NASA FL Spec Miata Challenge presented by 5X Racing

John Adamczyk, Owner and President of 5X Racing, is pleased to announce his, and his companies’ involvement and commitment to the Spec Miata community by means of sponsoring the NASA Florida Spec Miata Challenge for the 2010 racing season. The NASA FL Spec Miata Challenge presented by 5X Racing is a points-based championship open to all competition licensed drivers of Spec Miata racecars that are members of the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and belong to the Florida Region of the National Auto Sport Association.

“Most NASA Regions across the country have the Spec Miata Challenge format in place, and we wanted to use this successful format, in which we race in ourselves, to make our home NASA Region’s Spec Miata Challenge something special and different than the ordinary NASA Spec Miata Challenge series across the country. Our main goal in sponsoring the 2010 NASA Florida Spec Miata Challenge was to show our commitment, dedication, support, and love of the Spec Miata class by giving back to the Spec Miata community in which our customers and us both enjoy and race. We also felt this was a great outlet to help build brand awareness for the company, as our specialization and main line of business is Spec Miata parts and accessories. We believe that our customers will appreciate us giving back to the sport directly in this manner, as it proves our dedication to the sport all the way down to its deepest, grassroots level.”

John has also recently been appointed the NASA Florida Spec Miata Challenge Series Director, and since John took over this new position, he and his team of assistants have been working closely with the owners and organizers of the NASA Florida Region to help build this series from the ground up. With great cooperation from Steve and Barbara Nix of the NASA Florida Region, John and his team have encouraged NASA Florida to make several big changes to help add an exciting professional feel to the series by offering participants in the Challenge: more focused race groupings with similar sized and speed vehicles; a structured 16 race (8 weekends) championship format; a structured race weekend format which includes two full days of racing, each with a practice, qualifying, and points race;  race specific prizes and awards, such as: first time race winner, fastest lap, cool move of the race, good sport of the race, hard charger, etc… Every race will bring a different and exciting award for one lucky competitor. 5X Racing will also provide a contingency prize for the season championship finishers in the form of cash or parts prizes.

“I am extremely happy and excited to have 5X Racing presenting the NASA FL Spec Miata Challenge for the 2010 season! I see this as an opportunity to help build a growing series within the NASA Florida organization and believe that we can provide our customers and participants in the series a fun, awarding, and professional type racing environment with a grassroots level of commitment.”

The 2010 NASA FL Spec Miata Challenge presented by 5X Racing will travel throughout Florida and visit three different World Class racing venues within the year. Starting with the season opener at Homestead/Miami Speedway in January, the NASA FL racing calendar will make stops at Sebring International Raceway and culminate with a season ending race at Palm Beach International Raceway in December. The series will make return visits to each of the three venues throughout the 8 race schedule.

You can follow the NASA Florida Spec Miata Challenge presented by 5X Racing in several ways:

• NASA Florida Website
• 5X Racing Team Website
• NASA FL Spec Miata Challenge presented by 5X Racing Facebook Fan Page
• 5X Racing Twitter Page

The first day of racing has come to a close, and the podium stood:

1st: Alex Bolanos
2nd: John Adamczyk
3rd: Tim Allen

It was a good day of racing with a lot more track time than I was used to, there was a 30 minute practice, 25 minute qualifier, and 55 minute race today. Mixed with the other race cars, we had over 40 cars racing, the SM count was 7 or 8 cars and although there were some really fast cars out there everyone stayed clear of each other for a dent free weekend (for once). Once traffic started lapping us, the gaps got stretched out a bit giving everyone some nice clean track to concentrate on turning some good lap times. Alex took home the big trophy and a brand new 5x Racing Blank License Plate for the win, along with $150 Toyo bucks it was a nice bonus to a flawless race day. Congrats to Alex and a big thanks to everyone for racing this weekend, I am looking forward to tomorrow!

It was a good weekend of racing down at Homestead, we had a good group of racers enjoying the warm (almost too hot) weather and getting their cars set-up for next season. Here is how the two 40+ minute races ended up on Sunday (this is from memory, I have to wait for mylaps to come up for official results):

Sunday Race 2:

1st- John Adamczyk

Sunday Race 3:

1st- Alex Bolanos

I apologize for not remembering the official top 3, I know there was a penalty for passing under the yellow that dropped one of our guys out of the podium. I will fill in the rest when mylaps is out or if one of the guys that were racing can fill them in that would be great.

