Race Day Barber Motorsports Park!

I'm taking the time for a very brief post, although there is so much information to write about!  It's been a busy week on the road with travel and a visit to the Nissan North America Factory and Headquarters.

Today is race day!  Unfortunately we (I) qualified almost last, but happily not last!  I think the car is very good, but we have a lot to learn about getting it just right, which is what's needed in this super competitive field.  Mechanically it seems to be working well, but only racing will show any weaknesses.

We have a talented group of crew here with us which makes everything easier. 

Thanks to Sput Dodge who took some photos yesterday.

SPORTS: Nissan shakes up racing with new sports car

From the Mufreesboro Post - read the complete article here.

As its growth stalls in a bad economy, NASCAR changes gears

Here's an interesting article about marketing partners and NASCAR -

By Dave Caldwell, CNBC.com
Until about a year ago, Jo Ann Jenkins, the president of the AARP Foundation, had been searching hard for someone, or something, to bring more awareness of what the organization considers to be a serious and overlooked issue: According to the foundation, 9 million elderly Americans are hungry.
read the rest here. . .

Nissan Joins GRAND-AM as Official Promotional Partner

Go Nissan—Skullcandy Team Nissan!

Feb. 2, 2012

» Discuss this story in the GRAND-AM Garage!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Nissan has joined GRAND-AM Road Racing as an Official Promotional Partner, becoming the 10th participating original equipment manufacturer.
Nissan will support teams in both the Grand Sport and Street Tuner classes of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The auto manufacturer will also participate at four GRAND-AM events with its Nissan consumer display.
"GRAND-AM welcomes Nissan's participation in our 2012 OEM partnership program," said GRAND-AM President Tom Bledsoe. "Our concerted effort to embrace international manufacturers continues to bear fruit, and we look forward to seeing Nissan increase its involvement in both classes of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge."
Nissan's GRAND-AM history includes three Rolex Series victories, including the SRP II class in the 2003 Rolex 24 At Daytona in a one-two finish for Team Seattle. Hypersport - today's Dempsey Racing - also ran an Infiniti-powered Doran Daytona Prototype in two 2005 races.
Nissan has four victories in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition, winning two races and finishing second in the 2004 manufacturers' championship standings.
"Nissan is delighted to be a part of an expanding field in GRAND-AM racing," said Ron Stukenberg, Nissan's senior manager of motorsports marketing communications. "Any racing series benefits from diversity and Nissan is happy to add its rich racing tradition to GRAND-AM's growing roster. We anticipate a great season of racing, and we look forward to interacting with racing fans at the Nissan Innovations display and owner car corrals in 2012."
Nissan played a dominant role in American sports car racing in the late 1990s and early 1990s, winning four consecutive IMSA GTP championships beginning in 1988. Scott Pruett scored his first victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 1994 driving a Nissan 300ZX. It was Nissan's second overall triumph in the Rolex 24, following a 1992 win in a Group C Prototype.

At Least it Won't Get Scratched in Daytona

It is beautiful and it runs, but it is only 99% finished and we just ran out of time to complete that last 1% that would get us in the game. . .

The decision was made about 1 am this morning to call it off.  Looking back over the last weeks, I can hardly believe what we've been able to accomplish, yet it wasn't enough.  It seems like every part of the build experienced delays due to suppliers sending parts late, getting the wrong parts, or damaged parts.  Every day was a roller coaster ride for me:  we're going to make it, we're not going to make it, we're going to make it, we're not going to make it.  We'd complete something and feel elated over the success, only to find that something else went wrong.

I know that even though we aren't going to Daytona we will show up at Barber with an excellent car.  It's beautiful on the inside and out.  I also know we gave it everything we had and left nothing in reserve, and with the help of many friends and crew almost made it.  You know who you are but I have to say THANKS anyway— Mark, Boli, Kike, Ron, Toby, John, Paul at Nissan, the Pfadt gang, and my boys for putting up with having an overworked, never home mom for the last weeks—we couldn't do it without you all!!  And thanks mostly to Vesko who truly is an artist and who has gone without sleep for a record amount of time—I couldn't ask for a better partner in this venture.

Here's to Alabama!

Great News From Grand-am: New Worldwide Coverage for Rolex

Read the complete story on the Grand-am website

Some highlights of that distribution:

• Eurosport will air selected live coverage of the Rolex 24 race and a Rolex 24 highlight show, reaching 52 countries.
• Speed Latin America will broadcast all 13 races to 42 countries.
• Speed Australia will broadcast all 13 races and the accompanying highlight shows.
• Network Ten will broadcast all 13 races in Australia.
• ESPN2 Caribbean will air all 13 highlight shows to 14 countries while ESPN Dos will reach 14.
• ESPN Africa will broadcast all 13 of the series' highlight shows to 57 countries.
• ESPN Star will have selected live coverage of the Rolex 24 and all highlight shows going to 19 Asian countries.

Red Bull News Years Eve - No Limits

If you haven't seen this, it's amazing stuff.  How big of a deal is it?  Even my Mom knew about it, but she told me she couldn't watch until it was over and she knew they were ok.  There are several videos you can watch on the Red Bull site, and make sure to check out the view from the take-off to the landing.  Yikes!!

Merry Christmas from the Team

For Christmas today I gave myself the gift of running all the way to the top without stopping, always an accomplishment that makes me feel great.  The trail is a place locals know as the Living Room.  Once you get to the top there's a great view of Salt Lake City, and rock couches, which always makes it worthwhile.  It's unusual for the trail to be clear enough to run this time of year, but with the lack of snow it was this instead of going skiing. 

I will be ready for Daytona!


Looks like the cars will too, check out what Santa has been leaving daily at the shop--

I've got a new title "parts manager" I spent two days last week just unpacking and doing inventory.  I was so tired afterwards, but it's all very exciting.  The cars are looking beautiful, they are really being engineered so well! 

Merry Christmas to you all, we wish you a year of blessings and joy!  And to our wonderful team, crew and supporters — we couldn't do this without you and we are eternally grateful!!

Skullcandy Team Nissan

Race4Girls.com

Many of you have noticed the Race4Girls.com stickers on my helmet and car, but I realized today I haven't done a blog post explaining. Race4Girls is a great charity that is dedicated to putting women in race cars. "Race4Girls gives female race car drivers in the U.S. a chance to better compete against their male counterparts by providing funds for equipment."

Tracey Passantino the Founder and CEO realized there was a need to support women racers after she got to know Jennifer Jo Cobb and decided to create a charity to support us. Thanks Tracey! Thankfully they decided to support Grand-am and me!

Of course they depend on donations. Tracey's goal is simple, easy (well, maybe not so easy), she want's to get 1 million people to donate just $5, the price of a cup of coffee. She also is working hard to obtain grants. It's all driven by social media, so follow, like and tweet Race4Girls and help me to earn the support they are allocating for Grand-am!

Nissan Motorsport International Company (NISMO) looks forward to India

Today's motorsports news includes this article about MISMO heading to India. Interesting, I wonder how many race track they have?! Maybe they need some drivers, it's a place I'd love to visit! With increased impetus being shown to motor sports in India, Nissan Motorsport International Company (NISMO) is keen to enter India. The company considers India to be of prime importance and according to Shoichi Miyatani, President of NISMO, since motor sports activities are expected to gather steam in India, it would be considered favorable to launch the brand in the country as and when feasible... read the complete article here.