Nissan World Challenge Crew Chief!

I am very proud to announce a new and exciting endeavor in my racing career; Crew Chief of the #07 Nissan Pirelli World Challenge Nismo 370Z driven by Brian Kleeman in the GTS class! I will be the first to admit I would barely call myself a driver before ever thinking about calling myself a mechanic let alone a crew chief but as many of you reading this know I have pretty extensive experience with Nissan Z's and Infiniti G's. So when Brian was switching teams during this off season he thought to ask me to head up the crew for the #07 370Z for the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge season. I hesitantly accepted the job offer and quickly was thrusted in to professional racing at one of the highest levels.

The Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series is the most prominent sports car racing series in North America. Running as an accompanying race across the country alongside series such as Indycar and NASCAR there are two different racing classes that bring out nearly every manufacturer in the world; GT and GTS. The GT class is the high horsepower purpose built factory cars with around 800hp and light as can be. The GT class diversity is truly impressive and quite possibly the best among sports car racing in the world with Ferrari, Audi, Cadillac, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Bentley, Chevy and too many more too list. We are in the lower horse powered more rule restricted GTS class alongside Chevy, Ford, Kia, Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, Subaru's and many other large brands. Both GT and GTS cars compete alongside each other in 50 minute races and often double race weekends. The standing start of nearly 50 of the fastest sports cars on the planet is truly and impressive site to take in from pit lane.

The World Challenge series travels all over North America with its vast different classes but the GT/GTS schedule has us going to nearly every corner of the country and even over the border to the land of Canadian bacon. So go check my updated race and crew schedule and see if we are coming to your town this year! Also all of our races are televised the follow week on NBC Sports Network and a live stream from World Challenge themselves can be found at World-ChallengeTV.com

If you couldn't tell I wrote this article after already attending the first few races of the season as I have been unbelievably busy and haven't had time to keep up with the website. So if you cant tell, some of the photos in this post are from this season so far and are after I should be announcing this. The season has been a very interesting experience so far and I have learned more than I ever thought possible and look forward to learning more and improving every race weekend. Follow me on Facebook or Brian Kleeman like page for updates on the World Challenge side of things as I will not update for each race on this site like I will on social media.

Sparco, APR and SPL Parts Join the #44 Team

I am proud to announce a few more amazing motorsport companies to the #44 G35 team! Sparco USA will be providing my safety needs with a brand new lightweight FIA/SFI approved fire suit and their 6 pt cam lock harness designed specifically for Hans devices. APR Performance has also joined the team with a beautiful carbon fiber GTC-300 spoiler with their gorgeous carbon gurney flap and end plates. Im no artist but my god the APR spoilers are a beautiful piece of carbon fiber and should provide a great amount of downforce since we will be raising the mounts and also moving it further back on the car. Lastly but possibly most important SPL Suspension Parts has doubled down on its support for the #44 G35 and is supplying some rear arms and a few solid bushings we hadn't installed yet to complete the entire parts catalog offered for the car. It is awesome companies like these that not only make our racing endeavors possible but also help us go faster every weekend so please help them help me and visit their sites by clicking the links above and purchasing their quality products.

Back to Black!

Thats right! I have finally decided that with the fixing of the body damage to the right rear from SLB and the fact that I will now be running the car out of my own shop in MD that it is now as good a time as any to finally switch the car back to black!

For those of you who have been following the build of the #44 G35 then you know when I originally bought it and autcrossed it for a few years it was Obsidian Black. When the car was rebuilt after the wreck at Road Atlanta in 2011 I designed a pretty cool livery in SOHO blue that became pretty popular for a few years but in the end I always thought the car looked more aggressive in black. Im not quite done yet but I'm already falling back in love with the car and any second thoughts I had as I was pulling the blue off have completely gone out the window. Enjoy this teaser photo until I unveil it at GTA Road Atlanta in a few weeks!

