TOOELE, UT (4-28-12) – After strong runs all day in practice and qualifying, the San Francisco based Golden Gate Racing Team saw their hard fought efforts come up short in the Utah last weekend when the checkered flag waved at the conclusion of the Utah Grand Prix featuring the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
Primary driver Michael Self was a favorite to run up front as he returned to the track he calls home with the brand new sponsorship of Rockwell Watches aboard the GGRT #21 Chevrolet that carries the support of Richard Childress Racing Driver Development. Self fought of the challenges of a failed alternator throughout the afternoon. The Park City Utah resident was joined for the event by road racing ace Michael Skeen of Charlotte, North Carolina for the event.

Skeen was well on his way to the front on the 2.5 mile road course until a collision in the closing laps of  the race cost him several positions with little time to recover aboard the Carlisle Construction/Hawk Performance #31 Chevrolet owned by Patti Offenbach. In the end Skeen finished 17th overall while Self came across the finish line in the 18th finishing position in the third event of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event of the 2012 season that consists of 15 total events.

“It just wasn’t our race to win this time,” said Steve Portenga, competition director for the Golden Gate Racing Team and crew chief for the #21 of Self. “We fought alternator issues all afternoon with the #21 and the #31 should have won the race but got spun out with just three laps to go. Both drivers did a great job as well as the whole team. Now we’ll get back to some short track racing in Stockton.”

In practice on Saturday, Self posted the 10th fastest lap of the final group with an 82.882 mile per hour run aboard the Rockwell Watches/Miller Motorsports Park #21. Skeen was the 7th fastest driver in practice with an 83:502. In qualifying both drivers remained strong, Self timed in with the 7th fastest lap with a top speed of 95.297 while Skeen clocked the 5th fastest lap with a 94.215.

For Self, Saturday’s race had a special meaning, despite the mechanical woes and the finish deep in the field. Not only did the Utah resident return to the track he calls home to be with friends and family, he also had the opportunity to debut his newest sponsor, Rockwell Watches, before the hometown crowd.

“I wish we could have had a better finish in the race but it was great to come race at home again,” said Self. “A lot of my friends don’t get to see a race here too often so they look forward to this every year. It was great to bring Rockwell Watches to the track since they are based in Salt Lake City. Hopefully I can give them a better finish next week in Stockton.”

For Skeen, Saturday’s race marked his first ever NASCAR start in his decorated career of various road racing venues. His top runs in practice and qualifying impressed many. Despite the way the race concluded, the professional road racer was pleased with his NASCAR debut.

“The whole experience was very positive. We missed out on some track time in practice but fortunately the Golden Gate Racing Team arrived with a solid package in the #31. With just a handful of laps remaining we were running in third and turning laps much faster than those in front of us. Then our hopes of victory were taken away when we were taken out on the restart. I was very pleased with the teams performance and our level of competitiveness. The cars are a fun challenge for me and I look forward to competing in more NASCAR events in the future.”

With Miller Motorsports Park in the history book, the Golden Gate Racing Team returns to California this weekend for the excitement of short track racing. Currently 7th in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West standings, Self will be behind the wheel of the #21 Rockwell Watches, Bay Bio Diesel, RCR Chevrolet as the series returns to Stockton 99 Speedway for the first time since 2006.

GGRT carries the ongoing support of Richard Childress Racing Driver Development, Pat O’Keefe’s Bay Bio Diesel, the Golden Gate Meat Company, Rockwell Watches, Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, RCR Street Performance, Hill Meat Company, Corte Madera Tow, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair and JW Web Design.

For an in-depth look at the Golden Gate Racing Team or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, visit their official website at www.goldengateracingteam.com. For more information on Mike Skeen visit his personal website at www.mikeskeen.com or find him on facebook at Facebook.com/skeen.michael, Fans can also follow him for Saturday’s race at YouTube.com/michaelskeen.

Earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to get a few laps in the car at Buttonwillow Raceway Park to get an idea of how the car felt and what setup changes had what reaction.  We then had a practice session Saturday morning before going out to qualify early in the afternoon, and racing at the end of the day.

Our practice was cut short by a long clean up period for a blown engine, so we didn’t have a lot of time to dial in the car.  Miller is quite a different track than I had practiced on before, so there was some work to do to make improvements.  Going to qualifying, I knew we would struggle a little bit on outright pace, but that we would have a stable setup for the race.

Our qualifying also had an interruption for an engine failure in the same car, which really hurt us because we were only able to get in one lap before coming to the pits.  We had the provisional pole, but it wasn’t enough to hold on as the last group went out.  Still, we ended up fifth on the grid and we were all pretty happy with that.

The race was right after the World Challenge event, so I had to run from the podium to go change into the right suit and get in the K&N car in time for the start.  At the green, we dropped one spot to 6th, but were able to stick with the lead pack as the field started to drop back behind us.

The pace at the start was very fast, but our competitors were using up their equipment and the pace came back down.  We made up some spots and made a green flag pit stop for fuel around the 20 lap mark.  After getting around two of the faster cars we were running with at the start, we were able to get some clean track and started to set fast laps as we caught up to the slower cars that had gambled on an early stop under yellow.

We slowly made our way back into the Top 10 and eventually found ourselves in third place, running 2-3 seconds per lap faster than the leaders.  With 10 laps to go, we were very close to catching the leaders, but the yellow came out and we had a restart with just 3 laps remaining.  Unfortunately, the 5th place car went into turn one on the restart way too fast and drilled us in the left rear.  After rejoining the track, there was some damage and the tire eventually went down, dropping us to 17th in the final standings.

Although the race didn’t end well for us, I was very pleased with our pace overall.  The competition level was very high and the cars are fun to drive, so I hope to do it again with better results!

Our plans changed early Thursday morning when the #2 Nissan broke the Hewland transaxle on a practice start from pit lane.  There is no spares package available at the moment, so this failure would be terminal for the weekend.  However, Daskalos was getting time in the #12 and starting to make some progress on the chassis development.

At this point, the decision was made to pull the Carlisle Interconnect Technologies Corvette out of the hauler and to install an older spare engine that had many race miles on it in an attempt to make the race on Saturday.  The guys did an excellent job to get the car running that night in time for Friday’s official practice sessions.

Unfortunately, our first session was spent chasing an engine issue that turned out to be a spark plug that had been damaged during transport.  Second practice wasn’t much better, though, because we lost the differential without completing a lap.  With a short period before qualifying that afternoon, we were unable to run the car and would have to start from the back of the GT field with essentially no practice to improve the setup.

Saturday was going to be a busy day because I was running double-duty in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race.  I had a long practice session in that car in the morning, followed by an autograph session for World Challenge during the lunch hour.  Then I had qualifying in the K&N car, the World Challenge race, and finally the K&N race.  There was some running involved to make every session wearing the correct suit.

There were a lot of questions on the grid for the World Challenge race, but we were there with our best option given the circumstances and everything was off to a good start when the lights went out.  I was able to get by a few cars by turn one and continued to pick them off, getting up to fifth position by lap five.

At that point, I found it very difficult to get by the Ferrari cleanly because he had a little bit of top speed on us.  After following for a few laps, I was able to surprise him in the braking zone for “The Attitudes.”  By now we were just past halfway and I had a gap of nearly 10 seconds to reach the Cadillacs running P2 & 3.

I put my head down to run clean laps and make time through traffic and our competition started to come into sight as the laps wound down.  On the lap before seeing the white flag, I had finally caught up and coming out of Turn 6, Pilgrim had a large slide and lost some momentum.  I had a good run and pulled alongside going into T7, which is a very fast corner that was very dirty at this point.  I knew he would have to back out or face sliding off in the debris.

We managed to secure a podium position, but there was no time left to get any more positions.  Fortunately, we did get the Sunoco Hard Charger and Optima Batteries Best Standing Start awards for the run.  It felt like a win and was a great morale booster for the guys that had worked so hard to get the car on the track all week.

No time to celebrate, though, because I only had a few minutes before the start of the NASCAR race.

TOOELE, Utah –

The Golden Gate Racing Team will field primary driver Michael Self in the No. 21 Golden Gate Meat/RCR Chevrolet. While Self is a favorite to score a top run at his home track in Utah, he will be joined by a driver that is well known for his success on road courses, Mike Skeen of Charlotte, N.C.

Skeen will be aboard the No. 31 Carlisle Construction Materials/Hawk Performance/GGRT/RCR Chevrolet as he tackles the 2.2-mile road course at Miller Motorsports Park.

Skeen began racing karts at the age of 10 and gained experience across many platforms. He has had success on ovals and road courses, driving everything from shifter karts and formula cars, to GT and touring cars of all types. His most recent success includes the pole position and track record in the Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.) and his return to the NASA Mid-Atlantic SpecE30 Series, where he led flag to flag races and reset the lap record.

In 2011, he competed in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. He won the Nelson Ledges “Longer Longest Day” Enduro and finished third in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Driver’s Championship. Additonally, Skeen qualified second in both the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am at Road Atlanta where he went on to finish first and then finished second in the Pirelli World Challenge at Atlanta and won the round of the Pirelli World Challenge at Laguna Seca Raceway.

“The Golden Gate Racing Team is looking forward to having Mike Skeen behind the wheel at Miller Motorsports Park,” said team owner Patti Offenbach. “He is a talented road racer with an impressive resume. Having him join our talented driver Michael Self in Utah where we have good success should put GGRT/RCR in the position to finish this race with a one-two punch. We’re ready to go road racing more than ever.”

Saturday’s race will mark Skeen’s first ever start in a NASCAR event. With his decorated resume behind him, he is looking forward to working with one of the strongest, most integral teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, the Golden Gate Racing Team, to make his debut in the stock car racing circuit.

“I am really excited to join the Golden Gate Racing team this weekend,” said Skeen. “This will be my first NASCAR event, but I have always enjoyed watching the stock cars race when running other series at the same venues. I expect the competition level to be very high.”

The Golden Gate Racing Team/RCR Chevrolet driven by Mike Skeen will carry the sponsorship of Carlisle Construction Materials and Hawk Performance in addition to  Hunter and Hertalan. Additionally, GGRT carries the ongoing support of  Richard Childress Racing Driver Development, Pat O’Keefe’s Bay Bio Diesel, the Golden Gate Meat Company, Rockwell Watches,Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, RCR Street Performance, Hill Meat Company, Corte Madera Tow, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair and JW Web Design.

For an in-depth look at the Golden Gate Racing Team or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, visit their official website at www.goldengateracingteam.com. For more information on Mike Skeen visit his personal website at www.mikeSkeen.com or find him on facebook and YouTube.

Different marques – eight in total – were represented in the top three for the three classes. Leading the way was Skeen in the No. 2 Hawk Performance Chevrolet Corvette. Skeen scorched the 1.8-mile street/airport circuit with a lap at 1:14.700 (86.747 mph), breaking the year-old World Challenge track record of 1:15.071 (86.318 mph) set last year by Patrick Long.

It was the second pole of Skeen’s career and he heads into this afternoon’s race looking for his fifth World Challenge victory. Skeen also moves into the very early lead in the championship standings with 15 valuable points.

“Qualifying was super tight,” Skeen said. “All the guys are right behind us within tenths. Fortunately, we got the Hawk Performance car up front, which I think is going to be crucial for this race. It’s really tight and there’s going to be a ton of traffic. We’ll probably get a lot of yellow laps. Hopefully we can keep it out front at the start and just stay out of trouble.”

Andy Pilgrim, of Marina Del Rey, Fla., will join Skeen on the front row for this evening’s standing start. Pilgrim turned a best lap at 1:14.899 (88.516 mph) in the No. 8 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V Coupe to earn the position.

Lawson Aschenbach, of Darnestown, Md. qualified third in the No. 1 Privacy Star/Entrust/TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 at 1:14.917 (86.495 mph), followed by Johnny O’Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga., in the No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V Coupe at 1:15.037 (86.357 mph). Alex Figge, of Denver, Colo., rounded out the top five in the No. 9 K-PAX Racing Volvo S60 at 1:15.064 (86.326 mph). The top-six GT qualifiers posted times quicker than Long’s previous track record.

After leading Friday’s afternoon practice session, Lee managed to once again find the speed on Saturday morning to put the No. 20 Best IT Chevrolet Camaro at the head of the GTS starting grid. Lee’s lap of 1:21.598 (79.413 mph) eclipsed the previous GTS track record of 1:21.936 (79.086 mph) set last year by Eric Foss. Lee’s pole-winning time came in the closing laps of the combined GTS/Touring car qualifying session.

