SCCA — Koch Clinches Double Pole at Road Atlanta

Mike Shaw

Points leader Kenton Koch will be leading Rounds 11 and 12 of the Mazda MX-5 Cup Series Presented by BFGoodrich Tires, after setting some blistering times in qualifying . Provided he can at least start both races, Koch will mathematically secure this year’s championship. Although, based on his qualifying times, it appears that Koch doesn’t plan on merely starting; he is in it for the podium. For those who have followed the MX-5 Cup throughout the season, Kenton has been consistently fast nearly every race, and shows no intention of slowing down now. He is not…

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Red Bull GRC at DirtFish Rally School – The Definition of What Rallycross Should Be

Mike Shaw

I can sum up in just a few words what Red Bull GRC Seattle at DirtFish Rally School was like.  DirtFish DEFINED rallycross.  Simple as that. Why?  Well, as you have heard me say time and time again, it is all about the track.  The grounds at DirtFish were a perfect venue for the sport.  The cars started on tarmac, switched to gravel around the long turn 1, then back to tarmac as they went into the covered planar building, then back to gravel into turn 10, then to a…

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Red Bull GRC Seattle – OpenPaddock On-Site and Behind the Scenes at DirtFish

Mike Shaw

OpenPaddock.net is super excited to have been invited to get an up-close view of the Red Bull Global Rallycross event at DirtFish Rally School just outside of Seattle, Washington.  I’ll be there all weekend with OpenPaddock contributor, Robert Mahony who will be acting as our chief photographer.  We’ll do our best to get you a detailed behind the scenes experience of what is expected to be one of the highlights of the entire GRC season.   I actually attended the event at DirtFish in 2011, then called GRC Twin Peaks.  The sport…

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EPISODE 249 – OPENPADDOCK.NET PODCAST

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWell, better late than never right?  As I’ve now taken over editing the podcasts its taken me a little bit to get up to speed with the editing software and get these things posted.  As for the show, Mike Shaw and John Olsakovsky chat about Formula E’s debut, F1’s rule changes, Rally and Red Bull GRC LA, and finish off with the beginning of the long IndyCar silly season.  I hope you enjoy it as much as our past podcasts, and if you don’t….blame the…

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Red Bull GRC – Power Rankings for LA

Mike Shaw

Last week I spoke with Chris Leone of the Red Bull GRC and we summarized the season so far as it heads to the west coast.  As the clock ticks down to this weekend’s double-header in LA, I came up with my opinion of where I think the drivers rank.  Note that this doesn’t exactly reflect the championship standings as this isn’t just where they finish, but about their consistent speed and potential.  I’ve jotted down a few comments about each driver, let me know if you agree or disagree with their…

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BREAKING NEWS! – Nameless Performance GT-86 Featuring Chris Duplessis

Mike Shaw

I opened my Facebook to some of the most wonderful rally news!  Nameless Performance has announced the official “Nameless Performance Rally Team” to contest the 2015 Rally America 2wd Championship.  In addition to announcing their intentions next season, they also announced a new driver and co-driver for the team.  Aussie Will Orders will unfortunately no longer be part of the Nameless squad, but taking his place to pilot the GT-86 beast is none other than Chris Duplessis!  Sitting alongside Duplessis will be his former WRC Academy partner in crime Alex Kihurani! But…

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RALLY – Exclusive Interview With Chris Greenhouse!

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThis week I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with one of my favorite USA rally drivers, Chris Greenhouse.  Chris pretty much lives my dream.  He flies airplanes for a living and races rally cars in his free time!  Although Chris Greenhouse has competed in regional and national championships in the USA for nearly a decade, this season he made the decision to compete in the Canadian Rally Championship. We talk about how he got started in rally, his slippery start (both literally and figuratively) in the…

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Red Bull GRC – Track Map & On-Air Times

Mike Shaw

By now you have probably listened to my podcast with Chris Leone right?  Okay, well if you haven’t, check out Open Paddock Episode #248 for a preview of what has happened until now in the Red Bull GRC season and what we can expect for the last 4 rounds of the championship.  If you’ve already been watching all the events so far, then good on you and here’s the track map.   I’m liking this track already.  The sweeping turn 1 should naturally narrow the field and hopefully prevent red flag…

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Episode #248 – The Red Bull GRC West Coast Swing Preview

Mike Shaw

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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadAs the Red Bull GRC gears up to finish the season in the western half of the country I called up Chris Leone to see how the season has gone so far and what we can expect from the final four events in this special rally edition Red Bull GRC podcast.

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SCCA — World Challenge Ready to Wrap Up

Mike Shaw

This weekend, Pirelli World Challenge prepares to wrap up the 2014 season with this weekend’s race in Tooele, UT. Going into the final race of the season, the championship is still up for grabs, as Johnny O’Connell leads the points standings by a mere 42 points in his Cadillac Racing Cadillac CTS-V.R in GT class. A similar gap of 48 points separates leader Michael Mills from Hendrik Hedman in GT-A. Mark Wilkins has a more comfortable lead over Lawson Aschenbach, sitting 80 points ahead in GTS class. In TC, Michael DiMeo…

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