Lexington, OH --For two weekends in June, I was behind the wheel of a race car that's quite different from the one I'm used to. Normally I'm either driving or calling strategy for one of Compass360 Racing's bright orange Honda Civic Si's. These nimble little front-drivers have proven to be rather good race cars, as we're currently leading the Driver's, Team's and Manufacturer's Championships in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge. We made history a month ago by being the first team in series' history to sweep the podium (at New Jersey), and have had four different drivers take race wins so far this year.

So when I strapped into the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge's white #00 "Media Car" at Mosport, I wasn't sure what to expect. Here was a car that tips the scales at nearly 1,000 lbs heavier than one of our Hondas. It sits on different tires (BFGoodrich R1's rather than KONI-spec Hoosiers), and is driven by the rear wheels.

Fortunately, I had a little help from my friend Scott Maxwell, who had been called in by the FRMC to help coach drivers at one of the most difficult tracks they'll visit all year. Scott took his duties pretty seriously over the weekend, and after every session you'd find him with his notebook in hand making his rounds through the paddock, giving pointers and offering advice to each and every Mustang pilot.

On Friday morning Scott and I worked on setting my #00 steed up for Mosport's long, flowing, high-speed corners, and I worked on reprogramming my brain back to rear-wheel bias. I started out racing rear-wheel drive cars (my Rothmans Cup Porsche 944, then C360R's Grand-Am BMW Z3's, and my third-gen Mazda RX-7), so it didn't take too long to remember how to float the car in to a corner and power it out. But it did take a little longer to get used to hustling such a big, heavy car through the twisty stuff without over-heating the tires!

At lunch time we took a number of local media luminaries out for a few laps. This is something we do at every Mustang Challenge event, and it's been a great way to generate some extra interest in the series. We shoot some video of these "media rides" and package them up so that our guests can post them on their websites and link to them on YouTube.

In fact, this is one of the reasons that the folks at FRMC invited me to drive the #00 car. The Mustang Challenge is a client of the marketing communications firm (Compass360) of which I'm a partner. We've helped the series build their brand and worked with them on advertising, created the series' website, and we do the event videos of each race. When the discussion came up as to who would drive the Media Car at Mosport, I suggested that the local media really would be more interested if the person in question was Canadian, and everyone agreed. Cleverly, I was the only Canadian in the room and thus was an easy choice!



With a great full-page story in the Toronto Sun (above) and our media videos posted on a number of websites and blogs, it was time to concentrate on racing. I qualified seventh, and was raring to go on the start. But I pulled out of line a little early and had to get out of the throttle to get back in line (you're not allowed to initiate a pass before the starting line, or face a stop-and-go penalty). This loss of momentum allowed a couple of guys past and I dropped to tenth.

But as we've come to expect from the Mustang Challenge, there was a lot of excitement to be had in the 45-minute race. Tire management is very important, because the heavy Fords can heat them up and change the way they behave. The BFG's proved to be remarkably sticky during the first part of the race, and I had some great door-to-door action with a number of the series' regulars as we jockeyed for position. The two championship leaders (Andrew Caddell and Ted Anthony Jr.) had tussled in corner two on the first lap, running off course and both ending up at the back of the pack. They had to make their way carefully through, each tangling with a few guys on their return trip to the front. Caddell managed to do so without too much damage, but unfortunately Ted Anthony was caught out big time in corner eight after being spun and tagged by another car. Caddell finished second, while Anthony Jr. took a rather undeserved DNF.

For my part, I managed to claw my way back up to sixth and despite some very close racing, returned the car without a mark on it. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when Series Director Lynda Randall invited me to drive the #00 again at Mid-Ohio the very next weekend.

At Mid-O, the Mustang Challenge was on the card with Grand-Am's Rolex and KONI series, and so it would prove to be a busy weekend for me, jumping between driving duties in the Mustang and helping manage our Civics in KONI. Fortunately, Leo Capaldi's team, who run the #00 for FRMC, brought in some additional engineering help to work with us drivers to set up the cars.

