Follow Racing Beat on Facebook for latest news, product releases and cool Mazda updates, including photos from the Sevenstock 15 event at Willow Springs Raceway. This is a great way to keep current with the latest Racing Beat news, don’t miss out!
Jeff Kiesel Brings Home Multiple National Titles at the 2012 SCCA Solo National Championships.
Jeff Kiesel in the KFR/Goodyear Tire/Racing Beat Turbo Sprite Brings Home Multiple National Titles at the 2012 SCCA Solo National Championships.
The R1 Pro Championship win this season will make it 6 straight Pro Championships for Jeff in the competitive R1 class. Jeff did not stop there, 2012 SCCA Solo National Championships Kiesel crushed the E Modified class yet again earning his 6th straight championship win in the E Modified Class and his 7th straight National Championship win! Kiesel took the win by 5.419 seconds over his co-driver in the same car. As if that was not enough, Kiesel’s wife Shawn Kiesel crushed the E Modified Ladies class by 5.091 seconds earning her 4th E Modified Championship and 5th Overall Championship.
“The car performed flawlessly and we had no issues at all,” stated Jeff. “We chased some set up issues at the Pro and really got the car to work well by our third session. Could have dialed a little more push out of the car for Nationals and potentially found some time but overall I am very happy with the car. We did have some frustrations while out there with the new rule changes that were put in place banning most of our new aero development. These new rules came out 12 days before our first event out there, so we did a lot of last minute scrambling to get the car in compliance with the new rules. Once again our sponsors came through for us and made this another successful year, our sponsors are: Goodyear Tire, Racing Beat, Pilot Air Freight, Garrett Turbo, Carvin Guitars, Maxima Racing Oils, Injector Dynamics. I was also real happy to see such great driving from my Wife Shawn and my co-driver dad Mark.”
Racing Beat sales associate Bruce Kress is quite the sports enthusiast, but not in the traditional sense. While attending high school Bruce developed a love for both surfing and ice/roller hockey. While surfing certainly fits the image of a home-grown So Cal boy, longing to play competitive ice hockey was a bit more unusual. After spending a short stint playing junior ice hockey out of high school, Bruce soon returned back to So Cal to resume a more traditional lifestyle.
When Mazda recently announced they were forming teams for a local roller hockey team and were seeking experienced players from both Mazda’s employees and corporate partners, Bruce jumped at the chance. Since joining, Bruce has lent his extensive experience to MazdaSpeed’s-B team and helped them secure a first place finish in league play and a first place finish as league champions!
Good news, the Racing Beat RX-8 REVi Intake Kit has successfully passed CARB emission testing and has been granted an emissions exemption. Exemption decals are currently being printed and will be included on all kits in within the next 2 weeks. If you currently have a REVi Intake Kit and require a CARB decal for a tailpipe emissions test, check back with the REVi Intake product page for more information.
Jeff Kiesel in the 2011 KFR/Goodyear Tire/Racing Beat Turbo Sprite Brings Home Multiple National Titles and a Super Challenge Win in Lincoln Nebraska at the September SCCA Solo National Championships. The Pro Finale (8/26-8/28) with over 200 of the top drivers from around the US, Kiesel running in the Pro R1 class (race tire class) was a 9 car field made up of 7 prepared and modified car classes. Kiesel took the lead Saturday Afternoon and never looked back, winning by a margin of 0.462. With this win he ended the season with 105 points leading Fred Zust in second place with 78 points. This is the fifth straight Pro Championship for Kiesel in the competitive R1 class (was formerly M1). Kiesel did not stop there, winning his first ever Super Challenge and eliminating the other 32 top drivers. With the Super Challenge Win, Kiesel took 2nd place for year end Super Challenge Points at 96 points, only 4 points behind year end winner Matt McCabe with 100 points. 2011 SCCA Solo National Championships (8/30-9/2) Kiesel crushed the E Modified class yet again earning his 5th straight championship win in the E Modified Class and his 6th straight National Championship win. Kiesel took the win by 3.361 seconds over 6 time National Champion Bob Tunnell. Kiesel even beat the C Modified and D Modified class winners.
It’s official, Sevenstock 14 is on the calendar for October 29, 2011. This year the event will be hosted at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona, CA. Details are still unfolding about the event, but it appears that the event will be hosted both in and around the display halls on the fair complex.
Racing Beat has confirmed the appearance of multi-time Pro Solo Champion Jeff Kiesel and his rotary-powered Bugeye Sprite. Be sure and stop by the Racing Beat booth to meet Jeff and to glance at his cone-carving tarmac screamer!
Vist the www.sevenstock.org for more event details as they are released. See you there!
5-Time Sports Car Club of America Solo Champion Jeff Kiesel, of Poway, Calif., has been named the latest SCCA Star Performer, as revealed in the ESPN3.com and ABC broadcasts of the American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron Baltimore Grand Prix.
Kiesel earned his first-ever Gumout Super Challenge win on Sunday, Aug. 28, topping the 260-car field at the Tire Rack SCCA ProSolo Finale in Lincoln, Neb. Less than a week later, Kiesel earned his sixth SCCA National Championship at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships driving his E Modified rotary turbocharged Austin-Healey Sprite.
As part of its relationship with the American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron, one SCCA member will be announced as the Star Performer during each ALMS series broadcast. Past winners include Robert Thorne, Chip Van Vurst, Scott Rettich, Ron Sharp, and, now, Jeff Kiesel.
Congratulations to Jeff and Team Kiesel Racing on an outstanding season!
Jeff Kiesel in the 2011 KFR / Goodyear Tire / Racing Beat Rotary-Turbo Sprite does it again with back to back wins in Packwood Washington. The first of the two events was the Western States Championship 7/16-7/17. Despite the wet conditions both days Kiesel put the hammer down on final runs to take a huge win over co-driver Shawn Kiesel. Not stopping there, Kiesel dominated the 13 car field in the R1 class at the Packwood Pro Solo the next weekend 7/23-7/24. Kiesel crushed the field winning overall by 2.038 seconds.
After the event Jeff stated, “This States Championship was an important event for us, with this States Championship win and the Divisional Championship win all that is missing is the National Championship win. If a competitor wins all three in the same class there is a special award given out called the Triad Award. The competition at the National Championship will be very tough and we are going to go back there prepared and give it our best, hopefully we can pull it off again. Our car seems to be getting better and better at each event, it’s the small tuning tweaks we have been doing this year that has made the difference.”
The Pro Finale is August 27th and 28th the class Jeff races in is classified as R1. The Solo National Championships is September 1st and 2nd the class is Emod (EM).
After driving players into the walls of NHL hockey rinks all season long, NHLTampa Bay Lighting defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron will need to reprogram his hard charging mentality to steer himself clear of the unforgiving walls of the race track. This summer Marc-Andre is heating up his off-season by running his Mazda RX-8 in the Super Touring class of the Canadian Touring Car Championship Series. After seeking technical advice and race-engine support from Racing Beat, Team Bergeron will be running in three select races this summer. We’ll follow up shortly with an interview and race photos, check back soon for more details.
The original Mazda factory lines on the RX-8 (a total of eight lines) combine both rigid and flexible tubing, and include ten (10) mid-hose connector fittings. Replacing this complex combination of hosing and connectors with a simplified performance-based set eliminates possible areas of leakage during racing and high output applications. As the old saying goes, “Simple is better!”