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FYI
05-30-04

LAPS FOR KIDS GOES AFTER WORLD RECORD

Avon Lake, Ohio — ‘Laps for Kids’ is pleased to announce that on the weekend of October 21-22, 2004 a team comprised of Gary (Christopher) Kannegiesser, Travis Roberts, Neil Sapp, and one other member to be added later, will be attempting to break a Guinness World Record. This event will be conducted at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course in Lexington, Ohio. May 24 marks the official commencement of the record-breaking campaign that involves the crew to begin physically training for the event, tire testing, equipment testing, selection of final team members, and selecting charities and sponsors to be involved.

The current Guinness World Record is as follows:

Highest Go-Kart Mileage
The greatest distance covered by a motorized kart in 24 hours on an outdoor circuit by a four-man team is 1,709.9 km. (1,062.5 miles), at Kirkistown race circuit, County Downs, Northern Ireland by Michael Boyd, September 17, 1997, Newtownards, UK.

Sponsors and Charities
The team already has many sponsors on board but is continuously looking for other organizations or businesses to take the initiative to be part of this historic event. Every good team needs good sponsors, which can provide marketing, promotional, and financial assistance to help break the current world record. Local and national opportunities are available.

The team encourages any charity that wishes to become involved not to hesitate in contacting Laps For Kids. If there is a charity that wishes to be part of the team, has a great fundraising idea, or would like the opportunity to help through a charity, please contact Laps For Kids.

Driver Profiles:
Gary (Christopher) Kennegiesser, 56, of Avon Lake, Ohio will captain the Laps For Kids race team to break a world record and bring exposure, prestige, and publicity to the karting industry. His goal is to bring karting to the forefront of motor sports and he confirms that karters of all ages should support youth oriented charities of all types.

Travis Roberts, 22, USAC sprint driver and karter from Denver, Colorado will bring his youth and experience to the record-breaking team. Besides driving in the event, he will also serve as crew chief of the JFS racing typhoon kart, which will serve as the official kart of this historic event.

Neil Sapp, SSCA National Champion and 2000 World Challenge Rookie of the Year will bring his professional racing experience to the team as first alternate. Neil has been involved in motor sports for a number of years and has been established as one of the premier World Challenge drivers.

The final member of the team has yet to be selected and a national search is currently in progress. Do you have what it takes? Can you survive a grueling 24-hours of go-karting? Are you an individual who would like the opportunity to break a world record and ascend to the ranks like those of the pros? If you believe you can be the fourth member of this historic team, please do not hesitate to contact Laps For Kids.

The Laps For Kids team has begun training on May 24, 2004 at Goodtimes Amusement Center in Avon, Ohio on their go-kart track; at Lorain Speedway in Lorain, Ohio, on a 3/8-mile paved oval; and will eventually test on a new 1-mile kart course that is still under construction. Additional testing will be conducted at Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course in Lexington, Ohio. Throughout the summer the Laps For Kids team will be traveling across the United States and participating in ALMS/ SPEED World Challenge, as well as many go-karting and special events, in order to bring attention to race fans of all kinds, the importance to support youth charities. The highlight of the season will be the record attempt to be held the weekend of October 21-22, 2004 at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course.

For more information about this historic Guinness World Record attempt please contact Gary (Christopher) Kannegiesser at 440-670-2897 or email him at GCAndA@aol.com. For more details please visit our website at www.LapsForKids.com

NASCAR’S NEDEAU TO INSTRUCT AT KARTING SCHOOL
Danbury, Connecticut — NASCAR star and Danbury native Jerry Nadeau returns to his home state June 18 and 19 for the EnduranceKarting.com events at Lime Rock Park.

Nadeau will serve as an instructor in the June 18 racing school, which is limited to 20 participants. On Saturday, June 19, Nadeau will be on one of 28 teams competing in an eight-hour go-kart endurance race. Nadeau says: "I really enjoyed instruction and working with people and coming back to Lime Rock is going to be so much fun." Pre-registration is required for the race and the school.