As a spec-series, the goal is to have the cars as similar as possible so that driver talent is showcased. This means that although there are only a limited number of changes the team can make to car set-up, making sure the combination of small variations work well as a complete system is vitally important. Not only that, but the engineer has to anticipate how the car will change over the course of the race. For example, I was able to run quick laps at Mosport with the rear sway-bar attached, but we found that over the race distance the extra rear grip ground the tires down so that I had a very, very loose Mustang for the last ten or fifteen minutes.

So we spent Thursday and Friday's sessions trying different changes to each of the four cars the Capaldi team ran at Mid-Ohio. One of the sessions we ran was in the rain, and I managed the second-fastest time despite only turning two laps, which resulted in me doing some rather ungainly rain dances in the paddock (bring on the rain!). That said, we made some good improvements and I qualified seventh (and first of the Capaldi cars) in the dry, with the hope that we had a good handle on the set-up we'd need for Saturday's race (which also ended up being dry).

Over the first few laps of the race I made up for my poor Mosport start and was up to fifth, trailing the two leaders (Caddell and Anthony Jr., as you might guess), with Tony Buffomante (who won at Mosport) and Mike McGovern (a driver coach at the Bondurant school) immediately ahead. The fun of a spec series is that there really isn't much to choose between the cars and so you can run nose-to-tail for many laps, trying to pressure the guy ahead into a mistake.

Unfortunately for me, the hope for a top-five finish faded with my brakes in rather dramatic fashion just fifteen minutes into the race. Diving into turn one, the centre pedal went to the floor, and after a rather lurid moment gathering the car up, I settled into a rhythm for each and every corner: frantically pump the pedal to get some pressure back, brake early and feel the pads grip, and then feel the pedal give out again and hit the floor. I figured I'd cooked the fluid, but upon inspection the team did find a fault in the braking system which had led to the problem. Regardless, the team ended up being pretty pleased with my 10th place finish, which was again top dog in the Capaldi stable.

Over this year I've been really impressed with the high-calibre of driving talent of the guys in the Mustang Challenge. So it was with great anticipation that Compass360 Racing fielded a car at Mid-Ohio driven by two FRMC pilots. Ted Anthony Jr., mentioned above, currently sits second in the Mustang Challenge driver's championship. And current FRMC Marketing Director Jamie Slone took second spot at the end of the series' inaugural season last year. They drove our #76 Honda Civic Si in the Sunday race at Mid-Ohio.

Both guys have limited experience in a front-wheel drive car, and it was gratifying to see both of them close to the top of the charts during practice. They both showed great focus and worked with Crew Chief Ray Lee to get the car working, and to improve their own level of performance. They thrilled us with a fourth-place qualifying (Ted started and qualified the car and Jamie finished), just a fraction behind current KONI Championship leader Christian Miller in our #74 car (who qualified third).

As we have come to expect from KONI races this year, Mid-Ohio was a nail-biter. APR's VW GTIs were clearly in a class of their own, and we were left battling the Phoenix Subaru, Freedom's MX-5's and Turner's BMW for third. Ted Anthony Jr. had a great stint, getting past Christian and taking up third before handing off to Slone, who worked his way back up after a pit stop that was a little long (the driver change, which I did, took a little more time than usual). At the checkered flag, Jamie snagged sixth place, which cements a very impressive result from the two Mustang boys in their first KONI outing.

I've said all year that there is an amazing group of drivers battling it out in the Mustang Challenge. For two of their top guys to have such a strong result in an ultra-competitive professional series like Grand-Am's KONI Challenge is proof positive of this.

Check out the series' website at http://mustangchallenge.com for all the details, including an ever-expanding selection of event videos, driver profiles and more. And expect to see more Mustang Challenge drivers on the top of the podium in KONI and other series in the very near future. They really are that good!

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Mansfield, OH -- Christian Miller and co-driver Randy Pobst fought a long, hard battle at the historic Mid-Ohio track this weekend against cars that had a clear performance advantage, taking a solid second-place finish that extended Miller's lead in the KONI Driver's Championship.

"The Volkswagens were in a class of their own this weekend," noted Miller. "Randy and I pulled out everything we had to finish second, and even so we used up a lot of our car doing it."

Indeed, post-race inspection revealed that the duo's #74 Honda Civic Si had very little brakes left. "I was working the car every lap," remarked Pobst. "I tried to keep up with the VW's, but they had more pace than we did this weekend. They are very, very quick."

