The off season for the Performance Autosport crew was a very busy one.  Making more contacts, picking up new sponsors, and creating new relationships with companies that wanted to help us make 2012 another successful season.  Last year we were extremely happy to fly the Speedlab Saleen flag for our friends up in Detroit.  They helped us step by step, race by race to deliver a winning car, a championship for our region, and a great battle for the National Championship ending in a very respectable 2nd place for our debut season.  We couldn’t of been more pleased with our results and the fact that we could put Saleen back in the winner’s circle so many times.

Performance Autosport is determined that 2012 will be continue with more wins, crushing records, and going to Nationals with more momentum than ever.  With this event being the last we’d be running our Mustang as a Saleen, we wanted to make sure we went out with a good weekend for the Speedlab crew.  Also our good friend Mark Evans from one of our new sponsors for 2012, Moss Muscle, was at the track checking out the team and everything that goes down to win races.  Thanks for coming and hanging out, Mark!

There really wasn’t a lot done to the car during the winter.  The only thing that was “changed” on the car was a part of the engine harness.  We removed, boxed up, and sent our camshaft sensors/harness to the same company that makes them for Ford Racing after speaking to many of their engineers at SEMA, PRI, and over countless emails and phone conversations trying to nail down our mysterious power loss situation.  The brains at Ford Racing all summized that it must be a break in connection between the plug and sensor on one or all camshaft position sensors.  The Boss 302S/R and Cobra Jet cars made by Ford Racing have all those sensors hardwired so that vibration/heat/anything wouldn’t risk a break in connection of these very important sensors.  Any loss of communication in these sensors would mean the timing of that camshaft would stop advancing until the key is cycled.  It was highly to our advantage to have a custom harness made for us to ensure that this is not our problem.  It wasn’t a guaranteed fix for our problem, but a very good possibility.

Other than that harness all we pretty much did was dust the car off, change fluids, swap in new brake pads, and made a seat adjustment to get Chris a little more comfortable in the car.  Thats it.  We took Hoosiers off and replaced them with Toyo RA-1′s as American Iron went back to the Toyo’s as their spec tire…no more running R6s.  Threw the car on the dyno to verify that its still legal and after 3 pulls it was ready to be put on the trailer and taken to the track.

We arrived at VIR Friday morning ready for its first few laps to make sure everything felt ok to Cobetto.  First session out was bedding brakes, second session would be scuffing in new RA-1s.  No real hot laps, but everything felt ok to Chris so no changes were made.

Saturday’s weather was perfect.  Completely sunny, a little cool, but perfect for going fast.  And fast is what we like.  Practice went well, Chris felt comfortable with the car, everything was working as it should.  Qualifying went even better.  Even on heavily heat-cycled RA-1s from the beginning of last year Cobetto managed to pull off a 2:05.907 which is second fastest lap we’ve ever turned in that car, the fastest being a 2:05.8xx on Hoosiers last year.  That time placed us on the pole for Saturday’s race and had us just making a slight pressure changed before the race to adjust for the weather.

Here is a video of a few fast laps from qualifying:

Here is Saturday’s race.  We apologize to Moss Muscle for losing their decal off our dashboard during the first lap.  We’ll make sure the next decal is more securely attached!

During this race Cobetto knocked off a 2:05.834 which beat our previously set track record on Hoosiers!  He was rolling!  We started 1st, finished 1st, set a new track record.  Can’t ask for more now can ya?

Sunday’s race was going to be a little different as the weather was looking bad and getting worse.  Before the race started it was raining, then sleeting, then snowing, then back to rain.  No matter what it was freezing…literally.  We set the car to our rain setup and mounted up a brand new set of full tread RA-1s.  NASA decided to bump the race to an earlier time so our race started at 10:10am which left no time for a warm up or qualifying.  Our starting position was the same as Saturday, 1st, so it was looking like all we needed to do was stay out front and stay on track and we should be able to have a clean race.  But, as you will see there was some contact with another American Iron car going into Turn 1 on lap 2.  Steven Kent locked up under braking and slid into the back of us, forcing both cars to the grass.  Thankfully Cobetto gathered the car back up, got back on track, and we never lost position.  We ended up winning Sunday’s race as well, but obviously it was a much slower pace due to the slick track conditions.

Since our power loss problem only showed its head during the longer races it was never truly tested during the weekend since the track conditions wouldn’t allow for driving at 10/10ths for 40mins which is what we truly need to do.  Hopefully in March we’ll have sunny skies and be able to make sure that this power issue has been dealt with.