“We had to make some tire-pressure adjustments,” Lee explained. “When we first went out, we were sliding around a lot, so we came in to make some changes and we knew we had to go back out. We lost a little bit of time and had to go out at the end of the session and try to put in another flyer. We were close to pole before, so I knew if we came in and got the tires right that we’d have a good shot at pole. That’s the way it kind of worked out. I’ve got to thank Best IT and the guy that owns my car and helped me build this car, his name is Harrison Gentry, he owns Big Boy Toy Storage, and I’ve got to give him a good little shout out.”

Peter Cunningham, of Milwaukee, Wis., will start alongside Lee on the GTS grid in the No. 42 RealTime/Acura/HPD Acura TSX. Cunningham turned in a best time of 1:21.695 (79.319 mph). Sixteen-year-old Alec Udell, of The Woodlands, Texas, starts third in the No. 16 Kart Nation/Amsource Ford Mustang Boss 302R at 1:22.054 (78.972 mph), followed by Jack Baldwin, of Marietta, Ga., in the No. 68 Hot Wheels Porsche Cayman S at 1:22.058 (78.968 mph). Nick Esayian, of San Diego, Calif., was fifth in GTS at 1:22.185 (78.846 mph) in the No. 34 RealTime/Acura/HPD Acura TSX.

Making his first career World Challenge appearance today, Cooper got a great view for his first standing start in the series by putting the No. 03 MAZDASPEED Motorsports MAZDASPEED 3 on the Touring Car pole position. Cooper’s lap of 1:25.161 (76.091 mph) topped Tristan Herbert’s 2011 track record of 1:25.899 (75.437 mph).

“It’s a great way to start in the MAZDASPEED3 with MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development,” Cooper said. “The guys have been working really hard. They’ve been working 20- or 22-hour days for quite some time now. We’ve got the car engineered really well. Jim Bell is our engineer and he’s kick ass, and the car is solid.”

Despite an apparent problem that cut his qualifying session short, Herbert, of Reston, Va., still managed to score a front-row starting spot. His lap of 1:26.133 (75.232 mph) in the No. 33 Brimtek/GermanAutoParts.com Volkswagen GTI landed him second on the Touring Car grid.

Patrick Seguin, of Clarence Creek, Ontario, Canada, qualified third in class at 1:26.177 (75.194 mph) in the No. 80 Theberge Homes/capsparts.com Volkswagen Golf GTI, followed by Todd Lamb, of Atlanta, Ga., in the No. 71 National Karting News/HPD Honda Civic Si at 1:26.209 (75.166 mph). Robb Holland, of Denver, Colo, will start fifth at 1:26.370 (75.026 mph) in the No. 70 StopTech/Honda/HPD Honda Civic Si.

The first race of the Acura Sports Car Challenge presented by Pirelli doubleheader rolls off from a standing start at 6:00 p.m. ET this evening. A live online broadcast will be available at www.world-challengeTV.com and the race will be televised on NBC Sports Network on April 8 at 4:30 p.m. ET.

For more information, please visit www.world-challenge.com.

Follow World Challenge on Twitter @WCRacing.

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. – Starting lineup for Saturday’s Pirelli World Challenge Championships Round 1 race, the Acura Sports Car Challenge presented by Pirelli at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, with position, class, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.
1. GT, (2) Mike Skeen, Charlotte, N.C., Chevrolet Corvette Z06, 1:14.700, 86.747.
2. GT, (8) Andy Pilgrim, Marina Del Rey, Fla., Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, 1:14.899, 86.516.
3. GT, (1) Lawson Aschenbach, Darnestown, Md., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:14.917, 86.495.
4. GT, (3) Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, Ga., Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, 1:15.037, 86.357.
5. GT, (9) Alex Figge, Denver, Colo., Volvo S60 AWD, 1:15.064, 86.326.
6. GT, (6) Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Volvo S60 AWD, 1:15.444, 85.891.
7. GT, (14) James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:15.482, 85.848.
8. GT, (85) Steve Ott, Houston, Texas, Porsche 911 GT3, 1:15.767, 85.525.
9. GT, (4) Dino Crescentini, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:15.775, 85.516.
10. GT, (46) Justin Marks, Davidson, N.C., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:16.154, 85.090.
11. GT, (47) Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., Porsche 911 GT3, 1:16.185, 85.056.
12. GT, (77) David Welch, Bothell, Wash., Ferrari F430 GT, 1:17.366, 83.757.
13. GT, (99) Jeff Courtney, Milwaukee, Wis., 1:17.925, 83.156.
14. GT, (12) Jason Daskalos, Albuquerque, N.M., Nissan GTR, 1:20.517, 80.479.
15. GT, (11) Tony Gaples, Lincolnshire, Ill., Chevrolet Corvette, no time.
16. GTS, (20) Andy Lee, Colorado Springs, Colo., Chevrolet Camaro, 1:21.598, 79.413.
17. GTS, (42) Peter Cunningham, Milwaukee, Wis., Acura TSX, 1:21.695, 79.319.
18. GTS, (16) Alec Udell, The Woodlands, Texas, Ford Mustang Boss 302 R, 1:22.054, 78.972.
19. GTS, (68) Jack Baldwin, Marietta, Ga., Porsche Cayman S, 1:22.058, 78.968.
20. GTS, (34) Nick Esayian, San Diego, Calif., Acura TSX, 1:22.185, 78.846.
21. GTS, (19) Jason von Kluge, Ann Arbor, Mich., Ford Mustang Boss 302S, 1:22.221, 78.812.
22. GTS, (50) Justin Bell, Los Angeles, Calif., Ford Mustang Boss 302S, 1:22.437, 78.605.
23. GTS, (55) Richard Golinello, Oldsmar, Fla., Ford Mustang FR500S, 1:22.494, 78.551.
24. GTS, (37) Karl Poeltl, Knoxville, Tenn., Porsche 996, 1:22.797, 78.263.
25. GTS, (36) Michael Galati, Olmstead Falls, Ohio, Kia Optima 2000cc, 1:23.367, 77.728.
26. GTS, (26) Alfonso Perri, Brooklyn, N.Y., Ford Mustang Boss 302S, 1:23.775, 77.350.
27. GTS, (23) Roger Miller, Salt Lake City, Utah, Ford Mustang Boss 302S, 1:24.016, 77.128.
28. GTS, (95) Bill Ziegler, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Mitsubishi EVO, 1:24.263, 76.902.
29. GTS, (07) Brian Kleeman, Towson, Md., Nissan 370 Z, 1:24.276, 76.890.
30. GTS, (39) Todd Napieralski, Chelsea, Mich., Chevrolet Camaro, 1:24.440, 76.740.
31. GTS, (38) Colin Braun, Charlotte, N.C., Kia Optima, 1:24.659, 76.542.
32. GTS, (29) Harry Curtin, Buffalo, N.Y., Chevrolet Camaro, 1:24.948, 76.282.
33. GTS, (96) Brad Adams, New Orleans, La., Ford Mustang Boss 302S, 1:25.315, 75.953.
34. GTS, (52) Greg Shaffer, Harrisonburg, Va., Nissan 370 Z, 1:35.709, 67.705.
35. GTS, (51) Ric Bushey, Virginia Beach, Va., Nissan 370 Z, no time.
36. TC, (03) Michael Cooper, Syosset, N.Y., Mazda 3, 1:25.161, 76.091.
37. TC, (33) Tristan Herbert, Reston, Va., Volkswagen GTI, 1:26.133, 75.232.
38. TC, (80) Patrick Seguin, Clarence Creek, Ontario, VW Golf GTI, 1:26.177, 75.194.
39. TC, (71) Todd Lamb, Atlanta, Ga., Honda Civic Si, 1:26.209, 75.166.
40. TC, (70) Rob Holland, Denver, Calif., Honda Civic Si, 1:26.370, 75.026.
41. TC, (72) Ryan Winchester, Mason City, Iowa, Honda Civic Si, 1:26.707, 74.734.
42. TC, (81) Anthony Rapone, Thornhill, Ontario, Honda Civic Si, 1:26.844, 74.616.
43. TC, (67) Shea Holbrook, Groveland, Fla., Honda Civic Si, 1:27.464, 74.087.
44. TC, (69) Gustavo Michelsen, Peru, Honda Civic Si, 1:27.872, 73.743.
45. TC, (64) Carl Hober, Cape May, N.J., Honda Civic 2.0, 1:28.944, 72.854.
46. TC, (63) Roberto Ricciardelli, Venezuela, VW Jetta GLI, 1:33.477, 69.321.
47. TC, (53) Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., VW GLI, 1:36.067, 67.453.
48. TC, (65) Enzo Ricciardelli, Venezuela, VW Jetta GLI, no time.
49. TC, (66) Augusto Ricciardelli, Venezuela, VW GTI, no time.
50. TC, (88) Aaron Povoledo, Toronto, Ontario, VW Jetta GLI, no time.

