Back in action

2 days of Big Willow action all ending with success!

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The car not only looked good but goes like hell!

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Big splitter and a Big Wang… I mean wing.

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XS AWD Competition Enthusiast class coming down to the end

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Throughout the 2013 Extreme Speed AWD Competition, Enthusiast class has been home to both bitter rivalry and intense competition. The basic premise is bolt-on’s and a 91 tune, making this truly and ‘every day car’ class. As we head into the final event of the 2013 Year, Enthusiast class has a 3-way tie for 2nd place and another competitor barely behind by 2 points. With this level of competition it is clear why Enthusiast class is by far the largest class in the competition, signifying a great accomplishment when you are able to come out on top. These top competitors pushing for the 2nd spot are Chris Hain, Steven Steck, Surge Dee, and Lux of LSL Motorsports.

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In round #1 LSL Motorsports in his Evo X was able edge out Steven in his Ralliart at Streets of Willow CCW with a time of 1:32.14 to Steven’s 1:35.6. Both competitors were just getting started in the inaugural round of the AWD Comp and were excited at the possibilities that their cars possessed. With a tough bit of luck Steven found himself on the outs after he went in too hot to a corner and wound up in the dirt…on the first lap (pace yourself buddy, you got 7 more event to go!). Quickly replacing the blown tire, Steven was able get in a couple laps; but unbeknownst to him the front driver’s control arm was bent, which would play a pivotal role in round #2.

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Round #2 we went to the Time Attack mecca of North America, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, where once again LSL Motorsports and his Evo X go head to head with Steven and his Ralliart. But alas with Steven’s suspension not at 100% he is only able to run a 2:18.02 and once again gets taken down by LSL Motorsports with a time of 2:16.15 (despite battling car issues of his own).

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Round #3 took us to the infamous Willow Springs International Raceway where 3 of our competitors were ready to do battle. Steven and his Ralliart take an astounding 2nd place in enthusiast class (after replacing the broken control arm) with a time of 1:43.87, beating out Chris Hain taking 3rd in his Subaru WRX by less than a second (1:44.66) and claiming his first victory over LSL Motorsports (1:44.87) of the season by a full second. These close times reflect how intense the competition is, and how every tenth is truly earned. This was also the first event our compardres were they able to win NITTO NT-05’s (2 for Steven in 2nd and 1 for Chris in 3rd)

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Round #4 took many of us to a new track, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, where the summer heat would be upon us and take many of us to new extremes (and for a few unlucky souls new lows, in the +110* heat). New contender Surge Dee arrived and promptly placed 3rd his first event, ahead of both Chris and LSL, respectively. Steven was not able to run that weekend, and some minor bearing issues were slowing down Lux noticeable.

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For Round #5 we then headed back to Streets of Willow, but this time during Extreme Speeds’ Twilight event, making the course that much more treacherous for the competitors. In the end we saw 2 great battles, the first between newcomer Surge Dee in his Evo X and Steven in his Ralliart and the second between LSL Motorsports in his Evo X and Chris Hain in his Subaru WRX. Once again we see how deep the field is in enthusiast class, with 11 competitors running that day. Chris and LSL were in a fight over 8th place but LSL used his experience to edge out a win with a time of 1:33.05 (despite bearing issues slowing his pace from Rd 1) to Chris’s 1:33.24. In the other battle the newcomer Surge takes 3nd place by leaning on friend and fellow racer Will Wattonawongiri with a time of 1:28.98 edging out Steven’s 1:29.93 (a healthy 5.7 seconds faster from our first event…in the dark no less). Each of these 2 battles came down to the final session, scraping until the very end and reminding us of what make this competition so amazing. This was also the first event where Surge was able to win himself an NT-05 courtesy of sponsor NITTO.
Now Round #6 is a very important round, being that this is a best 6 of 8 events competition, where Craig Peyron was able to secure his Enthusiast Class Championship in his inaugural year…..and setting a record or two along the way; but the fight for 2nd rages on! But with only Surge and Chris showing up to this event it allowed both the opportunity to gain in the rankings. Surge puts on an amazing performance placing 2nd (securing 2 more NT-05’s) with Chris a close 3rd. They got to stand atop the podium knowing that these positions were crucial to the end of the year standings.

