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K&N Supported Team Aon Scores in All Three Races at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk

Aug 11, 2010

The teams' two drivers currently stand in fourth and seventh in the Drivers' Championship standings.

We spoke with Andy Constable, Commercial Manager of Team Aon, about their recent success at Snetterton and about how he sees things shaping up for the team. To recap, Team Aon competes in the 2010 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, running a pair of Ford Focus ST's, powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Team Aon collected valuable points at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk towards their goal of winning the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Last weekend the team came away with a sizeable points-haul from the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk, England. Both drivers, Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole gained vital points, scoring second and third place finishes, and narrowing the gap in the manufacturers' standings. Also, with the points he earned, Tom Chilton now climbs two places, to seventh, in the Drivers' Championship.

First of all, congratulations on your three races at Snetterton. For those not familiar with the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship format, how does it work?

"Thank you. It was the result of a lot of hard work by everyone at Team Aon. Each of the events we do, and there are ten in the course of a season, comprise three races. The races are always held on the Sunday, with practice and qualifying taking place on the Saturday. The races are around half an hour each in duration, with maybe an hour and a half between each race. That can mean a lot of pressure for the engineers and mechanics especially if there has problems or accident damage in any race!"

Explain briefly about the implementation of the performance handicap - what was the reasoning behind that?

"The BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) organizers' aim is to equalize the performance of all the different makes of cars to keep the racing as close as possible. They have several means at their disposal to achieve this; they can add weight, or take it away, they can grant dispensations for suspension or engine components for example."

"Very simply, they felt that with our LPG powered, turbocharged Ford Focuses, had an excessive advantage over everyone else with regard to our acceleration and straight line speed. They therefore ruled that we had to fit a smaller air restrictor to our engine, limiting the amount of fuel/air mixture we can get into the engine at any time."

"It had the effect of reducing our terminal speed by around three or four miles per hour. We were obviously not happy about the smaller restrictor, especially as we don't enjoy an advantage on lap time over say the Chevrolets, but that's what the organizers decided, and we have to live with it. We never stop developing our overall package and our aim will be to try and get some performance back in other areas. We still need to be quicker over a lap."

With all the success your cars are having are you hearing any murmurs from other teams looking to switch to LPG, and are you spending more or less on fuel than traditional petrol cars?

"The second part of your question is easy - it's less. LPG is considerably cheaper than the normal racing fuel that other teams use. I would estimate our expenditure to be 50% of what it would have been if we used conventional fuel."

"The first part of the question - regarding other teams looking to switch to LPG - that's a bit tougher, because they wouldn't necessarily want us to know their plans. I do know that our engine development partners, Mountune Racing, have been approached, but we own the rights to all the technology we have developed, so they can't simply supply it to anyone else. We would be interested in discussions with other teams if they came to us directly, but so far that hasn't happened."

What are your goals for the rest of season, will you meet or surpass those goals in your opinion?

"The goal now is the same as it was at the beginning of the season - to win the Driver's and Manufacturers' Championships. We're currently second in the latter of these, and our drivers are fourth and seventh in the drivers' standings. Tom Chilton secured his biggest points' haul of the season so far at Snetterton last weekend, and has qualified on pole position for four of the six events so far. If they can both carry on like that, then I don't see any reason why we can't achieve our goals."

"It is going to be very tough though, especially as the Chevrolets, which enjoy the benefits of their World Touring Car Championship program to test and develop their cars, are so quick - but we're still determined to beat them."

K&N supplies Team Aon with their Apollo Air Induction System, consisting of an outside shell, with an air filter housed inside.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Major Payne Pulling Wins Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Midwest Region Points Race

Aug 11, 2010

The Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League season was scheduled to conclude on July 26, but that didn't happen, the event was canceled on account of rain. Instead the season ended July 17, and for the second year in a row, Jonathon Payne, owner of team Major Payne Pulling was once again the Midwest Region points race winner.

Jonathon Payne won the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Midwest Region points race for the second time in as many years.

"It always feels great to be recognized for our accomplishments. I have worked on my Ford Ranger for many years trying to improve the truck, and get it where it can compete and win against the best of the best," expressed Payne.

"So winning a points race is the ultimate accomplishment. To do it back-to-back, with such a strong presence in such a competitive class of trucks, is something I will remember for a long time. This year and last are the two biggest wins in my career as a truck puller."

