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Ray Connolly Rules Over Super Gas Class at NHRA Div 2 Event for His First Victory at Beech Bend

Sep 7, 2011

When you gotta make the next event, and points are on the line, longtime NHRA competitors, like K&N's Ray Connolly, won't let a little thing like hurting a motor stop them from getting to where they need to be. Connolly took care of business, both with the engine swap he needed to make, and the field of Super Gas entries to pick his latest NHRA Wally during the Lucas Oil Series Division 3 event at Beech Bend Raceway Park, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

NHRA Super Gas Racer Ray Connolly

"Well, I hurt the motor in my Corvette Roaster at the IHRA event in Martin," said Connolly. "So I took the motor out of my dragster along with putting a new fuel system on it and everything seemed to work out alright."

Even though there was a test session available for racers on Thursday prior to the event, Connolly was still trying to get everything buttoned back up and was unable to take advantage of any additional track time, but missing an extra chance to get the combo tuned in, didn't hurt him one bit.

Connolly drove well right from the start, first sending home Scott Lemen in round one and a memorable round for him in round two, when he managed to send Trisha Allen packing. "I thought I was fast, she's so slow I didn't catch her until late," he said of the round. "I tried to make it really tight and well it ended up being one thousandth. You know that could have went either way. I was like ninety-five to her ninety-one and I just killed way too much."

He then went on to get by Xenia, Ohio's Tim Gillespie in his 1933 Ford, when Gillespie was a little too anxious on the tree and allowed Connolly a shot to really dial his car in for his round four pairing with Mark Sanders. It was there where some great top end driving skills came into play, as Connolly turned his being .012 behind on the starting line into a dead-on the index run at the stripe and sent Sanders away on a 9.883 breakout.

Now that the Super Gas field was down to five cars, Connolly was wondering who was getting the bye into the semis. "I asked in the staging lanes, 'Who gets the bye" and Kevin Kleineweber just smiled," he pointed out. "I said to him, 'So it must be you' and he goes yeah but you are running for it and I laughed 'Oh, OK'.

It was at this point Connolly could see that his chances of sewing up the Super Gas title were getting stronger and his shot at the most important bye of the race, into the final, was just a win light away. First, he needed to seal the deal against Ray Sawyer. Like so many of his earlier rounds of the weekend, Connolly was deadly at the finish line, this time it was a .003 margin and Connolly taking the holeshot win with his 9.934 to Sawyer's 9.925.

Now with his smooth free pass into the final where he showed that he was dialed in by putting a 9.898 on the board, he would be ready for the final round match up with 2011 Jeg's All-Star Super Gas Champ, Rusty Cook.

"Oh yeah, we have raced each other a lot over the years," noted Connolly when asked about Cook. "He's been really hot this year and well, running him or Kevin [Klineweber] would have made for a tough final."

In another absolute squeaker at the stripe, where it could have been anyone's game, Connolly came out on top for his first ever win at the Bowling Green event, with a .001 margin at the stripe or a mere five inches. When both cars are almost evenly paired in mile-per-hour, Cook's 165.54 to Connolly's 164.39, it makes for a heck of a drag race, as both drivers stare at each other going across the line in their respective Corvette Roadsters.

"I've been to the semis there, but that is really about it," admitted Connolly. "I've never been able to finish it there, so it felt really good. The win also came at a really good time."

Meanwhile, just two hours earlier Connolly's son Dave had wrapped up his respective race for the Super Street Wally during the NHRA Div 2 event at zMax Dragway in North Carolina. "No actually I didn't, but my wife was with me," when asked if he was able to personally keep tabs on Dave's plight for his final. "She was letting him know what was going up here and letting me know how he was doing, so he and I didn't actually talk until my race was over."

"I am really happy to get this win for everyone that supports what we do, including K&N," he said. "They have nothing but the best products, we really appreciate the help that they provide for us and our cars. I am looking forward to making some changes over the winter to my Super Gas car and going with a special molded K&N air filter like fellow K&N racer Craig Anderson has on his car. There isn't a whole lot of room with what I have to work with and it's the R&D that the guys do at K&N to make special pieces like they do for situation like this that just can't be beat. They understand sportsman racing, because so many of them are racers themselves and they listen to what our needs are and make things happen."

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.