Both races, as part of the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg presented by Pirelli, will be easily accessible to online viewers around the world. With technology always on the move, the races will also be available live to Droid phone users. The online feed for Round 1 of the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge Sports Car Wars season is scheduled to start at 5:50 pm eastern Saturday, March 24, with Round 2 scheduled for Sunday, March 25 at 10:50 am eastern.

Entering its 23rd consecutive season, the Pirelli World Challenge is one of North America’s top production car-based racing championships. Divided into four separate categories (Pirelli World Challenge GT, Pirelli World Challenge GTS, Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car and Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B-Spec), each race features thrilling standing starts, adrenaline filled door-to-door action and world-class drivers. The Pirelli World Challenge features cars from the world’s most popular manufacturers – race-prepped versions of the cars driven on the streets. Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, the series races at North America’s premier road and temporary street courses.

Both CRP Racing and Nissan are excited to be entering a new era with the Nissan GT-Rs in World Challenge. “Nissan is looking forward to partnering with CRP Racing to campaign the Nissan GT-Rs in the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge GT class,” said Ron Stukenberg, Senior Mgr., Motorsports Marketing Communications at Nissan. “Both CRP Racing and the Nissan GT-R have a long history of winning races and we anticipate that success will carry over to the Pirelli World Challenge series.”

Nicholas Short, owner of CRP Racing, agrees. “We’re very happy with this new collaboration between CRP Racing and Nissan North America to develop the Nissan GT-Rs into a race winning package. We now have two great partners in the Hawk Performance Group and Nissan, which will allow CRP Racing to show its true potential as a car builder and a race team.” The Nissan GT-Rs are currently being built at CRP’s Harrisburg, NC, shop.

Hawk Performance Products and Cragar Wheels are owned by Carlisle Companies Inc., a diversified manufacturing company headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Carlisle’s Chairman, President and CEO, Dave Roberts, recently spoke of the CRP/Nissan partnership. “Nicholas Short approached me about teaming with Nissan to run the GT-Rs in World Challenge for the 2012 season. After two successful seasons, with Ron Fellows, Mike Skeen and Patrick Lindsey driving the CRP Racing prepared Hawk and Cragar Corvettes, I told Nick that if he thought the Nissan GT-Rs would provide our drivers the opportunity to compete for a series championship, we would support the change. While we enjoyed competing with the Corvettes, the Nissan GT-Rs provide us the opportunity to attract Performance Sports Import owners to our new and expanding line of Hawk wheels and brakes. Everyone at Carlisle, and especially everyone within our Hawk Performance Products Group, looks forward to the season opener in St. Petersburg on March 24th and 25th.”

Back for the 2012 season is Mike Skeen, who will pilot the #2 Hawk Performance Nissan GT-R. Skeen had an impressive debut in World Challenge, having already scored four wins in the series and finishing third in the Driver’s Championship in his first full season of competition. “I am excited to be back with CRP in World Challenge for 2012,” says Skeen. “Our performance with the Cragar Wheels Corvette was always strong, and hopefully gave the fans something to look forward to at each event. The move to the Hawk Performance Nissan GT-R is an exciting challenge, and I am looking forward to it and have no doubt that we will be successful.” A second driver for the CRP Team will be announced in the near future.

