Short on Knowledge???

Here you are, the week between Christmas and New Years, bored out of your gourd. Wondering what 2010 will bring. Wondering how to find out what all the cool guys are doing. Wondering who the cool guys are. Wondering how to be a cool guy.

Wonder no more.

Go to www.apexkings.com and enter the portal for serious motorsports enthusiasts. The site focuses on track related articles, videos, forums, and blogs.

If you are an enthusiast join up to discuss and learn about tracking cars, watch grassroots videos of track days, or blog about your own track adventures with friends.

If you are a driver, join up and blog about your builds and
adventures on the track, get fan feedback and let everyone know of
upcoming events.

Industry contacts are welcome to post their new products and services in the announcement section for free! Special banner/video packages are available to take companies to the next step of viral branding on the web.

Cyber guru Darin Ferraro is the creative genius behind Apex Kings, so you know it will be a well run site.

Go on over and join up now. It’s free and you will be a better person for doing it.

 

Technorati Tags: Darin Ferraro,Kunani,Apex Kings,www.apexkings.com,track days,Redline Time Attack,Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan

We Wish You a Fun Safe Holiday Season!!

All of us at Fontana Nissan Racing wish to thank all of our fans and vendors  for their support this past year. We have truly enjoyed meeting people at both the dealership meet and at the Redline Time Attack events in 2009. 

Our plans for 2010 include competing with both the 350Z and GTR in all  of the Redline Time Attack events.  We hope to see all of you out there next year!

We would like to wish everyone a very safe and enjoyable holiday season and a very happy New Year!!

Bring on 2010!

We Feel So Appreciated !!

Fontana Nissan Racing attended the Redline Time Attack Customer Appreciation Day at the Street of Willow last Friday. Middle of December with the sun shining, 72 degrees, no wind (a miracle!), good cars, good people, good food. What more could you want!

Mike Cronin took the GTR out for a few  fast laps around the circuit before giving rides to some other lucky drivers.

A good variety of old and new Nissans and even a Datsun 510 were in attendance.

 

 

 

The NAGTROC group was well represented by Kunani, Soccer Dad and Greg S with their fine Nissan GTRs.

Professional driver Stu Hayner was providing world class driving instruction for all comers, novice and veteran alike, at no charge.

All in all, a great time was had by all. Thanks to Redline Time Attack for the hamburger barbeque lunch and a fun time!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,Nissan 350Z,Nissan GTR,Redline Time Attack,Fontana Nissan Parts,Stu Hayner,Kunani,NAGTROC,Soccer Dad,GregS

Thanks to All Who Braved the Rain!!!

 

The Fontana Nissan Meet was a large success, thanks to all of the hearty folks who braved the rain and cold to come out and participate in the first of many Meets.  Many, many beautiful Nissan cars and trucks were brought over and displayed.  Fontana Nissan Racing displayed the 350Z Redline Unlimited Class racecar as well as the Redline Modified Class GTR.

Check out all of those GTR’s!!

The truck owners were the only guys happy about the rain! I’m sure they didn’t have to go far to find some mud to play in after the Meet.

Thanks also to the following vendors: Berk Technology, Injen, Adams Motorsports Park, HB Speed, KW Suspension, Motul,  Anarchy Eyewear, Dealer Services Direct, Synapse Engineering, Redline Time Attack, and Mode Racing. They not only came out but donated generously to the raffle.

The fine folks at Tommy’s Original brought out their cool truck and served up over 300 burgers in 2 hours. I need one of those trucks for the race weekends!! Really nice people with a killer set up.

The highlight of the day was the raffle, made possible by the generous gifts provided by all of our previously mentioned sponsors.

Just one of our enthusiastic, excited raffle winners!! Check the Gallery page on the website for all of our lucky winners!!

Always popular, the Fontana Nissan Racing Girls Girls Girls! Thanks to Helen, Alexia, and Sarah for braving the chilly weather and smiling the whole time!

We can’t wait until the spring when Fontana Nissan will be hosting another Meet. Lots bigger, with all kinds of fun things planned! Stay tuned here or at www.fontananissanparts.com for all the updates.

Go to www.fontananissanracing.com/Gallery for all of the Meet photos or on our Flickr page.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan Parts,Berk Technology,Injen,Adams Motorsports Park,HB Speed,Mode Racing,KW Suspension,Motul,Anarchy Eyewear,Dealer Services Direct,Synapse Engineering,Redline Time Attack

Girls,Fast Cars,Girls,Food,Girls,Cruise,Girls

Tired of the Holiday Hoopla? Need a break from the real world? Duck on into Fontana Nissan on Saturday December 12th for some fast cars, girls, good food, girls, great people, girls, and following the meet your choice of a canyon cruise or off-road cruise.

