When Ron August Jr. and the Lescure Company Top Alcohol Funny Car team entered their 2008 Ford Mustang bodied Funny Car for the 50^th running of the NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals held in Pomona, Calif., their intention was to compete side-by-side with some of the best TAFC teams in drag racing. After a round one exit on Saturday afternoon, the Pleasanton, Calif. based team realizes their quest to regain the performance this car once had will take patience and time.

The team hit Auto Club Raceway Thursday with a renewed attitude, new parts and even a new team member. Legendary Alcohol Funny Car tuner Les Davenport joined the Lescure – August Motorsports team as a tuning consultant, hoping to find whatever gremlins have been plaguing the once competitive flopper. Davenport told team driver Ron August Jr. to make his first pass down the quarter mile just like he had at the end of last season. August was inclined to listen to his request.

“I told Les, ‘we’ll do our best. I’m not sure if we can repeat our pathetic efforts from last season, but we’ll give it our best attempt,” August said with a chuckle. A 5.788 second elapsed time was the end result. The run served as a base-line in which Davenport could use to work his tuning magic. “Les changed a few things with the timing and fuel and when we’d fire it up in the pits, it seemed like the engine was humming well. But once we hit the track, the car kept popping and banging, slipping and sliding just like it did last season. It’s like there is a switch in the body of the car which we flip to the off position. It’s very frustrating, but I think Les found some things with this car.”

The Lescure Company Inc. TAFC team ended up qualifying for the 16-car field in the 12^th position, which set up a round one race with fellow NHRA Division 7 racer Doug Gordon, the TAFC winner last season in Seattle. Both drivers were on their game, recording conservative 0.05 second reaction times, however the MB Cabinets TAFC of Doug Gordon ran hot, straight and normal; recording a solid 5.590 second elapsed time to take the round one win. The August driven flopper on the other hand shook, rattled and rolled to a disappointing 8.011 second effort.

“We love to race and we are all very fortunate to have such a hobby,” noted August. “But we also are hard working guys who love to compete. At this time, the car is just not ready to compete with the best out there. But, I’m confident Les found some things he can work with for our next race. We’re going to take some time off the track to focus on working and building our top fuel team. We’ll be back for the Las Vegas National Event in April. And I’m sure we’ll be dealt back in the game.”

For more information about Lescure Company, please visit their website at lescurecompany.com

Pomona, Calif. – The CRX team of NHRA Sportsman racers had a very educational first day in the 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as the 50^th Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals kicked off its first day of qualifying at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

31-time NHRA National Event Champion Tony Bartone, drove the Rick Jackson Racing Centre Pointe Collision Center / FireIce.com Top Alcohol Funny Car to the provisional pole position today, after recording a solid 5.570 second elapsed time during the first qualifying session of the new season. The run was a welcome surprise to team owner Rick Jackson.

“That’s more like it,” stated the very happy team owner of the Santa Clarita, Calif. based TAFC team. “Last season we hit some out of the park and also stuck out a bunch too. We need to ensure we can run these numbers all weekend, because the rest of the hitters out here will get their cars tuned to this quick Pomona track. The run was a good start, but we are a long way from our goal for this weekend.”

One of those hitters could very well be the Lescure Company (www.lescurecompany.com) sponsored Ron August Jr. driven Ford Mustang TAFC, which produced a conservative 5.78 second elapsed time in Q-1 earlier today. According to August however, the run was anything but spectacular.

Bartone's 5.570 second run in Pomona gave him the pole position

“Les (crew chief Davenport) told us to do exactly what we did last season so he could get a baseline in which to tune our car for the rest of the weekend,” noted August who lives in Pleasanton, Calif. “I told him ‘Well, I don’t know if we can purposely run like S%#t, but we’ll do the best we can’. Last year this car was plagued with a tune up which produced performance we are simply not accustomed to. That’s why we brought Les on board to help us get back to basics. But, the car did get down the track and Les is the man. I’m sure we’ll get the Lescure Company Inc. TAFC car solidly in the field before Saturday’s first round.”