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For Round 7, with the cool weather of November in full effect, we arrived at Auto Club Speedway. This was a new track for the AWD Comp drivers, which always has the propensity to throw competitors off. Although all four were at their best placing 1st–4th in Enthusiast class, driving home the point that they are some of the best AWD Comp drivers around, ultimately only 1 could stand atop the podium. Coming in 1st with a 1:57.20 was Surge Dee, 2nd with a 2:02.99 was Chris Hain, 3rd was LSL Motorsports with a 2:04.27, and in 4th was Steven Steck with a 2:05.04. Each pushed hard at a track hitting well over 130mph and yet having the skill to brake the car down to under 50mph for the tumultuous Turn 3&4 combo. These guys have pushed each other at each event making one another faster and yet at the same time sharing in the camaraderie that goes along with racers and what they are all about (trading tips about driving lines, both Surge and LSL returned the following day for Redline Time Attack’s season finale, both going sub 2!). LSL was able to claim his first NT-05 ‘trophy’ and Surge took him the big enchilada of 4 NT-O5’s!

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We now head into Round #8, the final round, everything comes down to this and where else would you want to have a finale then at Buttonwillow Raceway. Although Chris Hain has as of now conceded being that he is not able to attend this event (family obligations), we still have Steven, Surge and LSL Motorsports pushing to the very end! With Steven and LSL returning for their second time, and Surge never having driven the famous BRP CW13, who will be able to cut away those vital second to come out victorious? Join us as we find out on Dec. 8th at Buttonwillow!

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Who do you believe will be able to pull it out? With tires from NITTO and prizes from Eibach, Road Race Engineering and Infamous Performance Tuning all on the line, does anyone have any tricks up their sleeves…? And remember competitors, safety first! Contact Infamous Performance today for their outstanding safety discounts and Subaru parts!
To get more details on XS AWD Competition go to:
www.extremespeedtrackevents.com
And
www.facebook.com/groups/xs.awd.comp

Come Along for a Hot Lap at Big Willow With Mark Jager

Come ride with Mark Jager in his E85-tuned STi as he puts down a 1:28 hot lap on the big track at Willowsprings International Raceway.

Season Recap of eXtremeSpeed’s 2012 AWD Competiton Series

The 2012 AWD Competition Series hosted by Extreme Speed Track Events proved to be an extremely competitive series this year.  More than fifty drivers showed up in their Evos, STI’s, WRXs, GT-R’s, and RalliArts to test their driving ability and car against other turbo charged all-wheel drive vehicles.   The series championship was a best six of nine events, and was held at Willow Springs International Raceway, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, and Streets of Willow Springs on various dates throughout 2012.  The series was sponsored by Eibach Springs, Road Race Engineering, Infamous Performance & Tuning, as well as South Coast Subaru.

AWD Session Buttonwillow

The series has two main classes, Modified Class and Street Class.  Street Class vehicles must have less than 400 WHP verified by a dyno, and run a tire no softer than 140 tread wear.  Additionally, modifications cannot tally up to more than five points.  Points are added for various modifications. For example, E85 tuning adds 1 point, and 2 way adjustable coil-over suspensions add two points (2013 will only be an adder of 1.5 points for two ways).   Modified Class vehicles are restricted to 500 whp or less, and can run a tire no softer than 100 tread wear.  Modified is allowed a modification total of up to 10 points.  Dyno verification was done by Road Race Engineering in Sante Fe Springs, CA.  This was a strict requirement for podium finishers in order for to be eligible for year-end championship prizes and points. 

The rules brought on some very close battles.  For example, Round 3 in June at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Kevin Fairley narrowly defeated Zhong Cheung with a 1:58.70 vs. a 1:58.71 which made up first and second place in Modified.   For Street, 2nd place was a 2:03.66 by Gevorg  Kalantaryan, and 3rd place was a 2:03.67 by Ben Siu.  John Carson managed to win street class that round with a 2:02.00 despite the sweltering 90 degree heat.  This round had ten cars in street class, while seven cars rounded out modified.

