RJ Racing Climbs Thunderhill
RJ Racing Takes Win in Largest Class of 25 Hours
DECEMBER 4, 2011: The ninth annual United States Air Force (UASF) National Auto Sport Association (NASA) 25 Hours of Thunderhill has come and gone. Standing atop the largest class in the race, and the most competitive, is Southern California based RJ Racing (RJR). Out of 86 total entries, RJR finished first in class and 15th overall, with 630 total laps around the three-mile track. "The car was perfect through the race. RJR had the best pit stops in the E3 Class and the car simply had no problems. All the drivers drove smart and stayed out of trouble. What an incredible effort by the entire RJR team!" said Johnny Kanavas, RJR driver and Miller Motorsports Park Ford Racing High Performance Driving School instructor.
RJ Racing started the race 40th overall and fourth in class with a solid qualifying lap. The green flag dropped on a beautiful sunny afternoon and RJR began executing its strategy of running a clean race, avoiding incidents and relying on its efficient pit stops and a conservative tire program.
"The crew executed flawlessly," said crew chief Craig Tsurumoto. "Where most teams have a performance drop-off during the night, we improved on our pit stops."
RJ Racing took the lead at the 6-hour mark and never looked back, building a solid lead of up to nine laps throughout the night, with fast and solid driving stints by drivers Jaime Florence, Craig Evans, Johnny Kanavas, John Gibson and Rob Gibson. "It was interesting," said John Gibson, team co-owner/driver. "The race seemed to thin out in the night time. The track was rough this year. There were a lot of cars in the class. Rob, my brother and [co-owner], made great strategy calls all day."
By sunrise, RJ Racing began managing the gap. Several teams attempted to take laps back to put themselves in position to make a move for the top spot, but the RJ Racing No. 23 Miata ran consistent, trouble-free laps right up until the checkered flag, finishing five laps up on the second place car. "The car ran flawlessly, the first ingredient in any win," said Rob Gibson, team co-owner/driver. "The crew was outstanding, tirelessly servicing the car. And the drivers were second to none, keeping us out of the paddock. John [Gibson] and I couldn't be more proud of this win."
Second in E3 was the No. 96 Mazda Miata of Team Hooverspeed 2. Third place went to the No. 3 Mazda Miata of Miatacage.com.
First in the ES Class and first overall, for the third straight year, was the No. 75 Mercer Motorsports Michelin Porsche. Second place in the ES Class went to the No. 29 Porsche of G22 Racing/Truspeed, with the No. 161 BMW M3 of Team Stammer Inc./Bavarian Performance finishing third.
In the E0 Class, the No. 100 Mazda MX-5 of Team Atlanta Motorsports took the win. Second place went to the No. 9 MX-5 of Team Edge Motorsports, followed by the No. 30 Bimmerworld BMW.
The No. 38 CJ Wilson MX-5 won the E1 Class for the second straight year. In P2 was the No. 34 Robert Davis Racing Mazda RX-8, with third going to the No. 72 Scion Racing Scion.
The No. 99 949 Racing MX-5 took the first in the E2 Class. Second place went to the No. 102 of Team Atlanta, with third going by the No. 051 Team Super Miata.
In the ESR division, the No. 48 Factory 48 Motorsports Radical took the win.
About RJ Racing
RJ Racing, a Southern California based team, competes in endurance and sprint auto races on purpose-built tracks across the country. The team consists of Drivers and Team Co-Owners Rob Gibson and John Gibson; Crew Members Craig Tsurumoto, Sean Ryan, Nicole Harris, Alex Hytrek, Mat Mershimer and Norm Sandstrom; Sponsorship Director Martin Klepper; Marketing Director Chris Hillebrandt; and Hospitality Director Jennifer Macy.