A/Fuel Dragster driver, Johnny Ahten, CRX’s lone representative in the sportsman categories quickest category, Top Alcohol Dragster, ran a sub-par 5.656 second elapsed time at only 222 mph in his first run of the new season. For the fire fighter specialist, who recently moved to his new home in Santa Clarita, Calif., the afternoon’s pass was far less than he expects out of his Lucas Oil / Island Renovations A/Fuel car.

“We missed on the compression ratio a tad on the first pass of the day,” noted Ahten. “The car launched pretty well, had a good 60 foot time, but dropped a cylinder about 330 feet down track. I kept my foot in it and it just kept dropping cylinders. We ran 222 mph with 5 holes out. Luckily we did not damage any parts. We’ll fix the problem and head out tomorrow for we hope will be a much more productive session.”

Tony Bartone, Ron August Jr. and Johnny Ahten will conclude their qualifying efforts tomorrow in Pomona with two sessions scheduled. You can keep up to date with the performance of the CRX Family of drivers with instant results posted from each team on the CRX facebook page and a full recap at crxpromotions.com.

You can also log on to dragracecentral.com for up to the minute detailed race results.

For the newly formed Lescure – August Motorsports team, lessons learned in a decade of racing in the Top Alcohol Funny Car division will pay dividends as they plan to make their NHRA Top Fuel Dragster debut at their home track, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. during the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals, July 2010.

The partnership between Mike Lescure, President of the Lescure Company Inc., the San Francisco bay area’s leading provider of plumbing and heating services and NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Fuel driver Ron August Jr., began thirty years ago through a business partnership between the Lescure and August families. The relationship eventually matured and turned into a primary sponsorship for Augusts’ very competitive TAFC which has produced several NHRA National and Divisional event victories in the past decade. Over the years, the two business partners have become the best of friends who now have one goal in mind; moving towards Top Fuel competition.

“We began to explore the possibilities of a Top Fuel Dragster team shortly after the 2009 season ended in Pomona, Calif.,” noted Lescure. “Last year we got our feet wet in Top Fuel when Ron earned his Top Fuel Dragster competition license with the assistance of Mike Strasberg and Mitch King. It has always been our goal to have our own Top Fuel team and we feel the time is right for us to turn our vision into reality.”

As Lescure stated, the hope of racing in Top Fuel will become a reality in 2010. And for team driver Ron August Jr., the opportunity to drive in Top Fuel under the Lescure-August Motorsports banner is a distinguished honor. “Driving last year for Mitch King and Paul Smith gave me some quality seat time and we are very thankful for their help,” stated August Jr. “But, I’ve always been an on hands kind of guy. With this new team my dad and I will be maintaining this car. We’re going to do everything we can in house. We are experienced plumbing and mechanical contractors and are not afraid to get our hands dirty.”

While the team works towards building their new Top Fuel team, they will race their Top Alcohol Funny Car in the extremely competitive NHRA Division 7, kicking off their 2010 campaign at the season opening Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals Feb 11^th-14^th. The Ron August Jr. driven Lescure Co. TAFC team has retained the services of legendary Blown Alcohol tuner Les Davenport who will help the car return to the successful form the team expects. “We’re ecstatic to have Les come and help us out for the beginning of the season,” noted August Jr. “He is one of the best tuners out there and we feel he can help us return to the level of success we are accustomed.”

To learn more about Lescure Company and the services they provide, please visit their new website.

Pomona, Calif. – It’s been said, “When you strike out at bat, make sure you go down swinging.” This could be the phrase which best describes the experience Pleasanton, Calif. contractor Ron August Jr.’s 2009 NHRA Auto Club World Finals experience. The rookie Top Fuel Driver of Mitch King’s rail and veteran Top Alcohol Funny Car pilot entered the final qualifying sessions on the outside looking in both Lescure Co. sponsored entries.

