Everyone,
As was mentioned in an earlier thread Nuzzo Motorsports is at risk for not being run the MINIs this year due to an unexpected change in sponsorship support. Over the last couple of months I've been speaking with Tony to arrange a relationship where NAM would have a news feed of his efforts over the course of 2005. In speaking with Tony yesterday (Thursday) he would like to continue to explore other avenues to salvage at least a portion of the season. With this in mind I'll ask Tony to drop into this thread and provide some thoughts on how the team might be able to go forward.

Thanks!

Mark

 

Hello everyone,

First, I want to thank all of you who have cheered us on over the past two years. It was great meeting so many of you at the racetracks.



A number of questions have been posed about our current status, so I want to explain as best I can even though I cannot currently give you all the details I would like.



We are not racing the mcs because we entered into an agreement with a prominent business partner and they were to provide us with sponsorship. Based on this agreement I moved forward and completely rebuilt the two racecars so we would start the season with fresh cars. About two weeks before the season’s first race at Daytona, I got a call telling me the funding was not coming as promised. This left me little choice but to withdraw my entries and not race these cars in 2005. If I didn’t have the agreement I would have sold the team at the end of last season and put together a new team for this season.



I’d like to ask you all if you would be open to raising funds so we could continue to race the MINI’s in 2005. If you rallied all the fans, I could offer several different levels of sponsorship giving you a piece of MINI racing history. If there is a ground swell of enthusiasm for this, I will put together specific packages and hospitality. You can call me or email me privately to discuss details. The next two races are 4/1 @ California speedway in Fontana and 4/30 @ Laguna Seca in Monterey.





Now to address some of your questions.

I’m not getting out of racing I’m still trying to find a way to continue racing the mcs even if it’s a limited schedule. The equipment I’m selling is all replaceable. The truck and trailer is an effort to downsize and reduce operating costs.



These cars still have room for improvement, even though we have set track records and have proven to be faster than our 6 cylinder BMW 330’s there is more to be gotten from these cars but that does not come cheap.



Regarding running in Speed World Challenge this is the first year the car is eligible. The grand am cars would be too slow for wc so we would need even more development. I know exactly what we would need to be competitive in wc and actually had plans to build a car.



We were the first (pioneers) and are currently the only team professionally racing the mcs.



Someone thought that a price tag of 65K was a lot of $ for a MINI racecar “you can almost buy a PTG-built M3 for that kind of money”. Well consider this we are a professional race team just like ptg. We build racecars with the same safety equipment as the bmw, we build race engines, transmissions, and suspensions just like the other teams, we put about 100 hours into building a car, and we built cars that were faster than the competition, have earned track records and hold a place in history books forever. And we are a privateer meaning we don't have BMW factory money like PTG is reported to have.



I’ve enjoyed racing these cars and I’m just sad and disappointed that we will not be able to bring home a championship in the mcs in 2005. But there is still a chance for us to put the MINI on the podium with your support.



See you at the races

Tony

 

I wish you the best luck Tony with the team and the seasons to come. I'll do my best to help with any MINI based racing on a professional level.

 

Tony,

I'm going to see what the SoCal MINI Community can do to help! I'll speak with several clubs and get back to you.

Best wishes,
Clover