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Kent Robinson Earns His First Late Model Victory of 2012 At Brownstown Speedway

16 Aug 2012

Kent Robinson recently earned his first victory of the season while racing at the Brownstown Speedway.

Kent Robinson recently rolled into Moler Raceway park, in Williamsburg, Ohio, with anticipation of a successful night on the track. Racing in the World of Outlaws Super Late Model class, the driver had been near the front of the pack several times this season, but had yet to take a checkered flag.

Anxious to get the American Dirt Racing Association sanctioned, $3,000.00-to-win Freedom Fighters 40 underway, Robinson locked into the Pole-Sitter's dash. Although the night had started off on a positive note, it didn't take long for his luck to change, as the driver experienced a flat, lending to an eighth place finish, putting him in the eighth starting spot for the 40-lap feature. At the night's end, he walked away from the feature in second place.

Kent Robinson is looking forward to a competitive season in the Late Model class in 2012.

On the following night, Kent Robinson showed up at the Brownstown Speedway, in Brownstwon, Indiana, still longing for his first victory of the season. Starting fifth in his heat race, the driver maneuvered his way into second place, earning a fifth starting position in a field of thirty-three drivers for the main event.

My confidence level going into the event was pretty average," recalled Robinson. "One reason being that I had been running with the World of Outlaw series and the level of competition on that circuit is extremely high. It kind of keeps you grounded. Especially since I am a rookie, and they all have much more experience."

Kent Robinson is experiencing his first season in the World of Outlaw series.

Referring to his heat race, the driver continued, "After the second place finish, I felt very good about the rest of the night. I knew if we made the correct changes to the car, we would be capable of winning."

One might suspect that Kent Robinson's confidence lost its vigor when he fell back as far as the seventh position in the thirty lap feature, but his drive to earn a checkered flag was more than enough to keep him focused and charging forward. In fact, he continued muscling his way around drivers until finally taking the lead in lap twenty-three and earning his first victory of the year.

"The track was in great shape," he stated. "It got wide with a decent cushion, while black and smooth through the center," recalled Robinson. "After we took the lead, there wasn't too much pressure, because our tires had gotten enough heat to fire off and the car really took off. We had about a five car lead upon crossing the finish line."

When asked the trick to taking the checkered flag, the driver said, "I think the key to getting back to the front was patience. I hope the victory can help as a confidence booster to not only me as the driver, but also to my team as a whole. I think it will."

"My team is very important," he explained. "In the World of Outlaw series, there is a very open tire rule. Therefore,there is about ten to fourteen different compounds of tires we can run. We have them all ready to go at every race, and that takes a huge amount of time and dedication. Also, these cars have many moving parts that require a lot of fine examinations and maintenance to ensure nothing breaks or malfunctions during competition. All of these things are something that I do not have enough time to complete myself. Therefore without a crew, we would be nothing."

That said, Kent Robinson has an acute understanding of the importance of maintenance, and depends upon K&N products to keep his engines free of foreign debris. "I've been using K&N products for about five years," he explained. "I use their oil, air and fuel filters, as well as their cleaner oil and prefilters. Also, we use a K&N air filter in our race hauler. I think they absolutely have the best products available today."

When asked the key to success throughout the future, Kent Robinson said, "Dedication and staying positive through the hard times. I have been involved in racing for about nine years now. I enjoy the competition and friendships you build along the way." When asked what fans can expect from Kent Robinson and his crew throughout the remainder of the season, he said, "Well, I hope they can expect a lot of Wins! But we all know those are hard to come by, so I would say you can expect us to be competitive, but also respectful on and off the track."

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Fire Dampens Tom Martino's Hopes At The NHRA Summit Equipment Nationals

15 Aug 2012

Tom Martino and Martino Motorsports recently lost all hopes of a victory at the Summit Motorsports Park, when a nitrous explosion put them out of the race.

Recently rolling into Norwalk, Ohio, Tom Martino and Martino Motorsports had high aspirations about what would transpire in the NHRA Spitzer Top Dragster class during hours to come. Eager to get the NHRA Summit Equipment Nationals underway at the Summit Motorsports Park, Tom and the crew's confidence level was high, and for good reason.

