During first round Saturday afternoon, the air was still very hot and most competitors in Comp didn't have to worry about taking a bite out of their index. For those such as Browell who were fortunate enough to make it past round one, by the time second round was contested, it was a whole different ballgame.

"You go from running a race where your chances of taking any index is slim to none to a race that now, well you have to protect all you can," he said. "With the way the air was during second round one Sunday night, well now you can go unbelievably too fast."

After waiting from Saturday shortly after noon to 9PM Sunday night, Browell didn't need to fret over losing any index after all. First taking a slight starting line advantage, Browell was able to back out of his dragster when his second round opponent, Dick Maris slowed drastically near half-track.

"By that time it was dark and I'm a blinder racer," Browell pointed out about round two. "So, that puts me at a distinct disadvantage because you can't really use the blinders at night. I was up there trying to get it all straight [for the tree] and I kept messing with it, trying to adjust and finally I said screw it and just counted the lights [laughs] and I went one, two, three GO!"

"I ended up having a good light and as we were going down track, as since I have a lot of roll bar padding and a HANS device, I use mirrors on my dragster," he continued. "I looked in the mirror and Dick Maris was going backwards, so I shut it off."

And the luck needed to do well at Indy, that Browell had mentioned, continued for him over the next three rounds as well. Each of his competitors, Chamness, Pritchett and Smith, all pulled up the big red light in the opposite lane and sent him to his first ever final round at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Browell talks about his race day philosophy, "I try not to put any pressure on myself and let the pressure be on everybody else. Plus I don't look at the ladder. I don't know who I run until my wife Debra tells me, when its time."

When it came time for the final, the majority of the sportsman pairings were postponed until after the pros ran, due to a stock class car oiling the track and a tight TV schedule. This left Browell sitting in the staging lanes for well over thirty minutes, which can feel like an absolute eternity. "That probably was my demise to be honest," confessed Browell of his Comp Eliminator final outcome. "Everybody kept coming over and telling me he [Jirka Kaplan] was broke, don't do anything stupid. It's not that he won, I lost. I just gave him that win."

Browell has been a long time user of numerous K&N products, from the K&N Oil Filters to more recently the addition of the K&N Composite Dragster Scoops. "The first generation one worked great, but I noticed even a bigger difference in the performance of my combination after making the chance to the second gen scoop," Browell pointed out. "K&N's dedication to sportsman racers, if not number one, well, it's pretty darn close to it. Their products more than do the job and completely speak for themselves."

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's Gary Stinnett Continues to Look Strong in Super Comp with Three NHRA Div Victories

Sep 20, 2011

Gary Stinnett in NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park Topeka.

It says a lot about a driver when they make it to, and win, one final during a season in NHRA Super Comp, but for Emporia, Kansas racer, Gary Stinnett he's put three on the books for 2011 with the most recent coming for him during the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park Topeka.

Reigning NHRA Super Comp National Champion Gary Stinnett

As the reigning NHRA Super Comp National Champion, Stinnett has been rocking the class hard and heavy again all season, with division wins in Brainerd and another in Denver before adding his latest in Topeka, Kansas, where he defended his title from the previous year's event. These are in addition to his NHRA National event win he sewed up at Brainerd International Raceway.

Now leading not only the National Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Comp points, Stinnett also sits high atop the NHRA Div. 5 points standings where he has also done fairly well in his Super Stock entry and holds down the number six position.

Stinnett made his way through a hefty field of well over one-hundred Super Comp entries at the Topeka event, starting with round one on Saturday afternoon and continued his winnings ways through six more rounds that didn't wrap up until after midnight.

With his Undercover Dragster, he whittled away at the field one-by-one including victories over Slagle, Hammerschm and Pierce during the first three rounds. Now already past 10PM and only into round four, Stinnett matched up against Todd Piper and while Piper had a .009 advantage on the tree, Stinnett used yet another veteran move to push Piper under the 8.90 index.

The quarterfinals would find Stinnett and Chris Brown paired up and a nearly dead even heat off the line. Only knocking off a handful of mile-per-hour, Stinnett still managed to drop Brown at the stripe and take another breakout win, this time with a slower ET than usual and seemingly not necessarily what he may have been dialing for.

The semi-finals gave Stinnett a somewhat lucky round, as all racers need, when his opponent [Kyle Lawrence] went .006 red, giving Stinnett the all-out run he needed to see exactly what the car was doing. Only running an 8.932, he now knew what he needed to change to be ready for the Super Comp final.

It's safe to say a multi-time champion, such as Stinnett, was very aware that his final round competitor, Kyle Fickler had been on a tremendous roll over on the opposite side of the ladder. Fickler had posted 8.90 ET's the three previous rounds and two of them were dead-on perfect runs. With this type of information, Stinnett tightened his belt and prepared for anything but an easy final.

With a .004 advantage in his pocket off the line, Stinnett turned it into a .019 package, including his 8.909 run and held Fickler to a runner-up finish when he forced him into the breakout loss.

