RJRacing

Fontana, CA (March 6, 2011) – RJ Racing triumphantly began their 2011 season by breaking the Auto Club Speedway curse that had previously plagued the team. Heading into the weekend the team’s focus was on using prior track experiences (such as an engine failure, a freak hood-pin failure, and a critical oil leak) as opportunities to drastically strengthen the team dynamics. “The weekend proved to be an exemplary product of effective team development and learning from prior experiences,” said team co-owner Rob Gibson.

Saturday began with warm-up, time-trial sessions, and a qualifying session that would allow RJ Racing to start fourth in the day’s Performance Touring “E” (“PTE”) Sprint Race, due in part to Auto Club Speedway favoring high horsepower cars, whereas the #23 RJ Racing Miata’s handling is its strong suit. After minor adjustments to the racecar, team co-owner and driver John Gibson began the race confident that if he could get to the front somehow, he could hold the lead through the tight infield section. A great start saw the team rocket to first place by the end of the front straightaway. After an epic multi-lap battle with Shawn Sampson, John was able to easily pull ahead thanks to a perfectly set up race car designed to come into its prime several laps from the finish. The first place finish in class was the perfect way to start the 2011 racing season.

Team co-owner and driver Rob Gibson took the wheel for Sunday’s PTE Race after qualifying third. Unfortunately, Rob’s start was not as strong as John’s the day before and he was bogged down for the majority of the race behind a competitor whose horsepower allowed him to rocket away on the straights, only to “park it” in the turns. Rather than make a high-risk/low-reward move, Rob chose to consolidate third position. This was improved to second place when a competitor was disqualified for a post-race technical violation. RJ Racing left Auto Club Speedway leading the PTE championship.

Fans who came out to support the team were greeted with beautiful Southern California weather conditions and spectacular hospitality services courtesy of RJ Racing. Be sure to keep updated on future races via rjracing.net, Facebook (facebook.com/rj.racing) and Twitter (@RJRacing).