Payne drives a 2005 Ford Ranger with a 485 cubic inch big block Ford engine. In 2009 he led the point race all season, wire-to-wire. This year, after an untypically slow start, Payne had to stay focused on making all the right moves in order to finish on top of the points race.

"Even though the win, at Owensboro, Kentucky, the last pull of the season was awesome, it was not a must win to secure the points race," adds Payne.

His last three events were run over the course of two days; they included two Kentuckiana Truck Pullers Association events and one Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling Series affair. In those events the Georgetown, Indiana resident got second, third and second - in that order.

"I have been pulling for 12 years and I have always used K&N Products in my pulling truck, daily drivers, Yamaha Rhino, that I use to pull my truck around in the pits, and my 2008 Ford F350 transport vehicle. With the amount of clean air my truck requires, along with the high oil pressure and the high volume of oil needed - K&N filters are a must."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

K&N Sponsored Derek Kuntz Goes Large at Lake Minnetonka Big Bass Tournament

Aug 10, 2010

A big fan of K&N products, Derek hands out brochures to anyone that asks.

In the decidedly competitive world of Big Bass Tournament fishing the difference between first and fifth place isn't hundredths of a second - it's about twenty-two ounces. Derek Kuntz, from Inver Grove Heig, Minnesota, caught a 5.73 pound largemouth bass at Lake Minnetonka, which was his second big bass of the tournament, and it helped secure a fifth place finish for his team out of 51 boats entered.

It's important to scout the lake in order to know where the fish are and which artificial lure they're biting, explains Kuntz.

"We missed first place by a pound-and-a-half - ouch," remarked Kuntz.

Kuntz's tournament of choice is the Fishers of Men National Tournament Trail, with 34 states participating towards the national title and the grand prize of a new fully rigged Triton bass boat motor and trailer.

"We are in the Minnesota West Division which is in the Midwest region, and in our first two tournaments out of five within our state, we didn't finish so well," admitted Kuntz.

Derek and his father, teammate Bob Kuntz, earned fifth place in Lake Minnetonka Big Bass Tournament.

After those two initial events Kuntz's team was tied for 25th in the overall standings out of 51 teams. However the team's fifth place finish on Lake Minnetonka moved them into 12th place. Then just this past weekend the team took sixth place on Gull Lake, which moved them into the top five, with one tournament to go on the 28th of August, on the Horseshoe Chain of Lakes in Stearns County, Minnesota.

"If we win that one we will be able to finish in the top position and automatically get a spot at the National Tournament, and we won't have to go to Regional's," say Kuntz.

"As far as our tournaments go, we pride ourselves on upholding the highest standards of sportsmanship to help showcase our sport of bass fishing. With all of our sponsors on our vehicles, boats and our tournament shirts, we are basically a walking, talking billboard."

At pre-tournament meetings the Tournament Director will instruct teams as to where they can and can't go on that body of water, along with any other rules, like posted speed limits for that particular body of water. If you get ticketed for speeding you get disqualified from that tournament.

Tournaments are a two-person team event, and only five fish in total can be weighed in. Smaller fish can be culled out as long as they are not dead. If you have to keep a dead fish, you will be penalized a quarter of a pound, which is taken off of your overall weight tally for those five fish.

"We do go out and put time in on the water so that we know where to go come tournament day," explains Kuntz. "It's really important to stay on top of what the fish are doing, so you can make the right decisions the day of that tournament, which helps to take ‘luck' out of the equation. With that said, I'd still rather be lucky than good on any given day."

"Skill comes into play every minute you're out there though, knowing which artificial lure the fish are going to be biting helps you put them into the boat," adds Kuntz.

"Being prepared with new fresh lines tied and hooks sharpened will improve your odds of getting fish in your boat too. Finding a number of spots is very important as well, because if you draw boat number 50, and you go to your number one spot and someone is on it, you need to adjust and go to your second, third, or even fourth choice. All that said, it's what we love to do, and it's great being around our friends and fellow competitors."

"I have been promoting K&N all across the state of Minnesota since being added to their sponsorship program by Mr. Bob Harris. I have installed an Air Intake System, and use K&N Oil filters with every Oil Change. Fellow competitors have stopped and asked me about K&N, and I tell them how happy I am with the products and I give them a brochure."

