NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance at 20 Hours
Ryno Ginettaleads with five to go
NAPA
VALLEY, Calif., (Dec. 3, 2016) - The 14th edition of the NASA 25 Hours
of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance has five hours remaining
and the pole sitting No. 57 Ryno Racing Ginetta still heads the field.
As
the sun begins to rise over the 2.8-mile, 15-turn Thunderhill Raceway
circuit the field is still full with 58 of 62 starters still running.
The No. 57 Ryno Racing Ginetta remains the overall leader. In hot
pursuit is the No. 45 Audi R8 of the 2015 overall winning Flying Lizard
team. IndyCar team owner Bryan Herta likes the way the Ginetta is
running and the way the team is working. The 57 has covered 625 laps so
far in the race.
"I
am knocking the rust off after being out of a race car for a few
years," Herta said. "The car is running great. We have cycled all of the
drivers through from both cars. My son Colton has driven both cars a
lot and he looks fresh, oh to be 16 again. We are waiting for the sun to
come up and see what the last five hours brings to the finish.
Hopefully we can keep it together to the checker."
The No. 45 Flying Lizard Audi R8 remains just seven laps down to the faster
Ginetta and leads the ES Class. Faster competition at the 25 is no
stranger to the team. They rely on consistency from the drivers and
excellent pit work and strategy to stay at the front.
"The
Toyo Audi is running great," driver, Darren Law said. "We are just
focusing on clean pit stops and keeping the car on the track. The 57 car
is fast and so far has held up. We don't have the pace to go and race
them, we just have to hope they have a problem. We are running our
program and the car is great on the Toyo tires."
The E0 pole sitter No. 11 Nissan 350Z leads the class.
"We
have a few issues with the Nissan 350Z right now," driver, Andy Lee
said. "My last stint was about maintaining. I couldn't push as hard as I
wanted to. We are having some power steering problems, so not on the
pace we would like. I had some contact with one of the Radicals coming
inside of me into Turn 14 and we made contact. It didn't seem major,
other than I had a flat tire."
In E1 the No. 95 BMW of Grip Racing leads.
"The
drivers have been keeping themselves out of trouble," crew chief, Brian
Marsteller said. "We just want to keep it out of the pits and doing
laps. That is kind of our motto, it has worked for us in the past. We
are just going to keep on truckin' along. The drivers are keeping the
car out of trouble. There have been a few scary moments, but all of the
drivers talked and agreed to keep themselves out of trouble. You can't
win it in the first 24 hours, but you certainly can lose it."
The No. 29 BMW of KD Motorsports leads the E2 Class.
"The
race is going pretty smooth so far," crew chief, Andrew Wymore said.
"We are maintaining our strategy of staying out the pits and keeping
everyone calm and focused. We are a pit stop ahead of second place, so
we are about a lap and half up on them. We really haven't had any big
drama, just some light contact. The suns up and we are all happy and
ready to go."
The No. 38 Mazda Miata of RAM Motorsports leads the E3 Class.
"The
race is going pretty good and I am having a good time," driver, Ward
Rose said. "We are anxious for sun rise as our headlights have dimmed a
little. I had some side-to-side contact with one guy during my stint,
he deserved it. The 38 Miata is running great. We are not the fastest in
our class, I got passed by a few cars in our category, but they are
probably having more problems than we are at the moment."
In the ENP Class the No. 71 Diamond Level Motorsports NASA elan NP01 Prototype powered by Mazda continues to lead the class and running in the top six overall.
"We
are looking forward to the sun coming here in a few minutes," driver,
Jeremy Croiset said. "The team put me out in the NASA elan Prototype
NP01 powered by Mazda for a double stint during the night. I was able to
turn some quick laps and show the pace of this great car. This is
really a proving ground for this great little platform. I was able to
turn the fastest lap of our race in that stint at like 4 a.m. We are plugging away in hopes of an overall podium."