"I have raced with EnduranceKarting.com three times at the kart track at Lowe's Motor Speedway [in Charlotte]," Nadeau said. "Last time, I teamed up with Ernie Irvan and my dad, who had not raced in years. We had a great time, racing together and against racing enthusiasts."

Nadeau was seriously injured in a May 2003 crash at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. He has since undergone extensive rehabilitation and has progressed remarkably. He keeps his racing skills in practice through go-karts and racing-themed video games, in hopes of returning to the Nextel Cup Series in 2005.

The Lime Rock race also marks a homecoming to go- kart racing for Nadeau. He began racing go-karts at age four, winning three consecutive World Karting Association Gold Cup Championships (1988 to 1990). He won the WKA Grand National Championship and the Skip Barber Eastern Series Rookie-of-the-Year title in the same year (1991).

In 1996, he competed in the Formula Opel European Series and finished sixth, the highest-ever finish by an American. Nadeau began racing in the prestigious Nextel Cup Series in 1997, posting one win at Atlanta Motor Speedway (November 2000) in 177 starts.

Throughout his rehabilitation process, Nadeau has enjoyed spending time with his wife Jada and one- year-old daughter Natalie.

Those looking to pull together a team for the 8 hour, start planning your strategy. We recommend 4-8 drivers per team. This race is great for teams looking for more seat time within a single race day. Each team will be required to complete 19 drivers’ changes.

Call to register or use the entry form found on our website at www.endurancekarting.com or call to register at toll free 1- 866-722-3669.

PATRICK TAKES THIRD AT MONTERREY
Monterrey, Mexico - Team Rahal's and karting champion Danica Patrick claimed an impressive third place result in the Argent Mortgage car at Monterrey on May 23. To do so she overcame a chaotic start which saw the top-five qualifiers involved in a first turn scrum. Patrick's teammate Chris Festa utilized the carnage to jump from his starting spot of eleventh to third and the 18-year-old rookie piloted the SpacePak car home to a season best finish of seventh.

Patrick, starting third, was forced to pit following the mishap to repair her badly damaged front wing. The single stop dropped her to eleventh overall, but once the race went green the repairs to the car enabled the 22-year-old Patrick to steal the show. Patrick proceeded to drive through the field and reclaimed her original starting position of third. The podium result, her second at Monterrey, enabled Patrick to take control of second place in the championship heading to Milwaukee.

"I am still not sure what happened on the start," said Patrick. "I just think everyone underestimated the grip level on the outside and they just went off. This is a slippery track. I knew it from last year and from experimenting a little bit in the warm-up. It was just a mess and somewhere in the mess I ended up with a damaged front wing on the Argent car. I was calling to my team asking them if they wanted me to pit or not. Going through my mind I knew that this is a long race and that we could still pit and regain position. The best thing to do was to have a car I could actually drive as opposed to something I would have to struggle with the entire day. It was worth the stop. So much of racing is confidence and being assertive. I had to yell at myself a few times, but I was simply determined to make up for what we had lost. We had worked too hard this weekend to let a solid result slip away. I feel that first win coming. We are making progress, but we just aren't there yet. Everyone has been working so hard and I know it is only a matter of time until we win."

The Toyota Atlantic Championship will take Memorial Day weekend off before heading to the historic Milwaukee Mile for the lone oval race of the 12 race season June 3-5.

RED BULL JUNIOR TEAM’S MATT JASKOL TUNES UP FOR FORMULA BMW
New York City, New York — Red Bull Junior Team member Matt Jaskol has been turning heads as he turns laps this spring as he prepares to do battle in the 2004 Formula BMW USA Championship. The young Las Vegas native is the only Red Bull Driver Search winner who will be chasing his Formula 1 dreams stateside, as his fellow winners, Dominique Claessens, Colin Fleming and Scott Speed, have already begun racing this season in Europe in the Formula Renault Eurocup.

The Red Bull Junior Team has made significant strides this season, with Scott Speed scoring the program’s first win, while Fleming and Claessens have shown quick progress in their first season abroad.