CRP Racing is a leading edge race car engineering company with a winning pedigree that offers full service race car prep, full track set-up, restoration and custom fabrication, and shock, dyno and design services. Owner Nicholas Short has made a career out of motorsports with experience in IndyCar, NASCAR, Trans-Am, Group C Endurance Racing, Baja desert racing, Vintage SVRA and HSR and the World Challenge series.

CRP Racing plans to not only have a winning team, but one that is fan-oriented as well. Updates from the track, videos (including exciting in-car footage), and photos will be posted each race weekend at www.CompetitionRaceParts.com and the CRP Racing Facebook page. The team invites fans to stop by the transporter at all World Challenge races to meet the team and to check out the Hawk Performance Nissan GT-Rs up close.

Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing and managed by WC Vision, the World Challenge Championship will offer four categories this year – GT, GTS, Touring Car, and Touring Car Spec-B. The series will feature 12 races at eight different venues, beginning with the doubleheader weekend at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 23-25, 2012. It promises to be an exciting, fun-filled weekend for all race fans.

Class 1 Buggy #120

Baja 2011 was, well, Baja.  This was the 44th running of the Baja 1000 and we entered two cars.  The number 1803 Kawasaki powered, Hawk Performance Sportsman UTV and the number 120 Chevrolet powered, Black Rock Wheels Class 1 buggy.  We expected big things from both in the race.

This year’s 1000 was the loop configuration of the race course.  The race started in Ensenada and ended back in Ensenada after making the run over the summit, through the San Felipe loop and the trek back to Ensenada on a southern route.

Sportsman UTV #1803

Our driver teams in the UTV consisted of Chris Koch and Shannon Rippe taking the car from the starting line, over the summit to the driver swap location near the military checkpoint in north San Felipe on Highway 5, race mile 210.  At this location, Bob Viau and Steve Rone would get into the car and take it through the San Felipe loop, turning the car over to John McCarthy and Nick Short to drive it across the finish line in Ensenada for the win.

The Class 1 car was started by Todd Romano and Jack McCormick.  They were to take the car over the summit to the driver exchange point at race mile 210.  From there, Mike Skeen and I were to get into the car and take it through the San Felipe loop and then turn the car back over to Todd and Jack to take it back to Ensenada.

The weather two weeks leading up to the race was rainy and wet.  As a result of the weather and four races that were held on the same circuit this year, the San Felipe loop was in the worst condition I have ever seen it.  It was 250 miles of deep whoops.  The only break was the dry lake bed, which was smooth and fast.  Too bad you are only on it for about 20 miles.

Baja 100 Course Map

Half of the team arrived on Saturday night and the second half arrived on Monday morning.  As Mike Skeen and I arrived on Monday morning, we got into the Class 1 pre-runner and headed south to run the course from race mile 320 back into San Felipe.  We decided that Mike should drive since it was his first time at Baja.  Our chase crew headed south in a suburban and met us where we were to head onto the course and filled the fuel cell.  You can never have too much gas in the desert.  Once fueled, we followed the course into one of the river washes.  These washes are narrow, filled with loose sand and covered with very large granite river boulders.   As Mike and I got into the wash we saw a number of motorcycles and cars pre-running the same section.

It is off-road etiquette to stop and make sure everyone is okay when you see a car or bike stopped during the pre-run.  During one of those stops to see if a car and crew were okay, we pulled onto what we thought was hard pan.  As we were pulling away, the rear tires sunk into very fine sand and buried the car up to the floor pan, high centering the car.  Mike tried to drive out to no avail.  It was time to start digging, and digging in this case was with our hands.  It took approximately 2 hours to dig under the tires with the car supported by a Harbor Freight jack.  We gathered up river rock boulders, putting them under the rear tires, and finally got enough traction to drive the car out of the sand.  The remainder of the pre-run went without issue and it didn’t take Mike long to adapt to off-road racing.

Back at the El Cortez Hotel, we decided to have a quick dinner and go out as soon as it got dark to run a northern section of the course, an area along the power lines that is notorious for whoops.  We decided I would drive the car through this section.  This is generally the worst place on the entire race course.   At dark we drove the car through the San Felipe city streets to catch the race course at the San Felipe garbage dump.  We ran this section up to Zoo Road, turned off the course onto Zoo Road and took it back to the paved highway leading back into San Felipe.  Once on the pavement, we decided to run that section of the course again.  We just couldn’t get enough of the whoops. After two runs down that section, we headed back to the hotel to call it a day.

On Tuesday, we ran the northern section from the military check point to the dry lake bed, which was “whooped out” as badly as I have seen it.  It was incredibly rough.  After running the whoops, the dry lake bed and the silt bed, we reached the back side of Zoo Road where it crossed the course headed south.  I decided I had enough and headed back to the hotel.  I had seen everything I wanted to see.  The race course took the same route as the Baja 250 race earlier this year and I was done with pre-running.  Mike, on the other hand, wanted to go run the southern section.  Back at the hotel, Bob Viau said he would ride with Mike through the southern section and off they went about two hours before dark.

Those of us who weren’t pre-running waited at the hotel, had dinner, but quickly began to wonder about Mike and Bob.  The sun had set and it was the typical darkness that befalls the desert.  After waiting for another hour, we decided to drive south on the highway to see if we could reach them on the radio.  Down near the southern end of the course, we saw bright lights about two miles on the horizon coming our way on the pavement.  Finally able to reach them on the radio, we learned that they had decided to return to the hotel rather than run the entire southern section.  Since we were going to be racing it at night, Mike thought it would be good to see, or not see as the case may be, that canyon at night.  Mike and Bob made a wise decision.  There weren’t any cars out pre-running and the last thing you want to do is breakdown or get stuck in one of the washes where a chase truck cannot get to you very easily and you have no communication back to your team.  It makes for very long nights in the desert.  They ran most of the southern section without incident and wisely decided to retire for the night.

On Wednesday, we headed to Ensenada with all of the team drivers to register for the race and put the cars through tech inspection.  Each driver has to go through registration to get his or her wristband.  Without the wristband, if you are injured SCORE will not offer medical help or provide transportation back to the states.  I am not sure if that is truth or myth, but I didn’t want to be the first person to test the theory.