Our K&N dragster was having a great season leading up to the event,"recalled Martino. "We were getting the opportunity to compete at a track where we've had over thirty years of experience, running with great success. We had a large amount of family, friends, sponsors and fans driving, and flying across the country to cheer us on. We were looking at a great five-day weather forecast for the event.

The driver continued, "our car had been running great. We were sitting as high as number eight in the NHRA LODRS Top Dragster points this season. We had been qualifying strong at each event we ran with career best E.T.s (elapsed times), and most importantly, winning rounds."

Tom Martino has experienced a successful season thus far in 2012.

After laying down an elapsed time of 6.65, topping out at 203 miles-per-hour and experiencing low reaction times during the qualifying round, it looked as if Tom Martino was on the verge of an other successful outing. That said though, an old hand at the sport, Martino was also likely aware that things could go amiss at the twinkling of an eye. As fate would have it, bad luck reared its ugly head during the first round of the eliminations in front of a sold out crowd and a live ESPN 3 audience.

At the very beginning of the race, everything appeared to be going as planned. But then a series of explosions suddenly rattled the dragster and demanded the spectators attention. The nitrous explosion caused the engine to lose all power as fire began flashing over the driver's head.

"I've been drag racing for well over forty years," explained Martino. "Of the thousands of times I've down in the Quarter-mile in my career, I've never experienced anything like the incident that we had at Norwalk first round. It's probably the last thing I expected when the car left the line. On the pass, we had a huge starting line advantage with a .019 light to our competitor's .116. The car felt like it was on a great pass, with the wheels hiked up. Then, in a matter of milliseconds, there was a series of large booms. The NHRA Safety Crew did a great job immediately responding to the incident."

Recalling the seconds following the explosion, Martino said, "Actually, the first thing that came to my mind when the motor went dead was, I hope the other guy runs under his dial, so we could get the first-round win. By the time the dragster came to a stop, it finally hit me what had just occurred. There was series of two fireballs that pushed over the top of the driver's compartment, similar to a fire breathing dragon in an action movie, when each nitrous stage hit. Luckily, our hood scoop sits as high as it does, and kept the flames out of harm's way. When watching the replay in slow-motion on ESPN, all I could say is Wow! That could have easily took a turn for the worse in a matter of seconds. We are very lucky in that regard."

When asked if anything positive came out of the explosion, the drivers said. "It's funny that you should ask that question. A fellow racer, who won Top Sportsman, jokingly told us we received more exposure and television coverage from our fire than he did for the national event win."

The driver continued, "As tough as it was losing at Norwalk and experiencing what we did there are a few things to keep in mind. First, we are all safe and still in one piece after the event. Secondly, any damage that occurred to the motor can be repaired or replaced. Although we added a few new videos and photos to our team highlight reels, this is the kind of situation we hope to never experience again. Hopefully, we are able to step back, study our Race-pak data system from the run, and take note from the engine tear-down to help take better preventative measures in the future to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Since that memorable outing at the Summit Motorsports Park, Tom Martino and his crew have gotten their ducks back in a row and are geared up and ready to roll again. That said, the driver is aware that much of his success will depend a great deal on their ability to keep the dragster in perfect running condition. That in mind, they will depend upon K&N products to keep their engine contaminant free.

"Living in Northeastern Ohio, we face below-zero weather, snow, and ice all winter long, and then jump right into one-hundred-degree-plus summers," shared Tom Martino. "With our daily drivers facing said conditions year after year, we rely on the best products available in the industry,"he continued.

"We also utilize K&N air and oil filters on our six-second, two-hundred-plus mile per hour NHRA Top Dragster. Take it from us; when you have large amounts of time and money invested in a motor and racing program, you need the security and performance K&N provides. Their oil filters are the most important accessory to any engine combination. They are easy to install, durable in construction and built to withstand the most extreme conditions. We have been using K&N products for many years in our daily drivers and race vehicles. We wouldn't have it any other way."

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.

American Le Mans Series Team Corvette Racing Look for GT Championship After Laguna Seca Wins

10 Aug 2012

Four-time 24 hours of Le Mans winner Jan Magnussen and teammate Antonio Garcia on the Laguna corkscrew.

Four-time 24 hours of Le Mans winner Jan Magnussen and teammate Antonio Garcia on the Laguna Seca corkscrew.

Just four races remain in the 2012 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron, and Corvette Racing looks poised to bring home the GT Championship with a strong finish.