Stinnett is always quick to thank all those who continue to help him in his efforts throughout each and every year, from those who go on the road to the folks at his shop and the companies and products that he heavily depends on with his demanding race schedule.

"I always want to thank K&N for their support and their excellent products," he said. "I don't have the least bit of concerns with the quality of any K&N product, it's why you can put them on and not have to worry about them doing their job. I use their oil filters and their air filters on my race engines and my personal vehicles and K&N's filters have the least amount of restriction, yet they do the job."

"That means a lot to me," he stressed. "Not only as a racer, but as an engine builder."

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.

Cam Reimers Walks Away From Loretta Lynn's With Two Overall Wins

Sep 19, 2011

Although Cam Reimers was not able to attend every round of the 2011 AMA Championship Series, he has made a showing and experienced success at the venues where he has raced.

When Cam Reimers recently rolled into Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, the rider arrived with anticipation of racing in the AMA ATV Motocross Championships, at Loretta Lynn's a raceway located at Loretta Lynn's Ranch.

Cam Reimers recently earned to Overall Wins while racing at Loretta Lynns in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Although not able to race in all of the previous ten rounds, of the 2011 AMA Championship series, Reimers managed to make his presents known during every event that he had attended. In fact, of the five races in which he had competed to this point, Cam managed to grab nine Moto wins, four Overall wins, eleven Overall podiums and 14 Overall Top Fives. Preparing to embark upon his sixth race of the series, the rider had aspirations of continuing success.

"I have been to Loretta's the past three years and we have always had pretty good luck there," recalled Reimers. "I love the track, because I feel so comfortable with the layout and the way the dirt is. It is a lot like what I have been riding back in Iowa for years," he continued. "I enjoy a lot of the other tracks the National Series goes to, like Redbud and Millville too. These tracks have a bunch of big, fun jumps, and really fun, loamy dirt. Those tracks are really free flowing and Loretta Lynn's track isn't the same way. Loretta Lynn's has a lot tighter corners and takes a lot of techniques to try to make the track flow at all. I guess that style of track fits my style of riding."

After setting the fastest lap times during all three practice session, Cam was confident that he and his Can-Am DS450 would experience success. Sure enough, the rider shot from fifth to second place early in the first lap during his first moto of the "College Boy 16-24" class, and eventually took the win.

Lining up in the Open class later in the day, Reimers started midway in the pack and worked his way into second place in the third lap. As the event continued, he managed to hold on to that position throughout the remainder of the race.

On the following morning Reimers lined up against nineteen fellow top qualifiers in the "College 16-24" class and upon the waving of the green flag, the race was underway. Nearing the famous "Ten Commandments" section of the track, the rider made an aggressive move and in turn gained two spots, putting him in third. Reimers worked his way into second place shortly thereafter, and at the end of the second lap passed the first place driver. Crossing the finish line first, Cam Reimers earned the checkered flag and the Overall win.

Many riders might have been satisfied with their accomplishment at this point, but not Cam Reimers. With one victory under his belt, he then focused on taking the Open A class as well. At the gate drop, Cam shot to the first corner, but was edged out by fellow rider, Caleb Baumann. Pushing it to the limit in the next few corners, Reimer took and held the lead throughout the remainder of the race, earning yet another Overall victory at Loretta Lynn's.

"A good start is important at this track," explained Reimers. "The track funneled down in a lot of spots, so it was hard to work your way up easily. I believe a big key to winning at this track has to do with charging in between sections. There are a lot of drastic changes in speed on the track, and you have to take advantage in those areas. During both, my "College Boy 16-24" and Open A second moto on Sunday, I had to pass the KTM rider of Caleb Baumann to take the lead," he continued. "I believe he hole-shot both moto events. I was able to run him down and pick up both wins."

Of course to experience consistent success the riders must practice a strict maintenance schedule. When asked if he used K&N products on his ATVs Reimer said, "Oh, for sure! I use the CM-4508 air filter, the CM-4508DK Precharger, as well as the KN-560 oil filters. I have been using K&N products for the past four years. I was excited to be a part of their team this year. K&N products are in a class of their own. The Air filters are absolutely incredible. They make insane power over the stock foam filters, are super easy to clean, and never lose their integrity."

Also crediting his team for his success, Reimers said, "I could not be doing any of this if it wasn't for the awesome people helping me out this year. I have a ton of great companies behind me as well as my family and friends. Knowing that there are so many people supporting you, really helps to put your heart and soul into it."

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's Peter Biondo Dominates for Double at NHRA Division Event at Old Bridge Raceway

Sep 19, 2011

2000 Firebird NHRA Super Stock Driver Peter Biondo

Business owner, race promoter and sportsman racer phenom, Peter Biondo, put together thirteen awesome rounds of competition during the NHRA Div 1 event in Englishtown, New Jersey to bring home both the Super Gas and the Super Stock victories. With his latest feat, Biondo currently holds down the top spot in the country in both categories and has his eye on double 2011 NHRA Lucas Oil National Championships.