Here are the first few laps of the Sunday race:

Here are your two PAS sponsored winners from this weekend.  The #4 took 1st both days for American Iron and the #52 took 1st both days for Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC).  It’s almost as if these PAS Mustangs really know how to win or something…hmmm.

Minus the contact we had a very successful weekend.  Two wins and a new track record.  Looking forward to March now as the car will have it’s new look with full 2012 livery displaying all our new sponsors as well as some new suspension pieces to get the car even more glued to the track this season.

Again, special thanks for Speedlab Saleen for a great season last year and this past weekend.  And a big thank you to our current sponsors for 2012, Moss Muscle, HRE Performance Wheels, Baer Brakes, Hawk Performance Pads, Ford Racing, VBD Graphics, OG Racing, and Grassroots Motorsports! Also thanks to Jon Felton for the video for Saturday’s race and Phillip Nugent for all the photography from this event.

Thanks,
-kevin

In the August 2011 issue GRM featured the PAS Speedlab Saleen 302R in a massive article.  Check it out:

Following that up, GRM used our car in their “MUSTANG MADNESS” issue in February 2012.

With decades of experience in the automotive aftermarket, Moss Muscle is one of the nations premier suppliers of performance, styling, and restoration parts for late model Mustangs.  With a staff of performance enthusiasts, huge warehouses in California and Virginia, and most orders shipping the same day, Moss understands the needs of the hobby.  And with their Virginia warehouse just 20 minutes away from Performance Autosport, a partnership between the two just seemed to make sense.

Having Moss just right down the road means a few things for PAS:

First, Moss has signed on as a sponsor for the Performance Autosport Mustang RTR American Iron Racecar for the 2012 Race Season.  The #4 AI car will be wearing the Moss Muscle logo proudly to help show the world that Moss is serious about the Mustang.  Moss’ local Director of Mustang Sales and good friend of PAS, Mark Evans, daily drives a 2011 Mustang GT when he’s not driving around  one of the several shop cars.  He’s a Mustang guy for sure and understands the market.  PAS is looking forward to working with this company and all the guys at Moss.

Secondly, Moss will be using Performance Autosport as an official installation shop for all Moss Muscle products, as well as all the Moss brands.  Not only will PAS be installing parts for Moss Muscle customers we will also be helping Moss in product development, testing, as well as sales.  We will be their feature shop for Mustang parts and will be doing write ups for their website, magazines, and tech projects.

PAS is looking forward to this partnership as it will help both of us deliver new products with tested results to our customers at competitive pricing.  PAS alone can’t house the millions of parts that Moss can, but being right down the street means we are open to a whole new level of customer service!

Tom from Cooper Corvettes brought us their latest purchase, a Lingenfelter Supercharged and tuned C5 Z06.

2011 Camaro SS LZ585 being tuned by Steve Williams of TunedbyFrost.com

Performance Autosport bought another Shop Car. A brand new 2012 Mustang GT. Here it is, 2 days old, on the dyno in BONE STOCK form as a baseline before we start throwing parts on it.

Scott brought us his 2011 VW CC (2.0 TSI) with goodies from APR to dyno. With an intake, larger turbo, and tune it put down a very respectable 300whp/310wtq.

Robert from Lufteknic, a local Porsche specialty shop, brought us a customer’s ’87 911 with a 3.8L, Varioram intake, and a few other goodies to throw on the dyno while they tuned it.

Yesterday our bone stock 2012 GT got a little bit of a change in a few different areas. First were the wheels. We chose to install a set of RTR 19×9.5′s wrapped with Falken FK452. With the current stance it’s not too impressive, but the car will be getting its new suspension on our next round of mods.

Before it left the shop it also got its big brakes up front which are StopTech 6-piston calipers with 15″ (380mm) two-piece cross-drilled rotors. Stainless steel lines, Motul 660 brake fluid, and a fresh flush and this car is going to STOP! Can’t wait to test it on the street when it finally stops raining here or at the track this season.

Lastly we installed a set of our prototype mufflers we’ve been working on. Should be something we will have to offer in a month or so as pricing has not been set. We will be supplying video clips of all sorts to give potential customers a solid idea of what it sounds like on their 2011+ 5.0L!

Keep checking back as we’ll be installing suspension next!

Thanks,

-Kevin

Whole gallery here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flimflam13/sets/72157629003971725/

4 of them now call PAS home. ’88 19R, ’88 20R, ’88 21R, & ’89 19R.