"Finishing in the top 25 of our division will give us an automatic birth into the Regional Tournament, which will be held in Paris, Tennessee on Kentucky Lake, September 21th through the 26th. If we can get through that, we will be going down there to compete later in September for a shot at the Nationals, which will be held in Georgia next April 2011."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Jody Lang Wins Stock Eliminator Division at Northwest Thunderfest in Spokane

Aug 10, 2010

Jody Lang the veteran drag racer from Puyallup, Washington started racing his 1981 Malibu Wagon Stock Eliminator car back in 1993, and his trusty Malibu continues to do him right. He recently took the car to the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Northwest Division, Thunderfest at Spokane County Raceway, and drove away with the win in the round five eliminations in the Stock Eliminator division. Lang's winning ET was 12.734 at 98.02 mph.

Jody Lang and his 1981 Malibu Wagon Stock Eliminator car have been winning together since 1993.

"Things are going good," said Lang, "Winning in Stock Eliminator at the Lucas race in Spokane, Washington really helped to make things good, that's for sure."

"I made it a few rounds here and there at the four races in Sonoma, California a few weeks ago, and the Spokane race ends a very busy five race weekends in a six week stretch," added Lang.

The stretch included four races in two weeks at Sonoma for Lang.

Lang's plans for 2010 remain the same, he plans on racing all West Coast National Events - five Division 6 races and three Division 7 races. He is also entertaining plans of racing the Fontana Sports National this year.

"We have the Seattle Lucas race coming up August 19-22. That Thursday Seattle hosts the make-up race from Mission Raceway back in May."

Mission Raceway Park, also known as MRP, is located in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, and the earlier scheduled event back in May had to be canceled because of bad weather.

Lang uses K&N oil and air filters, and valve cover breathers.

"The K&N products as usual are great. The nut on the oil filters comes in very handy," says Lang.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Joe Kopp Wins Round Eight of K&N Filters Grand National Flat Track Championship

Aug 9, 2010

K&N rider Joe Kopp literally found the tracks groove in order to win.

Round eight of the K&N Filters Grand National Championship was contested at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, nicknamed the "the fastest half-mile in Michigan." AMA's pro racing elite flat-trackers were on hand, after overcoming two re-starts and furious competition, it was Lloyd Brothers Motorsports and K&N rider Joe Kopp, taking the checkered.

K&N Filters Grand National Championship was contested at I-96 Speedway and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports came away with the victory.

"Joe was pretty strong all day, as were teammates Kenny Coolbeth, and Jake Johnson," remarked team owner David Lloyd.

"For this race, and the following two half-mile races, Joe is riding his Latus Motors/ENI USA R&M backed Harley-Davidson XR750. Even though Joe has won on the Ducati, it is still a very new motorcycle, under constant development, and we did not have any time to test the bike on clay type half-mile tracks."

This was Kopp's second win of the year and along with his other top-ten finishes, he now sits firmly atop Grand National Championship points race.

Kopp and the rest of the team felt the most confident riding the Harley's at this point, being they all have far more experience onboard them. Kopp alone has over 20 years riding Harleys, and collectively it was a good decision, considering Kopp is leading the overall Grand National Championship.

Team LBM's Kenny Coolbeth had another excellent showing too.

"I knew I had to get out front and not make any mistakes," said Kopp. "I was the veteran, I should be able to keep the 'kids' behind me."

"The track developed a very narrow groove and was really hard to pass on unless someone made a mistake. Joe rode perfectly getting the hole shot each time and riding perfect laps to finish first and extend his points lead," said Lloyd.

So far overall the season has been going great for the Lloyd Brothers team, Kopp now has two wins and solid top-ten finishes at all the other races, keeping him atop the points chase.

The team dynamics are totally unique this year explains Lloyd, "Basically we were able to put together a deal where Joe Kopp Racing and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports teamed up, combining our sponsors and resources to build a well equipped team that offers Joe more options than the other teams that we compete against."

"We were able to combine our marketing partners financial resources - Joe Kopp's long-time title sponsor Latus Motors, and Lloyd Brothers Motorsports' title sponsor - ENI USA R&M," adds Lloyd.

"We were also able to combine our equipment and personnel so that Joe now has a full stable of Honda CRF450s, Harley XR750s and Ducati 1100s, and people to take care of them. Where a lot of teams have had to really cut back - we were able to find a solution that combined what we had - allowing us to do even better."

The Lloyd Brothers team depends heavily on K&N products. Professional Flat Track racing is an extremely dirty and brutal environment for equipment.

"With K&N air and oil filters, we know that the inside of our engines stay as clean after the race as they were when we unloaded them from our transporter," says Lloyd. "Thanks K&N, for your support of our team, and the AMA Pro series."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.