While the Volkswagens were celebrating their second straight win, Miller was happy with his points haul, which extend his points lead over the now-second place #111 Subaru. Georgian Bay Motorsport, which was a close second in the championship, has pulled out of the Grand-Am Street Tuner series, which means that Miller has a 24-point lead over the Subaru duo. With four races to go, this remains a very tight battle not just for the Driver's Championship, but also for the Teams and Manufacturers.

Having been second in the Driver's Championship for the past two years (C360R won the Manufacturer's Championship in 2007), Compass360 Racing is pulling out all the stops for the final four KONI races of 2009.

"We're already working on our plans for next year," noted Team Principal Karl Thomson. "But our focus remains a Championship for Christian. If previous years are any indication, it's going to be a battle right down to the wire, and we're ready for it!"

The next KONI Challenge race is July 17-18 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Labels: reports

LEXINGTON, OH -- Those looking to find Jamie Slone behind the wheel of the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge “Media Car” will have to set their sights on a different paddock, as a healthy chapter of seat swapping will take place this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

As Karl Thomson returns to make his second Ford Racing Mustang Challenge start driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang FR500S this weekend, Slone and fellow Mustang Challenge racer Ted Anthony Jr. have been tabbed to co-drive the No. 76 Compass360 Racing entry in Sunday’s EMCO Gears Classic in Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition.

That the distinctive black and orange KONI Challenge Street Tuner (ST) machine will be piloted by Slone and Anthony is little coincidence, as Thomson runs the KONI Championship-leading Compass squad.

The seat swap of sorts represents part of the partnership between the Mustang Challenge, as Compass360 was responsible not only for re-designing Mustang Challenge.com, but also anchors the production team that collaborates to create the videos that celebrate the excitement that Mustang Challenge creates every race weekend.

"I’m really excited to have Ted and Jamie join C360R this weekend, and I’ve been really impressed with their performance in testing so far today," said Thomson, who is hoping the two add to Compass360 Racing's impressive season to date, having scored three wins so far. "It’s a busy weekend for me, going from wearing a helmet to race in Mustang Challenge to wearing the headset as a KONI Challenge team owner, but I love it and this is really a great opportunity for everyone."

Slone’s competition focus this weekend has him in a different mode from his last few on-track outings, which have seen the Arizona-based racer behind the wheel of the Media Car providing rides to media members during the race weekends.

"With those rides, I'm all slide-ways, just trying to give them a taste of some of the excitement of being in the car," said Slone. "But of course, that’s not fast! So this is completely different mindset for me. I was really excited to hook up with C360R this weekend and to having Ted as my co-driver. I’m just trying to soak up that I can. I was on the top step of the podium here at Mid-Ohio last year in Mustang Challenge, and to get the chance to try and do it again in KONI Challenge this Sunday is something I’m really looking forward to."

The front wheel drive outing also has another added benefit for Anthony Jr., the same precious resource that all racers chase: seat time.

While his co-driver Slone was the winner in the Mustang Challenge event in 2008, this weekend marks the first time that Anthony has taken to the twisty and challenging 2.258-mile circuit in rural Ohio as he works to strengthen his position in the Mustang Challenge championship standings.

"This is great for me because even though the cars are obviously a lot different, the more laps you have at any track, the better," said Anthony. "Also, this car really responds well to smooth inputs with the throttle, and I know that is going to pay off when I get back into the Mustang. Compared to Mosport last weekend, this track couldn’t be more different, so I’m happy to get as many laps in as I can and am really looking forward to the chance to race twice this weekend!"

The move to front wheel drive equipment is also a fresh experience for Anthony Jr., who had but one day of on-track action in front wheel drive machinery so far in his career.

"It was when I was about 16 years old, driving my dad's daily driver Jetta at PIR, so not really what you would call a lot of experience!!" joked Anthony.

The EMCO Gears weekend will continue with practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday in advance of Sunday's 1:30 PM race start.

