Bob's Donuts II - Thunderhill Track Day

From a photographer's stand point, the track infield was wet & muddy, but no rain throughout the day. I believe Jei had a great time tuning his car for the event, and then at the event. Notice the new parts on the Laguna Blue S2000. A Lot of supporters came out to Thunderhill this past Sunday, yet there were plenty of room for each other. These are some of the shots I managed to capture. Enjoy!







Rest of them can be seen here.

Old Red EG Bares New Stripes

Some of you may recognize it when Liam Downey was piloting it in NASA's Honda Challenge 2 or even at the Bob's Donut Track Day last Thanksgiving weekend. Redstone Motorsport and BlackTrax Performance team up for some last minute strategic tuning in prep for the 25 Hour of Thunderhill this weekend. Here are two spy shots of the car via camera phone during vinyl wrap done by Epic Images. It's going to be freezing this weekend. Bring something warm if you plan to watch!

HellaFlush III @ BlackTrax Video

Check out this sick vid by Phillip Velasco of 360video.


Hella Flush III from iPhilms on Vimeo.

Jay Pizzaro's LS1 Swapped Lexus Dyno

Hella Flush III @ Blacktrax Performance

Coverage of Hella Flush III @ Blacktrax Performance

See more of the Hella Flush III vehicles

See more of the Hella Flush III awards/models/crowd

Great Flicks from HellaFlush III @ BlackTrax

Thanks to all who supported the Southeast Asian Disaster Relief, Fatlace/HellaFlush and BlackTrax. Over 1500 people attended and this event. Pics are coming but check out some of the vids that were shot.

Here's a nice vid of the crew that came up from LA to attend our event:


300+hp BMW

Graham Downey's In Car Footage - MUST SEE!

Redstone Motorsport have just released their full in-car video footage from the final Laguna Seca race, compliments of our sponsor RaceKeeper.

By now many of you will have watched the Speed Channel coverage of the final Speed World Challenge Touring Car race from Laguna Seca, California. As always, fantastic coverage from the WCVision group and the SCCA, showing all of the exciting highlights from the race.

Want to see some more in-depth in-car coverage from the mid pack? Want to see the wheel to wheel and bumper to bumper (literally!) racing between Downey, Saini, Thomas, Foss, Curran and Lindsey?



"Watching the in-car footage back, I didn't realize how close the racing was for the 26 laps, and how many position changes their were" said Downey. "This is really exciting, clean wheel to wheel racing, very exciting to watch"

Downey took the hard charger award for the race, his rookie appearance at Speed World Challenge Touring Car, and although a local to Laguna Seca, his first official race at this track. Starting out 13th, Downey worked his way up to 7th towards the end of the race, falling back to 8 with 2 laps to go, with Thomas finally getting back by, and losing out to Saini in the last corner of the last lap to finally finish 9th.

" I'm very happy with 9th, and although I held my own throughout the race, Thomas and Saini had more power on the straights than me, and they finally made their way back through. But, this makes from great video footage" said Downey.

Although there is no matching the fantastic coverage by the WC Vision team, and the exciting race on Speed Channel, the in-car perspective gives the viewer a much closer view of what it's like fighting it out in the pack. There was some great racing from 5th to 11th place throughout the race, and Downey's camera captured the most of it, up close and real. See the bumper rubbing, the tire smoke and lock ups, the dust clouds, and loose moments, as if you were sitting in the passenger seat.

See the latest press release on the Speed World Challenge website http://www.world-challenge.com/news/story.php?ID=1512

Noah's SR Powered Bluebird - What a Beautiful Ride!

Some of you may recognize this one of a kind RHD Bluebird. Noah dropped it off for a tuneup and dyno. Stay tuned as we tear this work of art back down to the bare shell for a full on resto by BT!

