Driving Ambition & Kip Olson announce assault on the SCCA World Challenge GT series
GOLD RIVER, CA (September 28, 2009) The Driving Ambition team of driver Kip Olson and builder/mechanic Shad Huntley announced today that they will enter the first Acura NSX in the World Challenge GT series since PD Cunningham successfully campaigned the rare NSX in 2001. The Driving Ambition team and the #49 car will make their debut at the ALMS race weekend at the Laguna Seca Raceway on October 9-11, 2009.
Besides the age of the 1991 Acura NSX, the remarkable storyline about the Driving Ambition team is that they were rookies in the San Francisco Region of SCCA this year, challenging teams with much more horsepower and many more years of experience….and winning the Super Production (SP) class. Arguably the most consistent team on the SP grid, virtually the only points lost were due to mechanical problems on this 18 year old one of a kind turbo charged Acura. It should also be noted that Olson has shown consistent and remarkable speed with only a couple of years of kart competition several years ago. While several years of track day driving have developed some really “great hands,” he’s been a very quick study learning the fine art of racecraft in this very first year of serious racing.
"I know that we’re taking on a mighty formidable challenge," said Olson, a 44-year-old excavation contractor of Sacramento, CA, and we can’t really blame the WC regulars if they will be skeptical of our ability to be competitive. I’m ambitious, but not stupid and wouldn’t even consider it if Shad didn’t have the race engineering and car builder experience, a top notch race shop and most importantly, racing in his blood. He’s been building cars for me for over 7 years and he’s my racing brother.”
Joining Kip in the adventure is Shad Huntley, formerly Comptech’s guru for Honda and Acura performance parts. Prior to that, he worked on the IMSA Camel Lights Spice NSX and the Brix-Comptech Indy Car, both piloted by the legendary Parker Johnstone. Shad was the youngest IndyCar Chief Mechanic ever and, in 1997 was named Chief Mechanic of the Year while heading the Carl Hogan team with driver Dario Franchitti. “We made history with the number 49 on both the Spice car and the prototype Honda powered IndyCar, and we intend to make history with #49 on this optimized performance road car. What started out as an experiment in fun with Kip has quietly become a serious obsession with speed and handling.”
SCCA World Challenge officials understandably took a long hard look at this rookie team’s request to compete against world class pro drivers and equipment in the GT class. But Olson’s lap times and Huntley’s car building specifications speak volumes to their potential and led to this remarkable opportunity for both the Driving Ambition team and the World Challenge series. Look for this sleek mid-engine Ferrari beater on the World Challenge grid in October.
For more information on the Driving Ambition team, please visit their website at: http://www.drivingambition.us/ .
GOLD RIVER, CA (September 28, 2009) The Driving Ambition team of driver Kip Olson and builder/mechanic Shad Huntley announced today that they will enter the first Acura NSX in the World Challenge GT series since PD Cunningham successfully campaigned the rare NSX in 2001. The Driving Ambition team and the #49 car will make their debut at the ALMS race weekend at the Laguna Seca Raceway on October 9-11, 2009.
Besides the age of the 1991 Acura NSX, the remarkable storyline about the Driving Ambition team is that they were rookies in the San Francisco Region of SCCA this year, challenging teams with much more horsepower and many more years of experience….and winning the Super Production (SP) class. Arguably the most consistent team on the SP grid, virtually the only points lost were due to mechanical problems on this 18 year old one of a kind turbo charged Acura. It should also be noted that Olson has shown consistent and remarkable speed with only a couple of years of kart competition several years ago. While several years of track day driving have developed some really “great hands,” he’s been a very quick study learning the fine art of racecraft in this very first year of serious racing.
"I know that we’re taking on a mighty formidable challenge," said Olson, a 44-year-old excavation contractor of Sacramento, CA, and we can’t really blame the WC regulars if they will be skeptical of our ability to be competitive. I’m ambitious, but not stupid and wouldn’t even consider it if Shad didn’t have the race engineering and car builder experience, a top notch race shop and most importantly, racing in his blood. He’s been building cars for me for over 7 years and he’s my racing brother.”
Joining Kip in the adventure is Shad Huntley, formerly Comptech’s guru for Honda and Acura performance parts. Prior to that, he worked on the IMSA Camel Lights Spice NSX and the Brix-Comptech Indy Car, both piloted by the legendary Parker Johnstone. Shad was the youngest IndyCar Chief Mechanic ever and, in 1997 was named Chief Mechanic of the Year while heading the Carl Hogan team with driver Dario Franchitti. “We made history with the number 49 on both the Spice car and the prototype Honda powered IndyCar, and we intend to make history with #49 on this optimized performance road car. What started out as an experiment in fun with Kip has quietly become a serious obsession with speed and handling.”
SCCA World Challenge officials understandably took a long hard look at this rookie team’s request to compete against world class pro drivers and equipment in the GT class. But Olson’s lap times and Huntley’s car building specifications speak volumes to their potential and led to this remarkable opportunity for both the Driving Ambition team and the World Challenge series. Look for this sleek mid-engine Ferrari beater on the World Challenge grid in October.
For more information on the Driving Ambition team, please visit their website at: http://www.drivingambition.us/ .