The team made a driver change in the offseason, moving four-time 24 hours of Le Mans winner Jan Magnussen away from Oliver Gavin and the No. 4 car and into the No. 3 car, teaming with Antonio Garcia, and placing Gavin with second-year Corvette driver Tommy Milner.

"The move is working out well for both teams," Gavin said, coming off a victory with Milner at Mid-Ohio. "The decision was made to put Jan back in the No. 3 car and move Tommy over, and for a number of reasons it has worked. Jan and I are the most experienced drivers on the team, so to put Antonio with Jan made sense. Plus they are similar in size, and Tommy and I are similar in size and the experience levels match up now.

Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner sit on top of the GT Championship points standings

"It looked like a good decision at the start of the year and it's paying off. It's all working out very well."

The decision has the team poised to take the top two spots in the GT Championship. While the team of Magnussen and Garcia got off to a consistent start, Gavin and Milner have had their ups and downs, winning some races while running into mechanical issues at others. But the results have made for a tight points race, with Gavin and Milner sitting on top of the points standings, just 13 points ahead of third-place Magnussen and Garcia. Defending GT champions Joey Hand and Dirk Muller are just one point ahead of the No. 3 car.

"The work we've done over the winter has been great," Gavin continued. "The engine work, work with the aero and the wider body and different tires, all of those things have helped us to move up and consistently score victories. The entire crew have worked very well and we've had some good strategy and executed well."

The win at Mid-Ohio, Gavin and Milner's third of the season, was impressive, but the turning point in the season for Corvette Racing came at the third event at the historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, where Corvette Racing finished 1-2 with Gavin and Milner taking home the win.

One-Two Podium Finish for Corvette Racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

"The last couple of years we had not had the best of luck or runs their," Gavin said. "The car has had problems at the track. We were unsure of how quick we would be, but it soon became clear to us that we could run at the front and be a real factor."

One thing Gavin and Milner need to avoid is the bad luck that has haunted them seemingly every time they get some momentum. At the Grand Prix of Mosport in Canada, a race Gavin and Magnussen dominated last year, the No. 4 car experienced transmission problems all weekend, ending the race early. As a result, the point lead isn't quite as big as Gavin and Milner would like, especially knowing they have to find a way to beat two championship combinations in Magnussen/Garcia and Hand/Muller.

"(The championship) is going to come down to being consistent and smart, knowing when to take risks. It's going to be tough. We've got a lot of unique races left, still plenty to happen. The street race in Baltimore is going to be crazy. You can't take your eye off the ball at one point. This is going to come down to someone making a mistake, whether it's by a driver or an engineer with the strategy or in the pit lane with a stop. Usually these things are shaped by a small mistake that can have big effects on the race.

"You just hope it's not you or your car. It is a human sport, and human error happens."

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NASCAR K&N Pro Series Racer Corey LaJoie Captures Pork Be Inspired 150 Win at Iowa Speedway

10 Aug 2012

Corey LaJoie does a burnout to celebrate his Pork Be Inspired 150 win at Iowa Speedway.

Against the best drivers and teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, Corey LaJoie rose to the top at Iowa Speedway, winning the Pork Be Inspired 150.

In a field that included the top drivers from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and East, LaJoie battled through a red-flag caution period on lap 137 and led the final 10 laps of the race.

LaJoie won his third race of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series season, the most of any driver from the East Series. He won the first race of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in June and followed with a win at Langley Speedway in Virginia later that month.

NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Iowa Speedway pole winner Brennan Newberry.

"We've had a couple rough weeks," LaJoie said. "Luckily we were able to bounce back in a pretty big way and set a statement here against the best of the best. It's one thing to win at a Bowman Gray or a Langley, a real short track, but whenever you come to Iowa, a superspeedway more or less, to come out on top is incredible."

LaJoie led a race-high 134 laps at Iowa Speedway. He took the lead from pole winner Cale Conley on lap 5 and was out front for the next 72 laps.

"The bottom is the shortest way around the track," LaJoie said. "I go off that philosophy. If you get your car working on the bottom, nobody's going to beat you - no matter if they're up against the fence or on the apron. That's just what I've been taught by my dad and everybody throughout my career. Tonight, I was living by it and I was going to die by it, too."