Speaking of medical assistance, we were very lucky to have Dr. Leigh Miller with us this year.  Leigh is dating Jack McCormick and she decided to come down to Baja to provide medical support for the team.  It was very comforting to have a doctor with the group.  The usual assistance is for stomach ailments created by eating or drinking the wrong thing in Mexico, but occasionally someone receives a minor injury.

On Thursday, we took our helmets to tech inspection to get our sticker and then walked though Contingency.  Contingency is where the race cars that did not go through early tech, line up and the crews push their cars through the streets of Ensenada to inspection.  The cars are lined up bumper to bumper with thousands of fans gathering around the cars.  After doing this once, I am not sure why anyone would do it again.  It is one of those events that is fun once, maybe twice, but no more than that.  We quickly walked through contingency, and then looked for a restaurant to have a leisurely lunch.  We went to a restaurant which claimed to have the best taco meat in Ensenada.  The waiter explained the difference of the four different grades of meat available for you tacos.  I liken it to ordering Kobe beef or Grade “A” beef.  As the food was delivered, we noticed it was being walked up the street.  When asked, the restaurant told us their kitchen was closed during the day and they had, my words not theirs, outsourced their kitchen.  The tacos were delivered with two plates per meal, one below and one on top of the meal.  It keeps the flies from feasting on the meal on the way to the sidewalk café.  By the way, it wasn’t Kobe beef!

While we were at contingency, Chris Koch and Shannon Rippe were out pre-running the start of the course with Steve Ford and Colm Gallagher.  This was the first time Steve and Colm had been in Baja and they seemed to truly enjoy the experience.

That afternoon, those of us getting into the race cars when they reached race mile 210, headed back to San Felipe to wait for our turn, which would come Friday afternoon.  After another fine Mexican dinner of Fajitas and Tacos, we went to bed, restlessly tossing and turning, not knowing what the desert would hold for us the next day.  Running Baja is the most unpredictable event I have ever participated in as a driver.

Friday, RACE DAY.  The excitement continues to build as the motorcycles and ATV’s go off a few hours before the rest of the field.  They begin the race by leaving Ensenada at 6:00am, with a bike leaving every 30 seconds followed by the ATV’s departing at the same 30 second interval.

Your starting position is determined by a blind draw.  I am not sure if they actually use a hat, but the name of the “Driver of Record” is placed in a hat.  The blind draw then begins and where your name is drawn determines your position on the starting grid.  Our Sportsman UTV received number 1803 which meant we were the 4^th name drawn from the hat and would be the 4th car off the starting line on race day.  The C1 car had number 120, which meant we were the 21st car selected during the blind draw.  The only disadvantage of having your name drawn late, means the dust is very thick and heavy at the start of the race, reducing your visibility.

After a small breakfast Friday morning, we packed our survival bags.  The bags are packed with snacks, water, matches to light a fire, rags, a first aid kit and a much needed jacket for the nighttime cold.  We also packed our passports, because without them you can’t get back into the US if there is an emergency.

It was now lunchtime and those who were not getting into the cars until late evening ate lunch.  I powered up my laptop and went to www.racetheworld.net.  This web site tracks the location of every race car during the race.  After the bikes and ATV’s, a few hours later the Trophy Trucks are off.  While watching the start on the computer, we noticed that only a few trucks departed the starting line on time.  The others were sitting on the grid.  We learned quickly that “Occupy Ensenada” was underway.  Apparently, a disgruntled Ensenada citizen would rather not have the race take place in his beloved Ensenada.  To prove this point, he pulled a camper onto the track and over turned it.  The race was halted while the trailer was cleared.  We are not sure what exactly happened, but it appeared that all of the Trophy Trucks were sent to the location of the blocked track and the field was started from there after the traffic mess was cleared up.

As we watched the start of the race on the computer, we saw Todd start 20th and begin to quickly pick off cars.  Chris did the same thing in the UTV.  Todd had moved to 6^th on the road and Chris started 4^th but was quickly in the lead.  Very good results at the start of the race and we became very optimistic—the wrong feeling to have only 50 miles into a 1000 mile race.

At about the two hour mark, it was time to depart the hotel and head out to the race course to wait for the race cars to arrive.  The drive was about an hour from the hotel.  Mike Skeen, Bob Viau, Steve Rone and I gathered up our gear and were driven to the race course by Mister Neon.  A gentleman named Ed Everret is Mr. Neon and has helped us at every Baja race we have run.  He knows the countryside and always seems to get to us quickly if we need something.  He also owns the Chevy Suburbans we rent to use as chase trucks.

As we headed to race mile 210, Bob Viau had the race on his iPhone tracking the action.  At one time, Chris was only 10 miles behind Todd in the C1 car.  Todd told us earlier in the week that the early miles of the track were very narrow and technical.  He thought the UTV would be as fast as the C1 car.  He was right.

As we tracked the cars, Todd got to 6th in the C1 car.  A remarkable start considering he started 20th, but we noticed that the car was stopped on track.  Chris continued to stretch the lead on the UTV class as cars headed up the summit.  He reached race mile 110 and stopped.  Without communications with either car, we had no idea what was happening, but at least we knew where they were.  With the 120 car moving again, Mike and I put on our driving gear.  It was another 45 minutes and a call came from car 120.  They were close.  As we were waiting we noticed nine C1 cars along with a few Class 10 cars go by our location.  We knew something was amiss as Todd and Jack gave back some of the positions they had gained.

When the car was about 5 miles out we heard a call on the radio that they needed a spare tire.  A flat tire had cost them the three class positions.   As they arrived at the pit location, Todd and Jack jumped out and Mike and I were in the car.  We decided that Mike would drive the car first and I would navigate.  As we got into the car, there was still no word on 1803.

With a full fuel cell and a new spare mounted on the spare tire rack, we were on our way.  Within a few miles from the pit, Mike was doing some countryside landscaping.  We were knocking down bushes as Mike hunted for the fastest route, all while avoiding spectators.  Once we were out of the congested area, Mike was fast.  We passed a few motorcycles, ATVs, the class 10 cars and the three C1 cars that passed Todd when he had the flat tire.

The going was tough, however.  It was non-stop whoops until we reached the dry lake bed.  What a relief, Mike was running the car at 125mph and we were driving by the navigation system, keeping the car on the long green line on the screen.  “Bring the car slightly right Mike.  Good, stay right there.  We need to come back to the left slightly. Great, hold it right there”.  At 125mph, we ate up the 20 miles of the dry lake bed in no time.

