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Once I was out in front, I never looked back to see where the field was, I just ran my own race.
Johnny Lewis felt like he was "on a vacation." That's not usually the response of someone who just won his first ever AMA Grand National Championship race, but for the 22-year-old pro flat track rider from Pennsylvania, it's easy to understand what he meant.
"We raced on Thursday night," Lewis said of the opening round on the 2012 season in Daytona, Florida. "Round two was on Friday, so I couldn't celebrate too much. It was one of the moments where you wish the day didn't end, because you had to go back to work the next day. It's like when you come home from a vacation and you know you have to work on Monday, you don't want the day to end."
Lewis followed up his opening-night victory with another top-10 in round two, putting him third in points heading into the Memorial Day weekend showdown at the Springfield Mile at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
I just pointed to the sky and said 'for Mark!'
Lewis had extra motivation during the weekend at Daytona, as he was racing for a close friend who had recently lost his life. "The weeks leading up to Daytona I worked even harder, I wanted to win the race for him," Lewis said. "As soon as I crossed the finish line, I knew I had won, it sunk in, and he was the first person I thought of. I just pointed to the sky and said 'for Mark!'"
Lewis said a simple piece of advice from friend Mike Hacker, just before the main event, helped him win at Daytona. "Mike told my wife to tell me to just ride my race," Lewis said. "We had a dash earlier in the night, and man did I blow that one. I got a poor start and rode everyone else's race. In the main, I just focused on racing the track and getting a hole-shot. Once I was out in front, I never looked back to see where the field was, I just ran my own race."
Lewis thinks the added confidence from his win in Daytona will carry over to the rest of the season, making him a contender in 2012. "When I switched from AMA Supermoto to AMA Flat Track, I felt like everyone had an advantage over me because they had been racing flat track so long," Lewis said. "I knew I could win, but I wasn't truly believing in myself, I always felt like everyone had an advantage over me, but not anymore!"
Lewis, who has a victory in the AMA Pro Supermoto Unlimited class, hopes he can add a third victory in a third class later this season, as he bounces from singles to twins in the flat track circuit. But for now, he is focused on Springfield and a chance to take charge of the GNC points standings.
"I couldn't do this without K&N," Lewis added. "We all know K&N products give us an advantage on our bike, but they also help save us money with the K&N filter system kit we have on our box truck. We did over 30,000 miles last season, and K&N is the reason we were able to complete the whole year."
Our tuning and the experience I have behind the wheel now have helped us improve over past seasons.
Balance and consistency are huge when developing a racecar driver, and New Mexico's Josh Hodges has found both in the early parts of 2012. The young sprint car driver, who made ASCS Sprint Car history when he became the youngest driver to win a series event in 2009, is off to what he called "the best start" of his career this season. Running select ASCS National Events, Hodges has not missed an A-main yet, and is finding himself battling for top-10 finishes now. Last month, Hodges just missed finding victory lane at an ASCS Gulf South show in Waco, Texas, finishing third in a three-wide, at-the-stripe finish.
Balance and consistency are huge when developing a racecar driver, and New Mexico's Josh Hodges has found both in the early parts of 2012.
"All year I've been really proud of what my dad and I have been able to accomplish, especially given some of the circumstances," Hodges said. "At the ASCS National Event at Canyon Speedway Park (Peoria, Arizona), we started dead last in the B-main after changing a motor between the heats and mains, but we managed to come through the field to qualify for the A-main."
Hodges said experience and consistency have helped take him to the next level this year, and since his team is not running for a specific points championship, they have really been able to focus on improving each week and finding a comfort zone. "We haven't necessarily drawn good qualifying spots or had the fastest racecar," Hodges added. "But our tuning and the experience I have behind the wheel now have helped us improve over past seasons."
We started dead last in the B-main, but we managed to come through the field to qualify for the A-main.
Hodges' maturity and ability to recognize when and where the team can improve have also helped. At his last race, Hodges ended up upside-down after a lap 1 incident that wasn't his fault, but instead of dwelling on the crash, Hodges found comfort knowing that the car was fast, having won his heat race earlier in the day.
Hodges also experienced a rough weekend at the lone NCRA event in which he raced. At 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas, Hodges' was slow out of the trailer and the team struggled all night, including a spin in the heat race that gave away a solid starting position. "But I think that was a turning point," Hodges said. "We figured out some things I did not like on the car, and in the B-main, we came from the back and almost transferred. In the end, I think it was a necessary learning experience so we could get better moving on."
