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Post tags: Drag Racing, nascar, nbc news, nicole lyons

K&N PRO SERIES WEST

Source — GSR Racing

Date Posted — January 12, 2012

Cassie Gannis will return with GSR Racing for a full season and make a run for

RTY honors. 17- year old Trevor Cristiani will be Cassie’s teammate and will make

his K&N racing debut and will also make a run for RTY honors. Greg Rayl, last

year’s full time driver for GSR, will be stepping out of the driver’s seat to play a

role of car chief/crew chief for both teams. “We had a great 2011 season improving

from 12th in points in 2010 to 11th in 2011”. Greg said, “Winning the NASCAR

sportsmanship award in 2010 was the highlight of my K&N career, but finishing a

couple races in the top ten this year came real close”!

(...)
Read the rest of GSR Racing Announces Drivers for 2012 Season

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Post tags: cassie gannis, k&n pro series west

Courtesy of ACRAracing.com

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – January 12, 2012) – Brian Keselowski Motorsports has announced that Sloan Henderson will drive the No. 29 Dodge in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

“This offseason has been anything but an offseason,” Keselowski said in a team press release. “We worked really hard to put things together and kick off this new venture. We really look forward to working with Sloan and will do everything in our efforts to help her launch her racing career in the right direction. I was very happy with her performance during our testing session and I am confident that she will put her best efforts into our team as well for a great outcome.”

Keselowski, owner and driver of the K-Automotive Motorsports No. 92 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team, is now the proud owner of Brian Keselowski Motorsports (BKM), fielding race cars in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards (No. 29 and No. 92) and in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West (car numbers TBA) with new up-and-coming drivers, providing them their start into stock car racing.

K-Automotive Motorsports will continue to be the primary company for Keselowski’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series efforts in the future.

Said Henderson: “I’m truly blessed to have this opportunity to work with BKM and run in the ARCA Racing Series Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. After a great test session with the team, I’m excited about the possibility and feel comfortable that we can do very well.”(...)
Read the rest of Sloan Henderson to Drive for Keselowski at Daytona

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Post tags: arca remax series, Brian Keselowski Motorsports, daytona, menard's, sloan henderson

Johanna Long will drive the ML Motorsports No. 70 car in the Nationwide Series for 21 races in 2012, the team announced Thursday.

Long will drive for Mary Louise Miller, one of the few female team owners in NASCAR. The car will have sponsorship from Biomet and Foretravel Motorcoach.

Long, who has competed in 24 races in the Camping World Truck Series with a best finish of 11th at Texas last June, will compete for Nationwide rookie of the year. Her 21-race schedule begins with the season-opening event at Daytona.

The 19-year-old Long won the 2010 Snowball Derby Late Model race and has primarily run for her family-owned team.(...)
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Post tags: camping world truck series, johanna long, ML Motorsports No. 70, nascar, nationwide series

Daytona Beach, Florida (Jan 3, 2012) Leilani Münter, race car driver and passionate environmentalist, is bearing down on her goal of driving a “The Cove” themed race car at Daytona International Speedway, arguably one of the most famous race car tracks in the world. The ARCA race at Daytona is February 18 and will air live on SPEED television, which is available in 79 million homes. This will be the first ever ocean awareness themed race car to race the high banks of Daytona. Münter is seeking corporate and philanthropic donations for the remaining funds required, which is $30,000. Leilani has already raised $15,000 in donations prior to this story. To make a tax deductible donation, please visit opsociety.org/securedonation.htm and be sure to write “For Daytona” in the notes.

The Academy-Award winning documentary “The Cove” exposes the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a small cove in Taiji, Japan. It also exposed the undeniable connection between dolphin parks and dolphin captivity, and the largest slaughter of dolphins in the world.  ”The Cove forever changed me. I know race fans will respond to it, they just need to know about it,” said Münter. “The race falls on my birthday, and my greatest wish is to end the slaughter and the ongoing abuse of these beautiful ocean creatures.”

This campaign in designed to educate and engage 75 million race fans in the United States. Director of “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos has committed to giving away 1000 DVDs of “The Cove” at the race, and in addition, will be in attendance for the race alongside dolphin activist Ric O’Barry autographing DVDs of the film. People donating $50 or more will be entered into a raffle to win two pit passes for the Daytona race and two other lucky fans will win two garage passes each. Münter will be wearing a helmet painted for “The Cove” during the race, which will then be auctioned off with all the proceeds going to Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project to continue the fight on the ground in Taiji. To donate to “The Cove’s” awareness campaign at Daytona,click here and be sure to write “For Daytona” in the notes. (...)
Read the rest of LEILANI MUNTER IS GETTING IN GEAR TO TAKE ON DAYTONA

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Post tags: acra, daytona, leilani munter, the cove

Christmas, Hanukkah 2011

Dear Friends, Family, and Fans:

I want to take this opportunity to send you and yours my warmest wishes for a holiday season filled with much love and wonder. For many of us, this year has been filled with a variety of emotions. We’ve had challenges to be sure, but we’ve also had moments of great warmth, happiness, laughter and adventure. I send you my deepest thanks and immense gratitude for being there for me in all of them!