Peter Biondo's 1963 Corvette Roadster NHRA Super Gas Car

Prior to heading to the New Jersey event, Biondo had just wrapped up a week long race at the U.S. Nationals, where as he puts it, "there was quite a lot of drama" with his Super Gas car.

"We had put a new motor in it and at the first race out, it was running great. 168-169 MPH and in a Super Gas car, that's quite a lot of MPH," he said. "We won the first race out with it, but when we got it to Indy, we were really struggling. It went anywhere from 9.80 to 10.07 [9.90 Index]. So between time runs at Indy, we were changing everything we could think of trying to get it figured out. Mr. "K&N" himself, Steve Williams was one of the guys who came over to our pit to try and help, along with fellow K&N racers, Gary Stinnett and Tommy Phillips and pointed out to me that I didn't have very much space between the carburetor and the scoop. There just wasn't much room there for it to breathe. We ended up taking the spacer out and putting an air pan on and a new K&N filter system, that was all molded in and we picked up a lot."

"Let's put it this way, I was set up to run a 9.90 on my first pass [time run] at Englishtown and I ran a 9.73 at 172 MPH," he continued. "So, problem solved. I was ecstatic and I knew from the seat of the pants going down track that it was a better run and wasn't detonating at the finish line like it did at Indy. The car was just flawless from there on in and we took it from there." Right off the bat, first round would be somewhat of a special one for Biondo. "I certainly didn't have a gimmie the first round," he pointed out. "I had to run a guy that my seventy-four year old dad used to battle it out with, let's say thirty years ago. Ken Bowers is a smart guy, that's for sure. I had a twelve light and got to the finish line first with a little bit of room. He had a twenty light and dumped to a ninety-two. [9.92]"

Biondo notes that although the car was now running great, the weekend wasn't without its chaos. "Right when they called us up for third round, I went to start the car and my starter failed, so I had to change it," he said. "I was a little bit lacking on help that weekend, especially with having two cars in and it seems like everyone went home on Saturday night, so I had to go ask my neighbor to come over and help me change it [laughs]."

"Probably the biggest round though in Super Gas was the fourth round against Jason Kenny," he confessed. "He is very well respected and the reigning Div 1 champ and that round was for the bye into the final. I knew that if I wanted any chance at winning the championship, I had to win this race. So to get by Jason, it was a two-for-one and a very big round. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for him, he missed the tree bad and I was .008. That made my life easy going down track."

With the earned bye, Biondo laid down a near perfect run during the semi-finals in his '63 Corvette Roadster, that should make anyone shake in their shoes, .003 light with a perfect 9.900 ET.

"Well, when you are going to run Mike Sawyer, you better be ready," Biondo said of his semi-final timeslip and his final round competitor. "He's kinda low-key, doesn't travel too much, but without a doubt I would put him easily in the top five in the country, if he traveled every year. He's tough, nothing seems to faze him and it's the second time I've run him in the final and fortunately, it's the second time I've beat him. It was a very close run."

Biondo put together a .010 package and didn't leave much room at all for Sawyer in the Super Gas final, forcing Sawyer to take .003 at the stripe and breakout by .006 to Biondo's beautiful 9.902.

"Things were just really clicking in the Super Gas car," he said of first win of the weekend. "I was pretty hungry for it, so I was aggressive on the tree. I knew it was do or die and I was double-oh a few times on the tree. I wasn't really messing with the [delay] box much, because I wanted it pretty bad. If I was going to get beat, it was going to be by a very close race or a really close redlight on my part."

Over in Super Stock, Biondo was having the same kind of race, winning rounds and lots of them. "Our Super Stock car is pretty unique in that it's powered by a 428 Pontiac engine; there aren't too many Pontiac engines out there in Super Stock. I had to abort one of my qualifying runs because the car was shaking really bad. It turned out that I had lost one of the wheel weights, so the wheel was completely out of balance. So it really wasn't a great feeling going into first round, not being exactly sure if it was really just that or something in the drivetrain that caused it, there was still that question mark in my brain saying, I hope that was it."

Unlucky for Biondo's competition, that's all it was and he went on to pound through seven rounds in his GT/DA '00 Firebird. "Because of having to lift in that last qualifying pass, it put me in a really good spot on the sheet, which that was just total luck," he said. "The guy I ran first round, had to abort his run, so that was like a bye run there," he said of his fortunate spot of the ladder and the pairings that followed. "I had an actual bye in round two and it just went from there. It was a lot of rounds jam-packed into a little bit of time, so it was really exciting."

Biondo saved one of his best lights of Super Stock eliminations for the final in which he treed his good friend, Anthony Bongiovanni and sewed up his second victory of the weekend.

"I can't thank Steve Williams from K&N enough for not only all his time and help with the Super Gas car at Indy, but also for all that K&N does for sportsman drag racing year in and year out," he added. "You can't put that many rounds on these engines in a weekend like that without being protected with K&N oil and air filters. And the seven MPH I picked up in the Super Gas car after Steve's help with the new K&N filter configuration is just awesome."

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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