Hodges plans on running more National races than local races for the rest of the season, focusing on events where the competition forces Hodges and his team to learn and grow in order to be competitive. The team also acquired a 410c.i. engine in the offseason, and will attempt to run some World of Outlaws events.
Hodges said his team couldn't be where they are without help from K&N. "We use K&N air filters, oil filters, and cleaning products because they ensure we get the best performance out of our race car. When you race on dirt, you have everything from dust to rocks thrown at you, and we put K&N to the test. There is no other brand that works as well as K&N."
Steve Alexander's crucial decisions to press on were the deciding factor in his winning the 2012 BITD Silver State 300.
Soulless, methodical machines can't win races alone, they require the heart of a champion to keep them disciplined and directed, and then every so often, it also takes blind faith and unyielding will to get it done. Steve Alexander started first in his Class 5000 buggy at the Best in The Desert Silver State 300, and never looked back, even though his ride threatened to give up the ghost with work still to be done.
Alexander and ICON's Sean Kepler ran the first 100 miles together, going from 4,000 up to 7,000 foot elevation, and regardless of what the Silver State 300 course threw at them the car's new expertly tuned suspension soaked it up. The new RC Trans prepped Mendeola transaxle was working flawlessly too. "Owner John Houlton wasn't kidding when he said 'we'll get you in gear,'" remarked Alexander. After two hours and 20 minutes they reached Pit 3, where they got word that the closest competitor was 40 miles behind them.
After topping off the tank and grabbing a clean set of K&N outer foam filters, Gavin Ferguson traded seats with Kepler ready to attack the final 200 miles navigating for Alexander, whose plans were to ironman the 300 mile course.
The next 50 miles were brutal, even by off-road racing standards, with six water crossings and some of the deepest silt beds the 5005 crew had ever seen. Many of the crossings had to be navigated cautiously as they were still littered with stalled and broken race vehicles.
When Alexander and Ferguson arrived at Pit 4 that's when things first started to go slightly amuck. The crew noticed a small crack developing on the front beam. 25 miles further down the road at Pit 5 there was a welder set up and ready to go. Alexander made the decision to push on rather than to wait for a welder to come to them.
Alexander Motorsports is looking to win their third Class 5000 championship in a row at the 2012 BITD Vegas to Reno race in August.
They made it to Pit 5 without losing time and the crack was repaired in the Baja Pits within 10 minutes and they were back in the race. Then, at the 200 mile marker, Ferguson noticed a slight loss in oil pressure; they stopped and added a quart of oil and 10 miles later they arrived at Pit 6 to take more fuel. It was then that the crew realized that the motor had developed a leak and more oil would be needed.
Once again Alexander made the decision to push on. Fifty miles later at Pit 7 the crew added two more quarts of oil, "but the motor was getting tired," commented Alexander later. With only 34 miles to go to the finish Alexander the made the final deciding call- "It's do or die."
With three spare quarts of oil in the car the Alexander Motorsports duo crossed their fingers and hit the gas. Ferguson called out every 10 miles to the crew and Alexander was sweating bullets. The oil pressure dropped dangerously low, to 20 pounds, but with the finish line in site, Alexander hammered down. The decisions to go for it paid off, with a total time of 7 hours and 48 minutes and no flats Alexander Motorsports crossed the finish line scoring their first Best in The Desert victory.
"This is huge for us after coming from SNORE which is a great organization, but BITD is the major leagues, and to win a race here is fantastic and a great boost for the moral of our team," commented Alexander. "It also lets everyone else know that we mean business."
Just how close did Alexander come to seizing the engine in those final miles? "We won't know until we open the motor, but honestly I don't think we could have made another 50 miles."
Next up for Alexander Motorsports is the Vegas to Reno race in August. The 2012 Best in the Desert General Tire Vegas to Reno desert off-road race takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, traversing the Nevada desert.
"As it stands right now we lead the points for the Championship, so we need to do whatever it takes to hold on to that," said Alexander. "Our goal is to win the championship, making this the third year in a row."
It got about fifteen or twenty degrees cooler when sun went behind the clouds. Man that was good.
