The 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Brakes is three weeks away. Top teams and drivers are preparing for the twice around the clock plus one hour event sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) to run at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, Calif., Dec 6-7.
Davidson Racing and VM Racing were using the NASA Western Championships to test and tune the cars that they will be running at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.
Coming off of a second place finish at the NASA Western Championships at Sonoma Raceway two weeks ago, Brian Frisselle and Davidson Racing have put a lot of testing miles on their BMW powered No. 17 Norma since last December.
“We changed engine builders since last year and we think we have BMW power all sorted,” Frisselle said. “Driving with me will be Randy Pobst, Kyle Marcelli and one more driver we don’t know as of yet. The 25 is a fun endurance event. When we go to the Daytona 24 Hours, it is really all business and that comes with a lot of pressure. The 25 is a fun race that really gets back to the roots of racing that is very competitive. I use it as a prep run for the Daytona 24 hours in late January. VM Racing’s Greg Vannucci is running all three of NASA’s big events. He had his No. 25 Lotus Exige at Sonoma Raceway. To get to Sonoma he had to build a new car since the one he ran at the NASA Eastern Championships at Road Atlanta was wrecked exiting the last turn of his championship race.
“We went away from Sonoma with some body work to do and the axle doesn’t seem to want to stay in the transmission,” Vannucci said. “We took the car back to Iowa to do the body work and pull the transmission. Steve Myers is driving with me. This will be our first 25. We have to learn the track. Our car doesn’t consume much, so we have a good chance of coming in on the upper half of the ES Class. The only issue we have is that the car has a small fuel cell, so we have will have to pit a few more times.”
Jeff Shafer and his One Motorsports team is bringing two Radicals to the 25. Shafer, a consistent 25 Hours of Thunderhill driver, is stepping aside this year to manage the team. He is bringing some friends from the TUDOR United SportsCar Series to help try and get a win.
“I’ve decided to step aside from driving so I can focus on managing the team,” Shafer said. “With our first full season of IMSA Lites under our belt we have made some great friends in the TUDOR paddock and I’m proud to announce that both Sean Rayhall and Colin Braun will be in our driver lineup this year. Along with our IMSA Lites drivers John Falb and Todd Slusher, plus a few of the best Radical Cup drivers we have fielded this year with George Kurtz, Gerhard Watzinger, Jesse Menczer and Dave House, we have the most experienced driver lineup we’ve ever had to run the 25.”
The team’s goals are simple. “We want to occupy the first two steps of the podium,” he continued. “We have tried many times and although we have had success in our class, we’ve failed every time for an overall win. Looking at the entry list, we may have the slowest ESR cars entered, but our past experience has proven that the fastest car doesn’t mean an instant win. Our goals are really just to focus on our own program, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing and optimize our own race. Looking back we have beaten ourselves with mistakes and mechanical problems, so our goal is simply don’t beat ourselves.”
“Improved reliability can be a frustrating thing,” explained Shafer. “I would of said last year that we took care of this and although we had one car run the race without any serious problems, the other had the classic $.25 piece break, which then caused a whole slew of other major problems. Both of these cars have been stripped down to the bare chassis since the last 25 hour race and been completely gone through. We are addicted to this race and don’t take it lightly. These cars have been thought about and worked on all season in preparation for this race. Radicals are inherently reliable machines, but with any racecar, you stress them for 25 hours and you may find a weak point. We’ve prepared as much as we can, now let’s pray those weak points are strong enough for 25.”
Dion von Moltke has been added to the Thunderhill event with the Nevada based team, Davidson Racing. Dion will join Bob Davidson, Burt Frisselle (TUDOR Championship), Anthony Lazzaro (Pirelli World Challenge), Brandon Kraus and Chris Lock in the No. 16 2010 DR Eagle prototype.
Dion is no stranger to endurance races, boasting back to back wins at the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring in 2012 and 2013, and another win at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2013. The 11th running of the 2014 NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance will be his first time participating in the event. Over 208 drivers are listed for the 60 car entries, with makes and models ranging from 1969 to 2015.
“This event always brings an incredible mix of cars and drivers,” said Dion. “The speed differential that we will have to deal with is very different than anything I have done before. Usually a racing series keeps all cars within a close range, but here we will be racing on track at the same time as Mazda Miata’s! This huge speed difference will be very mentally demanding on all drivers. We will have to be very precise and careful working through traffic, especially at night because I know from talking to people that have raced here, it gets dark!”
With 2015 still undetermined for the young racer, von Moltke has spent his off season solely focused on preparing for the next time he gets behind the wheel.
“An off season is not a time for relaxation for a race car driver,” said Dion. “You have to be incredibly disciplined to keep up your training and your race craft, all while focusing on preparations for the approaching season. In addition to the business aspect, there’s a lot of mental and physical preparation that is necessary, and to be able to race with a great team at a legendary event during the TUDOR Championship off season is an exciting opportunity. It will be nice to get back in the car and just focus on actual racing, especially as of late I have been working so hard on trying to secure a competitive ride for the 2015 season. This work will continue over the coming weeks, so I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel at Thunderhill!”
NASA executive director, Jerry Kunzman, likes the way the field is coming together for what is becoming an early December tradition.
