Steeda News Release - On Track

This past weekend Team Steeda Racing dominated the Homestead Speedway in Miami, Florida. Dario Orlando and Co-Driver, Glen Vitale, led the way from flag to flag in the Red #20 Q400-R Mustang for the Citrus Enduro Series Race.Dario also ran the featured thirty-minute race and two other races from flag to flag. Team Steeda Racing is comprised of two road racecars, the Red #20 Q400-R Mustang and the Yellow #22 Focus ZX3. Drivers Dario Orlando, Glen Vitale, Dan Carlson and Frank Stoddard are backed up by Crew Chief Steve Chichisola and crew Eric Ramson and Gus Irizarry. This Race Team is the Steeda proving grounds. All drivers and crew are Steeda employees and they have found this "no-frills" team to be one of the best research and development programs ever. They're developing and testing the parts that Steeda builds and sells! (Not to mention they have fun doing it too!) The latest addition to the Q400-R is the X2 balljoint. The Focus ZX3's caster camber adjusters and new prototype race style rear sway bar were put to the test during the weekend.

Team Steeda's 20 car dominated all four races at the Homestead Speedway with Flag to Flag finishes. In the 20 car Glen Vitale capturedthe pole position for the hour and a half Enduro by turning the fastest lap time for the weekend, a 1:40.7. Starting at pole position Dario took his turn behind the wheel first for the one and a half hour race. He quickly left the pack behind and set the pace for the rest of the day. With temperatures rising into the 90's and well over 125 º trackside a driver change was necessary after just thirty-five minutes into the race. This early change almost spelled disaster for the team. Glen Vitale took the track and kept the hard turning pace that Dario had set earlier. With sixteen minutes left in the race the team still held first place,but due to the heat Glen's body was giving out. He called the pits and said he was coming in. He needed water and he couldn't see through the sweat in his eyes anymore. Glen believed that this second pit stop cost them their first place spot but there was nothing else he could do. He hit the pits and downed as much water as he could in a few seconds and was doused with the rest by Crew Chief Steve, then slammed himself back onto the track. The car and the driver where both running strong for awhile but the heat hit Glen hard and almost took him out of the race. But Glen pushed on trying to make up for the lost time the second pit stop had cost him. If that wasn't enough, in final minutes of the race the 20 car started to burble -- the first early pit stop was coming back to haunt the team. Only seven gallons of fuel had made it into the car instead of the fifteen that was meant to -- were they where running out of gas! Glen radioed Crew Chief, Steve Chichisola, and informed him of the gas situation. Steve did some quick calculations and, even with the huge lead, decided to go for it and not do a third pit stop. The right decision had been made and Glen took the checkered a full lap ahead of the second place car.

The weekend for the yellow Focus ZX3 #22 car was not quite as successful. Driver, Dan Carlson,noticed something wrong with the car during qualifying and thought it might be the coil or plug wires. With the help of Frank Stoddard, Eric Ramson and Gus Irizarry, Dan changed the wires but found they did not have a new coil with them. Luckily, Rob Korhonen, Steeda's Graphic Designer, was there covering the race and offered up the coil off his Focus. The team quickly set about transplanting the loaned coil into the racecar. Without any time left to test the car, Dan set off for the enduro. He soon discovered the problem wasn't the coil! During the first laps of the endurance race Dan felt the power slipping out of the car. He started out shifting the car at 6800 rpm's but slowly had to pull back. When he hit 5800 rpm's it was obvious that something was wrong and he needed to get off the track. The car was pulled in and the team went through the car and found that the problem was the fuel pump. With some last minute testing the team determined the car was once again ready to race.

Dan and the Focus Team faired much better on Sunday. Frank Stoddard took the car out in the first race and he was very happy with the way it felt under pressure and gave a big thumbs-up. Dan piloted the car during weekend's 30-minute feature race. Due to the fuel pump problem on Saturday, the team did not qualify well and was starting in 13th position. Suspension was dramatically improved and the 22 car was handling superbly with the prototype Steeda rear sway bar and set of caster camber adjusters. Dan says he was really able to push the Focus deeper into the turns with the improved suspension. The last time they had the car on the track, there had been a little "rubbing and bumping" with another car. Well, this weekend looked to be the same. As Dan came into a corner the same car that had given the 22 car a friendly bump was heading into Dan again. Dan quickly pulled the car hard into the turn bringing two tires over the curb and on to the grass with the other two tires holding the car to the track. The aggressive driving paid off, the car didn't spin into the grass and Dan was able to pass the car in one of the next turns. The yellow Focus finished third in Class and third over all. Everyone at Steeda is happy with the car and truly enjoying their research and development project.

Dario and the 20 car finished a short race Saturday afternoon with a flag to flag victory. The first race on Sunday proved to be a repeat with another flag to flag finish. Crew Chief, Steve Chichisola,was extremely pleased with the cars performance. He had placed Steeda's X2 balljoint on the car prior to the race and it was handling better than ever. It was noted that the X2 balljoint alone took nearly a second off their lap times. In a good-natured jest it was suggested that the 20 car wouldn't do as well if it was starting mid-pack. Up for the challenge Dario decided they would start dead last for the feature race of the weekend. He knew the car could do it and put his driving skills to the test. Rather than charge blindly up the field and risk getting tangled up in the pack, he paced himself. As the cars started to spread out, he made his move. Passing car after car he soon reached the lead position and held it forthe rest of the race. He proved that good driving is about using planning and precision driving, not just HP or position. The red Mustang took the checkered flag closing out the weekend with four wins in four races.