TEAM FULL THROTTLE NEWSBLOG
June 29 , 2007

Summer is proving to be a pivotal time for Team Full Throttle, as we have a lot of positive momentum going for us right now.

Take for example the announcement about the first annual Team Full Throttle Week, which will take place in Mooresville, NC in October. What was a two-day event last year that kicked off with the Driver Development Clinic and ended with Team Activities day the next day has now been expanded to four big days of free activities for our racers!

Hickory Motor Speedway will host our first annual “Coaching and Evaluation Day” on Tuesday, October 16th. We will have a variety of different types of racing machinery on hand that day for our racers to gain instruction in from NASCAR Nextel Cup racer David Stremme and other NASCAR notables. This will serve as an opportunity for many of our racers to test “up” a level at the staff’s discretion in anticipation of 2008 placement decisions.

On Wednesday, our first ever “Master the Media” Day will take place with private coaching for our racers being given by members of the major Motorsports media. Each driver will be given one on one interviews and critiqued by the media members and will be given a written evaluation to go home with at week’s end.

Thursday will be the second annual Driver Development Clinic, this year featuring Kyle Busch, David Stremme, Reed Sorenson and other racers as well as driver development specialists from the various NASCAR Teams. This is the only time this group will be assembled in the same room for purposes of talking to hopeful racers from all series about what it takes to climb the Motorsports ladder. This particular event is open to all racers from all series, and TFT racers will be on hand to share their experiences. For more information on the clinic, go to www.driverdevelopmentclinic.com.

A bowling tournament for prizes featuring drivers from NASCAR’s Busch Series will be held for TFT racers on Friday of that week followed by the grand finale’ TFT team dinner / awards banquet emceed by coaches Mike and Tom.

Our group has also been steadily climbing the ladder in wins and top finishes lately, as many of those who are in their first year in a new division are making steady progress. We’ve had 27 wins to date but even more impressive is the fact that we’re seeing more of our first year racers climbing into victory circle and running in the top five.

Among the new faces in new places who have excelled as of late are Trevor Alspach, who picked up a win with his Legends car at South Boston a few weeks ago in the Semi-Pro division, Kyle Moon, who has only had one non-top ten finish at Hickory in the Late Models this season and sits third in points having completed 100 percent of his laps so far, Beau Browning, who has had two top six finishes in three races with his Late Model, Chad Hackenbracht, who picked up his first Legends win at Concord Motorsport Park, Brad Bischoff, who has a second place and several top fives in his first year of Pavement Late Models running in Florida, and Matt Barndt, who charged from 13th to 3rd at the ultra-fast Jennerstown Speedway in Pennsylvania in only his fourth Late Model start.

These are just a few of our racers who are excelling at this point in the season. Thomas Hartensveld, Jr. has six wins and is now preparing for his first start in a pavement Late Model in the coming weeks.

New members to TFT in recent weeks include Texas wheel-men Tyler Gilmore and Chuck Jensen. Gilmore will be finishing up in go-karts this season before taking on the Legends cars and a potential move to the Charlotte, NC area for ’08. Jensen is running the IMCA Modifieds on the Lone Star State dirt tracks this year and will be relocating to Charlotte in January of 2008 to compete in a pavement Late Model or Late Model truck.

We welcome Chuck and Tyler to the fold, and invite you to check out their bios for more information.

Graduation ceremonies for two of our racers took place recently. Keith Shampine said goodbye to Oswego State University after four years with a degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Police Science, and will relocate to Charlotte in the fall to pursue his dream of racing Stock Cars.

Andrew Schartner graduated near the top of his Weedsport (NY) High School class and immediately traveled to Charlotte, NC to attend the UNC-Charlotte Freshman Orientation. Andrew will attend class beginning this fall at UNCC as a Mechanical Engineering Major. Shampine will also be heading south in the fall.

Christian Pahud has joined the ranks of TFT members now living in the greater Charlotte area, as he and his family have relocated to Harrisburg, NC. Thomas Hartensveld, Joey King, Rich Petrucco, and Kyle Moon are full time residents there. Chad Hackenbracht and Zach Zimmerly are in town for the summer months only while on a break from school.

More major announcements are in the works regarding partnerships and programs for TFT as we head off into the dog days of summer, and we look forward to the continued success of our racers on and off the track.

As always, thanks to our TFT partners Sabelt Safety Equipment (www.sabeltusa.com), Randall Race Parts (www.randallraceparts.com), Hammerhead Promotions (www.hammerheadpromotions.com), Hoven Sunglasses (www.hovenvision.com) Butler Built Seats (www.butlerbuilt.com), Kool Mat Insulation (www.koolmat.com), Racing Electronics (www.racingelectronics.com), North East Micro Computers (www.northeastmicro.com), racejunk.com, CRA Late Model Series, Cool Shirts (www.coolshirt.net), and MindStar Academy. We appreciate their continued support!

Be leaders not followers,
TFT Coaches Mike and Tom