Rumor has it Alexia Lei, Sarah McDowd, and Helen Ly will be there to entertain and inform. Okay, then.

Could be that you need to “Christmas shop” in the performance parts department?? Scott will be there to help answer all of your questions.

Maybe, just maybe, your significant other is in the market for a new car and you need to do your research?? Easily handled.

Perhaps, your GTR is not up to speed and you need to take a look at the Fontana Nissan Racing Redline Time Attack Modified AWD GTR? Understandable. Come take a good long look.

I know we will see you there.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,Nissan 350Z,Nissan GTR,Mike Cronin,Alexia Lei,Sarah McDowd,Helen Ly,Fontana Nissan Parts

AAA+ Fun at RTA Auto Club Speedway!

Fontana Nissan Racing hit the road early on Friday, November 13th, destination Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. This is our home track so lots of preparations were in order to accommodate the large list of invited guests.

Fontana Nissan brought out five beautiful cars for the spectators to check out.

Scott Vanderheide from Fontana Nissan Parts was there to answer all questions and show off his fantastic line of performance parts.

The Fontana Nissan Racing 350Z and GTR were unloaded right before the rain started coming down. Fortunately, that was the only rain we saw all weekend. Beautiful sunshine and moderate temps were the order of the weekend.

A large contingent of NAGTROC (North American GTR Owners Club) folks turned out with their beautiful GTS’s for a little track fun, burgers, and friendship. Many thanks to all the GTR people for coming out and supporting Fontana Nissan Racing!

The Fontana Nissan 350Z took to the track with some scorching fast times all day Saturday. During the Sunday morning practice session something let go in the engine and the day was done. More on that in the Tech Corner when we find out what happened.

The Fontana Nissan GTR showed up at Auto Club Speedway sporting lots of new improvements. Synapse Engineering downpipes and intake plumbing, Mode Racing engine oil cooler and sway bars, and a custom Fontana Nissan Racing rear mounted trans oil cooler all added up to one fast GTR. Mike was the fastest GTR in the Modified AWD class with a blazing lap of 1:44.733 in the Time Attack session. That time held up for 2nd overall in Modified AWD.

Professional race car driver Stu Hayner was on hand to instruct the GTR drivers from NAGTROC as well as take Mr. Cronin’s Ferrari 430 out for some exercise.

All in all it was a great Redline Time Attack weekend, full of Nissan fans, incredible cars, great drivers and plenty of So Cal sunshine. Can’t wait for the 2010 Redline Time Attack season to begin!!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,RTA,Redline Time Attack,Nissan 350Z,Nissan GTR overheating,Mike Cronin,Stu Hayner

Redline Time Attack Final Event Coming Up!

 

Don’t miss the last chance this year to attend and/or participate in the Redline Time Attack. Auto Club Speedway in Fontana will host Round 8, the season finale, November 14th and 15th.

Saturday the 14th will be a High Performance Driving Experience, open to everyone. Instruction will be available and this is a great opportunity to take your street car out and have a seriously good time. No experience required. Go to www.redlinetimeattack.com for all of the details.

Sunday, the 15th is the Redline Time Attack Event. Gates open at 9:00 am with the first Time Attack session at noon. Vendors, Car Show,  Food,  and unlimited fun. Tickets are $20 for 1 day or $30 for both Saturday and Sunday. Bring 2 cans of food per person and receive $5.00 off admission to the event.

The Fontana Nissan 350Z as well as the Fontana Nissan GTR will be competing in the Time Attack. Come out and support the local team at their home track! Stop by and say HI to Mike Cronin and the team.

See you there!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,Nissan 350Z,Nissan GTR,Redline Time Attack,Auto Club Speedway,Mike Cronin

Great Cars + Great People = Great Day!!

Fontana Nissan Racing travelled to the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch to attend the NAGTROC – Top Gear day at the track.  Top Gear sent Fly the photographer to the track from England to shoot pics for an upcoming article about the Nissan GTR.

Doug at Switchcars, located at the Spring Mountain track, did a great job organizing the day. The attendees all enjoyed a delicious lunch and a party afterwards that was successful enough that no pictures have surfaced from that yet!

For GTR lovers, this was the ultimate. About 20 GTR’s were driven or trailered to the track from as far away as Chicago. The weather was perfect – sunny, warm, but not too warm.  Plenty of track time was available to wear out the cars and the drivers!

Fontana Nissan Racing brought out our Redline Time Attack Modified AWD Class GTR with some new mods (more on those in the next post) and the 350Z race car. We also delivered Darin Ferraro’s GTR with a completely repaired transmission to a very happy owner!

Scott from Fontana Nissan Parts was on hand to answer any and all questions concerning the aftermarket parts on the GTR.  Several  industry people from Cobb Tuning, and HB Speed, and Aeromotions were on hand to help customers as well.