Weekend recap:

With this being the last NASA FL race with only one race group, I was a bit nervous about running with the super fast cars (a Daytona prototype was with us!). It turned out to be not too bad, and actually kind of fun as I saw the true potential of the Spec Miata racecar. With the exception of the Prototype cars, there was no car faster than the SM in the turns. On several occasions I found myself being slowed down by Ferrari Challenge cars, Corvettes, and Porsches in the turns. Saturday's 55 minute Feature Race was grueling! I am not used to being in the car for that long, but it was excellent track time and I became very comfortable with the course and my reference points. Alex Bolanos extended a sizable lead when we got into the traffic, and kept it until the end. I finished second, and Tim Allen was thrilled to finish third. Everyone claimed a trophy, beer, and pizza at the awards ceremony after the days racing.

Sunday's racing consisted of a qualifying, 40 minute race, and a 45 minute race. Alex's car ended up sidelined with transmission problems, so he missed the qualifying session but had secured a back up SM car from a time trial competitor for the race. I secured pole for race 2 alongside CP Denis, and Alex had to start a lap down because of a freak Battery cut-off switch problem. Alex exited pit lane right into the fight for 1st place on the second lap, but unfortunately he was a lap down at this point. There was a great battle for most of the race, but with traffic entering the equation it spread things out towards the end and I chased Alex across the finish line to come home in 1st.

Race 3 was the last of the weekend, and the front row consisted of myself and Bruce Andersen. Alex again started in the back because we gridded using the race 2 results. Race 3 was more tame and spread out, with Alex chasing me in his back up car for most of the race until I ran out of gas (should have put 1 more gallon in!). After a late race spin by Alex, Bruce Andersen and Alex had a battle until the end, with Alex coming out on top and Bruce securing second.

In Conclusion:

It was a great weekend and I would like to thank everyone for coming out. I met some great new friends and had good times, I hope everyone can make our 2010 events and we can continue the fun. NASA FL is a class act and very professional, it felt like a pro race being inside the Speedway and having our Saturday Night awards ceremony in victory lane! It was flattering having your name announced, being applauded, and receiving a trophy in a place where some world famous racers have once received trophies as well. We will have our own group next season and we can really hone this series into what will be best for us Spec Miata racers.

Everyone did a good job on track and I would like to mention all of the participants that helped make this a great weekend:

Jim Blaisdell
Mitch Taylor
Tim Allen
Alex Bolanos
Bruce Andersen Sr
Bruce Andersen Jr
CP Denis

I enjoyed meeting you all and competing with you, I hope I did a good job as SM Director and please let me know if there is anything else you would like to suggest to make this series better. I would like to personally thank Jim for helping me all weekend and making a busy weekend easier, and Mitch for inviting us for all you can eat stone crabs in the Keys Saturday night.

Next race: January 9-10 2010 at Homestead (Full road course, no banks). This race is a great, laid back alternative to the Double National at Sebring, email me if you are interested and need help signing up.

NASA Florida November Newsletter (from NASA FL website)

NEXT EVENT:

Homestead Miami Speedway, December 12-13, 2009 HPDE 1-4, NASA Time Trial, plus 110 minutes of scheduled track time "per day" for the race group. Track social with food and favorite beverages on Saturday. Last chance for regional racers and TT competitors to chalk up valuable points to count toward the 2009 season and determining the year end 2009 NASA FL Class Champions.

Special $200 weekend entry fee offer for Spec Miata race entrants. New 2-day entry fee option for HPDE 1.

View> Homestead Miami Dec 12-13 EVENT INFO

Homestead event hotel: Ramada Inn, Florida City Special club rate $84+tax/night for Dec 11-12. You must CALL 305-247-8833 and ask for "Performance Drivers Club" rate (limited rooms & special rate ends Nov 30).