Shane Stewart Finishes Second in the 51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals

Sep 7, 2011

Shane Stewart recently took second place at the 51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals

Shane Stewart recently headed for Knoxville, Iowa, with anticipations of racing in the Knoxville Nationals. Arriving at the destination, Stewart prepared to race at a venue of which throughout the years he had grown to appreciate, as he had raced there many times before.

Upon showing up at Knoxville, Iowa to race in the Knoxvile Nationals, Shane Stewart was prepared to race at a venue a where he had raced many times before.

"We felt that we had a good chance of doing well," recalled the driver. "We always seem to run good at Knoxville. We had won the 360 Nationals there the year prior, and had finished on the podium in the Knoxville Nationals last year. The Rockstar/Makita car always runs good there. Our Westmar Engines were running strong, and our A.R.T. cars were working good all week."

Referring to the competition, he continued, "You have to have everything go well and work together to be successful at that event. The competition is the toughest it will be all year at this event. Every team brings their best equipment, because they want to be a Knoxville champion."

Lining up 17th in the 410 class of the 51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals, the driver had fifty laps to make up a lot of ground prior to crossing the finish line. As soon as the race was underway, Stewart began working his way to the front of the pack. In fact, he had already passed five cars when the race was stopped for the second time in the 14th circuit.

Immediately upon the restart, Shane Stewart didn't waste any time overtaking his competitors. Passing fellow drivers, Brian Brown and Sam Hafertepe Jr. in short order, he had already worked his way into the tenth position by the fifteenth lap. During the next two laps, Stewart muscled his way around Tim Shaffer and Mark Dobmier's cars and continued his quest to overtake all drivers that might stand between him and the podium.

After the teams refueled and embarked upon the final half of the race, Shane Stewart began the remainder of his stellar run from sixth place. Quickly working his way around Dale Blaney, the driver then found himself in a battle with Jason Meyers, and took over the forth spot when his competitor experienced a mechanical failure in lap 35.

Six laps later, Stewart took possession of third place and eventually slid into the second spot with only two laps to go. Although he was obviously on a roll and had made up an astonishing amount of ground during the first 48 laps of the race, there weren't enough laps remaining to catch Donny Schatz, who ultimately took the checkered flag.

Of course, Shane Stewart would have preferred earning the win, but the driver was also aware that he had made quite an accomplishment. "We started in the 17th spot and right away we started to pass some cars," explained Stewart. "On the mandatory fuel stop we were running in the sixth spot. Lap forty-seven is when we passed Sammy Swindell for second and at the end of the race were within a couple of cars to Donny. This was a very hard race to make, let alone do what we did as a team coming from the back. We were all real happy about our performance."

When asked if proper maintenance can be credited for a portion of his team's success, Stewart said, "We have used K&N products for four years now, and we could not be more happy with the quality they provide. Our engine builder says that our motors look great every time they take them apart. When we won the 360 Nationals this year, the engine we won with had 21 nights on it. You cannot do that without having a good air system on your engine."

In closing, Shane Stewart said, "We would like to thank Rockstar, Makita, Lucas Oil, ART chassis, and Wesmar Engines. We could not do what we love to do without these guys."

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.

Michael Vaters Builds Monster School Bus Called Higher Education

Sep 7, 2011

Michael Vaters' Monster School Bus called Higher Education. Photo by Dave Brown.

Michael Vaters is a 30-year veteran of the Monster Truck scene. His "Black Stallion" entries have been a fixture since 1984, being one of the first 12 monster trucks built to compete as the finales at tractor pull events when the genre was brand new. Vaters' driving skills evolved with the sport through the 1990's as the vehicles themselves grew in popularity and technical complexity. Today, he is considered one of the most versatile drivers in the sport. Vaters says "I have watched the sport evolve from crawling over cars to the high-impact sport it is today."

Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion Monster Truck. Photo by Dave Brown.

Michael Vaters still wheels the all-Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion and he is still a force to be reckoned with. The Vaters have added a new addition to the team, a Monster School Bus dubbed Higher Education. Higher Education is driven by long time crewmember and family friend Jimmy Tracey.