Off the lake bed and into the silt bed we made our way to the Zoo Road intersection.  From there the whoops got bad again.  We knew it would be rough but this was ridiculous.  As we entered Matomi wash, my stomach was beginning to feel the effects of reading the navigation system and looking up at the road to spot obstacles.  About 30 miles from the BFG pit where we were to fuel the car, my stomach could no longer take it.  Thankfully, I had not eaten lunch, but I did have two bottles of water and a small package of Oreo cookies.  The driver and navigator are tied together with a live communication link that has open microphones.  No need to push buttons to talk this way.  I felt sorry for Mike having to listen to me.  Without requesting we slow the car, Mike slowed to a pace where my stomach seemed to be okay.

While my stomach was upset with me for putting it through the past few hours of abuse, the car began to pick up an intermittent engine miss.  It would run at full throttle for a few seconds and then lay down.  It would catch again and run at full throttle then lay down again.  We knew something was wrong but weren’t sure what it was, but were pretty sure it was a fueling problem.

I can’t tell you how happy I was as we neared the BFG pit.  I radioed we were five miles out.  I mentioned the engine problem and asked if there was anyone available to take my place in the car.  A resounding “yes!” came back on the radio.  Two of Todd’s good friends, Hans and Paul Cummins, were there and Paul was willing to get into the car.  Problem was he didn’t have a driver’s suit or helmet.  Fortunately, while slightly taller than I, which isn’t hard for many people, he was about my size.  We got to the pit, Paul put on my driver’s suit and helmet, despite the fact that it was “wet”.  I pulled the dirt skirt off the helmet as it was the most soiled of the garments I was wearing.  I put on Paul’s jeans and made my way to the chase truck.  I needed to sit down in a non-moving object.

With my driver’s suit on and without being able to diagnose the engine problem, Mike and Paul headed off into the darkness.  In the chase truck with John McCormick and Hans, we began our drive out of the wash.  We had about five miles through very rough roads to get to the highway.  The drive wasn’t helping my stomach any, but at least I didn’t have a helmet on and the truck’s power windows were very fast.  We were headed to San Felipe to make sure the C1 car came through the garbage dump before heading further north to meet it again at race mile 210, where another driver switch would take place.

We arrived in San Felipe to wait for the car.  Back in cell phone coverage, I called Bob who was still up at race mile 210 waiting for the 1803 car.  He said they had not heard from the car, but it wasn’t moving.  We sat in San Felipe and began to wonder about the C1 car.  In another call to Bob, he said the C1 car was sitting stationary at race mile 350.  We waited 15 minutes thinking that they may have had a flat tire and were replacing it.  Another call to Bob to learn the car was still sitting.  There was no way to get to Mike and Paul from this side of the race course.  To get to them, we needed to drive more than 50 miles down the highway and Zoo Road to the other side of the race course.  We needed to make radio contact with the C1 car to understand the problem they were having.

We began the drive at approximately 1:00am Saturday morning.  As we got to the southern end of Zoo Road we began radioing the race car.  Finally, as we got to approximately race mile 350 they responded.  They were stuck in silt and couldn’t get the car free.  The best way to get through silt is to bury the throttle, never lifting.  As they were navigating the silt, the engine cut out causing the car to sink in the silt.  They had only gone 30 miles from the BFG pits where I got out of the car.  It was now nearly 2:30am.

After another 30 minutes they had the car free and were moving again.  We again lost radio contact.  Another 30 minutes passed and Paul called to say the engine was cutting out.  They would go a mile or so and have to set and wait for the engine to decide to run again.

Sitting at the southern end of Zoo Road, the only way I had to communicate with Bob Viau was with the satellite phone.  Bob was tracking the race through Nick Short, who was on his laptop back at the hotel—a rudimentary, but effective means of communication. They had learned that the 1803 had a broken steering rack.  Shannon Rippe, the navigator in 1803, attempted to make a temporary repair to the rack with a tie-down strap.  They wanted to get the car to the next Baja pit where they could have the rack welded.  As they tied the rack together with the strap, they didn’t realize they also had a broken brake line.  The rack broke 300 meters from the top of the summit.  They now had 1803 moving again, but as Chris and Shannon began their downward trek they realized they didn’t have brakes.  To get the car stopped, Chris steered it into the side of the mountain.  1803 was out of the race while leading the class.

Now the arduous task of retrieving car and crew began.  Tom Roberts headed up the summit in one of the Mr. Neon rented Suburbans, but the truck was too big and lumbering to make a quick rescue.  The only answer was to send Nick, one of the top technicians from DragonFire and his fiancé, Ashley, to the summit in one of our Teryx pre-runners.  The Teryx was at mile 210 and the race car was out of commission at race mile 110—a monumental task to say the least.

Back in the C1 car, Mike and Paul continued to struggle with the engine. We were able to contact them again and told him to come to race mile 368.  There, they should head across the desert toward us.  Hans and I walked out to the race course with a flashlight and a hand-held radio to direct them to the waiting chase truck.

We heard the engine and saw their lights coming up the track.  Via radio communications, we directed them to turn left and head our way.  Not sure how many of you have spent time in the desert at night, but it is dark.  We told them to head toward me as I was standing in the middle of the road waving my arms.  As they came up at a high rate of speed, I jumped out of the way just as they came to a stop.  It was about eight hours from the time Mike and I got into the car.  Our plan was to run this section in four hours.  When the car reached me, we still had about 100 miles to go just to complete our section.  It had taken eight hours to get this far.  For the 120 car and crew, the race was over for another year.

Using Zoo Road and Highway 5, Mike took the car back to the hotel.  We followed at a distance because we couldn’t drive as fast as the C1 car in the Chevy pickup truck chase vehicle.  While Zoo Road is a graded stone road, it is washboard rough.  On the way back to the hotel in the chase truck, we stopped at a Pemex station to fill the gas tanks.  Jack, Hans, and the rest of the Ensenada-based crew were headed back to Ensenada for what remained of the night and needed fuel to get there.  As John got out of the truck, he called to Hans.  Hans and I got out of the cab to see the front bumper hanging off the truck and nearly dragging on the ground.  Apparently, the roughness of Zoo Road caused the bumper mounting bolts to break though the hard plastic of the bumper.  It is a good thing we stopped for fuel as in a few more miles the bumper would have fallen off and under the truck.

