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Tony Hunt from Lincoln, CA Wins His 7th and 8th USAC Titles

By Steven Blakesley of Blakesley Sports Media

LINCOLN, CALIFORNIA (November 30, 2011) – 55-time USAC feature winner Tony Hunt of Lincoln, CA can now call himself an eight-time USAC champion, claiming both the USAC Western Sprint Car Series and USAC Western Classic Pavement championships for the 2011 season following the “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at TOYOTA Speedway in Irwindale, CA on Thursday.

Hunt, possibly the most accomplished pavement racer in USAC history, finished fifth in the season-closing event aboard the Mike Phulps-owned Metal Works #56 Schwanke Beast, allowing him to clinch both championships.

The season started off strong with a hard fought victory over Scott Pierovich in the “Gerhardt Classic” at Madera Speedway and a second place finish at Roseville in the “Burton Classic” in May.

But Hunt’s championship chances took a hit when wet weather delayed the prestigious Little 500 in Anderson, IN to a Sunday afternoon start on Memorial Day weekend. Hunt elected to compete in the Little 500, forcing him to miss the USAC Western Sprint Car Series points race held the following day in Salt Lake City, UT.

Following Salt Lake City, Hunt was in fifth in the standings facing a 35 point hole while also trying to acclimate himself to the dirt for the USAC Western Classic Racing Series championship. The brand-new Western Classic series encompassed eight of the pavement races on the Western Sprint Car trail along with eight dirt races.

A key victory in the “Pombo Classic” at Madera Speedway in June allowed Hunt to take over the Western Classic lead and also close within 24 points on the Western Sprint Car side. The Western Classic lead was critical coming into a double-header dirt weekend at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA and Santa Maria Speedway.

Hunt scored his first career dirt “top-ten” against a talent-laden field at Ocean Speedway to leave the weekend leading by 63 points in the Classic standings. After struggling through July races at Salt Lake City and Stockton, Hunt went on the offensive at Meridian, ID in one of the most critical weekends for his championship campaign.

Showing true veteran driving ability, Hunt led all 50 laps in the Friday feature and followed that up with a clutch fourth place run on Saturday night to take over the USAC Western Sprint Car points lead.

Hunt only relinquished the USAC Western Sprint Car Series points lead after a 13th place finish at Shasta Raceway Park in October gave him a 20 point deficit heading into the finale at Irwindale.

On the Western Classic side, engine troubles throughout the weekend at Calistoga on Labor Day weekend, coupled with the Shasta DNF, gave Hunt an 18 point hole for that series.

Hunt found himself in the rare position of trailing two different championships during the “Turkey Night Grand Prix” and finished out of the points in qualifying with a seventh place effort.

Starting seventh for the 40 lap feature, Hunt had a front-row seat for a wild start crash that involved as many as six cars and eliminated Western Sprint points leader Audra Sasselli from the feature. With the Western Sprint and Western Classic pavement championships nearly clinched, Hunt ran a solid race with a fifth place finish to wrap up his seventh and eighth driving titles.

Geoff Ensign successfully became the newest USAC champion as an eight place finish allowed him to beat out Hunt by just nine points in a hard fought battle for the USAC Western Classic Racing Series title. Ensign won the dirt portion of the series while Hunt won the pavement portion and finished second in the dirt portion of the title.

Tony Hunt’s 2012 plans are to be announced at a later date with race fans encouraged to visit www.tonyhunt.com for more information.

Tony Hunt Motorsports’ Marketing partners include the following: MW Metal Works, Thompson’s Toyota, eBay Motors, Paul Oil, Redline Oil, Earl’s, Intercomp, GoPro, Hoosier, MPD, Justice Brothers, Racing Electronics, Eibach Springs, Wilwood, Simpson, JB Racing Products, Mr. Espresso, Lajoie of Seating, K&N Filters, Hunt’s Race World, Carmichael Auto Service, Mettec, Outlaw Graphics, Permatex, Gold’s Gym of Lincoln, Meguiar’s, Oakley, Scribner Plastics., Fuel Safe, and Blakesley Sports Media.

J.R. Hildebrand To Drive For Panther Racing in 2012 and 2013.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (November 16, 2011) – Panther Racing confirmed today that it has exercised its two-year option on JR Hildebrand’s contract, ensuring the 23-year-old Californian will pilot the team’s No. 4 National Guard entry for the 2012 and 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series seasons. Hildebrand, the reining Indianapolis 500 runner-up and Rookie of the Year, just completed his first full IndyCar Series season for Panther and led three races while collecting two Top Five and five Top Ten finishes during the year.

