2006 HAS BEEN THE MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN KRYDERACING HISTORY.

We are not diminishing any past accomplishments.  There have been other incredible years.  Finishing Fifth in the 1991 IMSA GTU point race against five factory backed cars was definitely a highlight of many years of professional level competition.  Over twenty 24-hour races and half that many 12-hour events have resulted in podium finishes and storied efforts.  Our long involvement with the Nelson Ledges Road Course has seen over 600 Kryderacing year-end awards presented to SCCA racers during the 24 years of The Kryderacing Regional Championship Series.  The list of memories could go on for pages.  But 2006 was something special.  Read on.

The most dramatic accomplishment was the 25+ wins posted by Kryderacing racers.  We had been keeping count, but every once in a while we find one which we missed posting.  The peak weekend was the mid-summer SCCA Nelson Ledges National.  We had six cars entered.  They won five races.  They might all have won, but two of them were in the same class.

Bill Pintaric led every National race he competed in during the 2007 season.  His Kryderacing prepped GTL class Nissan won four of them.  He was one of the top three picks predicted to win the National Championship Run-Offs in Topeka.  A race day drizzle favored the front-wheel-drive cars at Topeka, but Bill “slipped and slid” his way to a fifth with his rear-wheel-drive 200SX.  It was his best Run-Offs finish to date.  And the Run-Offs television coverage spent lots of minutes showing Bill’s car (with its Kryderacing logo) because of the numerous battles Bill was involved in.
 
David Pintaric went three-for-three in the Nelson Ledges T-1 National races.  He drove Kryderacing maintained Corvettes and Vipers during the year.  At the Run-Offs he won the T-1 Hard Charger award as he advanced through the field to a sixth place finish.  The “Kryderacing” logo was very visible during the Run-Offs TV coverage as David was being filmed out the back window of a fellow competitor.  David was really hounding this camera car and eventually passed the camera carrying car with a beautiful move.  All of it was in the TV coverage.

Kryderacing helped Rob Piekarzyk build his new Mazda RX-8 for Touring 3 competition.  Rob won numerous National and Regional races with his beautiful new car.  He also acquired the T-3 Hard Charger Award on his way to an eleventh place finish.  The TV coverage spent a lot of time showing Rob (and the Kryderacing logo) as he battled (and eventually beat) an Audi in the latter stages of the race.  The TV crew surprised all of us when they mentioned “Reed Kryder” by name during the segment.

Bruce Keillor was in his first year of national level competition driving Rob’s old SSC class Mazda Protégé.  While he wasn’t competitive for wins at a national level he did manage to qualify for, and compete in, the Run-Offs.  When he wasn’t racing at the National level, he was going to Regionals and winning on a regular basis.  He won the SSC class Championship for the Kryderacing Series and we is probably acquiring other awards during the off-season.

Brett Mars won both National and Regional Races with his SSC class Mazda3.  At one time early in the year the car was at our shop late into the night as two unusable transaxles were merged into one so Brett could run a National at his home track (BeaveRun).

Gary Martz was competing in E-Production with his newly acquired convertible Mazda RX-7.  There were a few problems adjusting to the new car, but he was very competitive in it at the national level.  When he ran a Regional (for testing reasons) he embarrassed the competition.  Reed and Sandi were Gary’s crew at Elkhart Lake’s June Sprints.  The two of them will do anything for a Road America trip (and the food that goes with it).  Gary qualified for the Run-Offs but didn’t compete.
 
Kryderacing converted Mike Olivier’s Honda Civic from Showroom Stock C to Improved Touring A for the 2006 season.  Mike had qualified for, and competed in, the 2005 Run-Offs as a SSC car, but he wanted to do something different in 2006.  Not only is the ITA competition faster, there are larger fields of cars and extremely tight competition.  The Honda is not yet prepped to the level allowed in ITA, but Mike has had some impressive runs in his races.

