Louis Schwitzer Award Jointly Presented to Technical Partner Ilmor Engineering’s Steve Miller and Steve O’Connor

DETROIT – (May 22, 2012) – Mark Kent, Director of Chevrolet Racing, along with GM Development/Combustion Systems Engineer Matt Wiles, have been awarded the prestigious BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award in recognition of their development of the all-new Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 engine.

The pair was jointly recognized with Steve Miller, Managing Director of Ilmor Ltd., and Steve O’Connor, Ilmor Chief Designer. The coveted annual award was presented to the 2012 recipients, Kent, Wiles, Miller and O’Connor at a press conference held during the activities leading into the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500. O’Connor was unable to attend to receive his award in person.

“I would like to thank the committee for selecting the all-new Chevy IndyCar V-6 engine as the recipient of this year’s Louis Schwitzer Award,” said Kent. “We are both honored and humbled by receiving this prestigious award. However, this engine and receiving this award would not have been possible without all of the contributions of everyone involved with this program including the GM Global Advanced & Race Engine Engineering Powertrain group, Ilmor Engineering, Hitachi and our Chevrolet IndyCar teams. It was because of their collective effort that this engine went from the drawing board to Winner’s Circle in a little bit over a year.”

“I am very honored to be a co-recipient of this award on behalf of Team Chevrolet, GM Powertrain and our development partners at Ilmor Ltd (Inc) as well as Hitachi Automotive Auto Systems, ,” Wiles said. “General Motors and Chevrolet have demonstrated a commitment to fuel efficiency while maintaining a spirited driving experience in our customer vehicles such as the Chevy Camaro and Malibu and other GM products. Using the same technologies we have demonstrated in the 2012 Chevy IndyCar engine – direct injection, turbo charging, downsizing and E85 Flex Fuel usage. Our engine is a direct example of the two-way technology transfer between racing and production powertrains.”

Presented by engineers to engineers, the BorgWarner Louis Schwitzer Award recognizes individuals for innovation and engineering excellence in the field of race car design, specifically related to the annual Indianapolis 500 race. BorgWarner sponsors the prestigious $10,000 award to be presented by the Indiana Section of the Society of Automotive Engineers (“SAE”) International. The winners are also honored at an awards banquet, and their names are immortalized on the Schwitzer trophy on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

“Thank you. It is fantastic to win this award,” said Miller. “To be recognized as an engineer in our sport is obviously the highest achievement that you can get. Thank everybody from the SAE and BorgWarner. To be here (at Indianapolis Motor Speedway); to win four races; to be on the pole four times and then have a decent shot in this race (Indianapolis 500), it has been fantastic. We have to thank Chevrolet for giving us the tools to work with.”

“We have a long and successful history here at the Speedway,” concluded Kent. “We’re happy to be back here as a competitor. Reading through Mr. Schwitzer’s history, it sounds like he and our founder, Louis Chevrolet, were at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the same era. They both used this as the proving grounds to develop their future products, so it is very special for us to receive this award today”.

Chevrolet’s first IndyCar engine since 2005 was built through a collaborative effort, uniting Chevrolet and General Motor’s experience in E85 fuel and direct injection with Ilmor Engineering’s race engine design expertise. Chevrolet’s goal was to develop new technologies for a powerful fuel-efficient engine that could be transferred to production cars. To boost performance and throttle response, the engine uses twin turbochargers. The production-car based Hitachi fuel delivery system was enhanced with six high-pressure direct injectors in the heads and six lower-pressure injectors in the plenum.

Operating at up to 12,000 RPM, this is the highest revving direct injection engine in racing competition today. Computer models and empirical testing led to a technology breakthrough in the placement of the injectors that could be utilized in production cars. Special coatings in the engine and exhaust system reduce friction and improve fuel economy. Compression ratios and piston shapes were also designed for optimal thermodynamics. A pool of engines has been produced to support Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, KV Racing Technology, Ed Carpenter Racing, Panther Racing, Dragon Racing, and Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing this year.

INDIANAPOLIS – (May 17, 2012) – Chevrolet announces today the addition of two cars to its roster for the 2012 Indianapolis 500. The No. 7 Dragon Racing entry driven by Sebastien Bourdais and the No. 6 Dragon Racing entry driven by Katherine Legge will be powered by Chevrolet twin turbo, direct-injected IndyCar V-6 engines effective immediately.

Including the Dragon entries, Chevrolet will power 16 of the 33 expected entries for the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500.

“The addition of Dragon Racing’s two cars to the Chevrolet roster for the Indianapolis 500 is a strategic enhancement to our already strong stable of teams and drivers,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet IndyCar Program Manager. “The efforts put forth by our combined Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 teams will seamlessly continue for the biggest race of the year.”

The Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 team line-up for the Indianapolis 500 will include: Team Penske – three cars; Andretti Autosport – five cars; KV Racing Technology – three cars; Panther Racing – one car; Panther/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing – one car; Ed Carpenter Racing – one car and Dragon Racing – two cars.

The 96th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for noon (ET) Sunday, May 27. Live coverage on ABC and the IMS Radio Network will start at 11 a.m.

From Badboyvettes.com:

Our man, Chris Draper, was at Laguna this past weekend. The following is his story —

Laguna Seca never has lack of action. This year’s race was no exception. Friday’s qualifying saw a bit of a shock when Aston Martin showed their true hand and posted a 1:22.229 for pole position. Tommy Milner in the #4 Corvette took 2nd at 1:22.661, and Jan Magnussen posted a 1:22.919 on his 8th lap, 4 more then the #4 car.

Race day was a test of will power. Aston Martin in the opening laps showed they had the speed and started pulling away from the rest of the GT pack until the first full coarse caution really shook things up. AMR had a fuel fill issue that shook them from 1st to 5th. Our badboys capitalized and the #4 Corvette took the lead.

Throughout the 6hr battle, there were 5 or more GT cars absolutely nose to tale lap after lap. It could have been anyone’s race, but mistakes were seen from all teams. The #4 Corvette saw a fuel fill issue that took them from their healthy lead down to 5th. The BMWs experimented with some different tire compounds early on and guessed wrong and after a full stint nearly cost both cars a lap. The #45 Porsche had the pace, but penalties cost them the race.

Ultimately, it came down to Corvette vs BMW once again. Milner and Gavin fought back with the Take No Prisoners attitude and got back into the lead and made it count. The #3 Corvette got passed by the #56 BMW after a caution restart, but Magnussen fought back hard and made the move of the race.

During Magnussen’s maneuver, he flat spotted the tires. With about 8 minutes left the BMW was biting back inch by inch each lap. The injured Michelins held in just long enough and on the final corner of the final lap the BMW got a little too hard on the gas, fishtaled out of the corner, and the cheers for the Corvette Racing camp could nearly be heard over the sound of the thundering V8s crossing the finish in a 1-2 style victory. Click HERE to watch the podium presentation.

Click HERE to relive the last 20 minutes of the race.

Our badboys truly took no prisoners. They didn’t even leave a crumb on the table, and took home some hardware for a new centerpiece.

These smiles should last at least until Le Mans next month where hopefully they car pull off a duplicate result.

Chris has posted all of his pics over at Corvette Info Center for Friday and Saturday, including some post race pics from the Corvette Racing garage.

Great work Chris.

http://badboyvettes.com:80/692

MILLVILLE, NJ (May 13, 2012) – Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor sent a message to their competitors in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series that they are contenders for the championship by taking the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype (DP) to victory lane today at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The win was the third for the Corvette DP in the first four races of the 2012 season.

It is the second consecutive win for the pair this season, but their first at the at the 2.25-mile, 14-turn road circuit located about an hour south of Philadelphia. The win

“Congratulations to the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Corvette DP team for leading the majority of the race and winning today,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, GRAND-AM. “It was an exciting race from the beginning with a three to four car pack battling for the lead. We had some very strong Corvette DP cars today with the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP in the mix until the on-track contact put them out with less than an hour to go. But, I think the fans got a good show. Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor had a great weekend, winning from the pole, which results in a solid move in the championship points.”

“It was a very hard race,” said Angelelli. “My first stint was so difficult. We finally got a new set of tires for the last stint and the car was just fantastic. Corvette, SunTrust Racing; we won again!”

“It’s fantastic, said Taylor. “I was down on myself after having such a bad qualifying at Barber. Our SunTrust Corvette was so fast here this weekend. It makes it easy on me so I don’t have to push so hard. But it was fantastic.”

Giving the Corvette DP three of the top-five finishing positions were: Darren Law and David Donohue, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP in fourth, with Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante bringing the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP to the checkered flag in fifth place.

The No. 9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP finished seventh and the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP was scored ninth in-class at the conclusion of today’s race.

In the Grand Touring (GT), Robin Liddell and John Edwards powered the No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R to a solid second place finish at the end of the 2.75-hour race.

“The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R team did an excellent job in the GT class getting a second place finish,“ concluded Lutz. “The Autohaus Motorsports (finished fifth) team had a strong performance as well. I’m very pleased to get the second and fifth place finishes in the GT class, and improve in the points.”

“Well, it was a really hard race for us,” said Liddell. “John (Edwards) did an excellent job this weekend coming back from an injury and qualified the car on the pole. It looked really strong. We decided to try and save fuel and run the two-stop race; seemed to be playing into our hands with no cautions. And I think we all needed to save a bit near the end.”