As the race to earn as many possible points in the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge sets into high gear with only a handful of events left to before the main event run-off in July, Allen Johnson sailed to the top of Pro Stock qualifying during the 25th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals in Baytown, Texas to earn the maximum points and grab up the low qualifier $3,000 bonus from K&N Engineering.
The weather for the NHRA national event, just outside Houston, proved to be some of the stickiest weather conditions the teams have had to deal with since last season, with muggy air and higher water grains during both Friday and Saturday's qualifying sessions. Johnson's tune-up came to him right off the bat during session number one on Friday when he posted a 6.554. The pass put Johnson on top by not the thousandths that usually separate drivers in NHRA Pro Stock but over three hundredths of a second better than Greg Anderson's number two position and his 6.586.
For the second session on Friday, Mother Nature gave teams a little something better to work with when some clouds rolled in which helped to considerably cool track temperatures. Not only did it help Johnson and his team pick up nearly a hundredth of a second when they sailed to a 6.546 but it also tightened the field as Jason Line moved way up the ladder to within four thousandths of Johnson with his 6.550. "It got about fifteen or twenty degrees cooler when sun went behind the clouds," said Johnson. "Man that was good. We gave it all it would take and [the run] was perfect."
With the sudden change to the track temp, Johnson admitted that he felt they could have gone a 6.53 if the team had been a little more aggressive in their setup. "We left a little on the table," Johnson continued about Friday's second session. "All in all, we were very consistent and that's what we're shooting for."
During Saturday's two qualifying sessions many Pro Stock teams seemed to struggle to get all the power down to the racing surface and while they shoot for a certain amount of tire spin to get the cars going, most were experiencing more than hoped for. Jason Line managed to make another strong hit that was only four thousandths off the pace from his best run the session before. His 6.554 would be the quickest of the session, but still nowhere near enough to bump Johnson from the top.
All in all, we were very consistent and that's what we're shooting for.
Johnson stayed rather steady and consistent throughout the remainder of qualifying, posting a 6.563 in session three and a 6.560 in the fourth and final lap, both runs the scoring the second quickest of each session. As it would play out, Johnson's 6.546 effort on Friday would hold as the number one spot. "We left maybe a hundredth and that could have been enough to be low in both rounds," admitted Johnson following qualifying. "We're happy with that and as long as you can be consistent to within a hundredth, I don't think you can ask for much more than that. We've been preaching hard the consistency thing," continued the former K&N Horsepower Challenge Champ. "We ran .56, .55, .55 and a .54. No big moves, just small steps, just tinker."
The number one qualifier was the second for the Tennessee based racer this season and his fourth since the K&N Challenge points were reset last season. While Johnson currently has a strong tally that holds him in the number four spot on the top seven list, every competitor knows that even with only five events remaining before the championship race later this summer, there is absolutely no room for error and by no means is the field set in stone as anything could happen in the coming weeks.
The teams still have NHRA events in Atlanta, Topeka, Englishtown, Bristol and Chicago to earn as many points as possible and set the field for the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge. The top seven along with a fan voted driver will comprise a field of eight elite teams that will vie for the $50,000 championship prize during the running of the special event at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite NHRA Pro Stock driver to make sure that they have a chance at competing for the prestigious single largest payday in all of NHRA Pro Stock. Voting closes Sunday, June 17th, 2012 at 11:59pm ET.
The eight NHRA Pro Stock racers competing in the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge will once again be paired up with one of the eight lucky finalists in the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes. The eight sweepstakes finalists will all get to experience the excitement of the event firsthand as they cheer on their driver in hopes of them both becoming big winners. The finalist whose Pro Stock driver wins the K&N Challenge will become the K&N Sweepstakes grand prize winner and the proud owner of a new K&N Horsepower Challenge Edition TOYOTA Tundra.
Deadline for entry into the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes is fast approaching and all entries must be received by 6:00 p.m. ET on June 4, 2012.
2011 and 2012 Ford F150 5.0L Air Intake Installation
K&N has designed a performance air intake system for the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 Ford F150 Pickup with 5.0 liter engine. K&N dynamometer tests show K&N's 77-2581KP air intake provides an estimated 9.95 horsepower gain at 5508 RPM. This video demonstrates the simple steps to install K&N's 77-2581KP air intake on a 2011 to 2014 Ford F150 truck with a 5.0L engine.
2011 and 2012 Ford F150 5.0L Air Intake Installation
