NP01 first championships, Calderon Miata and Schotz going for 13
NAPA
VALLEY, Calif. (Sept. 20, 2016) - The third annual NASA Eastern States
Championships presented by Toyo Tires will run at Watkins Glen
International September 23-25 is ready for the green flag.
The
350+ NASA competitors are making their way to upstate New York to take
on the competition and the newly repaved 3.4-mile, 11-turn historic
race.
What
was only a display piece at last year's NASA Championships, the all-new
NASA Prototype élan NP01 will have its inaugural Championship race
weekend at The Glen. Jeremy Croiset, NASA director of business
development, father of the NASA Prototype series and a competitor in the
new category is happy with the car and competition so far.
"Things
have been going very well with the NP01 program," Croiset said.
"Everyone that has purchased a car and begun racing it has been blown
away by the performance of the car and are truly happy to see that all
the hype around the program was justified. For me, it's very satisfying
to see so many folks enjoying the class. So far, 26 cars have been sold
and the 25th is scheduled to be delivered in two weeks."
Croiset has been campaigning a car since December.
"Personally,
the car has been a dream come true for me," he continued. "I've always
dreamed of driving a close cockpit prototype and this car truly lives up
to what I always hoped it would be. It's cheaper to operate than
anything else in this speed category, has been very reliable, and is the
easiest car I've ever worked on. The racing is super close and I
thoroughly enjoy knowing that I'm not getting beat because someone has a
better car. It's all down to the set-up and how well the car is driven!
"I've
been looking forward to racing in the NASA Prototype series at The Glen
since I knew we would be taking the event to upstate New York last
year. April of this year was the first time I'd ever driven at the
circuit and it easily elevated the track to one of my personal favorites
in the country. The super-fast high speed layout will truly reward the
NP01 because of the downforce that the car generates. This just elevates
the challenge as a driver to do well at the event. To top it all off,
this will be a NASA Championship event and it's more than I could even
ask for. I'm so excited about competing in the category at this
fantastic circuit! I don't personally know all the drivers that will be
attending the NASA Eastern States Championships in the NASA Prototype
series, so it's a bit of a toss-up for me if I'm honest. The racing I've
enjoyed this season so far has been hard fought and very close, so I'm
preparing for the same at Watkins Glen. I'll definitely be bringing my
A-game to the show and we'll know where the chips fall after that first
qualifying session on Fri. morning."
Xavier
Calderon from Virginia is an active NASA Official and will drive in the
ultra-competitive Spec Miata Class at The Glen this weekend.
"Running
the NASA championships is a culmination of all the hard work, data,
time and effort I've put into the car so far," Calderon said. "While I
am a NASA Official I'm still a driver and competitor at heart. The Spec
Miata race this weekend is going to be crazy. The talent pool is
absolutely astounding. If you're in the top 10 of this group you can,
without a doubt, consider yourself a true driver. It's humbling to even
be competing against some of these folks as I look up to some of them as
their driving ability continually pushes me to better myself. I hear
it's beautiful out at The Glen around this time of year, so I am looking
forward to fun weekend of racing and camaraderie.
Calderon appreciates the support that Mazda provides to its racers.
"Mazda's
support to the grassroots community is phenomenal," he continued. "The
customer service rocks, website is refined, and even the email they send
is useful. But in all seriousness, the fact that they even give us the
special pricing plan to buy a Mazda vehicle for our "off-track" life is
just unheard icing on the cake."
David Schotz is hauling to The Glen from Arizona. Schotz is an 11 time NASA Championships winner.
"I've
been racing with NASA since 2008 and have been fortunate enough to
collect 11 in total so far," Schotz said. "I am really looking forward
to the track, the competition and fun times! We're just bringing one
car to The Glenn, and have chosen to bring the G-LOC Brakes, Pontiac
Firebird Formula to run in PTB/TTB. Both The PTB and TTB classes look to
have a very talented field with plenty of fast drivers. I'd say Jeff
Ricca will definitely be a great competitor in PTB and Allan Page and I
were very close at Road Atlanta in 2014 for TTB. I have spent some
extended time on Forza learning the track. Watkins Glen is a first for
me this year. I am looking forward to experiencing great racing on a
legendary track."
To
qualify for the NASA National Championships presented by Toyo Tires,
NASA competitors must compete in and score points in five regional races
around the country