The No. 31 Marsh Racing Wheelan Corvette finished eighth in-class.

In Saturday’s GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class, Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran, No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R, were on the podium with a third place finish.

Other Chevrolet Camaro GS.R finishers were: No. 62 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 7h;

No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 12th; No. 00 CKS Autosport Camaro GS.R – 14th and No. 6 Mitchum Motorsports Camaro GS.R – 21st.

Next up for Chevrolet Racing in GRAND-AM competition will be part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix weekend, June 1-2, 2012.

POST RACE QUOTES:

MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 SUNTRUST RACING CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE DP takes his 20th Rolex Series win and Ricky Taylor gets his sixth.

AT HOMESTEAD IT WAS ALL ABOUT KEEPING THE CAR UNDERNEATH YOU IN THE RAIN AND TODAY IT WAS ABOUT SURVIVING ALL THE PUNCHES FROM EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE FIELD. THE EXHAUST PIPES ARE BENT. EVERY PANEL ON THE CAR HAS A MARK ON IT. CONGRATULATIONS ON TWO WINS IN A ROW.

MAX, GREAT RUN TODAY. YOU GUYS TOOK SHOTS FROM EVERYBODY, BUT YOU SURVIVED

ANGELELLI: “Thank you. It was a very hard race. My first stint was so difficult. We finally got a new set of tires for the last stint and the car was just fantastic. Corvette, SunTrust Racing; we won again!”

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE IT SEEMED LIKE SCOTT PRUITT AND ALSO ALEX GURNEY WERE TRYING TO PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON YOU, ESPECIALLY IN TURN 1 WHEN YOU WERE LEADING. WERE YOU FEELING THAT PRESSURE? AND HOW HARD WERE YOU PUSHING THE CAR MID-WAY THROUGH?

ANGELELLI: “Of course I was feeling the pressure, but I knew why. I was using four tires on one side and I knew where I was gaining and knew where I was losing, so it was just a matter of managing.”

EVERYBODY ON THE TEAM WAS HANGING THEIR HEADS AFTER THAT 14TH PLACE FINISH AT DAYTONA. YOU HAVE WORKED YOUR WAY UP TO SECOND IN POINTS. YOU’VE GOT TO BE PRETTY HAPPY.

TAYLOR: “Oh, it’s unbelievable. I never expected we could have such a good points day with just nine cars here. I’ve got to say Happy Mother’s day to Mom.”

COMING INTO QUALIFYING YOU SAID MAYBE YOU’D LOST A LITTLE BIT OF CONFIDENCE BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T GETTING THE POLES YOU WERE BEFORE. WHAT DID THIS POLE AND THIS WIN DO FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE NOW?

TAYLOR: “It’s fantastic. I was down on myself after having such a bad qualifying at Barber. Our SunTrust Corvette was so fast here this weekend. It makes it easy on me so I don’t have to push so hard. But it was fantastic. Max was unbelievable with all that pressure from behind. It’s so easy to make a mistake in New Jersey. And just everybody; the pit stops were perfect. I lost the lead and they got it right back for us. It was unbelievable.”

RUNNER-UP IN GT, ROBIN LIDDELL, NO. 57 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GT.R

WE DIDN’T HAVE QUITE THE HEAT WE HAD LAST YEAR HERE IN NEW JERSEY, BUT IT WAS A BIG RUN FOR YOU GUYS BRINGING IT HOME IN THE RUNNER-UP SPOT. TALK ABOUT THAT

LIDDELL: “Well, it was a really hard race for us. John (Edwards) did an excellent job this weekend coming back from an injured and qualified the car on the pole. It looked really strong. We decided to try and save fuel and run the two-stop race; seemed to be playing into our hands with no cautions. And I think we all needed to save a bit near the end. But yeah, very, very hard. We were about five laps short on the tires so everybody around us was a wee bit better. But we were just hanging on. I know myself and the No. 42 and the No. 44 were absolutely all over the place just trying to hang on at the end there.”

Auto legend Carroll Shelby died Thursday night at Baylor Hospital in Dallas at the age of 89.

Carroll Shelby’s shadow stretched out Texas tall across nearly the whole of the world’s automotive landscape. A natural as a race driver, he won three U.S. sports-car championships in Ferraris and Maseratis, and for Aston Martin he won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans with British co-driver Roy Salvadori.

Turning automaker in the 1960s, he fathered the Cobra, an Anglo-American hot rod of crude conception but stunning effectiveness that swept the tracks of North America and wrested a world manufacturer’s title from Ferrari.