Final Issue of Modified Magazine: SLB & PRI

Modified Magazine has always been one of my favorite magazines since I first fell in love with sports cars in high school. In fact they were probably one of the biggest influences along with Super Street and Turbo Magazine. Unfortunately I guess all great things must come to an end and this story is no different. After years of publishing a quality magazine the powers that be decided that Modified wasn't profitable enough and as of March 2014 there will be no more Modified Magazine.

Sadly the April 2014 issue below was the last issue ever printed although it is very bittersweet I am proud to say that I am in this magazine twice! Well technically speaking at least. In the last issue not only did they do a feature on the Super Lap Battle / Global Time Attack Finale at Buttonwillow featuring an image of my car in action but they also wrote a review article about last year's PRI Tradeshow and featured the Computech (family company) DataMaxx Data Acquisition System on the first page of the story. I cant thank the staff enough for the many years of quality reading and a special shoutout to Peter Tarach for the awesome placement of the DataMaxx. Also featured below is the Super Lap Battle press coverage in Super Street Magazine. It was certainly a good month of exposure for the #44 team!

Ignite Racing Fuel: New Sponsor!

2014 is already shaping up to be a great season before we even hit the pavement. I had the pleasure of meeting the great group of guys from Ignite Racing Fuel at the PRI (Performance Racing Industry) Annual Tradeshow in Indianapolis, IN in early December. I discussed with them my need for a higher octane fuel than the 100 we had been using in the #44 Global Time Attack Infiniti G35 and they told me they had the perfect product for me; their 108 Ignite Racing Gas Ethanol blend.

 "For a variety of reasons. IGNITE Racing Fuel is ethanol, so it burns cleaner—which is better for your engine and the environment. It’s a cooler-burning fuel, which also extends the life of your engine. And, most importantly, IGNITE provides more torque and power for the speed you demand. Then, there’s a substantial cost savings created by the use of ethanol. IGNITE Lubricants utilize a revolutionary corn base oil, that has been specially formulated to exceed the standards set in a variety of applications. With a high viscosity index, high flash point and natural lubricity, IGNITE's line of lubricants will help you run cooler, create more power, and protect your parts against wear and corrosion." 

 Ignite Racing Fuels have created the perfect race gas mix with ethanol and as such it required absolutely no changes in the tune or setup on my car. After a good re-tune and a few other changes on the car we even gained a good bit of power and seemed to be running at slightly lower temps. I would suggest Ignite 108 or 114 to anyone in any form of motorsport. I am proud to not only be a user of Ignite but also to announce that the #44 G35 will be sponsored by Ignite Racing Fuel and they will be supplying the fuel for our race program for a long time to come! Please show them support by visiting their website via the links above and also try out some of the amazing fuels and lubricants they make, I promise you won't be disappointed. Plus did I mention it smells amazing!?

Parlett Laboratories: Back in MD

Recently I have been offered a new job back home in Maryland as a political consultant for some regional campaigns. I have always been passionate about politics alongside my racing career for many years now so it was a very tempting offer. With a large amount of contemplation and some long thought I have decided to take the job and finally part ways with North Carolina once and for all.

Along with saying goodbye to the team at SOHO Motorsports after many great years in NC and helping build SOHO and the #44 G35 from the ground up. It's been bittersweet leaving but I know better things for me and my racing career lie ahead. I want to take a moment to thank everyone from SOHO and anyone in North Carolina who has helped me in this racing journey. I cant thank you all enough and I look forward to continuing this awesome journey and the amazing friendships I have made along the way.

 Coming back to Maryland not only is good for my career outside of racing but it also means the #44 G35 will be home in the garage at "Parlett Laboratories" where I will be able to develop the car throughout the season alongside my master mechanic father and hopefully get faster and faster in the #44 G35 as the year progresses. If there is anything the Parlett family knows its how to go fast and we plan on making the G faster and faster every race. Be on the lookout for more updates as the season moves forward and many more tech articles now that the car will undergo regular modifications as it will be under my control (insert evil laugh).