“We have a lot of great entries coming with some big name drivers,” Kunzman said. “We have Stewart-Haas NASCAR driver Kurt Busch coming. NASA son Colin Braun and fellow IMSA competitor Sean Rayhall will be sharing a car, so we have star power. Looking at the entrires, we don’t yet have a defending overall winner in the field this year, so it is really anyone’s race to win. We have strong cars, and a truck, in all six classes and I am looking forward to a very competitive 25 hours of racing.”
Drivers entered to race at Thunderhill include Kurt Busch, Brian Frisselle, Colin Braun, Sean Rayhall, Davy Jones, Mike Skeen, Ryan Eversly to name a few.
The load-in date for competitors will be Dec. 3, with Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 reserved for track arranged test days. The green flag will fly at 11 a.m. on Sat. Dec. 6 on the field that will consist of over 70 cars in six classes (E0, E1, E2, E3, ES and ESR).
Provisional Entry
Team 88 Coldcock Whiskey Silverado Car 66 ES Chevrolet Silverado 2000
89 RJ Racing 23 E3 Mazda Miata (MX-5) 1995
90 Team Quick Racing Products O3 ES Superlite SLC 2012
91 SP Racing 1 35 E3 Mazda Miata 1999
92 BF Goodrich Road Shagger Racing 61 E0 BMW M3 1995
93 SP Racing 2 36 E3 Mazda Miata 1994
94 Davidson Racing 1 16 ES DR Eagle 2010
95 Davidson Racing 2 17 ESR Norma M20F BMW 2008
96 Davidson Racing 3 15 ESR Norma M20F Honda 2007
97 New York Rock Exchange / 1st Community Bank O7 E3 Acura Integra 1992
98 Crowd Strike / One Motorsports 48 ESR Radical SR3 1996
99 Team Vegas / Disk Tech / One Motorsports 62 ESR Radical SR3 2010
100 Radical / Rhino Racing
101 Award Motorsport / Ehret Family Winery oo ES Porsche GT3 Cup 2013
103 Green Alternative Motorsports 88 ESR Norma M20F 2007
104 Sparta Evo Brakes/ Maxxis Tire/ Bullet Performance 67 E1 BMW 328i 2007
105 A+ Racing 1 O E3 Mazda Miata 1994
106 A+ Racing 2 39 E3 Mazda Miata 1991
107 Momentary Racing 11 E3 Mazda Miata 1991
108 Brown Heyer 64 E2 Mazda Miata 1999
109 Prototype Development Group 4 ES Factory 5 GTM 2012
110 AAF Racing 44 E1 BMW 330ci 2003
111 BimmerWorld / Red Line Oil 82 E1 BMW 330i 2001
112 Grip Racing 95 E1 BMW 330i 2002
113 Mazdaspeed Dealers A 55 E1 Mazda 6 Diesel 2014
114 Mazdaspeed Dealers B 56 E1 Mazda 6 Diesel 2014
115 Mazdaspeed Factory Guys 70 E1 Mazda 6 Diesel 2014
116 Honda Racing 1 27 ES Acura ILX 2012
117 Honda Racing 2 25 ES Acura ILX 2012
118 Honda Racing 3 12 E3 Honda Fit 2009
119 Twini Endurance Racing Team 13 ES MINI Cooper S 2002
120 Stammer Inc / Bavarian Performance 6 ES BMW E46 M3 2002
121 Kleen Blast / Davids Racing Products 86 ES Chevy Camaro 2015
122 Technik / HQ Autosport 14 E1 BMW 330Ci 2003
123 Sector Purple Racing 1 73 E1 Mazda Miata 1999
124 Sector Purple Racing 2 78 E2 Mazda Miata 1999
125 Sector Purple Racing 3 71 E3 Mazda Miata 1999
126 Pure Performance / Johnstone Supply / AEM 68 E0 BMW 330 1999
127 V/M Racing 20 ES Lotus Exige 2007
128 JFC Racing 52 ESR Wolf GB08-ASR 2014
129 JFC Racing 2 53 ESR Wolf GB08-MJ 2014
131 Lowe Group Racing O2 BMW GTR 2002
132 Yost Autosport 21 ES BMW E92 M3 2008
134 Hooverspeed 98 E3 Mazda Miata 1993
135 Racecraft 10 E3 BMW 325 is 1988
136 Lang Racing Development 89 ES BMW M3 2003
137 Spotter Powered by racercaster.com O5 E3 Mazda Miata 1990
138 Patent It! Race Team 19 E1 Honda Civic 1994
139 TFB 2 ES BMW E46 2013
141 Team RDR 34 E2 Mazda RX 8 2004
142 Speed Trixx Motorsports 18 E0 Ford Boss 302S 2013
143 CA Sport 1 32 E0 BMW M3 2004
144 CA Sport /Skullcandy Team Nissan 33 E0 Nissan 370Z 2014
145 Hankook Tires / El Diablo Motorsport 31 E0 BMW M3 1997
146 Nixon Prosports 77 E1 Honda S2000 2001
147 ElDorado Motorsports 22 E1 Honda Prelude 1993
148 Motorsport Services 54 ES Seat Leon Supacopa 2008
150 Rebounderz / TNI Racing O9 E0 BMW E46-M3 2004
151 CRE / AIM 28 E1 Ford Mustang 2007
152 Gone Racing 29 E2 Mazda Miata 1996