Hearing of his fellow team members’ exploits has only made Jaskol all the more anxious to get back to doing what he loves best, wheel to wheel racing. The waiting is almost over, as the series debut race weekend will be staged at Lime Rock Park on Memorial Day weekend.

In the meantime, Jaskol has been serving notice of his intention to make the BMW championship his, working his way through the testing program set up by his team, Florida-based Autotecnica, and impressing them with his speed and feedback. In the two-day official FBMW test at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, Jaskol was quickest in every session that he ran in, and set a best lap time more than one second faster than anyone else.

Jaskol is under no illusions, as he knows he will have to perform well this season if he wants to make it to the big time.

“To move my career forward, I simply have to win, no excuses,” said Jaskol. “I know Red Bull has high expectations for me, and that’s why they put their faith in me to be racing here in the States, but the pressure really comes from within. It’s the same as it has ever been since I got in a go-kart, so I while the expectations are high, that’s not new for me.”

Jaskol smiles when asked about the fact that he is racing Stateside, while his fellow team members have a go at it in Europe.

“I think I got the better deal, really. I can stay in front of racing people here in the states, and I get to keep living in Las Vegas, and keep eating my own food, and win races! Obviously it’s a goal of mine to get over there and race, but this is a great opportunity for me. It’s so important to take the right steps career wise, and Red Bull really looked out for me and my career. They made sure I was going to be comfortable where they placed me, and even though we haven’t yet got to the first race, I am really impressed with Team Autotecnica.”

The inaugural Formula BMW USA season will comprise fourteen races, held on seven race weekends, and will be sanctioned by Champ Car. Race venues will include the Canadian Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix and four Champ Car events. The series debut will take place at Lime Rock Park, CT, on 31 May, with the series finale slated to place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on 12 September.

The 2004 Red Bull Driver Search program aims to discover and support the "diamond in the rough," lacking the knowledge and contacts needed to embark on a career in racing, as well as talented young drivers already in racing. The long-term goal is to have a steady group of three to six American drivers racing in Europe, groomed to break into Formula 1 and compete for the World Championship.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME.
Joliet, Illinois — The organizers of the new Autobahn Country Club wish to thank everyone who attended the Autobahn Country Club Open House. About 175 people came to visit despite the threat of rain and thunderstorms. They signed up five new members on Sunday and are fast approaching their first 100 Country Club Members in addition to their 50 Founding Members. Organizers are anticipating 100 Country Club Members to be signed up at the $10,000 Initiation fee price by the June 1st deadline.

“Unfortunately, due to the wet ground, we were unable to give tours of the race tracks. But even from the vantage point of the parking area everyone was impressed with progress so far. All we need is dry weather and our construction crew will have all that equipment running ten hours a day, six days a week”, said Mark Basso, president.

Tom Bagley was introduced as the Autobahn Country Club Track Manager. Primarily Tom is responsible for the daily operations at the track. He will also be in charge of evaluating members driving abilities and placing them in appropriate run groups. Tom is trained to assist in an emergency situation and will develop our emergency plan in conjunction with our Doctor members.

Some of his other jobs will be:
Setting up special events for members such as club member races to timed autocrosses.
Public relations with car clubs and other clients to promote our facility.
Overseeing the track maintenance department, direct them to up keep the property and track to our high standards
Hire and train corner workers, instructors, schedule staff

Tom has an extensive background of 25 years in professional motorsports. He has raced all kinds of cars from Super Vees to Trans Am to Indy cars. Tom raced in the Indy 500 three times and has run in the 24 hours of Daytona. Tom also has a Masters degree in Physics and is a rocket scientist (for real). Tom is a great addition to the Autobahn CC Team. We are thrilled to welcome him and his wife Sally.

Basso continued, “As work on the track continues we will do our best to update everyone of the progress. Also look forward to new aerial photography that will be coming soon. It was exciting to meet and talk to everyone we could in the relatively short time period. Unfortunately we were all so busy talking no one thought to get the camera out until it was too late and most people had left.”

One of the first events at the facility will be a karting event organized by the IRA. Contact 866-689-RACE for more info about the event. For more info about the track, see www.autobahncountryclub.net.

END

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