REGISTER online NOW to drive with NASA at Homestead December 12-13

Registration page for> HPDE 1-4, TT, Instructors and Officials

Registration page for> Competition Sprint races (All race classes except SM)

Registration page for> Competition Sprint races (for Spec Miata race class only)

Attn: NASA Instructors. We've had a tremendous early response from instructors for this event. Only limited instructor slots are open at this point. If you are not yet registered..do so quickly or risk going on the instructor "wait list". Requests for pre-arranged student/NASA FL instructor pairing by pre-registered instructors can be accommodated with one week advance notice to HPDE School Director Steve Rosenthal.

FL Region NEWS! **

View> NASA FL 2010 event Calendar. Thank you for your support this 2009 season and we look forward to a GREAT 2010 with events at Palm Beach International Raceway in addition to Sebring and Homestead-Miami venues. Reminder that the NASA FL 2009 Year-end awards will be presented to the eligible '09 FL region race series points champions and '09 FL region TT class champion Saturday January 9, 2010. The year end awards presentation will be part of the track social and podium ceremony after track sessions have concluded for the day. Enjoy ice cold beverages during the awards ceremony followed by plenty of hot pizza and '09 season celebrations with drawings for give-a-ways.

**2010 NASA FL sponsors/advertising opportunities are open to those with auto related products and services that would be of interest to NASA drivers. Sponsors are provided with advertising space with their web link on the NASA FL web site & email newsletters in addition to product display and marketing opportunities at track events. Help support NASA FL activities while showcasing your product and services to your target audience!

1) "Track Social" food/beverage sponsor for "2010 season"> $2,000.

2) "Race trophy/awards" sponsor for "2010 season"> $1,500

3) Advertising box on the NASA FL web site is available for $50 per month (6 month minimum). For related sponsor or advertising information email Barbara@drivenasa.com

**Thunder and Lightning in NASA FL Racing! Starting at the January 9-10 event at Homestead Miami and throughout the 2010 NASA FL sprint race series, NASA race classes will be separated into TWO race groups based on the classes that share similar speed capabilities. This change will create an environment of closer wheel to wheel racing and fun for each group.

For identifying the 2 race groups we'll use the same terms as NASA-SE with "Thunder" for the speed group and "Lightning" for the momentum group. A general idea of the race series groupings (used in other NASA Regions) is as follows:

Thunder Group: AI, AIX, CMC, FFR, ST1, ST2, SU, GTS 3-4-5-U, PTA B-R-U

Lightning Group: PTC-D-E-F, SM, 944 Cup, Spec E-30, HC, SF, STR2, GTS 1-2, TR

A few classes are border-line as far as speed potential and these classes could be adjusted to the alternate group to equalize car counts based on entries. With this 2-group race format we also introduce a lower racer weekend entry rate starting in 2010. A budget friendly price point is designed to allow more grassroots racers to get involved racing with NASA FL. The goal is create higher car counts to provide more competition and fun within each NASA race class series for the 2010 season.

**NASA FL gets the ball rolling to build the Spec Miata race series with the help of new Spec Miata Race Series Director, John Adamczyk of 5XRacing. John brings great ideas from his own SM race experience and is asking others in the Spec Miata race community to share their thoughts and suggestions in shaping the 2010 Spec Miata race program in NASA FL. Spec Miata racers are offered a "sweet deal" with a reduced SM race entry fee of $200 for the weekend of Dec 12-13 at Homestead via online registration now through Dec 1. Follow this link for SM racer registration details.

**"13 month" NASA Competition License fee offered!

NASA competition licenses are valid only for the calendar year/race season in which the license is purchased. NASA competition licenses that are now current will expire on Dec 31, 2009 and a license renewal fee will due for the start of the 2010 calendar year and race season. With only one race weekend left in the 2009 NASA FL race season, we have been given special permission from NASA headquarters to offer racers from other organizations who are currently unlicensed with NASA to purchase a "13 month NASA competition license" valid from Dec 1, 2009 through Dec 2010 for $90 in order to take part in the December 12-13 race weekend and the entire 2010 NASA race season for one special fee. To get this option….WRITE "13 month license" on the top of the NASA competition license application to be charged and processed accordingly. Please allow 10 days license processing time in advance of the December event.