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KONI Challenge team leader ready for Mustang Challenge Debut at Mosport

Toronto, ON -- The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Media car, which has seen a wide range of drivers jump in to experience the competitive nature of the Mustang Challenge through the 2009 season, will add a new name to its roof this weekend as Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge entrant and racer Karl Thomson will race this weekend as the series heads north to Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Thomson, who has five wins as a driver in KONI competition to his credit, has been racing professionally since 2004, primarily in Grand-Am's KONI Challenge. Thomson has a KONI podium streak that stretches back to 2005. As lead driver and team owner of Compass360 Racing, the Canadian has raced a variety of cars including Acuras, BMW's, Mazda's, Porsches and the Hondas the team currently fields.

The Mustang Challenge race appearance marks a return to the cockpit for Thomson, who has stepped away from driving for the moment to focus on his role as team owner. He’s done so to excellent effect, as his C360R KONI squad made history at New Jersey Motorsports Park as the team scored a remarkable 1-2-3 finish, the first in KONI history.

Thomson calls Toronto home and has been racing at Mosport since he first scored Rookie honors in the 2003 Canadian Touring Car Championship, and is relishing the chance to strap back into the car and go racing this weekend.

“Anytime you get the opportunity to race at Mosport, it is something you look forward to as a driver, so to get the chance to drive a Ford Mustang there this weekend is one that I’m really excited about,” said Thomson. “Even though I have a lot of experience driving at Mosport, I know that I will be racing against guys who have a lot of experience in these cars so I have pretty realistic expectations for the weekend. Although I will admit that from what I have seen of the races, the guys fighting for a spot in the top ten seem to be having just as much fun as the guys trying to race to the podium, so I am really looking forward to this.”

The Mosport weekend, part of the traditional Fathers Day weekend event at the Ontario facility, will get underway with practice on Friday before setting the grid in qualifying on Saturday. Round 7 of the 2009 Mustang Challenge season is slated to take the green flag at (11:00 AM) on Sunday.

About Ford Racing Mustang Challenge:
The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge is a new professional racing series co-developed by Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park. Utilizing the new Ford Mustang FR500S and sanctioned by the Grand American Road Racing Association, the Mustang Challenge series is a support series to major professional road racing events across North America. Mustang Challenge is an affordable, challenging platform for racers who want to compete in a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive car on a level playing field that showcases driver ability in high-profile events. A competitive point structure and generous purses make the Mustang Challenge The Place to Race!

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Compass360 Racing announced today that the team will return to Castrol Canadian Touring Car (CCTCC) competition in 2009, fielding an Acura TSX driven by longtime team driver David Ciekiewicz.

The move marks a further expansion of the C360R Road Racing program, which ironically began with CCTCC in 2003, when Team Principal Karl Thomson took Rookie of the Year honors, before moving the team to Grand-Am's KONI Challenge series full-time in 2004.

"I'm just thrilled to be driving for Compass360 again," enthused Ciekiewicz. "We've had some good fun together in KONI over the past few years, and I am looking forward to fighting for the Super Touring championship this year in my TSX!"

"We've wanted to get back into Canadian Touring Car, and partnering with Dave provided the ideal opportunity," noted Thomson. "We've been very successful with our KONI program over the past five years, making history a few weekends ago in New Jersey with a podium sweep. We're keen on extending that success back into the Canadian racing scene."

Indeed, sponsors already on board include Skunk2, OMP and K&N, who are keen to expand their footprint in Canada. "We see an opportunity to use the C360R Canadian Touring Car program to increase awareness of our products north of the border," commented Skunk2 President Dave Hsu. The team's TSX will make use of a number of Skunk2 performance enhancements throughout its powerplant and drivetrain.

The signature matte-black-and-neon-orange #36 TSX will make its first appearance at Mosport's High Octane Weekend, June 12-14th. It promises to be an exciting event, featuring the Canadian Touring Car series alongside the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Ford Racing Mustang Challenge, and more.

Labels: news

(Courtesy Grand-Am)

Compass360 Racing has dominated at The Glen in ST action in the past two seasons. Two seasons ago, Johnson made a last-lap pass to give himself and Karl Thomson victory, while 2007 class co-champions Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood garnered their first series victories in 2008. Both wins came in Acura TSXs.

The transition to the Honda Civic Si has not endured much of a challenge thus far, as Compass360 has earned three victories in five races this season and owns first, third and eighth in the team standings.