Team Redstone Motorsports Takes 9th Place and Sunoco "Hard Charger" Award at Speed World Challenge Touring Car Race at Laguna Seca Raceway

Graham Downey, racing privateer grassroots racing team Redstone Motorsports 1999 Honda Civic Si, finishes 9th overall at the season finale Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship at Laguna Seca raceway, Monterey California. Downey, running his inaugural rookie World Challenge race event, put on an amazing performance against a very competitive field of professional drivers and teams.

With a driver and manufacturers championship to be decided on the day, competition was expected to be fierce between Acura and Mazda, and Realtime versus MazdaSpeed, the rookie Downey had to balance aggression with common sense, and ensure he could finish the race yet not inadvertently interfere with a critical championship.

Downey, running a stock Honda K24 TSX motor and transmission in his very trusty Honda Civic knew he would be out powered on the straights by the manufacturer sponsored Acura TSX's from Realtime, as well as the MazdaSpeed 3's and 6's. But Downey was confident of his driving ability, setup, and reliability of the lone Honda in the Touring Car class. "Power isn't everything", said Downey, as he did his final preparations for the race. " Braking and apex speed make a big difference at Laguna, and my Civic will gain back time in the corners".

Downey was running within 0.7secs of the Realtime TSX's in practice, but the Acura's and Mazda's found some extras qualifying time on Saturday during final practice, Kleinubing taking poll position with 1:37:042, Clay's BMW at 1:37:371, and Peter Cunningham 3rd at 1:37:358. Downey qualified 13th at 1:38:853, 1.5 seconds behind Cunningham, but his best time of the weekend. " I was hoping for a top 10 qualifying, but 13th was as good as we could have expected considering the fast time of the Acura's on Saturday. I knew the race would come back to my pace on Sunday, as I expected the race pace to be in the mid 1:38's which is a comfortable pace for my Honda"

Downey started well from the green flag, picking up 3 places within 2 laps, and running consistently in the pack. For the majority of the race Downey was wheel to wheel with Jason Saini, the championship leader going into the final race, Seth Thomas from Bimmerworld, and Eric Foss in his Mazda 3. The Acura's of Kleinubing and Cunningham, along with Clay in his Bimmerworld BMW took a commanding lead, the the rest of the top ten running bumper to bumper. Kuno Wittmers' Realtime TSX lost a rear wheel coming out of the corkscrew in lap 10, bringing out a full course yellow for 4 laps.

The race restarted with Kleinubing, Cunningham and Curran again pulling well ahead of the remaining top 10. Downey continued his bumper to bumper battle with Saini and Thomas. 4 laps to go and the 7th to 10th cars started to mix it up more aggressively. " I saw what was coming, and said to myself I could take advantage here if I hang back just a little, and let the boys duke it out. And that's exactly what happened. I saw my opportunity between turn 4 and turn 6, and pulled up 3 places to 7th. I knew it would be hard to keep 7th, but I decided to go all out and sprint to the finish"

Thomas finally got back around Downey with 2 laps remaining, putting him back in 9th in front of Saini. With both sprinting for the line once the white flag was waved. Downey and Saini went bumper to bumper. Downey, heading off Saini up the last corner before the start/finish straight went wide on Turn 11 allowing room for Saini to cut inside, and pipped Downey for 8th at the line.

Downey finished 9th overall, and received the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for the driver that made up the most places in the race. Read the full race report here http://www.world-challenge.com/news/story.php?ID=1495

After the race Downey commented, " I'm ecstatic with 9th place. To be able to go out there and race my very first pro level race, with a field like this, and finish like I did is amazing. The difference for me was the reliability of my Honda, the great setup from my team, and the braking and cornering ability of the car. My car was getting faster as the race progressed. If we only had about 3 more laps, I'm sure I'd have pulled a few more spots. My tires and brakes were great, never faltered or faed for the whole race, and were still perfect at the end. But, I'm happy with the result".

"We'll be back next year for Speed World Challenge", commented Downey, " We'll either run a Honda or an Acura, depending on rules and contingencies, we haven't decided yet".