“We’re happy that we’re able to keep JR in the No. 4 car for the next two years,” Panther Managing Partner and CEO John Barnes said. “We signed him last year with every intention that he would be in the No. 4 car for the foreseeable future and he proved both inside and outside the racecar that he was a perfect fit for this team and what we represent. The true test of any athlete is how they handle adversity, and I couldn’t be more impressed with how he handled himself during the course of this season. Everybody at Panther has learned a lot from the Soldiers in the National Guard, and it’s great to see how well Hildebrand represented all those Soldiers. We’ve all got our work cut out for us for next season, and we’re very pleased that JR is going to be a part of that.”

J.R. Hildebrand at Indy — J.R. Hildebrand at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hildebrand’s rookie campaign in the IZOD IndyCar Series was more than eventful, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the Indianapolis 500 where he led until the final turn of the historic event. A week later, he tore the ACL in his left knee during a media event at Texas Motor Speedway, but bounced back two weeks later and recorded his best career qualification effort (fourth) at Iowa Speedway, where he led the race and finished fourth. In September, he broke a bone in his hand during an incident in Baltimore, but again responded the following race with a seventh-place result at Twin Ring Motegi, his career best result on a non-oval track. After suffering a bruised sternum and a concussion in a crash at the final event of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team is looking to bounce back in 2012.

“I’m super stoked that I’m going to be back at Panther for the next two years,” Hildebrand said. “It was a crazy year for us, but we had some really strong runs and I enjoyed being a part of this team. I worked really well with my engineer David Cripps this season and I know everybody is already working really hard on improving for 2012. And I’m especially excited to be able to continue to work with the National Guard; that was a special opportunity and it was a very educational experience for me. To see the sacrifices these Soldiers make and to realize that they’ve entrusted us to tell their stories and represent them is an honor for all of us. Everybody at Panther is excited about getting started on next year and especially looking forward to getting back to the Indianapolis 500 so we can avenge our battle scar.”

Hildebrand had knee surgery immediately after the season to repair his torn ACL and is not expected to miss any offseason testing while recovering from the operation. He is scheduled to test the 2012 Dallara chassis for Chevrolet in early December, which will be his first opportunity to drive the new car. JR, a Sausalito, California native, signed with Panther in December of last year after a two-day driver evaluation test at Phoenix International Raceway. He was the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion and prior to coming to Panther made two IZOD IndyCar Series starts with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing during the 2010 season.

www.JRHildebrandRacing.com – www.pantherracing.com – www.NationalGuard.com

My First Car: Jennifer Shaw Wolf

By Jennifer Shaw Wolf

Twice this week I put my life in the hands of my fifteen year old son as he learned to drive a stick shift. He’s learning so he will be prepared when we turn over borrowship (NOT ownership) of his first vehicle, a Honda Accord that’s the same age as he is. We’ve already started the countdown, T-minus 73 days until he has that all-important piece of plastic that says he’s a legal driver.

Besides teaching my son (or just hanging on) I’ve been working on a car story. Naturally, all of this reminds me of my first car.

First let me give you a little backstory. My Dad was a mail carrier. There was a woman on his route who was blind and she owned two cars that had hardly been driven. One was an ugly bright blue Ford Maverick, and one was a red and white 1970 Cheville Malibu. Since she couldn’t drive the cars anymore she sold them to my Dad. He bought the Maverick first, so that car went to my older sister. Then he bought the Malibu. For some reason, that neither my sister or I can explain (at least not in civil terms) I got to drive the Malibu.

It was a nice car and it was in pretty good condition when I got it. Not so much (as my brothers like to point out) when I was finished with it. But it was still a very cool car.

I have some great memories of the Malibu. Like the time I tried to follow a guy who was driving a truck into the sand dunes and I buried it up to the axles (statue of limitations is over on that one, Mom). Or when the heater got stuck on high for an entire summer. Or when there was a short in the horn, so whenever you touched the brakes it would honk. My boyfriend got pulled over for honking at a cop when he had to stop at a stoplight.

My mom still has the Malibu. My brothers won’t let her sell it even though it doesn’t run anymore. Whenever I go home I have to take a moment to visit my old car and reminisce.

Clunker or souped-up hot rod, I think we all have fond memories of our first car.

_______________

My cousin, Jennifer Shaw Wolf is a mother of four, videographer, avid reader, and obsessed writer. Her book, Breaking Beautiful comes out in April, 2012.

Our thanks to Jennifer for sharing her story with us. For more information on Jennifer, please visit: www.jennifershawwolf.com or follow her blog, Wolf Tales.