Thanks,
-Kevin

Bolt-on-equipped C6 Corvette being tuned by Steve Williams of TunedbyFrost.com

The B.O.A.R. (Bronco Owners Association of Richmond) stopped by with a couple of early Broncos to see how they faired on the dyno

Ray’s Camaro hits the dyno after a bunch of parts were installed by PAS including a 2.9L Whipple Supercharger. Tuned by Steve Williams of TunedbyFrost.com

Phil brought his beautiful ’93 Porsche RS America in to verify the health of the engine, and left pleased with the results.

A 240sx with a LS1 being tuned by Steve Williams of TunedbyFrost.com

A Brunton Stalker being tuned by Steve Williams of TunedbyFrost.com. This little car has a 3.8L Supercharged V6 and MOVES!

Thought that was impressive? Check out the same car….but with a LS6! This was also tuned by Steve of TunedbyFrost.com

Because the status quo was not good enough, CorteX Precision Racing Technology was born.

CorteX Racing began with a pursuit of products we wanted on our own cars. When no one in this industry offered what we were after, we went out and engineered it ourselves. Our passion is to provide best-in-class, optimized, professional caliber motorsports parts to the enthusiast and professional.

Our goal is to create automotive parts that will outperform all others at an excellent value.

Vintage suspension systems:

S197 suspension systems:

Performance Autosport will be running a CorteX fully adjustable Watts Link on the rear of their 2011 Mustang GT American Iron car for the 2012 race season. We are excited to have a partner to reliably deliver a great product with a lot of engineering and testing behind it. The Watts-link will be going on the racecar in the next few months before our first race in mid February so expect updates with install photos and feedback from the track!

Our website is in the middle of being updated to display the full line of CorteX products so if you are interested in hearing more, placing and order, or getting something installed give us a call at the shop – 804.358.2505.

Thanks,
-kevin

PAS: Good morning Chris, how are we doing on this chilly day?

CC: Chilly but basking in the warmth of the end of the season.

PAS: Good to hear, I know you’re a busy man even on your down season so lets get right in to it. I know many of our customers have followed the
 build of your beautiful Saleen S302R on our blog here, but what we’ve never 
really covered is…the driver. You. The nut behind the wheel. So, I’d 
like to have them get to know you a little bit. For starters, lets cover
 the Chris Cobetto off the track.

CC: I’m pretty boring, really. Two boys, a wife, a dog and a mortgage.
 My boys are 10 and 6 years old respectively and are great. They make me 
smile all the time. They also test me…ALL the time, but they certainly 
keep me…young-ish. I’ve been married for 15 years to Laura. She has 
been very supportive in regard to this racing thing. I grew up about 30 
miles south east of Pittsburgh in a time when the Steelers were dominant. 
The Pirates were good. The Steelers were good. The Pitt Panthers were 
good. All my favorite teams were in or winning Championships at the 
time. The expectation of winning was something that stuck early in me.

PAS: As we all know, even when you’re off the track…you’re still
 thinking about being on or at the track. And that’s because your job is 
pretty tied to what we help you do in that S302R of yours, ain’t that 
right?

CC: I’m the luckiest man on the planet. I wish I could say that I had planned the whole NASA Regional Director job but I kinda just backed into it at the time. There had been a few Regional Directors before me in Virginia, but I was the first one that had signed his name on 6 dates worth of track rental contracts. 2000 was the first real season any NASA east coast region had had. We were the ONLY east coast NASA region, for that matter. I had a “real” job working in the medical records industry as we were running that 2000 season. In all candor, I had planned on dropping NASA and just continue working my “real” job in 2001. I just wanted to make it through the 2000 season to satisfy my commitment to the tracks but I realized at the end of the season that several drivers, based upon our first season, had built cars specifically for NASA series and a LOT of people really liked the events we had hosted. Many drivers were expecting NASA to continue in 2001 and had made investments of time and money in their cars based upon that expectation. I had built my own car in 1998 and I knew the time it took to do so. I just couldn’t bail on my brothers in speed so I signed more contracts for 2001. 12 years later I find myself very happy that I stuck it out because I have done some really cool things, driven some great cars and, most of all, met some of the most wonderful people on the planet.
I have always believed that, in order to be successful in business you 
have to know your customer. Luckily, I AM my customer and I race in 
the events we host. It allows me to see the product from the inside 
and out. It has taken some time to learn how to flip the switch 
when I get behind the wheel to being a driver from being a Director, 
but the professional group of officials the NASA
 Mid Atlantic Region has make the transition easier.  The job is not all candy and roses but, for a car guy, what could be 
better than talking cars and helping people realize a dream. Its a
 job I plan on doing for a LONG time.