Christian Miller leads the driver standings by eight points (143-135) over rookies Pat Iannucci and Lawson Aschenbach. Miller drives Compass360's No. 74 034 Motorsport / Skunk2 Honda Civic Si with Randy Pobst, a 2003 overall winner at WGI. The pair have combined for two wins in 2009. Travis Walker, entered in the No. 75 Skunk2/C360R.com, sits eighth in points after winning at Lime Rock, and has finished on the podium in three races. He is teaming with New York native John Kuitwaard, who shared the car with Walker for the duo's first KONI win.

Full text that will only be showed on item pages.

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LAKEVILLE, CT - Travis Walker passed Ian Baas for the lead with 10 minutes remaining and held on to win Saturday's Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner race at Lime Rock Park, taking the checkered flag under caution.

Walker co-drove the No. 75 Skunk2/Canadianracers.com Honda Civic Si with John Kuitwaard. It was the first KONI Challenge victory for both drivers. Kuitwaard was making his first start with the team in only his second race in the series. Walker led the final nine of 133 circuits in the two hour, 30 minute event.

"I knew if I kept the pressure on the Volkswagen, he'd eventually make one little mistake, and when he made that mistake, I jumped on him," Walker said of the winning pass. "I didn't waste the opportunity. I've been here three times before and never even ran a green flag lap - the car dropped out each time before I got in. When I saw the final caution, I thought, 'Thank God. I'm tired. I want this to be over with.' I haven't had the best luck in this series, and I finally caught a little good luck at the end."

Baas and Josh Hurley finished second in the No. 171 APR Tuning/ Gunther VW Volkswagen GTI. Hurley won his first pole in the series earlier Saturday and led 25 laps early in the event, while Baas led for 54 laps before losing the position to Walker.

The race ended under caution after Matt Pritiko, in the No. 76 Skunk2/ Canadianracers.com Honda Civic Si, and Nick Leverone, in the No. 08 Flatout Motorsports Mazda MX-5, tangled in the downhill turn. Neither driver was injured.

It marked the third victory of the season for Compass360 Racing. Randy Pobst and Christian Miller, who finished fourth in the No. 74 Honda Civic Si, won at Homestead-Miami Speedway and led an unprecedented Compass360 podium sweep at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Miller added two counters to his point lead over Lawson Aschenbach and Pat Iannucci, who finished fifth in the No. 00 T.T.L Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Miller now leads by eight points (143-135), while Ashley McCalmont moving up to third with 129 points after placing third in the No. 01 Georgian Bay Cobalt co-driven by Jamie Holtom, who rejoined the team after winning the 2008 ST championship in that car.

The final caution was the fourth of the event, with Kuitwaard and Walker averaging 81.123 mph. Paul Dalla Lana crashed on lap five in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW 328i, while the No. 181 APR Tuning/ BBS Volkswagen GTI of Mike Sweeney and Dion von Moltke twice stopped on course and needed a tow.

Next action for the KONI Challenge will be June 5 at Watkins Glen International, in conjunction with the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16.

(Courtesy Grand-Am)

Labels: reports

Matt Pritiko disappointed after late race crash

TORONTO, ON - Compass360 Racing's Matt Pritiko and his rocky season continued at Lime Rock on Saturday in the ST class race of the Koni Challenge Series. Pritiko, for the first time this year was the second driver in the #76 Skunk2/ Canadianracers.com Honda Civic Si.

"We qualified second and it was a little different watching the start of the race, rather than driving in it," Pritiko said. "My teammate did a great job in handing over a great car for me to take to the finish."

Pritiko set about his challenge after the pit stop to keep his Skunk2/ Canadianracers.com Honda Civic Si in the podium hunt. "Really, it's just about getting settled into a pace," Pritiko said. "I tried not to push too hard so I would have some car at the end to race with."

Sadly, Pritiko would never get the chance as coming onto the front straight, through the fast right hand turn he felt a problem. "At first I didn't know what had happened. All I know is that the car jumped sideways, then back the other way. I nearly saved it but it went around and hit the wall hard."

Pritiko was unable to complete the race. "I feel really bad about the crash," Pritiko said. "The Compass guys gave me a great car, Glen handed it over to me after his stint in great condition. It's a tough way to end a race, but I am not hurt, and looking forward to my next race."

(Courtesy Russ Bond Agency.)