**NASA HPDE to Racing Transition Program:

Contact NASA FL race director Larry "Stickshift" Mahanor if you are interested in getting started in racing via your NASA FL driving history and skills learned in our HPDE program. Larry offers one on one attention and training for qualified HPDE drivers with the advanced driving skills and & knowledge that will facilitate a safe transition from HPDE 4 or TT into the NASA FL racing program. **Track PHOTOS from the October 3 NASA event at Sebring International Raceway are provided by professional photographer John Hendrick of Hendrick Sports Photography. Visit this link to view & purchase photos from your custom gallery of Sebring Oct 3 photos. Contact John at hendrickphotography@comcast.net or 941-914-8005 for ordering assistance.

**"HELP WANTED for 2010"

Get involved as an official or leader for NASA FL!

1) HPDE 1 Classroom Instructors: Teach beginners & novices the track driving fundamentals and NASA rules with the power point classroom presentation created by NASA FL HPDE School Director, Steve Rosenthal. Power point and group presentation experience is helpful. Multiple candidates sought to share this important role. Steve Rosenthal to provide training & support, so speak up NOW!

2) HPDE 1-4 Group Leaders: Leaders to assist HPDE School Director Steve Rosenthal at the track with leadership and driver information sharing in all HPDE levels. Group Leaders are the "contact person" for their assigned HPDE group to offer guidance and lead group briefings for safer driving conditions. NASA FL Instructors who currently do in-car instruction will find this role a satisfying alternative to help others. Try it..you'll like it!

3) Pace Car Drivers: Trainee or experienced to share and rotate this duty with others at several track venues. Requires advanced track driving skills, knowledge of race format rules and track radio communications protocol. Pace car driver candidate must provide their own vehicle for this duty, but we will provide training and that "totally awesome" blue Pace Car light! Please email barbara@drivenasa.com for more information on these positions.

Those with interest in volunteering to help with morning event set-up and driver check in or to train for help on pit lane or race grid let us know and we'll get you started next event.

**NASA Time Trial (TT) serves as a bridge between advanced HPDE and full blown wheel to wheel racing. TT can provide that new challenge and motivation to help you improve your personal track times and see how your lap times stack up against others in your TT class. NASA FL currently has a GREAT group of TT drivers enjoying this program. Advanced solo drivers currently in HPDE 3-4 are welcome to visit the TT web site for participation details. Contact NASA FL TT Director, Mark McKay with questions. We are pleased to announce that Sean Yearwood of Power Rev Racing will sponsor 2009 TT year-end Class Championship awards to be presented to TT winners on January 9th at Homestead. Thanks Sean!

**NASA has GREAT national contingency programs you might be eligible for. Check it out and stay tuned for details regarding the 2010 season. Thanks for your support! Tell your friends about NASA and we'll see you at the track soon! Questions? Email nasafl@drivenasa.com Phone: 239-549-3876 office (9 AM to 4 PM) Visit the NASA FL web site at www.drivenasafl.com

In an effort to give back to the Spec Miata racing community and to become more involved with Florida Spec Miata racing, John Adamczyk, owner of 5x Racing has answered the call from the Florida Region of the National AutoSport Association (NASA) for a leader of their Spec Miata Race series. As the Spec Miata director, John will have control and will be responsible for running the Spec Miata class at NASA FL races. With a National set of rules established for the class already, John will be organizing the spec miata racers at each event and ensuring that the class is fulfilling their expectations. The position is an important link between the racers and the organizers of the events, and with several years of experience racing in SCCA spec miata, John is well aware of what constitutes a well run spec miata race.

John has enlisted the assistance of several key people as rotating directors, which ensures that the class is being run by not just one person, but a group or committee of racers. Assisting John as Spec Miata director are:

Jim Blaisdell: Tampa area Spec Miata racer, Chin Driving instructor, friend of John and Rick Adamczyk, and Team 5x Racing driver. Jim brings a wealth of business experience and racing knowledge to the NASA FL spec miata group, and is a great asset to the growth and well being of the group.

Jimmy Moore: Tampa area Spec Miata racer, Chin Driving instructor, teammate of Jim Blaisdell and 5x Racing, and a friend of John, Rick, and Jim. Jimmy brings a wealth of racing experience and is excited to assist in the NASA FL Spec Miata group while he builds his own spec miata race car.