Downey is also the current NASA Honda Challenge National Champion, wining this title at Miller Motorpsort Park, Utah in September. This is his 2nd National title with NASA, and the only Honda Challenge driver to win back to back championships.

Team Redstone would like to thank our great team for all the hard work dedication to get our very first Speed World Challenge race in the books, with an amazing result.

A special thank you to our primary sponsors, Blacktrax Performance, RaceKeeper, Carbotech, Roger Kraus Racing, Hasport Performance, and Gillis Motorsport for all their help, sponsorship and support throughout the year.

11.14 - Hella Flush III Meet at Blacktrax Performance FLYER

FINALLY. HELLAFLUSH III is here. Saturday, November 14th 11-5pm. Hosted by Fatlace & BlackTrax Performance in Milpitas California. More details will be announce as well as major sponsors for the event in the next couple days but REGISTER TODAY as there are only 150 HELLAFLUSH Spots available. ALL CREWS WELCOME.

Also we’d like to turn this event into a fundraiser to help out the people that have lost everything from the natural disasters that have been occurring this past week. We will be requesting a $20 Donation when you arrive at the event. From the Philippines, Vietnam, American Samoa and Indonesia, please send your prayers to the families who’ve lost loved ones and prayers and support for those fighting to survive. Storms, floods, typhoons and earthquakes have taken the lives of hundreds this week. Do what you can to help out those less fortunate than you…from the way things are going, it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better.

Spread the word. You know this is going to be an event not to miss. Thanks all for supporting us for the past couple years.

Speed World Challenge - Update

Thursday practice lap times were low 1:39's. A change on tires and suspension settings dropped us down to 1:38.8's. Friday's qualifying put Graham Downey in 13th position for the race. We tried to keep the Twitter updates going but the race got too exciting, typing via Blackberry stopped being the priority. By the 1st lap Downey moved from 13th to 11th position. By the 3rd lap Graham moved up to 10th trailing behind the championship leader Jason Saini. A battle between the two led Graham ahead to the 8th position but unfortunatly wasn't able to hold due to some contact. Congrats to Graham Downey for receiving the Sonoco Hard Charger recognition for the most overtakes in that race!

Two-Time Champ Graham Downey's In-Car Video

Congrats to Graham Downey and his deserved win. These videos tell a clear story of what happened when the double yellow came out at about 2m 30sec into the video.

Good little battle between Jonathan Meris and Downey. So much so that they were waving at each other on each pass. Unfortunately, Meris had to pull back because of a cracked wheel hub but it would have been a good race between the two.

NASA Nationals H1 2009-Graham Downey-Redstone- Miller MSP from Liam Downey on Vimeo.

Graham Downey Wins Nationals 2 In A Row!

Not without drama Graham Downey officially takes 1st for the 2nd year in a row. Check out what happened 3min into this video that started all this drama:

Feel Like Jumping a Truck

We had the opportunity to put Bruce Field's Class 8 Baja Truck on our dyno yesterday. The thing was a beast and with 30" of suspension travel we really wanted to see jump across Montague Epwy! This 5000lb torque machine definitely gave our Dynapack a workout..

Great BT Representation @ Honda Challenge Thunderhill

What a great event it was for BlackTrax Performance. They had 4 cars representing: Liam and Graham Downey from Team Redstone Motorsports H2, Brandon Kraus from Roger Kraus Racing H1, Andrew Leach TT and Jim Markarian HPDE.







This was Brandon Kraus' 1st shakedown weekend. He won 1st on Saturday against Prima Racing's Andrie Hartanto. On Sunday there was another great race between the two of them. Unfortunately Brandon did not finish due to an oil pressure gauge problem which led him to pit. All in all it was a successful weekend for Brandon as he hit a 2:00.1 lap time, just about 1-2 seconds shy from his personal best with his original 4th gen Prelude. With the help of Andrie lending Brandon higher rate springs, Brandon was able to shave off another second off his lap time. We have high hopes that once this Prelude it gets dialed in, it will be a strong competitor against the K series engines in H1.