Labels: reports

Monterey, CA -- Compass360 Racing's Toronto-based crew has hauled the team's three Honda Civic Si's across the country to the beautiful Laguna Seca track nestled on the picturesque Monterey peninsula of Northern California. Hoping to continue their strong 2009, C360R has assembled another impressive driver line-up.

Californian Christian Miller, who lives an hour away in downtown San Jose, is looking to notch his third straight first-place finish in the 034 Motorsport / Skunk2 / C360R #74 Honda. With Miller's regular co-driver, Randy Pobst, competing across the continent at Mosport this weekend, the team drafted 2008 KONI Street Tuner Champion Jamie Holtom for the task of helping Miller to stay at the front of the Driver's Championship.

Although this race marks Holtom's first race of 2009, he tested with the team in the fall of 2008. The Laguna race marks his first time competing in a Civic. "I've raced against these Hondas for so many years, I'm looking forward to trying one on for size," laughed Holtom.

Holtom is no stranger to two other members of the C360R, having competed with them in go karts for many years before they all graduated to sports cars in the KONI Challenge. Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker will once again share the CanadianRacers.com / Skunk2 / C360R #74 car. After two podium finishes in the first three races, the young duo look to solidify a place at the top of the Championship, currently sitting in 5th place.

"It really is an important weekend for us in the points," Pritiko said. "With another good finish, we can be right in thick of the championship hunt. I know the Compass360 guys will have all three cars prepared really well, and I am looking forward to an exciting weekend of racing."

New to the team is Bret Spaude, who will co-drive with Team Owner Karl Thomson in the Skunk2 / K&N / C360R #75 Civic. Spaude is competing with rival Bill Fenton's team, but will race with Compass360 for those events that Fenton does not attend this year, as he is in contention for the Mesco Rookie of the Year. "With Bill sitting this race out, it made sense to drive with Karl and Compass360," noted Spaude. "After seeing them make history by putting three cars on the podium at New Jersey I'm looking to notch a good result here at Laguna."

Miller is equally excited. "This being a home race, we've got lots of friends and family out to entertain our sponsors. We're obviously working hard to finish first for them."

"We're doing our best to put together strong driver line-ups in each of our cars," remarked Thomson, who finished first at Laguna in 2007. "We pulled off a miracle in New Jersey, and I doubt we'll ever see a dream result like that again very soon, if ever. But I think we've got an equally strong group for Laguna, and we're excited to race on Saturday."

The KONI Challenge race starts at 3:00pm on Saturday, May 16th, and will be televised tape-delayed on SPEED on May 23rd at 12:00 noon.

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Photo Credit: Sideline Motorsports Photography, reproduction rights granted.

Labels: news

Although fans of Grand-Am's KONI Challenge are accustomed to seeing Compass360 Racing's bright orange Honda Civic Si's at the front of the field, they were treated to a rare sight as the team's three cars swept the podium at New Jersey Motorsports Park's Thunderbolt Raceway last Saturday.

C360R, which placed two different cars on the podium in each of the opening races of the 2009 KONI season, brought an exceptionally potent driver line-up to the New Jersey event.

"We definitely stacked the deck in our favor," remarked Team Principal Karl Thomson. Season-long drivers include Canadian karting stars Matt Pritiko and Travis Walker, who share the team's #76 Honda, while Californian Christian Miller starts for road racing legend Randy Pobst in #74.

Indeed, Pritiko and Walker took third place at the season-opening race at Daytona this year, and the Miller/Pobst combination took the team's first win of 2009 at Homestead-Miami. "Although our line-up is already the best in the paddock, we thought it would be fun to add another strong pairing and see if we could get a couple of cars on the box," said Thomson. To accomplish that goal the team's #75 car was run by Thomson and perennial front-running KONI driver Eric Curran.

The race started well, with Miller qualifying 2nd, Pritiko 5th and Thomson 8th. Pit strategy played an important role in the final result, with Pritiko and Thomson pitting under a yellow flag near the 50-minute mark, stopping for fuel, tires and a driver change. Miller, running a strong second, remained out, the team knowing it would have to pit #76 and #75 again for fuel.