Mark Hopkins has been running a Honda Civic originally built by Kryderacing for Pat and Dick Sonntag.  Mark does great preparation work and is an impressive driver.  He won a couple of events at Mid-Ohio and was starting to look like the winner of their championship series when another competitor crashed him out of a race.  The crash was bittersweet because the resulting race stoppage due to the crash ended up giving the win to Mark.  The rule states that if the race cannot continue the results are based on the last completed lap.  Mark said that trophy was a very expensive one.  The damage was extensive enough to end his, and son Kraig’s, racing year.

During 2006 Kryderacing started supplying trackside service to John Buttermore and his son (also John) for their T-1 Corvette and T-2 Cadillac CTS-V efforts.  We also assisted both of them at the Run-Offs.  These are well-driven, competitive cars and it was our pleasure to provide assistance.

The Kryderacing rental vehicles, an ITS Nissan 240SX and an ITA Nissan NX2000, were driven competitively this past year by several drivers.  The competitiveness of the cars remains high as was demonstrated when Reed qualified outside pole (twice) and led a race at Nelson Ledges.

The credit for the majority of the above results belongs to Kryderacing employees Matt Miller and Matt Carson.  Their contributions to Kryderacing and its clients go well beyond simply wrenching cars.  And when they aren’t working on the above vehicles they could be found racing their own cars.  We are glad they are both still with Kryderacing, but  were a little concerned after they crashed into each other at a Mid-Ohio race during the summer.  But that’s another story.

The entire Kryderacing staff participated in the annual Willow Springs program for Russ Wilson and Paul Arevalo.  This was the fifth year and it gets bigger and better with each edition.  Next year will find us on the “Streets of Willow”.
 
Reed found himself in the position of Chief Instructor at a Mini Day at Nelson Ledges.  The turn-out of Minis exceeded 200 and one of the surprises was meeting several old friends who Reed and Sandi haven’t seen in years.  It seems as if ownership of a Mini helped keep them alive with the sports car spirit even after they had left the sport.

Neither Kryderacing or Matt Miller entered a car in this year’s Nelson Ledges 12-Hour event, but Reed and Sandi were in attendance pumping gas from our facility.  We were also there during all the SCCA races, a few motorcycle events, the Yenko reunion, and several other special events.  The Kryderacing Regional Championship Series at Nelson Ledges also completed it’s 24th consecutive year with its annual awards banquet.  The results of the Championship can be found at www.kryderacing.com.

WHAT’S AHEAD?

* Bill’s GTL car is being completely rebuilt from the ground up.  It was sand-blasted, powder-coated, and looks like a brand-new car being assembled.
* David’s Viper is awaiting review of the impact of SCCA rule revisions.  A 31.5% intake restrictor reduction has everyone concerned.
* Rob will be back in his T-3 RX-8.  He is also spear-heading a Nelson Ledges 24-Hour effort.  Currently he is awaiting word on a donor vehicle.  Kryderacing will be there helping in any way we can.
* Brett has sold his Mazda3 and acquired a Ford Focus for SCCA and NASA competition.
* Mark has rebuilt the crashed ITA Civic.  He and Kraig have also built a second Civic for competition in F-Production.
* Mike’s Civic will be faster in 2006 than 2007 after a few additional ITA legal changes are completed.
* Everyone else is returning in the same vehicles.  We are currently reviewing all rule changes to make sure door bars, window nets, seat belts, helmets, and numerous other items are up to spec.  CHECK your own equipment.
* The Buttermore’s have sent us their 2007 schedule and requested our trackside assistance at as many races as possible.
* The 2007 Kryderacing Regional Championship Series at Nelson Ledges Road Course marks the Silver Anniversary of the program.  Who would have dreamed it.

*AND

During a discussion at the Performance Racing Industry Show a couple of weeks ago, we were asked if we were interested in returning to professional level.  Several vehicles could be made available.  Discussions since then have progressed daily.  Yes, Kryderacing may be returning to professional level racing, and it might be a multi-car effort