When we got back to the hotel in San Felipe, it was 5:45am.  In Nick’s room, we found him watching the laptop and tracking the progress of the 1803 car as it was being towed off the summit.  They had broken about 4:00pm Friday night and were still not off the mountain.  This is where the survival bag comes in handy.  With water to keep yourself hydrated, a jacket to keep reasonably warm and matches to start a fire, you have a chance of making it through the night in good spirits.  Chris and Shannon built a large bonfire to keep warm which actually served as a marker for the chase crew to find them.

Back at the hotel and now 6:00am on Saturday morning, I decided to get the entire crew out of Baja as early as possible.  I e-mailed our pilots and asked them to have the plane in San Felipe by 8:00am.  When the plane landed, we loaded Bob Viau, John McCarthy, Steve Rone, and me to head to the US.  Chris was on his way and only 27 kilometers from San Felipe when we reached him by cell phone.  We held the plane for him.

Off in the distance, we saw the Mr. Neon white suburban headed up Airport Road.  They decided to abandon the race car and get Chris to the plane. He climbed aboard still wearing his driver’s suit.  Thankfully he had removed his helmet or he may have been confused as the STIG by the large crowds lining the streets.

When flying out of Baja, we stop in Tucson to clear customs.  As Chris disembarked the plane still in his driver’s suit, the US Customs agent gave him a nickname, “Ricky Bobbie”.  It was a nice piece of levity after spending the past 30 hours in the Baja Desert.  We cleared Customs and made our way to Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport with the plane returning to San Felipe to pick up the remaining crew members.  The race was over for the Black Rock and Hawk Racing Teams.

This year’s 1000 was the most difficult race in recent memory.  24 Class 1 cars started the race and 5 finished.  SCORE’s premier class, the Trophy Truck had 40 entrants.  Only 10 finished.  Most of the big names in the sport didn’t finish.  Robby Gordon crashed his Trophy Truck at over 100mph on the road to Mike’s Sky Ranch.  Larry Roesler, the driver with the most overall wins at Baja, rolled the Terrible Herbst’s Trophy Truck at Ojos, just 40 miles out of Ensenada.  In the Sportsman UTV class, 9 cars started and none finished.  This year’s track was brutal. I can honestly say this is the first time I didn’t wish I was back in the car 15 minutes after I was out of it.

For Team Black Rock Wheels and Team Hawk, the 2011 edition of the Baja 1000 was a disappointment.  We really thought that we had a chance at class wins in both classes.  It was also a major accomplishment.  For 16 people who have day jobs to go down to Baja and compete in this race is a major accomplishment.  Despite that, it felt good to be back on American soil!

Photo: Don Yaun, SilverEIGHTstudio.com

BRASELTON, Ga. –  Johnny O’Connell, of Flowery Branch, Ga., scored a win in Friday’s Cadillac World Challenge Road Atlanta Grand Prix, the final Round of the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Championship. Eric Foss, of Dallas, Texas, and Toronto’s Aaron Povoledo won the GTS and Touring Car class races, respectively.

Starting from the pole in his No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V Coupe, O’Connell got the jump on the GT field at the standing start and sped away on the opening lap. Two separate Touring Car incidents brought out the full course caution as the first lap was completed. But, even after the lap-six restart, O’Connell was never seriously challenged, scoring a 0.901-second victory behind the Volkswagen Golf R safety car over the No. 2 CRP Racing/Cragar Wheels Chevrolet Corvette of Charlotte’s Mike Skeen.

O’Connell completed 29 laps (73.66 miles) of the scheduled 31 laps, in a race that ran against its 50-minute time limit, averaging 88.489 mph.

“You always want to win your home race, and the biggest thing is the accomplishment of the team,” O’Connell said. “We’re improving the car, we still have a lot to learn but I’m so excited about what everyone is doing at Cadillac.”

Skeen started second but got away slowly, allowing O’Connell to comfortably lead the opening lap as the caution came out. O’Connell similarly pulled away after the restart, until lap 14, when Skeen closed the gap in traffic to less than a second. As the lead paid got back to clear track, O’Connell was able to stretch the gap, leaving Skeen all by himself in second. It was Skeen’s sixth podium finish.

“I’m really proud of Cragar and CRP Racing to be back up front again,” Skeen said. “We started second and finished second, it was kind of a boring race as these World Challenge races go. We got close to Johnny a couple of times in traffic, but the Cadillac was just way too strong for us this weekend. Congrats to Johnny and those guys for getting a win here at the end of their first season, but we’ll back next year and go after it then.”

O’Connell’s teammate Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., won the race-long battle for third with Patrick Lindsey, putting two Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V cars on the podium in the race that their brand sponsored.

“We had a bit of a problem in qualifying and the guys made a massive change to the car for the race,” Pilgrim said. “I’m very, very happy we’ve got such a great crew. They made a big change and it worked, so I got something to work with. I had a good run with Patrick, I had a good run with Eric Curran at the beginning and Randy Pobst. This car almost stalled on the freaking line, so I dropped back to sixth. It was really a fun race. I couldn’t see these guys out front once I got by Patrick, but congratulations to Mike and Johnny. It was a good run, and a great weekend.”

Lindsey brought the No. 12 Hawk Performance Chevrolet Corvette home fourth, giving General Motors a top four sweep. Patrick Long, of Bellaire, Fla., was able to finally get his No. 45 TruSpeed/Privacy Star/EnTrust Porsche 911 GT3 around the similar No. 14 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 of James Sofronas, a move that earned him the Invisible Glass Clean Pass of the Race, to finish fifth.

Long clinched the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Drivers’ Championship one race ago, and finished the season with 1,327 points. O’Connell’s second win of the season moved him to second in the Championship, with 1,222 points. Skeen finished third, with 1,197 points, followed by Sofronas (1,112) and Pilgrim (968).

Like Long, Porsche clinched the Manufacturers’ Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and finished with 78 points, followed by Cadillac, with 58, Volvo (31) and Nissan (1).

Today’s Pirelli World Challenge season finale—the Cadillac World Challenge Road Atlanta Grand Prix, will be broadcast Saturday, Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. on Versus.