Rick Adamczyk: Father of John Adamczyk and 5x Racing co-founder, Rick brings a lifetime of racing experience and racing business knowledge to the NASA FL spec miata group. A longtime professional tunnel boat racer in the IOGP, Rick has been in the boat racing industry at the professional level for many years, and his experience being in a pro series will be perfect for organizing championship series and race formats for the NASA FL spec miata series.

As a group, we are looking forward to assisting the NASA FL region in gaining a viable Spec Miata championship series. Our goal is to make the NASA FL Spec Miata series into a conservative car count (20-30) series which emphasizes clean racing, a variety of race formats, easy to follow championship structure, some new and exciting things, and a few surprises along the way, which is all in addition to great contingency awards, Saturday night awards ceremonies/party, and prize give-aways that are standard within the National AutoSport Association.

We hope to see our fellow Florida Spec Miata at some NASA FL races in the 2010 season!

Overview:

Barber Motorsports Park has been on our bucket list since we heard it was the mecca of road racing in the United States. This year we took the summer off and saved up our money to make the long haul up to Birmingham Alabama to participate in the SCCA double SARRC weekend. Our friend Jim Blaisdell would be joining us for this race weekend with his #65 SM as we had a vacancy in our trailer from the #44 5xR SM being out of action from an oil pressure problem. While the trip was long, it was well worth it. The Barber Motorsports Park is a world class facility, the best way I can describe it is to say it is like a national park with a racetrack in it. So, it's basically like a racers dreamland with elevation changes, perfectly manicured track surfaces and paddock, lucious green grass camping areas and really cool metal artwork around the track. I would definitely recommend this track to anyone that has a car capable of participating in a race or track event at Barber. While the track was challenging, we still had a pretty good weekend. Read on to see how we did.

Practice Day:
We invested in the practice day as we knew this was going to be a difficult track to get the hang of, mostly because of the hills and elevation changes. We are glad we did, because there was a lot to learn about the track layout and how the elevation changes play a big part in your race line choices. After a day of practice we thought we were ready...

Q1:
Saturday brought the opening of raceday, and rain. A light but steady rain settled in for practically the whole day, which meant rain tires and feeling out the track again. So, again in a learning experience we ended up starting in a less than desirable 21st place.

Race 1:
While it was raining all day, it let up just in time for our race, so there was at least a definite dry line around the track. We had a good start and worked out way up to a 14th place finish. It is not as good of a finish as we are use to this season, but we did learn a lot about the track and felt way more comfortable for Sunday.

Q2:
Sunday was a lot nicer of a day than Saturday, so there was no rain and we concentrated on our setup which yielded a better qualifying session. At the end of Q2, we were slated to start 9th.

Race 2:
Starting race 2 in 9th place was a lot better than the 21st position on Saturday. We got another good start and battled hard with Jacob Sellers, Mike Cottrell, Van Sayler, and our good friend George Munson for most of the race. We raced as flawless of a race as we could, but halfway through the race it seemed as if everyones Toyo R888 tires went away. With everyone dialing it down a notch to stay consistent, the positions stayed somewhat the same and we crossed the finish line in 8th place. A top ten at a strange new difficult track was satisfying enough for us. We can now concentrate on our favorite race of the year, the SARRC Invitational Challenge at Roebling Road Raceway on October 11th.

Hello from the 5x Racing front! We started this monthly blog to give our customers and fans an inside look at what we are doing here at 5x Racing and what is going on with our 5x Racing Spec Miata Team. We are now in our second month of our summer break and we have done some major updates to our product catalog and race team, I will elaborate on a few cool things we are doing to both the store and the team.

Online Store Updates:

1. Carbotech, Carbotech, Carbotech!!! We have sifted through the entire Carbotech Performance Brake Pads catalog and chose the High Performance vehicles from each major manufacturer that could use the superior stopping power that Carbotech brake pads can offer. Carbotech Brake pads are nothing short of amazing, an simple upgrade to Carbotech pads will change the way your car stops dramatically, we guarantee it!
2. Carbotech Pre-Bedding Option. We now offer all of our Carbotech Brake Pads with a Pre-Bedded Option. The brake pads come ready to go on your previous rotors as long as they were used with Carbotech pads in the past, or you can always install new rotors with the Pre-Bedded pads.
3. Innovate Motorsports Products Added! We just added the entire Innovate Motorsports line of high tech electronics equipment, Air/Fuel Ratio Wideband meters, and data loggers. We use Innovate Motorsports data loggers in our Spec Miata racecars to dial in our Air/Fuel Ratios to maximize horsepower. Innovate Motorsports also offers tons of cool gadgets, meters, data loggers, and an awesome computer program to put it all together.
4. New Product Lines that will be added in the near future: Mishimoto, Magnaflow, RC Fuel Injection, and more...