With 45 minutes to go, and all of the pit stops completed (Miller having stopped and swapped in Pobst), it was Compass360 cars 1st, 2nd and 3rd, with Walker leading Curran over Pobst. But as always with road racing, it's never over until the checkered flag, and a Porsche, running in the faster GS-class, changed the outcome of the race when the 911 driver attempted an overtaking maneuver on #76 coming onto the front straight.



Walker, leading, was pushed off the track as a result of this, and fell back into the clutches of his C360R team-mates. At this point in the championship, it's still anyone's game and the three Hondas ended up going three-wide into corner one. This certainly made for some amazing racing and television coverage (watch SPEED TV on Saturday May 9th at noon for the full race), but also a very nervous Team Principal.

In the end, Pobst prevailed over Walker, with Curran impressing in his first drive with the team.

"This is a dream result," noted Technical Director Ray Lee. "It's the culmination of years of work with the Hondas and Acuras we've built and run since 2005, and to have our cars all on the box is something we could only have wished for."

Indeed, this is an historic event. The KONI Challenge traces its history through Grand Am Cup, which was Motorola Cup, which was borne from the Firehawk series in the mid-1980's. During this time, no team has taken the entire podium.

"Today's finish is the result of a lot of hard work by the C360R crew," said Miller. "It's an honor to be a part of this amazing team, and have something that will be in the history books."

Noted Thomson, "We've been working towards this for a number of years, and it's gratifying to see it come to fruition. We did a lot of development work with the Civic last year, while we were also running Acura TSXs. We did our best to bring six strong drivers to New Jersey and it paid off!"

The Team returns to its Toronto base for a brief respite before heading to Laguna Seca for the next round on May 16th. Miller and Pobst are narrowly leading the points championship, with Pritiko and Walker in close pursuit.

The New Jersey KONI race airs Saturday May 9th as 12:00 noon ET on SPEED.

Labels: reports

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Courtesy of Grand-Am:

HOMESTEAD, FL - A day after missing the pole position in Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge competition by only .003 seconds, Randy Pobst and Christian Miller took the No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si to victory in the Street Tuner (ST) class Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the second closest finish in KONI Challenge history.

Pobst fought Tom Long in a seesaw battle that saw both drivers lead multiple times over the final half hour of action on the 2.3-mile, 11-turn track, but a pass in Turn 11 on Lap 89 of 92 gave Pobst the lead for the final time. He held onto the point for the final four laps to earn his fifth career overall and class victories, while giving Miller his first win.

The margin of victory, which stood at 0.129 seconds, was the second closest finish in KONI Challenge history. Only the race at Watkins Glen International in 2004 was closest (0.050 seconds). The race's average speed was 84.418 mph, the second fastest KONI race at the track.

KONI Sports Car Challenge action continues Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, when Grand Sport (GS) class drivers will compete in a two-and-a-half hour race.

Pobst took the lead for the first time on Lap 60, when he passed Kirk Spencer between Turns 7 and 8 in the infield, and held on for 16 laps. Shortly after, Long made his way to second when Josh Hurley pitted during the green flag.

The final of two cautions occurred on Lap 72 for debris on the front straightaway, bunching up the field and giving Pobst and Long a chance to battle to the end.

And battle, back-and-forth, lap after lap, they did.

When the green flag was displayed on Lap 74, Long shadowed Pobst around the track for two laps before making the pass on Lap 76. Pobst regained the lead for three laps, then Long took the lead from Laps 80-85 before being edged to the line on Lap 86.

Each time Pobst tried to take the lead on the outside of Turn 1, he was denied, but on the outside of Turn 11 is where he was the strongest. He finally got by on Lap 89, leading by just a few car lengths at the line.

Long didn't quit though. He pushed his No. 145 Freedom Autosports Mazda MX-5 deeper each lap, and ran nose-to-tail behind Pobst until the final lap. Also Freedom's team manager, Long looked for a way around Pobst coming out of the final corner, but didn't have enough power to pull alongside and challenge. Instead, he and co-driver Derek Whitis became bridesmaids once again.

Between Pobst and Long were six lead changes over the final 17 laps. Overall, Miller - who started second after nearly taking the pole position Friday - led a race-high 37 laps, all in succession, after taking the lead from polesitter Andrew Aquilante on Lap 6. Miller held the lead until Lap 42, when he pitted during the first caution, which came out for debris between Turns 8 and 9.