Professional
drivers listed on the entry include: Bryan Herta, Colton Herta, Ryan
Eversley, Al Unser Jr., Sean Rayhall, Dion von Moltke, Colin Braun,
Johannes van Overbeek, Darren Law, Tommy Sadler, Darren Law, Tyler
McQuarrie, Kelly Collins and Taz Harvey with more expected.
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About Hawk Performance
Hawk
Performance is a leading supplier of severe duty and high-performance
friction products manufactured in ISO-certified facilities for the
motorsports
and performance automotive aftermarket. Hawk Performance products are
engineered to allow users to control, command, and conquer the terrain
for which their vehicles are designed. Decades of experience in
developing friction materials for aerospace, industrial, military,
automotive and motorsports applications give Hawk Performance an
advantage over the competition. In the past decade, Hawk Performance
friction products have won more motorsports championships than any other
friction manufacturer. More information at www.hawkperformance.com.
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The
National Auto Sport Association (NASA) was formed in 1991 with the
premise of delivering high-quality motorsports events to enthusiasts at
major racing venues throughout the nation. NASA has created programs
that allow owners of both racecars and high-performance street-driven
vehicles to enjoy the full performance capabilities of their cars in a
controlled professionally managed environment. NASA offers many
different programs that will allow you to enjoy motorsports on a number
of different levels, including our High Performance Driving Events
(HPDE), Rally Sport, Time Trial, NASA-X and Competition Racing programs.
NASA Membership
NASA
members are entitled to enter and participate in any NASA event across
the country, and membership includes an array of benefits, including
vendor discounts and a subscription to the organizations online
newsletter the NASA Speed News. Members will also receive a colorful
membership hard card that will identify them as part of the organization
and a welcome packet that includes more information on the many
benefits and programs available to NASA members. While participating at
events, all NASA members are covered by an extensive insurance policy,
which includes General Liability, Accidental Death and Dismemberment,
and Excess Medical coverage. Best of all, membership is only $45. Refer
to www.nasaproracing.com for member information.
NASA Thanks Our Partners
NASA
would like to thank its National sponsors for their continued support:
Toyo Tires, Mazda, Hawk Performance, Winding Road Racing, Millers Oils,
and GoPro. We also want to thank MAZDASPEED, Honda Performance
Development (HPD), Nissan, and Ford Motor Company for supporting our
members. We greatly appreciate those companies that offer our racers
contingency support, including Toyo Tires, AIM Sports, AST Suspension,
BFGoodrich, Ford Racing, Maxxis Tires, Traqmate, Hawk Performance, Honda
Performance Development (HPD), Hoosier Racing Tire, Injector Pulse,
MAZDASPEED, Nissan, Frozen Rotors, Rossini Race Engines, Spec Clutches,
Sampson Racing Communications, Winding Road Racing, and Yokohama. NASA
competitors can also get discounts from Millers Oils, Mazda, Honda
Performance Development, FR.Sport, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Promotive,
Racing Fire Systems, Ford Performance Racing School, Tire Stickers, Fuel
Safe, Avis, Konig, Winding Road Racing.
NASA at a Glance
*
NASA was founded in 1991 on the premise of providing motorsport
competition programs that allow owners of both racecars and
high-performance street-driven vehicles to enjoy the full-performance
capabilities of their cars in a safe and controlled environment.
* NASA has over 14,000 members in 15 regions.
* Key events include the Eastern States Championships at Watkins Glen International Sept. 23-25;
NASA Western States Championships at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Oct.
13-16, 2016 and the season culminating NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill,
Dec. 3-4 presented by Hawk Performance.
* The NASA National Championships will run 31 race classes and nine Time-Trial classes during the event.
*
NASA runs over 150 events each year encompassing over 250 races,
including the association's Rally Sport and Time-Trial program.
* Manufacturer partners include MAZDASPEED, Honda Performance Development (HPD), Nissan and Ford Racing.
*
NASA Management: Jerry Kunzman, Executive Director; Ryan Flaherty,
National Chairman; Jeremy Croiset, Director of Business Development;
Dave Ho, Business Operations Manager.
Follow NASA
Facebook: National Auto Sport Association
Twitter: nasaproracing
Instagram: nasaracing
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