Pratt Miller would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120511/CARNEWS/120519987?utm_source=Alert20120511&utm_medium=enewsletter&utm_term=missedarticle1more&utm_content=20120511-Carroll_Shelby__1923-2012&utm_campaign=awAlert

May 10 – 12, 2012

ESPN3 Qualifying Stream 3:15 PM CDT May 11th

ESPN3 Race Stream 3:15 PM CDT May 12th

ESPN2 TV Broadcast 4:00 PM CDT May 13th

Event Schedule:

http://www.imsaracing.net/2012/events/laguna/2012%20Mazda%20Raceway%20Laguna%20Seca%20Supp%20Regs.pdf

Facility Map

http://www.imsaracing.net/2012/events/laguna/facilitiesmap.pdf

Geometry Map

http://www.imsaracing.net/2012/events/laguna/track%20geometry%20map.pdf

Entry List:

Not posted

Corvette Racing Banquet:

http://tinyurl.com/C6RBanquet-ncm

Tickets:

Get Tickets

http://www.mazdaraceway.com/sites/main/files/file-attachments/2012_alms_ticket_price_list.pdf

2012 SPOTTERS GUIDE:

HOME

10 day Weather:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=CAZ530&zflg=1

Radio Frequencies:

http://lastturnclub.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=788&Itemid=111

Corvette Corral info:

CORVETTE CORRAL

American Le Mans Series – Monterey

(*Tentative Schedule as of 4/24/12)

FRIDAY

8:00 – 5:00pm -Friday – May 11th

8:00am – Registration open, sign up for parade lap

9:45am – Raffle

11:30 – 11:45am – Parade Lap Safety Briefing (time pending)

Fehan – 12:00 – 12:30pm

Corvette Drivers – 12:30 – 1:00pm

Parade Lap – 100 Cars – 1:50pm-2:15pm

SATURDAY

8:00 – 7:30pm – Saturday – May 12th

8:45am – Roger Hood – Mobil 1

9:00am – Michelin – Bob Williams

9:55am – Corvette – Dave Tatman – Plant Manager — Bowling Green Assembly

10:30am – Raffle – Start of Race Ride, Pit Tours, Judging Awards, Vitesse Laps

11:30 – Lunch

Noon – Ron Fellows Presentation

1:30 pm – Start of Race

*Times are subject to change

I would like to personally THANK YOU for being a part of Search and Restore’s first build of Season 2. Attached you will find my press release regarding the details of the show. I would like to add that this is the best show yet – I am very proud to say that Search and Restore teams are not building “TV” cars – but real hot rods. The 1955 Handywagon is going to a true car enthusiast, as he will be watching the Premier on May 19 in Tacoma WA with his friends and family – the Handywagon will be on display at the Goodguys Car show in Nashville TN for all the fans to see. This is his “thank you” to all the volunteers and parts suppliers. I can assure you, this vehicle will be well taken care of!

Once again THANK YOU for being part of the build. If you are interested in being part of an upcoming build – Please contact me.

Search and Restore airs on SPIKE TV May 19, 2012 – Please pass it along to all your employees and customers.

Sincerely,

Tim Strange

Search and Restore Host & Lead Builder

——————————————-

Franklin TN, May 8, 2012: The focus of Search and Restore is on finding the family treasures and lost causes, bringing them all back to life. From coast to coast, host Tim Strange, and volunteer teams of pros will donate their time restoring rides nationwide to those worthy of a helping hand. Search & Restore is not just a show for automotive enthusiasts, but a great show that dad can watch with his family – there is a story and best of all NO DRAMA.

Tim Strange, award-winning rod builder, BMXer and owner of Strange Motion is the host and Lead Builder of Search and Restore. “The show is a feel-good, give back type of show,” said Strange. “We build projects for deserving people with touching or hard-luck stories. Each project we build gets four half-hour shows. We build four projects each season so there will be 16 episodes.” “There’s no better feeling than helping someone regain that sense of hope after they feel like they’ve lost everything,” Strange said. “Thanks to our volunteer build teams and the hosts of the other PowerBlock shows, we’re able to help someone pick up the pieces, turn a dream into a reality and have fun doing it.”

May 19, 2012 SPIKE TV will run the first build of season two of Search and Restore. It will run as a two hour special, you will see the beginning and end of the build. On Sunday May 20, 2012 SPIKE TV will do a rerun of Saturday’s show. The first build of the season, Host, Tim Strange share’s a common interest with the vehicle owner – BMX (Bicycle Moto X). Tim has been racing BMX since he was 13 years old. Currently Tim and wife Carrie, are very active in the sport and run a factory team, Strange Motion/Kicker. Strange and his crew completely build a 1955 wagon in a month, putting in more than 3,600 hours of labor. A three- or four-man shop, he said, would have finished the project in about a year. After receiving nearly 200,000 submissions from viewers, Search and Restore is PowerBlock’s answer to ignite hope back into the lives of those in need of a helping hand. Search and Restore is not a “How to” show, like the other PowerBlock shows.