PAS: Lucky for us, you’re 
pretty decent behind the wheel as well. Where did this all come from? Who 
got you into racing? When did the light switch flip and you start to go
 fast?

CC: I remember racing my Big Wheel around my Dad’s driveway against the neighborhood kids. It was essentially a circle, but a circle is challenging for a 6 year old. I had no idea what an apex was, but I remember distinctly being able to feel what was fast.
My dad was a car guy but not really into racing. I have wanted to
 race as long as I can remember. I got a go-kart from Sears when I was 
about 13 and a Honda Big Red 200 three wheeler when I was 15. I
 wasn’t particularly conservative in driving those but only suffered a 
few injuries. By the time I had finally gotten my license at 16, my
 dad had realized that the safest choice for traveling on the twisty,
 potholed back roads of western Pa. was a 1978 Suburban but…it had a 
400c.i. small block, headers, and a four barrel carb. Without going into 
detail I will only say that four wheel drifting a Chevy Suburban IS
 possible. It just bounces a bit. I explored the limits of anything 
I drove. I ended up in a few western Pa. front yards, farmers fields
 and such. I just loved being behind the wheel and trying out all this
 stuff I had read about in the car magazines.
Funny thing was that I really had no idea what a track day was until
 1996. I was already living in Richmond when a high school buddy, 
living in DC invited me to one of his father’s Formula Ford races at 
Summit Point. After all that time as an enthusiast I had found club
 racing/track days. It was though I had been lost all my life and now
 I was home. Less than a year later I bought a 1985 RX7 and started
 doing track days. I was 30 years old and every time I was on the 
track it was as if I was making up for lost time. I spent quite a bit 
of time sideways but I never wrecked. I got my racing license in 1998
 and in 1999, won a regional championship in my first full racing 
season. I know how this will sound but the truth is that I was pretty 
fast from the start but my discipline and race craft needed some work. 
Improving those would have to wait because in 2000 I became a NASA
 Regional Director and while I got a chance to race a bit, I spent a
lot of time instructing students. The instructing experience was
 great for my driving though. Nothing will teach you how do something
 better than trying to teach it to someone else.

PAS: Some know that this Mustang isn’t your first successful racecar,
 tell us a little bit about your history in racing.

CC: My first race car was an E Production 1985 Mazda RX-7 and that was a loud, intoxicatingly high revving, angry, awesome little race car and a great one to cut my teeth on. In 2001 I spent a lot of time creating the Factory Five Challenge series and felt that if the guy promoting the series had a Cobra it would help seed the series. I raced that for a few years but sold the car after a fire in the engine compartment. I was car-less from 2002-2005 but was still able to race a bit thanks to Richard Burke at 600-racing, the maker of Legends cars and Thunder Roadsters. 600 felt that the Thud (Thunder Roadster) would make a good road race car and so he offered to bring three to our NASA MA events to seed the series. He offered one for me to race. It was my first sequential gearbox and the cars were truly spec. 
It was a fun car and we had some great races. By 2004, I had the itch 
for a new sedan. As a driver I wanted a spec class and as a Regional 
Director I wanted a car that would be pretty low maintenaince. Spec
 Miata was the “easy button” but at 6’1″, 200 lbs, I had always found 
them a bit small for me. I explored the Spec E30 class and quickly 
fell in love with the format. Reliable, roomy, minimal preparation
 with the scream of a German in line six were all things that sold me. 
That car carried me to three NASA National Championships. While I
 pulled important things from everything I drove, I probably learned 
the most racing that E30. The competition was FIERCE and the cars
 prepared very closely. The racing was VERY tight requiring me to be
 smart and smooth. Spec E30 made me a better driver, but more 
importantly, a smarter racer.

PAS: So it seems you’ve been in front engine, rear wheel drive cars with 
all sorts of varying horsepower levels. Now you strap into the heaviest
 and most powerful car to date. What did you have to do as a driver to
 adapt to this Mustang? Going from a 2,700lbs BMW to a 3,600lbs Mustang 
with over twice the power…what kind of learning curve did this take?

CC: I truly hate to admit this but at the outset of the 2011 season I was a little concerned that the Mustang platform would provide challenges that I wouldn’t be prepared for. I hadn’t been in a solid axle car for years and my experience in those was one of a lot of snap oversteer. I was concerned that I would be spending a lot of time trying to keep the tail where it should be. It turned out that this Mustang was a willing dance partner. Ford had done a great job on this chassis and PAS had set the car up well. There was development that had to be done but the car was very manageable right out of the box. It felt like a big specE30 with a deeper go-pedal. The transition was pretty easy, really.