With the new addition of a adjustable wing, Andrew found was able to settle the rear of the car down but logged a slower lap time when he installed the front splitter. Removing he splitter, Andrew did his personal best of 2:06 in TT in his ~200hp full bodied 5th gen Prelude.

Jim Markarian had us set him with with Wicked Tuning front pillowball LCA's, new wheel size and offset with Enkei RPF1's and new Toyo R888's. Graham Downey and Jim took turns shaking down the car. "that car handle's great now" says Graham Downey.

Stephan Verdier wins Round 6 of Formula Drift

Photo by Steve Demmit

The final round was going to be a solid battle between Ken Gushi in his RWD Scion TC vs. Stephan Verdier in his Subaru Impreza. Ken leads and straghtens out right before the apex. The car appeared to be damaged. Gushi with what looked like a lost cylinder, forfeits to Verdier and Ryuji Miki takes third in his well tuned FD.

Photo by Steve Demmit

Photos by Jei Chang

Darren McNamara demonstrating tire blistering torque in his V8 powered Saturn Sky.

Dai Yoshihara posing with BC connecting rod in his hand.

Bay Area local Calvin Wan's FD.

Blacktrax S2000 Dyno Day Coverage

Please view the gallery for more pictures.

Special thanks to: Blacktrax for hosting the dyno day. DJ Joocy & DJ Kevin of Bayfunktion Ent. for coming out to provide music and also all the visitors throughout the day!


- Tom Nguyen of Fatlace.com

S2ki.com Dyno Day 7-25-09

BT will be hosting a 2nd Annual Dyno Day and car meet for S2ki.com. Exclusive to S2ki.com members and all S2000 owners. Event starts at 9am and ends when we fall over! Show us your keys and we'll show you something else......maybe a burger or hot dog :0)~

$50 for baselines, 3 pulls with Wideband A/F Monitor
$100 for 1 Hour Max. Tuning




For more details: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=706738&st=0

JP Martinez S2000 Featured in Honda Tuning June 09 Issue

Congratulation's to JP for building such a beautiful ride and getting it featured on Honda Tuning Magazine June 09 issue. A mix of JDM rarity and creative touches really made this car a showpiece winner. Shane Sampson, member of the BlackTrax Fam did the custom paintwork on the valve cover which made it pop with the help of the Password JDM Carbon/Kevlar intake. For more pictures visit: http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/features/htup_0907_2001_honda_s2000/index.html




















JP thanks all those who were involved in the build:

• Sherry Hernando


• Joaquin Leveriza


• Jon “Judy” Martinez


• Rob Thill, Zach Wong & crew


• Neil Martinez


• Vince Martinez


• Rodney Asistin


• Yves Cuyugan


• Vu Barnes


• Anish Ramrakhyani


• Jake Timoteo “Soapy Jake Approved”


• Jeff Wu


• Joey Kwan for the late night installs


• All my Bay Area S2Ki peeps for the help, insight, support & drive to keep going!


• Jei & Natalie Chang of Blacktrax Performance


• Shane Sampson – awesome valve cover work!


• Erik @ Multi-Craft Auto Body, Burlingame


• Collin & Adam @ Weksos Industries


• Tommy @ GoTuning.com


• Steve @ Password JDM

BT Time Attack Results 1:31.645 @ WSIR - Modified Class

Great results this weekend at the Redline Time Attack at Willow Springs International Raceway. It was our first shakedown since a new motor change and additional Wicked Tuning protoype suspension for the Z32 300ZX chassis. The initial plan at the beginning of the year was to pull the LS1 out in favor for an LQ9. Unfortunatly, the LQ9 we purchased had a bad cam bearing which took us out of that event. To make it to this event, Aki opted for the LM4 engine which is a smaller displacement engine at 5.4L. The lower displacement engine has other positive characteristics such as larger ports and a lighter rotating assembly. Combining this with a bigger cam we were able to rev this motor to 7k rpms which was helpful at the high speed track.