Brett Moffitt took over the lead on lap 78, but LaJoie regained it on lap 81 and was out front for another 49 laps. "He was definitely the class of the field," said rookie driver Kyle Larson, who finished second. "I don't think I could have beat him unless I got another caution maybe and got my tires cooled down. Second place is pretty good for us."

Corey LaJoie stays ahead of combined field of NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West racers.

Larson took the lead on lap 131 and held it through the red flag caution period when five cars collided in turn 2 on lap 134. LaJoie and Larson jostled for the lead on the ensuing restart until LaJoie finally pulled ahead on lap 140. "I knew it was going to be tough," Larson said. "Had about 12 or so to go and my car would fall off after about six or seven laps. I was hoping I could stay out in front of him and get another caution. It didn't go that way and we ended up second. I'm not complaining at all. Second is not too bad for how we were at Columbus."

Larson posted his fifth top-five finish at Iowa Speedway in 10 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races. Sergio Pena was third.

"I was thinking Kyle and Corey were going to battle out pretty hard and I was going to be able to drive by them," Pena said. "That's what I was hoping for at least. They raced each other pretty clean and really hard, so it's a great night of fun racing there. Just glad to finish third here."

Moffitt, who leads the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings after 10 races, was fifth. Conley was seventh.

Drivers from the East Series, including Travis Pastrana, took the top-eight spots in the race. Pastrana was sixth, his third top 10 in seven NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races.

An excited Corey LaJoie celebrates in victory lane after NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race at Iowa Speedway.

Michael Self was the highest-finishing driver from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in ninth place. He was the only driver from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in the top 10.

Greg Pursley, the leader in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings, was 20th. He has a seven-point lead over Gene Price Motorsports teammate Dylan Kwasniewski after 11 races.

Larson was able to cut into Moffitt's lead a little in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East standings. Moffitt has a 20-point lead over Larson.

The Pork Be Inspired 150 will be televised on Speed on Aug. 16 at noon PDT.

The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race is at Portland International Raceway in Oregon on Aug. 26. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race is the Greenville 140 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on Sept. 3.

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 Aaron Kinard Pummels Field for Emotional JEGS All-Stars Super Comp Championship

10 Aug 2012

Aaron Kinard Wins Super Comp at O'Reilly Route 66 Nationals.

In the tough ranks of NHRA sportsman competition, there are certain major milestones that many dream of achieving and one of those that remains very elite for the drivers is not only making it into the annual JEGS All-Stars field to represent their division, but more importantly to be crowned a champion. After a tough year battling it out to earn points and qualify for the prestigious shootout, San Marcos, California's Aaron Kinard made the nearly 2,100 mile one-way trip to Joliet, Illinois where he would be crowned the 2012 JEGS All-Stars Super Comp champion in a rather emotional day of racing.

"My dad [Larry] passed away last August and he was a huge influence on my racing," he explained. "He was who got me into racing, we raced together and in fact, we raced the final together at the very first divisional event you could claim for 2012 All-Stars points. He beat me in the final and that was the last race he attended before he died of cancer."

2012 JEGS All-Stars Super Comp champion Aaron Kinard.

While Kinard earned most of his All-Stars point competing in his own dragster, it would not be the one he would carry on in for the crown. "The car I won the All-Stars in was actually my dad's car," he explained. "It's pretty much built identical to the one I was running, but with the sentimental value I wanted to continue running it and sold my dragster."

It wasn't an easy "in" for Kinard to make the All-Stars roster and had a tight battle throughout most of the season. "Matt Woodard was pretty much on my tail kinda the whole year, as far as the points were concerned. I ended up getting in by one point, which is less than one round of racing," he confessed. "It was a real nail-biter all the way through and it came down to Vegas, where we were both in the third round. Whoever went farther at that race, was going to get to go."

"I actually got to watch the whole thing in front of me," he reflected of his fate into the All-Stars. "He was in the pair in front of me, as I sat in the water box and I saw the other guy's win light come on and that really took a lot of pressure off of me. I actually ended up losing right behind him, so to win by one point, well that was huge."

Sonoma Nationals' Super Comp Racer Aaron Kinard.