PAS: Speaking of twice the power, how addictive is the power that 5.0
 makes? Think you could ever be happy in a “slow” car again?

CC: Power is addictive, no question. I had always said that the best training ground is in a car with low power to weight because it forces one to get everything out of the car and I still subscribe to that theory. However, there just isn’t anything like the push in the back that a big powerful V8 can give. That 5.0 has torque and revs. It is intoxicating and it makes me want more.

PAS: Favorite aspect of your S302R…GO…

CC: Well it just looks AWESOME but aside from asthetics I just love rolling on the go-pedal as the tail squats and feeling that press in the back as I four wheel drift to the exit of a corner. Its like hitting the sweet spot when you are golfing, the first bite of a gourmet meal, and hearing a pretty girl say “yes” all rolled up into one.

PAS: This was the first year in this car and you already grabbed a
 Regional Championship and placed 2nd in Nationals…a VERY strong showing. 
How does that sit with you now that its all over?

CC: The realist in me says that it was a wonderful achievement and the truth is that very few have that strong of a showing right out of the box. But I like to be first and so it provides a strong motivation to get back to the drawing board.

PAS: For all of the fans out there that watch the videos and are at the 
track watching you make laps, they probably think you’re all business once 
you strap in. But the truth is you seem to have a little fun on the warm
up lap. Share with us all whats normally being piped through your team’s 
headsets.

CC: Before every race I’m nervous. It doesn’t matter that I have been racing for over a decade and with a decent amount of success. I still have a bunch of nervous energy running through me that I need to quell. I started singing in my helmet a few years ago at the NASA Nationals as a way to calm my nerves and it has now become part of my routine. Being that I am, certainly, a crooner of a quality near to that of the Chairman, I felt it my duty to share with my crew a ditty or two over the radio.

PAS: As part of your crew, I obviously understand the progress we’ve 
made throughout the 2011 season and all the ups and downs. What are you
 looking forward to the most for the upcoming 2012 season?

CC: Winning. We have a game plan of things we need to improve and I’m really excited to try out the new bits. I feel more comfortable in the car and I know we, as a team, have learned what works and what doesn’t. I can’t wait to get back to Mid Ohio and throw down for the National Championship.

PAS: So PAS chose to team up with the big boss of NASA that can sing 
like Sinatra and drive like McQueen, but the name “Dean Martin” comes to
mind for 2012. What do you have in store for him come September?

CC: A hug. Everybody loves somebody sometime…

PAS: I know just as well as you that this past season couldn’t of been 
done without a LOT of help and support. Who would you like to thank?

CC: The project really wouldn’t have taken on this life had Mark at PAS not had the commitment to press the shop into overdrive to make this happen. A project like this is pretty impossible without some media support. Tim Suddard and his crew at Grassroots Motorsports Magazine took a chance on backing this project and from that commitment came many other sponsors that were needed to get rolling. Saleen, Bully Dog, Rockland Gear, HRE Wheels, Hawk Performance, Baer Brakes, Exedy Clutches, C&R Cooling, Tiger Racing, OG Racing, Autodynamics, Sparco, Ford Racing and Hoosier. Everyone of our partners were just absolutely wonderful to work with. They are all enthusiasts and many went out of their way to make sure we had what we needed when we needed it. I just can’t say “thanks” enough to everyone for joining it.

PAS: Well thank you for your time Chris. I’m sure you’ve got something 
to keep you busy before I ask you to come back and sit in this seat and
 bring us home more 1st place trophies.

CC: Thank YOU!!! I’m off to enjoy the holiday season with my family. I need to re-introduce myself to my sons, do some go-kart maintenance and learn a few more songs. One needs to keep ones performance from getting stale.

PAS: Ciao.

CC: Ciao!

The show was great and the PAS/Cobetto race crew made a lot of progress in signing on new sponsors and confirming deals that were started at the SEMA show with several new companies. More on that later…

For the full gallery of PRI photos go click here: PAS PRI Flickr Gallery

Here are some of the photos…

We had a great time with Mickey and Guy from HRE and want to thank them once again for inviting us down to have our racecar in their booth.  HRE Performance Wheels has not only supplied awesome wheels that can take a beating and never miss a beat, but also just a great company to deal with in every way. We’re looking forward to a continued partnership into the 2012 race season!