Items changed since the Ulitmate Street Car Challenge 2007:
-Weight reduction from 3400 down to 3000lbs wet with 190lb driver and 5 gal gas.
-Spherical bushing lower arms
-Carbotech xp 12 brakes
-LM4 engine tuned and raced on 91 pump gas making 350whp
-removed high flow cats (used for USCC 2007)
-APR GTC 300 Wing


The tires used this weekend were the same Khumo V700 Victoracers that were used almost wasted during the Gross Display of Horsepower challenge 2 years ago. There was some tread left so Aki opted to finish these tires at this event. With Graham Downey piloting the car, the shakedown practice laps were averaging 1:33-1:34. Ajustments made on the wing as well as tire pressures dropped Grahams lap times to a very best of 1:30 but unfortunately that was during practice. Best Time Attack Lap was 1:31.645 which resulted in 4th overall in Modified. This lap was done with a blown left rear shock and worn tires. Some of the cars we raced against should be competing in Unlimited. We'll keep sticking by the rules and shave our times. There's more glory in that :0)~



Big thanks to Graham Downey from Redstone Motorsport, and to our Sponsors:
Tire Rack
Golden Apple - Nex Suspension
Wicked Tuning
Carbotech Brakes
Redstone Motors

Keep your eyes peeled for more BlackTrax & Redstone racing. We're ready to make waves.

Race Report from Andrew Leach NASA TT @ T-Hill

Words from Andrew Leach:

Well April 25th and 26th 2009 was an interesting weekend at Thunderhill normal direction. I ran in Time Trials C class for the 3rd time this session. Winding up 3rd place on Saturday and Sunday to 1st place veteran Bob Blackwood who is a 25 year veteran to racing and with NASA and won Nationals last year.

When I got there on Saturday and pulled the car out of the trailer, the rear toe link had come loose and my rear driver’s side toe was completely out of my specifications. Luckily with my Wicked Tuning rear toe links from Blacktrax, the adjustment was easy. I adjusted it by eye and took it for a spin in the pits area and it seemed to be dead on.

Started the first session with front tire pressure at 30psi and rear at 29psi; ended up running a 2:11.6 with the rear end not holding on tight enough. Dropped tire pressure to 28psi front and 27 psi rear. Ran a 2:07.8 and the car held tight in late braking and exiting corners but still a little unstable at the entrance to turns 1, 2, and 5. 3rd session was run the same way but half way through the session the power steering blew the high pressure hose and my front brake pads broke off from their backing. I down-shifted my way in and installed new pads. Thank God that the rotors didn’t get messed up. I also removed the power steering belt and put silicon on the leaking hose to stop any extra leak.

Ran 4th session with no power steering and tire pressures at 27psi front and 26psi rear, when measured cold. Came in with a best lap time of 2:07.002.

Sunday started off at 45 degrees out and with no power steering and tire pressures at 28/27 front and rear. Ran a best of 2:05.967. Came in after 1st session and my alternator bracket had broken. I rigged up a tie-down strap to ratchet tight the belt by wrapping the tie down around the radiator support bracket and hooked onto the front toe hook. Continued to run this same way the 2nd and 3rd sessions. Came in after 3rd session and noticed the power steering line was still leaking so I called it a day.

SYTFU BBQ/MEET '09

Currently uploading.. but to view them click here.

Redstone Motorsport @ Time Attack Buttonwillow

Mark, Liam and Graham spent Saturday setting up the Liam's EG hatch. This was their first trial test with the Toyo R888 tires. Running a stock Type R engine they ran a 2:01.0 lap time in the Unlimited FWD class and placed 2nd overall. Congrats to the Downeys!