Vaters has always been a big fan of Ken Nelson and his drag racing, wheel stander Cool Bus. Ken and Mike have talked about the monster bus for about 5 years before the actual build began. Vaters stopped by Ken's hometown in Ashland OH to get measurements and dimensions of the Cool Bus wheel stander. Vaters picked up a styrofoam fiberglass mold of the front top of the bus where the flashing lights are. That was the launch pad for the monster bus build. Michael has been building his own molds and fiberglass body parts as well as parts for other monster truck drivers for a couple of years now. They built two fiberglass sections to make up the roof and a fiberglass front clip.

This Monster School Bus called Higher Education is driven by Jimmy Tracey. Photo by Dave Brown.

The sides of the bus are built from fiberboard donated by Capitol Building Supply in Hagerstown MD, a long time sponsor and supporter of the Black Stallion racing team. Vaters designed and engineered the new bus with very specific ideas and plans; building it stronger to withstand the abuse that a monster truck goes through. Because of this and many man-hours in the shop by the Black Stallion team it was completed in 13 days. Higher Education is built in 3/4 scale. The paint (school bus yellow) was provided by PPG and painted by the Stallion crew in house. Vaters wanted the bus to have all the details to make it look as realistic as possible. Vaters fabricated black rub rails to run down the sides and even installed flashing lights and a flip out STOP sign. "We knew Higher Education would be a popular truck but our expectations have been blown away with the response we have gotten from fans this summer" states Vaters when asked about how the kids like the bus.

Most recently, Michael Vaters Jr. stepped into his dad's drivers seat behind the wheel of the Black Stallion for his first freestyle run at an event. Michael Jr has been a professional freestyle motocross rider since age 16 performing at events all over the US and Canada. He grew up around monster trucks traveling around with his Dad since before he could walk. His upbringing in the sport and knowledge of how the trucks work showed as he ran the Black Stallion like a pro with a fast paced astounding 5 minute run hitting all the obstacles and thrilling the fans. Mike Vaters Sr. said "It has always been a dream of mine that Mikey get behind the wheel and drive for our monster truck team. It would be great to see him continue on with the Black Stallion when I can't drive anymore. What parent wouldn't want that but ultimately it is his choice."

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.

Paul Brown's Tiger Racing Documentary B5141872 a Film by Allan Crocket

Sep 6, 2011

Paul Brown doubled-up at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, winning both rounds.

The Historic Ojai Theater, located in the bucolic downtown stretch of Ojai, California was the sight for the premier of the motorsports documentary, "B5141872." The theater is billed as a unique cinema experience combining the best viewing technologies with classic Hollywood charm. And, it was in fact, the ideal place to sit with an overflowing tub of buttery popcorn, an ice-cold soda, amazing surround sound, and the big screen flickering to life the tale of Paul Brown and the Tiger Racing/Wellendorf Performance team's effort in building a championship racecar.

The documentary is the passion work of Allan Crocket and friends from Crocket's Barber Driving Experience, homed in Camarillo, California. The film takes a revealing look at what Tiger Racing has had to overcome and work through this season. The in-depth exposé examines the 1969 Mustang Boss 494 Can Am Series from concept, to build, to testing and on to the first races of the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge GTS season.

The star, B5141872, meets with fans in front of the Historic Ojai Theater.

Tiger Racing is a professional and vintage motorsport team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Covina, California, and their lead driver is K&N sponsored, Paul Brown. The films name "B5141872" is taken from the Mustang's VIN number, and although recalling the film's title may present challenges later, remembering the honest, heartfelt, emotional roller-coaster imagines will not. The film begins and ends with Brown's triumphant victory at this year's Grand Prix at Long Beach, indeed a story onto itself, yet for Brown the win at Long Beach only marked what is shaping up to be a historic milestone season for him and his Tiger Racing team.

Piloting the K&N Motorsports Infiniti G35, Brown sent notice early this year by setting several track records, and by winning the opening two rounds of the Redline Pro Time Attack Events for Super Modified RWD. And with his trusted friend and veteran Crew Chief, Adam Cox, Brown followed up his sweep of both races of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, by increasing his points lead in the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge GTS Driver's Championship and finishing second in both races of the weekend at Infineon Raceway.

The K&N sponsored driver has been on the SCCA Pro Racing Pirelli World Challenge podium a total of seven times already this season.

"We were all looking forward to another good weekend and even though we had the car to win, the focus was to score points and keep our eye on the real prize, the Championship," Brown remarked. "Going into Rounds 9 and 10, we had one goal in mind and that was to keep it clean, stay out of trouble and finish both races in the best position possible."

