RJRacing

Tustin, CA – The team is ready. The car is ready. All that is left is 25 Hours of sheer mayhem.

After months of preparation and a year of waiting, the final round of the 2008 racing season is upon us. The team has tirelessly prepared the car to last through the longest endurance road race in the United States. With the extended length of the final round of the season, RJ Racing has enlisted the help of several new drivers and crew members. In addition to regular drivers Rob Gibson and John Gibson, the team has enlisted the driving talents of John Mueller, Dion Johnson, and Mark Powell.

John Mueller started driving high horsepower race cars five years ago then switched to Mazda Miatas to satisfy his competitive racing nature. John finished 2007 with several race wins and multiple podium finishes culminating in a runner-up position in the Southern California Spec Miata championship. In 2008, John became the co-director for the National Auto Sport Association’s (NASA) Spec Miata class growing car counts by 200% while founding a company, Weekend Racer (www.weekend-racer.com) that provides gear and supplies to racers. John also has crew chief experience at the 2008 NASA National races and was part of the RJ Racing team that finished on the podium at last year’s 12 Hour race at Thunderhill.

Dion Johnson started his racing career 14 years ago in a Datsun 510 and won several championships. Five years ago, he moved into racing Spec Miatas for some wheel-to-wheel excitement. After multiple successful seasons he came back stronger than ever with a new car earning top 10 finishes in several ultra-competitive racing classes including finishing fourth in the prestigious Spec Miata Challenge Series. He is also an instructor for several racing sanctioning bodies and clubs in addition to his crew chief experience at past 25 Hour races.

Mark Powell is an experienced Oregon based driver who has conquered the 25 Hours of Thunderhill on four previous occasions. His diverse racing interests include racing a Spec 911, vintage racing Porsche 356s, Porsche 911s and Formula Fords. In early 2008 he competed in the exotic New Zealand-based Southern Festival of Speed.

In addition to the drivers, the team has expanded its crew operations. Working with Crew Chief Tim “The Wizard of Oz” Gibson will be Norm Sandstrom and Bob Rinck. Norm Sandstrom began his career learning the fine art of car maintenance and repair as an apprentice in a top Mercedes-Benz auto repair shop. Bob Rinck is a racer and car mechanic that has built multiple race cars from the bottom up and has honed his skills behind the wheel racing cars as diverse as Triumph TR4As. These two new team members had a breadth of automotive and racing knowledge that will certainly help the team to propel to new heights.

All of the hard work and preparation comes to a head Saturday, December 6th at 11am PST. The team will be competing in two races held simultaneously: the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and a 6-hour endurance race held during the first part of the 25 Hour race. The winner of the 6-hour event will determine which team is crowned 2008 Western Endurance Racing Champion.

To keep up on the action, visit www.essesmotorsports.com and follow the links to the 2008 25 Hours of Thunderhill blog for updated race information and photos.

When:
Start – Saturday, December 6, 2008 11:00 AM PST

Finish – Sunday, December 7, 2008 12:00 PM PST

Where:
Thunderhill Raceway Park
5250 Highway 162.
Willows, CA 95988

Weather forecast:
Sunny with a chance of fog and highs in the low-60s F (high-teens C), lows in the high-30s F (high single digit C)