For Round 2 at Streets of Willow in April, Ben Siu narrowly defeated Nate Graham in his Evo X MR in the last session of the day with a 1:26.06, to Nate’s 1:26.10 for first and second place in Street Class.  At Round Six at Willow Springs International Raceway, Kevin Fairley barely clenched first place with a 1:29.86, to Zhong Cheung’s 1:29.87.  Every single round had competitors going back and forth throughout the day, attempting to one up one another.

Jaime

Above is a shot of Jaime Gonzalez’s super sexy Evo IX that competed in Modified.  

Garry 

Here is Garry Mendez’s Street Class WRX. Look at those rotors!

Zhong Cheung took first place overall honors for Modified Class with four first place finishes and two second place finishes giving him a total of 170 championship points.  Can you beleive this car is still daily driven?!? Now that is dedication to Attacking the Track!

Zhong at Streets

Kevin Fairley took home second place overall in Modified Class with three first place finishes, and two second place finishes to give him 140 championship points.  The car may look extreme, but it still has a stock bottom end putting out about 475 WHP on top of a very heavy 13 point roll cage.

 Kevin Fairley

Ramon Ornelas took third place overall  in Modified with one first place finish, four third place finishes, and one sixth place finish totaling 124 championship points.Dec-16-2012-Xtreme Speed Red 1245pm NIC_3789

Ben Siu took first place overall in Street Class with three first place finishes, and three 2nd place finishes for a championship points total of 165. Photo courtesy of: Timscribbles.com 

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Gevorg Kalantaryan took home second place in Street Class with two first place finishes, three second place finishes, and one third place finishes giving him a total of 155 championship points.

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 John Carson took 3rd place overall in Street Class with three First Place finishes, and three Third Place finishes for a total of 150 championship points.

John Carson RTA Street Champ

Here are some more images courtesy of timscribbles.com

Ken Kasitz - Modified Class

Ken Kasitz is shown above, who notably had a 1st place finish in Modified. He was kicked up a class due to NT01 tires during the Twilight Round.  He took advantage of Zhong’s mechanical issues, and ended up taking home the win in an otherwise Street Class car minus his NT01’s. He then later switched to Hankook RS-3’s and was able to finish 6th overall in Street Class.  He was one of the few subies this year that really proved their might against the fleet of dominating Evos.  His car is a 2003 WRX with a JDM STI Spec C motor, with STI Brembo brakes amongst other things.

mark Jager - Round 4-2

Here is a great shot of Mark “Jagermeister” Jager who ended up finishing 4th overall in Street Class.  He was able to pull some respectable lap times despite only being on Race Comp Engineering springs.  He tells us next year he will be on a full coil-over suspension. 

Nathan Hall - Street Class

Here is Nathan Hall who finished 9th  overall  in Street Class.  It looks like wagons can play too!

Justin Lee - Round 4

Here is Justin Lee and his very sexy Evo X. Justin ended up finishing 6th overall in Modified Class.

All in all, the eXtremeSpeed AWD Competition series proved to be one of the most successful Grass Roots Competitions in Southern California for 2012. Thirty-three drivers competed in Street Class, while twenty-two drivers competed in Modified Class.  This series demonstrated that it is a great platform for drivers to develop and hone their car control skills. Practically all the competitors showed drastic improvements in their lap times over the course of the year, even when factoring changing weather conditions.  The competition really tested people’s resilience and fortitude.  If you are looking to push your driving in a fun and friendly atmosphere, the AWD Competition is a great platform for driver development, and to have some fun while doing it. Word on the street is a lot of the top guys from this series will be competing in Redline Time Attack next year, opening the door for some new blood to come in and make a name for themselves.  It will be interesting to see the event results for 2013.   Rules and the Schedule for the 2013 AWD Competition schedule can be found here: http://www.extremespeedtrackevents.com/awd-competition-class