Together we’ve shared in community outreach work. The opportunity to meet and work with many wonderful, gifted, strong, and courageous people, dedicated to the support and continued growth of charitable and service organizations has been the highlight of 2011. From the 101 Days of Summer, which brings programs of interest and education to our brothers and sisters in the military, to the Be The Match, Breath of Life and Hope Kids organizations, the energy and commitment of those involved in this work is the stuff life is made out of!! Through this work, I have learned about the strength of the human spirit and the power of hope. Thank you for this!! I look forward to many more adventures with all of you!(...)
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Post tags: cassie gannis, christmas, K&N west

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (December 12, 2011) – Alli Owens is back. The new mother will return behind the wheel of Andy Belmont’s No. 1 BABY JOCK-sponsored car for ARCA Series testing at Daytona International Speedway December 16-18. The session will mark Owens’ first time on a race track since February 2011.

Owens decided to take the 2011 season off to get married and start a family. In October she gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Braelynn and is anxious to get back in the seat of a competitive race car for 2012.

“I can’t put into words how great it feels to know that I’ll be testing at Daytona,” Owens said. “I’ve been so anxious to return to the track. Now that I’m settled in with being a wife and mother, it’s time for me to go racing again. I’m so excited to be a mom and get back in the driver’s seat.

“While I was away, I did everything I possibly could to prepare for my return. I’ve been exercising and working on my fitness so that I’ll be at the top of my game. I’ve been calling on companies and organizations to secure a sponsorship. Hopefully it will all come together.”(...)
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Post tags: Danica Patrick, go daddy, jr motorsports, nationwide series

Like many sports sometimes there is always a debate about if racing is a true sport, specifically if racecar drivers are actually athletes. I can tell you first hand that drivers are athletes! Let’s get some boring stats and studies out the way. Studies have shown that on yellow a racer’s heart beat and respirations are at a normal number. However upon seeing the green the driver goes into that “fight or flight response” where even their vision is keener, while their heart rate and breathing increases.

I do have an exercise program that my sister, Alexis, has set up. Being a top performing athlete herself she has created a personal exercise for me that not only keeps me shape but doesn’t get boring. I work out consistently five days a week. I love to swim so usually twice a week I am at the Y doing laps for cardio. Swimming to me is so relaxing. Like many people that meditate or do yoga I find that swimming is the best way to clear my mind and relax while getting a good workout. Because of the split second responses I need to make and the mental toll my mind experiences during the race I find that swimming is a great way to train my mind to focus. My favorite strokes are back and breast but I do a 400 fly for my upper body and core.

My sister also works with me on upper body strength. Along with hand weights she has created a small program on machines that I can use when I am at the gym without her. For me these are done for about 30 minutes, using six upper body machines and alternating repetitions. Three repetitions of 12 on each machine using various pounds usually around 40. My core training is different from others because I have two titanium rods in my back from Thoracic 1-12 scoliosis surgery when I was 15. I don’t have much mobility in my back so I can’t do a backbend or a very good sit up. So my core exercises center on plank holds, reverse crunches and scissor kicks.(...)
Read the rest of Are racecar drivers athletes? You decide.

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Post tags: cassis gannis, Drive for Diversity, k&n series west

This week NASCAR’s at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia for the annual Drive for Diversity Combine. The event brings together some of motorsports best young female and minority drivers to compete for a small number of spots in NASCAR’s D4D program. This year the class includes 26 drivers from 10 states, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The drivers, according to NASCAR:

“will be evaluated by a select committee on multiple fronts including on-track performance, marketing and media aptitude, physical fitness and personality.”

The ultimate goal for the drivers is of course a ride, in this case for the NASCAR backed Revolution Racing, while for NASCAR it’s to attract more minority and female drivers and fans.

This season the program has been among the most successful with prospects Sergio Pena and Darrell Wallace Jr. winning a combined six Pro Series races. It’s the most NASCAR wins of any D4D class to date.

Even with the success, NASCAR is now finding the limits of the program. Pena and Wallace, both in their sophomore year of the program, are reaching the end of what they can do in the series. Both are conceivably ready for opportunities in ARCA or the Nationwide or Truck Series but with a stagnant sponsorship market and shrinking teams, finding a ride independent of NASCAR is no easy feat.(...)
Read the rest of NASCAR’s Ongoing Drive For Diversity

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