Brown currently has the points lead with 1249, 221 points over second place, with two rounds of racing remaining. K&N Race News spoke with Allan Crocket about making a race documentary, and the possibility of "B5141872 Part II - The Championship."

What inspired you to take this documentary in the direction that you did?
"A few things got me going on this project. First and foremost it involved a very talented, good friend (Brown). I raced Mustangs in 2008 to a Time Attack class championship, and so I knew that this car would be good, significant and potentially historical. It really started out as a build documentary, but as things developed, the build became just the building block of this story. The quality of the people and the strong fundamentals, work ethic, and friendship they showed, won me over to make it a larger picture. I literally was compelled at that point. My right-hand man, Stephen Sanderlin, and I started in October and ended filming in April; I'm guessing I have about 700 hours in the project."

Ideally what do you expect to achieve with the film?
"The piece is designed to be adaptable as ether a one hour TV format, film festival, or Web product. The story is not over, the journey is well underway, but as professional racing is a show, the SCCA has to slow Paul down to make the racing close. So he is now dealing with power restriction, and worse tons of "rewards weight". Can he hang on for a championship? Hard to say, but it will be fun to find out. It is possible the sponsors will request the piece to be expanded to a feature release based on this piece and the potential of making history.

Brown extended his points lead this weekend by finishing second in both round 9 and 10.

What sort of challenges did you face making the film, and does it live up to your expectations?
"OMG - plenty of challenges! Where do I start, there was really no script, set, sound stage. Sound was a serious challenge as we filmed on noisy racetracks and interviewed people while at SEMA with tons of background noise. Another challenge is we didn't go with a crew of 20. It was Stephen and I, or many times just me, with an ENG style HD video camera. Stephen was shooting with a Canon 7D and these two cameras look very different when you edit. Over the project we learned to set the Canon's scene files to be closer to the Panasonic Video camera. Lots of learning on the fly. In a way I guess, this is an ultimate reality show, no set, no actors, just competition with the clock, the checkbook, and the other teams. Ultimately however, we feel that it looks acceptable, and after a few hundred hours mixing, it sounds very real."

"Does the project live up to my expectations? Yes, because my journey was very rewarding, and I think we tell the story well. Really though, it's all through the viewers eyes. They will determine the good or bad of it."

After the premier in Ojai, what is the plan for the film?
"Like Paul, I am in competition. I want to measure myself against the people, and companies that do this sort of thing. That means film festival competitions. I also want to continue this story and it looks like there is a very real chance that may happen."

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 Lifetime Air Filter Gives 2011-2016 Infiniti QX56 with 5.6L Engine a Simple Performance Option

Sep 6, 2011

Replacement Air Filter for 2011 to 2016 Infiniti QX56 5.6L

The Infiniti QX56 has been re-invented for the 2011 model year. This large, luxury SUV was designed using premium materials with top-notch craftsmanship. Its direct injection and variable valve timing delivers 400 horsepower from its powerful 5.6 liter V8 engine. Advanced climate control, luxurious interior, three rows of seating, massive cargo space and an extremely quite cabin have set the Infiniti QX56 in a category all to its own.

Restriction Chart for 33-2456 Air Filter

Owners of a 2011 to 2016 Infiniti QX56 with 5.6 liter engine can select K&N's lifetime air filter 33-2456 as an alternative to the stock paper filter that requires replacement over and over. The 33-2456 is a washable, reusable air filter designed to increase power while providing outstanding filtration to help ensure long engine life.

Installation of K&N's replacement air filter for the Infiniti QX56 is simple due to its drop-in design. The unique shape of the 33-2456 panel air filter allows it to fit into the stock air box and seal tightly against it. K&N air filters are designed to increase horsepower and torque. Adding performance to your SUV is as easy as switching air filters.

K&N's pleated, depth-loading design allows the 33-2456 to perform for up to 50,000 miles before cleaning is necessary. Cleaning your K&N Infiniti QX56 air filter is easy and can be done using one of K&N's Recharger kits and following a set of simple cleaning instructions.

The 33-2456 is backed by the famous K&N Million Mile Limited Warranty and will be the last air filter your Infiniti QX56 will ever need.

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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