Finishing third, 8.464 seconds back, were Hurley and Ian Baas, who drove the No. 171 APR Motorsport Volkswagen GTI. Though neither driver led the race, both drivers ran in the top three for the majority of their stints. Baas had qualified the car third fastest on Friday.

The next KONI Challenge ST race will be run simultaneously with GS on May 2 at Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

NEWS & NOTES
- The KONI Sports Car Challenge victory was the fifth by Randy Pobst and first ever by Christian Miller. The statistic is the same for overall and class victories.

- The last victory by Pobst in KONI Challenge competition was Oct. 5, 2003 at Virginia International Raceway. All four of Pobst's previous KONI victories came in 2003.

- This is the first victory of the season for Compass360 Racing the last race win for the team was Aug. 16, 2008 at Le Circuit de Trois-Rivières (Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood).

- This is the first victory of the season for the Honda Civic Si.


POST-RACE QUOTES:

Christian Miller: "Three-thousandths times two and a half hours was about what the finish was. First and foremost, the guys at Compass360 Racing prepared the most brilliant car I've had in a long time of racing, and we needed every ounce of it today. We came out, starting on the front row after missing the pole by .003, had a great run after a couple of laps of mayhem and mischief at the beginning - thanks to a couple of my friends - but once everything got straightened away, it was just keeping it nice, straight and smooth, keeping it together to give to my co-driver. He apparently needed every last drop it had in it after two hours. He did the job only Randy could do."

Randy Pobst: "Some of the best racing in the world is in the KONI Challenge. There is an amazing variety of cars and drivers, and the Compass360 team - crew chief Ray Lee, owner Karl Thomson and all the guys on the team build a heck of a car. I've got to thank Christian Miller for doing such a great job qualifying the car and leading the start of the race second. When it came down to it at the end, it was the lighter-handling Mazda MX-5 against the Honda V-Tech power. I did not have that much left in the way of brakes, because when I first got in the car, I just drove it, drove it, drove it. And then here comes that MX-5. I knew it was going to be a tough race, and we went back and forth about a hundred times. Then I thought, 'This is dumb.' I aligned us and just watched for awhile, and I thought, 'I can beat him to the finish line.' My V-Tech is right at the peak of its power band in fifth gear at one point, and the MX-5 always slowed down there, because he didn't have exactly the right gear. And we did. We were lucky in that regard. It was extremely well prepared by the Compass360 team, and well driven by Christian Miller."

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MIAMI, FLA - Compass360 Racing Team driver Matt Pritiko came very close to scoring another strong result in the 2009 Koni Challenge Series this past weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway, but sadly mechanical problems ended his run.

"With 30 minutes left in the race Travis's times started to drop of and we knew that there was something wrong. The 76 car made its way down pit lane into our pit box and the crew opened the hood. There was water spraying out from the motor, we then knew our day was done."

Pritiko was happy with his Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si at the beginning of the weekend. "We started off well. In practice, our times were competitive with the field which was great seeing as though we decided not to run the test day before the event to put less time on the car."

The tight ST class battle for the pole was hard fought, and Pritiko was happy with his spot, inside the top 10. "In qualifying I managed to get the car into the 7th spot which was right where we wanted the car to be. Later we found that a car in front of us switched drivers to start the race so we moved up one position starting 6th. "

Pritiko's job as the first of the two drivers in the car was to move up as much as possible while still having a good car to hand over to his teammate at the pit stop.

"As the green flag flew everyone made their way into corners 1-2 and 3 which is almost like one big dog leg. I got the car to the inside at the start, and moved up a position (5th). I started to focus on maintaining the car so my co-driver would have a great chance to contend for the top spot."

"I brought the car in to the pits for the driver change after racing for 1 hour and 11 minutes so Travis could finish the race. The pit stop went very well. The Compass360 crew did a great job changing tires and refueling the car."

All that hard work came to an end with the mechanical failure, but Pritiko is confident in his team and he vows to fight back at the next round in New Jersey.

"With the next race in New Jersey a little over a month away, the C360R crew will have the cars ready for action and ready to get back on the podium."

(Courtesy Russ Bond Agency.)

Labels: reports