 

It was great to be able to put a face with so many names and meet such a nice group of people. Thanks to everyone involved !

For a complete photo gallery go to www.fontananissanracing.com and click on the Gallery page. Follow the GTR world at www.nagtroc.org.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan Parts,Nissan GTR,Nissan 350Z,Top Gear,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch,Switchcars,NAGTROC,GTR

It’s Endless!

Fontana Nissan Racing Tests Endless Brake Pads

At the recent Red Line Time Attack event on September 26th-27th Fontana Nissan Racing tested Endless brake pads. The Unlimited Class 350Z was fitted with a new set of N35S compound pads. Prior to this test we have used PFC 01 compound pads. The brakes are Alcon Rolex GT spec calipers on Alcon rotors. The brake package on this car has always performed extremely well. We were looking for the Endless pads to perform equally or better in all aspects. We evaluated initial “bite” on application modulation through the brake zone and release at the end of the braking cycle. Pad wear and rotor wear were also judged. The Endless pads performed flawlessly in all respects. The amount of track time was somewhat limited so wear is difficult to judge but it appears the wear factors are better than on previous pads.

On the GTR we have been running the stock pads. With stock pads the brakes go hard and become ineffective after just a few hard driven laps. Up until they go hard the braking is quite good on the GTR. We installed ME20 compound pads on the car. These pads are designed as a good trackable street pad. After installing the pads, Mike Cronin experienced no hard pedal issues and had good consistent braking throughout the run. We also noted that the pads remained quiet and had good bite when cold.

Overall, we were impressed and happy with the Endless pads on both cars and will continue to evaluate the performance and wear at the upcoming Red Line Time Attack event at Auto Club Speedway on November 14th-15th.

Endless brake pads are available from Scott Vanderheide at www.fontananissanparts.com.

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan Parts,Fontana Nissan 350Z,Red Line Time Attack,Nissan 350Z,Endless Brake Pads,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch,Mike Cronin

StreetFire.net Red LIne Time Attack Video!

Redline+Time+Attack+Spring+Mountain+Motorsports+Ra

Check out the exciting video about the Red Line Time Attack event at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, produced by StreetFire.net. Fine job by the StreetFire crew. We’re just glad they didn’t blow over our awning with the helicopter!

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan,Fontanan Nissan Racing,Nissan 350Z,350Z,Red Line Time Attack,RTA,StreetFire.net,Mike Cronin,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch

Pahrump!! RTA Round 7 @ Spring Mountain

On Friday, September 25th the Fontana Nissan Racing team headed to Pahrump Nevada to attend the RTA Round 7 at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch.

After a very early yet uneventful drive, the team spent Friday afternoon setting up the big top in the paddock area.  The 100+ degree temperatures were an indication of the expected weather for the entire weekend. Break out the SPF 100!!

Practice went smoothly Saturday, with the 350Z running the best it had run all year.  We had good balance on the Yokohama tires and the new Endless pads came in nicely. We are still amazed at how much more down force we are getting from the new louvered hood.

The GTR went well in practice running in the 2:32 range.  The GTR now sports a custom roll bar and much more driver friendly Sparco seats and belts.

Mike ran a few laps in the vintage racing Firebird, doing 300 foot long burn outs coming out of Spring Mountain’s tight corners. This spectacular car is always a fan favorite where ever it goes.

Sunday running the 350Z we continued to tune for the new tires.  We were able to run a 2:22.90 in the heat of the day, a whopping 10 second improvement over the previous RTA track record.  The turbo cars were able to turn up the boost and set some really fantastic times.  We continue to be the fastest naturally aspirated car in Red Line and probably the fastest 350Z in the country.

The GTR ran well but continued to have some heat issues that the 100+ degree heat certainly did not help.  Mike gets the GTR around awfully quickly and we continue to be the fastest and least modified GTR.

After all was said and done the Fontana Nissan 350Z finished 2nd in Unlimited Rear Wheel Drive and the GTR finished 5th in Modified All Wheel Drive. 

Next up will be some more minor tweeks to the 350Z and we will be off to RTA Round 8 in November at the Auto Club Speedway.  The big horsepower turbo cars are certainly going to put on a show at the Auto Club Speedway.  We will be showing what an N/A 350Z is capable of. Make sure to mark your calendars for RTA Round 8 November 14th and 15th. It will be a great event and we look forward to meeting everyone!!

Go to our website fontananissanracing.com for the full slideshow on the Gallery page!

 

Technorati Tags: Fontana Nissan Racing,Fontana Nissan,www.fontananissanparts.com,Nissan 350Z,Mike Cronin,Nissan GTR,Red Line Time Attack,RTA,Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch