Honda get the green flag as management buy-out agreed

The Honda formula one team have agreed a management buy-out meaning that they will participate in the 2009 season, it has been reported. The team will begin testing their new car at Silverstone next Thursday. The future of the team, including No1 driver Jenson Button, had been in doubt ever since Honda put the team up for sale in December after announcing that it was withdrawing from the sport as a constructor and engine supplier.

The Times are now reporting, however, that the future of the team and the majority of Honda's 700 employees is assured after a buy-out was agreed using a "combination of money from Honda itself for this year, funds from Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, and commercial sponsorship". The buy-out is being led by current team principal Ross Bawn.

It is not yet known what name the team will operate under or who will partner Button as driver in 2009, although Brazilians Rubens Barrichello, who has been with the Honda team for the past three seasons, or rookie Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna are the most likely candidates.

The team will begin official testing in Barcelona on 9 March ahead if the new season which begins in Melbourne on 29 March.

(Source: Guardian.co.uk)

Racing News: Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor Form American F1 Team

SEMA eNews, Vol. 12, No. 8 - Feb 26, 2009
Racing News: Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor Form American F1 Team

FORMULA ONE: A new U.S.-based Formula One team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, was unveiled Tuesday. Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor are the team principals.

DATE MOVES: With promoter Joe Mattioli III no longer involved at Nashville’s Music City Motorplex, the ARCA RE/MAX Series race scheduled there has been moved to Mansfield Motorsports Park, which had announced in December it would not open for the 2009 season. Mattioli worked an arrangement with Mansfield owner Mike Dzurilla to have the race at Mansfield on June 20.

CLOSING: Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway, near Pittsburgh, is closing for 2009 and is for sale.

NEW PROMOTER: Milwaukee Mile Holdings LLC, headed by Claude Napier, has been named the new promoter at The Milwaukee Mile, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds.

SOLD: Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pennsylvania, has been sold to Rick Hetrick and Roy Hill, who will operate the dirt-track facility this season.

HIRED: Robert Doornbos has been hired to drive the second Newman/Haas/Lanigan Indy car alongside Graham Rahal. Milka Duno is expected to test with the team and could wheel a third car for the organization this season.

OPEN WHEELERS: USAC opened the season with the Copper on Dirt at Manzanita Speedway. Darren Hagen (sprint cars), Brad Sweet (midgets) and Bud Kaeding (Silver Crown) were winners.

ANOTHER HONOR: National Speed Sport News Editor Chris Economaki has been named the 2009 winner of the Pocono Raceway Bill France Award of Excellence.

TOP DOG: With his second-consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, Matt Kenseth jumped to the top of the weekly National Speed Sport News Power Rankings. The rankings appear weekly in America’s motorsports authority.

SUBSCRIBE: National Speed Sport News has been published weekly since 1934. To subscribe to National Speed Sport News, click on the following link for a special industry rate: www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/subscribe.html?pid=NQ%2BVfhkepT4%3D.

Collins looking to repeat as pre-running starts SCORE San Felipe Advance 2.25.09

February 25, 2009





Rd 2, 2009 SCORE Desert Series

Collins looking to repeat as pre-running starts

Saturday for 23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250



Nearly 225 cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs from 20 U.S. States,

Six countries expected in March 14 popular desert race in Mexico;

Motorcycle and ATV classes to be featured on NBC Sports show





LOS ANGELES—As pre-running starts Saturday for next month’s 23rd Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, veteran Las Vegas desert racer Brian Collins and his Collins Motorsports team are finalizing plans to repeat as overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck winners of the popular spring race. With four class wins in this race, Collins is the defending Overall winner in this event in the No. 12 Collins Motorsports Dodge Ram1500.

Round 2 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series will be held March 13-15 in Mexico’s quaint and picturesque fishing village of San Felipe, located on the East side of the Baja California peninsula along the azure waters of the tranquil Sea of Cortez.

With nearly 225 entries from 20 U.S. States and six countries expected to compete in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes in the 232.4-mile race, the green flag will drop at 6 a.m. local time on Saturday, March 14, for the motorcycle and ATV classes, followed three hours later by the car and truck classes at approximately 10 a.m. local time. The start line for the race will once again be the landmark San Felipe Arches on Highway 5 on the outskirts of San Felipe. The race will finish just south of the Arches, directly behind the Tecate building. One vehicle will start every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race, with a 10-hour time limit to become an official finisher.

Following January’s season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Series will visit Mexico for the first of three races in 2009.

“We appreciate all that the Mexican officials have done to provide us with the same race route as last year as well as continuing all of the other safety-related support they provide for all of the SCORE Baja races,” said Sal Fish, SCORE President/CEO. “This will be another exciting a memorable adventure and we look forward to spending ‘Spring Break’ in San Felipe with the world’s best desert racers.”

This year’s race will use the same 232.4-mile race course as 2008, running in a counter clockwise direction out of San Felipe up to and then back West along Highway 3 and back South and down through three of the most picturesque and challenging washes in all of Baja.

After the start at the landmark San Felipe Arches, the race will proceed north towards Zoo Road. The area approaching the Zoo Road crossing was bladed last year, making a safer approach to the popular spectator area. That area will again be fenced and patrolled so that spectators can watch the action but not put themselves in way of the action.

This will be one of the few times that SCORE will run through the majestic Matomi Wash in the early part of the race instead of near the end. After Matomi, the challenging course will run through two more of the infamous Baja washes—Azufre and Huatomote before heading back Northwest for the final 19.6 miles to the finish line.

Collins, who also captured the overall victory in this race in 1990 to give him two career San Felipe overalls, is one of 10 overall San Felipe race winners out of the last 13 years who is entered this year.

“We have done pretty well in the SCORE San Felipe 250 over the years and running the same course this year will help our mental as well as physical preparation for the race,” said Collins, who has five career SCORE Trophy-Truck race wins in the 15-plus year history of the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks. Among his victories were back-to-back triumphs in the 2006 and 2007 Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

Leading the way of returning overall winners with three victories are Las Vegas brothers Tim and Ed Herbst (1999, 2000, 2001) who after taking last year off of desert racing will debut their new No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck.

Mark Post, Laguna Beach, Calif. also has three San Felipe overall wins, one in Class 1 (1998) and two in SCORE Trophy-Truck (2004, 2007). Post won with Jerry Whelchel in 1998 and 2004 and in 2007, his second driver was current teammate Rob MacCachren, Las Vegas, in the No. 3 Riviera Racing Ford F-150.

MacCachren has two San Felipe overall wins, having also won in 2003 as the second driver for Mexico’s Gus Vildosola. Vildosola will be the second driver this year for his son Gus Vildosola Jr., in the popular No. 4 Red Bull Vildosola Racing Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck.

NASCAR’s Cup team owner/driver Robby Gordon, who is the current SCORE Overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck point leader after his season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, won in San Felipe in 1996 and will be driving this year in the No. 77 Robby Gordon Racing Chevy CK1500.

Curt LeDuc, Cherry Valley, Calif., won the San Felipe overall in 1997 and will be second driver this year for Nick Vanderwey, Phoenix, in the No. 84 Flying Dutchmen Chevy Silverado.

SCORE Trophy-Trucks have won 13 overalls in San Felipe in their 15-year history. Post/Whelchel in 1997 and San Diego’s son/father team of Andy and Scott McMillin (2005) have the only two Class 1 wins since SCORE debuted the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division in 1994.

Champion Southern California desert racers Damen Jefferies and Robby Bell received the pole positions for four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles in the computerized drawing for starting positions held Feb. 21. Jefferies races in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division while Bell competes in Class 22 for open motorcycles.

Jefferies, 36, of Apple Valley, Calif., is a veteran SCORE desert racer who has three career SCORE Class season point titles in three different classes, including the 1997 SCORE Overall point championships. Also a successful desert chassis builder, Jefferies is racing the No. 22 Jefferies Racing Chevy Silverado this year with Luis Ramirez Jr. of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Jefferies is eighth in his class point standings this year after finishing fifth last season.

Bell, 23, of Sun City, Calif., has left the factory Honda team after winning the two-wheel overall title in San Felipe the last three years and will be teamed with another former Honda rider Mike Childress on the No. 1x Kawasaki KX450F. Bell drew the first start last year as well for the JCR team owned by SCORE Baja racing legend Johnny Campbell.

SCORE Trophy-Truck has the most entries to date with 20, followed by Class 1-2/1600 with 15 and the unlimited Class 1 with 14. Late registration will be accepted up until race morning and as many as 30 more entries are expected.

Besides Collins and Bell the other defending class winners expected back this year are: Germany’s Armin Schwarz (Class 1), Adam Pfankuch, Carlsbad, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600), Donald Moss, Sacramento (Class 3), Marcos Nunez, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 5/1600), John Holmes, Olivenhain, Calif. (Class 7SX), Rodrigo Ampudia Jr., Ensenada, Mexico (Class 8), Eric Solorzano, Tijuana, Mexico (Class 11), Anna Cody, Simi Valley, Calif. (Class 20), Jim O’Neal, Simi Valley, Calif. (Class 30), Bret Helm, Poway, Calif. (Class 40-Scott Myers is rider of record this year) and Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif. (Class 25).

Also back to defend his Sportsman class win among those entered to date is Sportsman Car winner Peter Lang.

The pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and tech inspection of the vehicles in the race will be held on Friday, March 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the picturesque Malecon, flanked by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the popular restaurants and night clubs of San Felipe on the other.

At 10 a.m. on Sunday (March 15), the awards celebration will be held in front of The Beachcomber Night Club on the Malecon.

Through the efforts of SCORE’s electronic media partner, Aura360, SCORE has also announced that the motorcycle and ATV race will be featured in the April 26 NBC Sports telecast of the Jeep World of Adventure Sport.

This will mark the third time these classes have been featured on that NBC show and Aura360 will also produce a complete-race DVD on the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 for the first time. For the past five years, Aura360 has produced special DVDs of both the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 races. The special DVD from the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, featuring the 43-minute NBC broadcast of the race along with special never-before-seen bonus coverage is on sale now through www.thebajaunlimited.com.

In addition to season point class point championships, drivers in the Pro car and truck classes are also racing to earn prestigious SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards given to all car and truck class drivers who complete every required mile of the five-race season. Being presented by Toyota Motorsports for the 24th consecutive year, a total of 52 drivers remain eligible after Round 1 of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Off-Road, American Suzuki, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 are the Tourism and Convention Bureau of Mexicali/San Felipe, and Cotuco.

The race annually provides a greater economic impact to San Felipe than the entire month-long ‘Spring Break’.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.



23rd Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250

Round 2 of five-race 2009 SCORE Desert Series

March 13-15, 2009—232.4 miles

San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Total Entries: 181 (as of 2/25/09)

(from 16 States, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Mexico New Zealand & Germany)

Pro Cars & Trucks

SCORE TROPHY-TRUCK (20)

22 Damen Jefferies

96 Bobby Baldwin

1 B.J. Baldwin

35 Robbie Pierce

3 Mark Post

8 Roger Norman

77 Robby Gordon

13 Ed Stout

19 Troy Herbst

12 Brian Collins

50 Jason McNeil

24 Adam Householder

47 James Bult

51 Kory Scheeler

84 Nick Vanderwey

11 Greg Nunley

4 Gus Vildosola Jr.

2 Pete Sohren

40 Chet Huffman

16 Cameron Steele

CLASS 1 (14)

101 Josh Rigsby

102 Brian Parkhouse

103 Rob Bruce

104 Armin Schwarz

105 Harley Letner

106 Tim Herbst

107 Richard Boyle

108 Julio Herrera

109 Ronny Wilson

110 Dale Lenk

111 Armin Kremer

112 Chuck Sacks

113 Paul Keller

114 Randy Wilson

CLASS 1-2/1600 (15)

1601 Luis Martinez

1602 Arturo Velazco

1603 Samuel Araiza

1604 Mario Gastelum

1605 Brad Wilson

1606 Brian Wilson

1607 Myan Spaccarelli

1608 Cody Robinson

1609 Quentin Tucker

1610 Justin Davis

1645 David Caspino

1646 Roman Pereyra

1647 Eric Duran

1648 Marco Gallo

1649 Victor Barreda

CLASS 3 (2)

300 Donald Moss

349 Ken Leavitt

CLASS 5 (3)

501 Shaun Dunbar

500 Kevin Carr

519 Carlos Albanez

CLASS 5/1600 (4)

551 Alonso Angulo

552 Trevor Anderson

550 Marcos Nunez

579 Miguel Rosales

CLASS 6 (2)

601 Marc Burnett

602 Heidi Steele

CLASS 7 (4)

701 Jose Canchola Jr.

700 Dan Chamlee

703 Brandon Walsh

714 Heidi Steele

CLASS 7SX (4)

741 Nick Moncure

742 Oscar Solaiza

758 Eduardo Gonzalez

759 John Holmes

CLASS 8 (5)

801 Rodrigo Ampudia Jr.

802 Dave Crinklaw

803 Michael Brett

804 Clyde Stacey

805 Juan C. Lopez

CLASS 9 (1)

900 Daniel Reyes Jr.

CLASS 10 (6)

1001 Javier Robles

1002 Tito Robles

1000 Mike Lawrence

1004 Sergio Salgado

1005 Jesus Gonzalez

1049 Alejandro Navarrete

SCORE LITE (9)

1201 John Padgett

1202 Brent Parkhouse

1203 John Langley

1204 Lee Banning

1205 Michelle Bruckmann

1206 Ty Godde

1207 Dan Worley

1208 Gary Johnson

1200 Rick St. John

CLASS 11 (1)

1149 Eric Solorzano

STOCK FULL (2)

861 Clyde Stacey

862 Justin Matney

STOCK MINI (1)

779 Gavin Skilton

PRO MOTORCYCLES

CLASS 22 (5)

1x Robby Bell

2x Cameron Corfman

3x Kendall Norman

4x Colton Udall

5x Ivan Ramirez

CLASS 21 (5)

101x Carlos Becerril

102x Jeremy Purvines

103x Bill Boyer

104x Mike West

105x Hector Castillo

CLASS 20 (2)

151x Jesus Rios

150x Anna Cody

CLASS 30 (7)

301x Javier Hernandez

302x Sol Saltzman

303x Shane Esposito

300x Jim O’Neal

305x Mike Johnson

306x Justin Hambleton

307x Sean Bradley

CLASS 40 (3)

401x Brian Campbell

400x Scott Myers

449x Julio Abril

CLASS 50 (1)

500x Jim O’Neal

CLASS 60 (2)

608x William Rogers

609x Ramon Izuarieta

PRO ATVs

CLASS 25 (9)

2a Adolfo Arellano

3a Felipe Velez

1a Wayne Matlock

5a Jeff Hancock

6a Hunter Miller

7a Javier Robles

8a Greg Row

9a Nick Nelson

10a Santos Perez

CLASS 24 (11)

101a Jose Juarez

102a Victor Lopez

103a Jovany Pimental

104a Benjamin Lopez

106a Roberto Ruiz

107a Tom Wright

100a Craig Christy

109a Jorge Valenzuela

110a Abraham Romero

148a Shawn Robins

149a Luis Berumen

CLASS 26 (4)

201a Reid Rutherford

202a Jason Wade

203a Felicia Rodriguez

219a Rob Ransford

SPORTSMAN

SPT CAR (2)

1401 George Jackson

1400 Peter Lang

SPT UTV (3)

1801 Thomas Graves

1802 Peter Hajas

1803 Brian Hewett

SPT M/C< (10)

201x Scott Anderson

202x Trisha West

203x Fred Sobke

204x Ben Harman

206x Matt Ladendorf

207x Rene Echegaray

208x Greg Willitts

209x Ryan Puckett

210x Daniel Castellanos

249x Louie Montano

SPT M/C> (15)

251x Hank Salyer

252x Brock Campbell

253x Baxter Gillespie

254x Manuel Reyes

255x Oscar Fazz

256x Rusty Sexton

257x Bryon Schmidt

258x Craig Anstine

259x Jimmy Boutwell

260x Eric Anderson

261x Brent Downing

262x Jeff Leonard

263x Ken Kosiorek

264x Mike Short

299x Shawn Evans

SPT ATV (9)

50a Joselito Muro

51a Javier Guerrero

52a Brent Davis

53a Alberto Maya

54a Adrian Valdez

55a Daniel Montano

56a Samuel Fuson

57a Bill Hacker

99a Gustavo Ameca

K&N Takes Consumer Confidence to a New Level

Long known for its Million Mile Limited Warranty, K&N now stands behind its product and its consumers. Occasionally, consumers may encounter uncooperative dealerships that claim the presence of a K&N Air filter or other aftermarket product voids their vehicle warranty coverage. Even though there are laws designed to protect consumers, the problem can still exist leaving the consumer at a disadvantage and the dealership in control. NO MORE!



K&N now offers its Consumer Protection Pledge. The Pledge states that K&N will not allow a consumer to be taken advantage of by a misinformed dealership. K&N has a team of professionals specially trained to step in, interact directly with the dealership and resolve any warranty concerns the dealership may have. If they cannot reach a solution with the Dealership, the consumer will be taken care of and K&N will pursue remedies directly from the dealership.



As part of this new program, K&N also offers an “Engine Protection Limited Warranty.” Under this warranty, K&N is so confident in the quality and capabilities of their products that K&N will pay for any reasonable vehicle repair costs, sensor replacements, car rental fees or other incidental expenses directly related to an engine problem caused by the failure of a K&N product.



“We are thrilled to offer these protections to consumers as a demonstration of our confidence in our products. Building “The World’s Best Air filter” means standing behind consumer experiences with our product 100%” says Steve Rogers, the Company’s CEO. The complete details of K&N’s Consumer Protection Pledge and Warranties can be found online at http://www.knfilters.com/warranty.htm.



K&N Engineering, Inc., with headquarters in Riverside, California, has been the world’s leader in performance filter technology since 1969, serving the needs of the automotive, motorcycle, marine, industrial, and military markets. K&N is heavily involved in nearly every form of motorsports, from off-road and powersports, to drag racing, stock cars and road racing. For more information about K&N, please contact K&N Engineering, Inc., P.O. Box 1329, Riverside, CA 92502-1329, (800) 858-3333, (951) 826-4001 Fax, or to see updated vehicle applications visit www.knfilters.com.