5xR Race Team News:

We have been performing some routine maintenance on our race cars, including sending our 1.6L Mazda Miata engine to Race Engineering in North Carolina for a refresh in preperation for this years SARRC Invitational Challenge and next years SCCA Southeast Division National Championship series. We are making the jump to National racing next year because we think it will bring 5x Racing more exposure on a larger scale rather than just limiting ourselves to Florida races. Also, it is a proving ground for our products, the products we sell, and to show that 5xR builds great cars and 5xR products are top notch. 

We have sold our trailer recently and upgraded to a new 32ft car hauler that will accommodate two cars, as we now have a two car team. This will allow us to bring both 5xR Spec Miatas to all the races we attend and allow us to set up a display for our parts. Unfortunately the trailer and cars will not be ready for the August 8-9 Daytona SARRC races we planned to attend, so we are refocusing our efforts on the next race: SARRC at Barber Motorsports Park.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned to 5xracing.com for new products and pictures of our new 5x Racing themed vinyl wrapped #25 Spec Miata!

John Adamczyk
5x Racing Owner

Overview:
This was the second race in our SARRC championship points chase, and with the new tire rules we had a lot of figuring out to do while trying to score decent points. This was also the first race where John and Rick would be racing in the same class, 5x Racing was represented by two cars this weekend and made a solid showing. With the better grip level of the new PBIR track coming into play, we were able to dial in the cars to the new tires and really nailed the setup for Sunday's final race.

Qualifying 1:
#25 car: 6th

Race 1:
Starting 6th for Race 1 was a decent place to see how things on the front row were going to shake out going into the turn 1 chicane. After filing into line we ended up running a decent race, although the car had way too much rear grip and was pushing bad through the turns. Guest MX-5 Cup and Koni Challenge driver Todd Buras ran from pole all the way to the finish in first, with Jamie Tucker in a close second and Cliff Blanchard took the third podium spot. 5x Racing customers and friends George Munson and Chris Fulton had strong races, with George scoring a 5th place finish. John came home in 6th, which was the second consecutive top 10 SARRC finish for the #25 car. Rick was feeling out the car taking it easy, as it is his first Spec Miata race and he is still in a new car. Official results for the race are not posted online yet, we will be sure to list them when they are available in the Race Results section.

Qualifying 2:
#25 car: 4th

Race 2:
With our new setups on both cars, and more data collected on the new R888 tires, we had a much faster car around the track on Sundays race. Starting on the second row would actually turn out to be worse than starting on the 3rd and 4th rows, as most of the cars in those rows cut through the turn 1 chicane and John ended up around 7th place after the mayhem got sorted out. After fighting hard to regain the lost positions, John found his way back to 4th place and was catching the 3rd place car. A couple of costly mistakes caused John to be caught by the 5th, 6th, and 7th place competitors. After fighting for 4th position for several laps, John was involved in some contact coming out of the chicane and fell back to 6th place. Luckily the #25 car was stout enough to handle the contact, our new setup held strong and when the end of the race came our car and tires were still working well, John was able to regain 4th place and hold it to the finish despite some hard charging by Chris Fulton on the last lap. Todd Buras again claimed first place, but not without battling hard with 2nd place finisher Cliff Blanchard. OPM driver Danny Steyn took the third spot on the podium and John took 4th with the #25 car. 4th was a solid finish and we scored our 3rd consecutive top ten finish. So far in our SARRC season standings we have scored a 3rd, 6th, and 4th. Rick was battling the midpack in his second race, and really getting the hang on the car. Once again we will have to wait for the official results to be posted on mylaps.com to determine Ricks exact finishing position.