May 23, 2006

MINI runs third at Laguna Seca and survives extreme heat at Phoenix
International Raceway

Dear Corporate Partners, Friends, Family and Fans,

As wet as it was at Virginia, it was cold at Laguna Seca and hot at
Phoenix International Raceway.

Three races in four weeks. We were happy to come out of VIR with the
cars intact. That in itself, was a victory. Race conditions were as bad
as I have ever seen at VIR. Rain, rain and more rain. So many crashes we
only had 14 laps of green flag racing, making it almost impossible to
improve your position.
Mitch Bishop and Harry Kintzi did a superb job in piloting the 22 Car to
27th in class and 60 overall out of 33 in class and 83 overall, the
weekend began with 91 cars overall. Steve Pattee and Tony Nuzzo finished
14th in class and 40th overall. Due to the severe weather, qualifying
was canceled and the starting grid was set by the last practice session.

Next up was warm sunny California, at infamous Laguna Seca Raceway (now
called Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca). We were excited to get out of the wet
weather and into some more favorable climes. Little did we know, Laguna
would be cold, cold, cold. How cold you ask? It was so cold I saw a sea
otter ordering an extra spicy bowl of chili at the local mexicali
restaurant. Seriously though, it was ski parker weather. During the
race, our crew had to wear gloves and coats to keep warm.
Driving the 22 car were Joe Toussaint of Katy, TX and veteran racer
Manny Matz of Somers, NY. Both drivers had their families with them for
this event. On board was the American Organ Transplant Association
(AOTA) as a charitable sponsor. The American Organ Transplant
Association (AOTA) was incorporated in Texas in 1986 as a non-profit
organization to help organ transplant recipients through the period
immediately prior to organ transplant surgery and after transplant
surgery. If you want to help an organ transplant patient, family
members, social workers, friends, and corporate sponsors are always
needed. To help, please contact them at 713-344-2402 or visit their
website at http://www.aotaonline.org/
The Laguna race was also plagued with cautions. The 20 car driven by
Steve Pattee and Tony Nuzzo improved 9 positions during the race to be
the second most improved car in ST. The 20 car started 25th in class and
ran as high as 3rd during the race. The many cautions left both cars
getting shuffled back in the running order finishing 16th and 21st in
class.

One week later, we're racing in Phoenix. Race day it was 105 degrees in
the shade. Ali Basakinci and Randy Smalley, two local MINI Club racers
joined us for this race on their home track. Both drivers were fast and
Ali qualified the 22 car 10th , while the 20 car qualified 20th out of
32 cars. The heat was brutal for the cars, drivers, and crew. Everyone
worked extremely hard in this green to checkered race. That's right, no
cautions at all. Pit stops would decide the results of this race. The
extreme heat caused us to burn fuel at a higher rate than normal and a
second pit stop for a splash of fuel near the end of the race cost us.
The 22 car finished 17th and the 20 car finished 18th. Both cars had run
13h or better during the race.



To complete our four races in six weeks we are off the Lime Rock Park in
Connecticut to race this Saturday May 27. We only had a few days to prep
the cars for this race. This will be the first time we have ever raced
the MINIs at this track, but we have high expectations. Only 1.5 miles
long, this track is very technical and you work hard the entire lap.
There are no long straights where you can relax, even for a few seconds.
Randy Smalley will drive the #22 car along with Trevor Hopwood, a local
racer from New Hampshire. The 20 car will be driven by Tony Nuzzo and
driver yet to be named for this race.

I have to thank Hawk Performance Brakes and the Red Line Oil family of
products, which gave us the products that could sustain the ever
changing extreme weather we've experienced during the last three races.

My thanks go out to our crew who did a great job under difficult
conditions.

A special thanks goes out to all the MINI fans that stopped by and gave
us their support, we could not do this without you!

Watch for coverage of all of our races in MC2 magazine.

Nuzzo Motorsports 2006 campaign would not be possible without the
support of our sponsors:
UNICHIP, MINI USA, MINI Financial Services, G-Dezine, Ltd, Hawk
Performance Brake Pads, Red Line Oil, The Driveshaft Shop, Cole
Motorsports, BOSCH, Autosport Image, Moton Suspension Technology, BBS
Wheels, Marren Fuel Injection, Habberstad MINI, North American
Motoring.com, Motoring File.com, Hoosier Racing Tire

UNICHIP http://www.UNICHIP.us
MINI USA http://www.MINIUSA.com
MINI Financial Services http://www.MINIUSA.com
G-Dezine, Ltd http://www.GDEZINELTD.com
MC2 Magazine http://www.mc2magazine.com
Hawk Performance Brake Pads http://www.HawkPerformance.com
Red Line Oil http://www.REDLINEOIL.com/team_gear.asp
BOSCH http://www.BOSCHUSA.com
Cole Motorsports http://www.colemotorsports.com
The Drive Shaft Shop http://www.DriveShaftShop.com
Autosport Image http://www.AutosportImage.com
Moton Suspension Technology http://www.MotonSuspension.com
BBS wheels http://www.BBS.com
Marren Fuel Injection http://www.Injector.com
Habberstad MINI http://www.HabberstadMINI.com
North American Motoring http://www.NorthAmericanMotoring.com
Motoring File.com http://www.Motoringfile.com
Hoosier Racing Tire http://www.HoosierRacingIire.com

For further details, please contact Tony Nuzzo at 516-972-3454
In addition, visit www.Nuzzomotorsports.com for race news, photos, and
video.
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Good Job Tony. I watched the Phoenix race on Speed and it looked killer.

 

Thanks for the updates! I love reading about your endeavors on-track. Good luck at Lime Rock.

 

Ditto. Thanks for the update, and good luck @ Lime Rock!

 

Keep after 'em Tony. See you at MidOhio!

 

Fantastic job
Great read