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Team Waggoner Racing is gearing up for its first rock crawling event of 2009 at the PIMA Motorsports Park in Tucson, Arizona.
One of the top teams in rock crawling history will be back in full force in the 2009 WE ROCK Championship Series
Pima Motorsports Park will host the WE ROCK USA competition in Tucson, Arizona
Cody Waggoner and his father, Jim, have competed since 2001 and are considered to be among the top rock crawlers in the WE ROCK USA Series.
Rock Crawlers Cody and Jim Waggoner will head to Tucson, Arizona for the first WE ROCK event of the 2009 season
Extreme Rock Crawlers Team Waggoner Racing has competed in seventeen championship WE ROCK Series
Team Waggoner Racing has competed in 17 Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series and ranks 5th nationally. They are also the 2008 2nd place champions in the WE ROCK USA West Coast Series.
In rock crawling, officials set courses in rocky terrain with cones. Drivers must stay between the cones and get from start to finish in a set amount of time with minimum penalty points. If boundaries are broken or if the drivers hit cones they receive penalties. There are additional penalties for backing up, using rear steer or a winch to aid in progress. The winner is the driver who completes the two-day competition with the least amount of points.
Each driver is allowed a spotter to help them maneuver through the courses. They communicate with wireless headset radios, hand signals and the old fashioned way of yelling. The spotter suggests the best route to make it through the difficult terrain in the given amount of time.
Cody’s father Jim is the spotter and Cody is the driver. The Waggoner Team also consists of Lindsay Waggoner, Cody’s wife and Charley, the couple’s three year old daughter.
Team Waggoner Racing will compete once again, with K&N products “My K&N air filters are amazing,” said Cody Waggoner. “I run a total of four K&N filters. After two days of intense dust and dirt during competitions, K&N keeps the dirt out and I still have the horsepower I need."
Team Waggoner has 20 first place wins and five first place series titles. They also have 15 second place event wins and nine second place series titles.
The Monster Jam driver line-up read like the credits on a Hollywood movie at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Black Stallion flies the K&N Flag at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio
Major air and carnage were part of the tough competition at Monster Jam in Ohio
Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion, Vaters teammate Trey Myers driven by Iron Warrior, Grave Digger driven by Pablo Huffaker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with Aaron Basl, Bounty Hunter with Darren Migues
were part of the pack. The competition also included Rap Attack driven by Dave Rappach, Martial Law with Paul Strong and Bad Habit with Joe Sylvester.
Iron Warrior had problems with a faulty starter in Cleveland, Ohio
Monster Jam continues at the Wachovia Arena in Barre, Pennsylvania
The pit party was packed with fans so officials extended the opening time so the crowd could meet the drivers and get pictures taken with the monster trucks.
A wheelie contest was the first event on Friday evening. Grave Digger took the win with a 29 and Black Stallion tied with Bounty Hunter for second place. Racing continued to be close all weekend and photo replays were used to determine winners.
Michael Vaters worked his way through the freestyle field by defeating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in round one. He also defeated Grave Digger in round two. Each truck was pushed to the limit. “The competition was so fierce I pulled out the reverser,” he said. “I did a backwards jump over the van stack.”
Black Stallion and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle broke rear axle parts. “The race of the day was in the pits between both teams with wrenches and parts,” said Vaters. “The crew guys were flying to get everything done at break neck speed.”
The repairs were done and Vaters made it back to racing. Unfortunately, a faulty starter plagued Iron Warrior and Trey Myers was unable to make it for the race. Vaters was narrowly defeated in the semi-finals against Martial Law. Vaters uses K&N Engineering products. “We use K&N’s injector and oil filters,” he said. “We’re hard on motors at every race and K&N protects our engines. K&N can handle the Monster Truck scene.”
On Saturday, Vaters was off to a raging start at the beginning of the show and took the win in the wheelie contest. “Rap Attack broke a rear axle and Martial Law lost a motor,” said Vaters. “With drivers out of the competition all of the remaining drivers turned up the heat to make sure the crowd got their money’s worth. The racing was very close and freestyle included some major air and more
carnage.
The Black Stallion and Iron Warrior will be in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania at the Wachovia Arena this weekend.
An annual racing tradition takes place in Glenco, Alabama at Green Valley Speedway. It is named the Bama Bash and hosted racers from all over the country
for 12 years.
Dirt Track Racer Ray Cook will drive his D&R Motorsports No. 53 with K&N air and oil filters in the Bama Bash, courtesy of Thomas Hendrickson Photos
Ray Cook, also known as the Tarheel Tiger around race tracks, is contending for a $7,500 top prize in the Super Late Model Division. He will also compete in the Crate Late Model portion of the Bama Bash where a $3,000 winner’s check is on the line.
K&N sponsored racer Ray Cook will compete in the Crate Late Model and the Super Late Model Divisions at Green Valley Speedway in Alabama, courtesy of Thomas Hendrickson Photos
Cook won once last year at Green Valley Speedway and ran fourth in last year’s Bama Bash. The Brasstown, North Carolina native will drive his D&R Motorsports No. 53 with K&N air and oil filters 75 laps around the dirt track in the Super Late Model Division. In Crate Late Model he will drive 50 laps.
Qualifying for starting positions at the Bama Bash in heat races will be 15 laps and drivers earn starting positions depending on their finish in heat races. “Our K&N filters protect our engines from flying mud and debris,” said Cook. “K&N also gives us additional horsepower and filtration. I’ve used K&N for a decade and would not use anything else on the race track, my race shop and on my personal vehicles.”