Racing at any level takes a lot of confidence, concentration and to do well, tons of dedication. After his father's passing, he showed all of that and more as he successfully carried on his quest for an JEGS All-Stars championship. "It has definitely been tough," said the multi-time Div. 7 champ. "I mean, we have done everything together since I was a little guy. It has not been easy losing your best friend and your dad, but I am a firm believer that there is a better place."

The 28th annual JEGS All-Stars event was held again in 2012 as a part of the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Illinois. Coming into the event, Kinard mustered all the extra confidence he could, since he joked that he was on "suicide watch". "You know I had been to nine Super Comp finals in a row and just couldn't close the deal. It was really starting to get in my head, then finally to win the All-Stars," he said. "It couldn't have happened in a better way. I remember in '09 when I won it and watching it back on the TV coverage, seeing my dad on the starting line and how happy he was. So, making it happen in his car, I know he wasn't there, but he was definitely riding along with me."

Before he could have a shot at the crown, Kinard would first have to get his 2008 Racetech dragster and its K&N protected 565ci BBC past Div. 1 representative Justin Mason, and expected father-to-be at any minute, in round one and did so to move on to the semifinals when Mason clicked the red-eye on by a mere one thousandth of a second. "Super nice guy and I had a chance to talk with him a little in the staging lanes," he said of Mason. "He was waiting for that phone call from his wife at any moment and I know that had him a little scattered right at that moment."

Super Comp racer Aaron Kinard wins 25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals taking out Justin Morgan in the final round.

That set him up to face Steve Evans from Div. 4 and Kinard skillfully drove both ends of the track to force Evans well under the 8.90 index. "I've been seeing more about Evans lately and I know he runs with [fellow K&N racer] Tommy Phillips, so I was sure they were sharing information. It was a pretty quick round and he was out in front of me and when I couldn't get there, I let him go."

Everyone who charges their way into an elite shootout, such as the JEGS, All-Stars is by no means a slouch on the race track, but with the unique group that are assembled each season, there are some racers who have never faced one another before and on the other hand there are certainly some competitors that are more well-known than others. Kinard's final round opponent would be the latter and he knew Sherman Adcock was not going to be easily handing him any wins.

"I have never raced Sherman. I obviously know a lot about him and he's just been deadly lately," he said. "I knew it was going to be tough, as I had watched him go .90 the round before. We definitely had a very close race."

Kinard put together the better .020 package to Adcock's .034 and the majority of it coming from his .009 light to his opponent's .019. The feat gave him his second JEGS All-Stars crown and helped his home NHRA Div. 7 earn enough points to take the 2012 Team Championship back to the West Coast for the first time, since the nearly three decade old sportsman program's inception.

This was Kinard's fourth year in a row to earn a spot in the All-Stars, with his first win coming in 2009 and now his second in 2012, every time competing in the 8.90 Super Comp category.

Before he got much a chance to begin his celebration, he was quickly made aware of how fortunate he really was not only during the final round, but to win it and do so safely. "When I pulled off the track at the top end, right away one of the safety guys points out that I had a leak," he explained. "We're not talking about a couple of drops leaking, we are talking the entire tank of fuel leaked out the bottom and just drained out like a hose. The fuel line that connects to the fuel filter had completely snapped off. How that didn't happen on the starting line, where they would have shut me off or for it to not have happened during the run, where I would have certainly got fuel under the tires and for it to wait until the moment that I turned off of the track. I mean three or four gallons of fuel just drained out right there. I just know dad was riding along with me and felt it was time for me to bring to an end that nine final round losing streak."

"Without all my supporters, I couldn't do any of this," he added. "I race on a budget and my goal is to be able to make it all pay for itself at the end of the year. Folks like K&N and what they do for my program and sportsman racing in general is greatly appreciated. I love the K&N scoop that I have on my Corvette that I just started competing with this year in Super Gas and I need to get a K&N scoop on my dragster. Of course, I use the K&N oil and air filters on everything and I just love them. They are nothing but the best."

With his full confidence back after the JEGS All-Stars Super Comp victory, and finally breaking the final round win dry spell that had plagued him for many events, Kinard ran hard with that and recently put his dad's dragster back in the winner's circle taking a Super Comp Wally a little closer to home. Kinard took care of some unfinished business that he had started back in 2010, when he ended with a runner-up finish in Sonoma to win the 25th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals by taking out fellow Div. 7 racer, Justin Morgan in the championship round.

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