Cook’s last race was at the East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida. He entered six shows during their Winternationals and transferred his MasterSbilt race car into the feature event twice. Cook finished eighteenth in a $10,000 to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and passed fifteen cars to run eighth in a rain postponed $5,000 to win event.
Cook will also race at Boyd’s Speedway in Georgia at the end of February in an unsanctioned $3,000 to win event.
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California is virgin territory for James Buescher. The 18-year-old Sheridan, Texas native is scheduled to compete in Fontana for the first time in his third career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver James Buescher will compete at Auto Club Speedway, photo by Ronda Greer
“I’ve never seen the place,” said Buescher. “You can’t really prepare for a track until you’ve driven on it. But you show up, you go practice and figure it out by lap two.”
The International MaxxForce Diesel team will use an updated chassis in Fontana. Crew chief Jamie Jones expects it to be the team’s primary truck at the intermediate tracks throughout the season. Buescher will drive the MaxxForce Diesel Ford F-150 equipped with K&N filters. “K&N gives us the maximum horsepower we need in our Roush-Yates engines,” said Buescher. “We can depend on K&N for its reliability.”
“I’ve played the NASCAR video games, but they only give you an idea of track mapping,” said Buescher. “They don’t’ tell you what the truck is going to do at certain points on the track. Every track that we visit is going to be new for me this year because I haven’t been in a truck at too many of them.”
Buescher captured his second career ARCA RE/MAX Series victory in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway. The Circle Bar Truck Corral Racer’s first series win put him in the record books as the youngest winner in the ARCA RE/MAX Series history.
Buescher is competing for Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year honors this season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He is currently fifth in the Rookie of the Year standings following a 26th place finish last weekend at Daytona.
The San Bernardino County 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is at noon on Saturday, followed by the Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race around 4:30 p.m. The Auto Club 500 starts Sunday at 3 p.m.
Former NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Greg Anderson broke track records with his 2009 Summit Pontiac at Pomona, California
Dan Fletcher drove Rick Braun's Chevy Cobalt to his 57th National Event Win at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California
Warren Johnson raced his K&N Pontiac to the No. 5 spot in Pro Stock at the Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals
Dan Fletcher has winning on his mind in Super Stock at the NHRA Lucas Oil Slick Mist Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona
Thomas Fletcher, will drive the family 1969 Camaro in NHRA Stock at Phoenix, Arizona
Mike Ferderer's K&N Filters car with its K&N Hood Scoop and air filter will compete in Super Gas in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Phoenix, Arizona
The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be a welcome relief for the racers after days of rain at the Winternationals in Pomona, California.
Racers there faced changing track and air conditions as well as changes to their tune-ups at the season opener for the NHRA at the Auto Club Raceway. Despite the heavy downpours several K&N sponsored racers left Pomona with bragging rights.
Former Pro Stock world champion Greg Anderson set the national ET record using a K&N Hood Scoop (100-8508) on his Summit Racing Equipment 2009 Pontiac GXP. He broke both ends of his own 6.615 at 209.39 mph track records with a 6.58 at 209.50 mph. By the end of the week Anderson reset the track and national ET record at 6.528. Anderson’s teammate Jason Line almost set the speed record. Line also has a K&N hood scoop on top of his Summit Racing 2008 Pontiac GXP.
“The K&N hood scoops are great,” said Greg Anderson. “Jason and I had them on our cars all weekend. Our track records using the K&N hood scoops speak for themselves. The hardest part was keeping it together for six days at Pomona while the rain came down. I only got one run until Tuesday, then on Wednesday I was able to make three runs and Jason made four.” Anderson said he is excited about Phoenix and looking forward to dry weather.
Warren Johnson raced his K&N Pontiac to the No. 5 qualifying spot in Pro Stock with a 6.629 at 208.62 mph. His son Kurt Johnson qualified seventh. He is also looking forward to Phoenix.
Dan Fletcher, the NHRA Lucas Oil Competition Eliminator World Champion, continued from where he left off in 2008 and beat Doug Lambeck in the final round at Pomona. Fletcher drove Rick Braun’s Chevy Cobalt with an 8.03 on the 8.66 index to his 57th national event win.
“I’m going to Phoenix to win Super Stock in my K&N sponsored 1969 Chevy Camaro,” said Fletcher. “My son Thomas will drive our matching K&N sponsored 1969 Chevy Camaro in Stock Eliminator.” Fletcher will also drive the Chevy Cobalt in Competition Eliminator.
K&N sponsored racers Mark Faul will also compete in Super Stock and Stock Eliminator. Rock Haas and Gary Stinnett will
also compete in Stock Eliminator. In Super Comp K&N sponsored racers at Phoenix include Aaron Kinard, Jonathan Fiello, Sheldon Gecker Sr., Max Tafoya Jr., Andrew Madrid and Thomas Bayer.
K&N sponsored racer Shawn Langdon will compete in Top Fuel in the Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster along with Del Cox Junior who will drive the L.A. King’s RG Industries Dragster. Langdon and Cox have championships in Sportsman Class competition, but they are both rookies in Top Fuel. Langdon and Cox use K&N oil filter HP-5001.
Mike Ferderer will compete in Super Gas in Phoenix. “My K&N Filters car
is deadly on the track,” he said. “K&N is the reason for some of my best speeds and consistency.” Other K&N sponsored racers in Super Gas at Phoenix include Sheldon Gecker Sr., Max Tafoya Jr., Jim Momjian and Thomas Bayer.
In Competition Eliminator, other K&N sponsored racers in Phoenix include Brian Browell.
K&N is very proud of its relationship with the top racers in the world of drag racing and is looking forward to the 2009 season. The Lucas Oil Slick Mist NHRA Nationals take place from February 20-22.