On Friday evening, August staged his Mustang Alky flopper knowing he’d have to eclipse the very difficult 5.75 second elapsed time bump spot. As he slammed the throttle down to the floor, he knew the car was ‘on a run’. The car drove the first 60-feet of Auto Club Raceway in Pomona in 0.965 seconds, which was the quickest incremental the car had all season. However, the magical run was short lived as a catastrophic rear end failure caused the car to lose power. The mechanical issues caused a shower of sparks, fire and debris to trail the car as he limped down the quarter mile track.

“That car was flat out hauling the mail,” noted August. “When I hit the top of first gear I knew it was on a pass, but then “POW” the rear end exploded and our weekend in that car was done. Its honesty the worst feeling I’ve had in a long time in this sport as we know this car is capable of so much better performance. Yet we found what the car was looking for in the performance department, so we should be good to go next year. I’d really like to apologize to Tony Bartone and Brian Thiel who were the next cars out behind us, as well to the NHRA Safety Safari. The rear end failure caused a lot of junk on the track. That’s not our game.”

Then August strapped into Mitch King’s Lescure Co. sponsored Top Fuel Dragster for his final attempted to crack a very difficult 16-car field. August launched the car at night, with header flames lighting up the So Calif. sky. About 100 foot out he had to pedal the throttle as he noticed the car beginning to lose traction. The car instantly hooked up and the car’s front end began to climb sky high, until the wheelie bars and Augusts’ quick reacting driving brought the car down to earth. “That was one of the hairiest runs I’ve ever had,” said August. “The track was very tight and when I peddled it, all I saw were stars and black sky. I’m thankful to Mike Lescure for giving me an opportunity to live the dream in Top Fuel. He’s been a great supported of mine though the years and I feel bad we were not able to get these cars in the show.”

August is not completely certain what his plans are for the 2010 NHRA campaign; however he wanted to extend his sincere gratitude to his friends, fans and especially his family for the support they have shown him this season. “All in all, it’s been a very good year for the August family. I’m blessed to have a great support group and I am looking forward to whatever our future holds.”

NHRA Auto Club World Finals Preview

Pomona, Calif. – “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame…Let’s Play Two,” was the catch phrase of legendary baseball player Ernie Banks. Second generation drag racer, Ron August Jr. will take this to heart this weekend at the NHRA Auto Club World Finals held at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. He will compete in both Mitch King’s Top Fuel Dragster and his families Ford Mustang bodied Top Alcohol Funny Car. Both entries will once again fly the colors of his long time sponsor, The Lesecure Co.

“To be completely honest, this weekend is all about having fun for us,” noted the Pleasanton, Calif. based driver. “On Friday, we will be celebrating my father’s 70th birthday and I’d love nothing more than to give him a great birthday present by putting both Lesecure Co. cars in the field. We know it’ll be very difficult but I think we have a punchers chance.”

Last week at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held in Las Vegas, the family TAFC did not qualify for the tough eight car field. However, August admits they are perplexed by the sluggish performance of their normally quick and consistent race car. “We’ve stared at the computer data for days now and we just couldn’t figure out why this thing is running like a pig. Maybe some cool California air is what this car is starving for. No matter what, we’ll give it our best with the Flopper,” said August.

August also is competing in his third NHRA National Event in the Top Fuel Dragster category driving one of Mitch King’s Top Fuel Dragsters, tuned once again by Paul Smith. “This is a brand new car and I think we are starting to iron out the bugs. We know Paul has the tune up to crack the field and I’m starting to get the hang of driving this car. It’s very different than driving the Funny Car. But, like I said earlier, we are out here to have fun and hopefully give this great team some good run data.”

The weekend will be a busy one for August, as he plans to make a total of seven qualifying attempts combined with both cars. The Top Alcohol Funny Car will hit the famous ‘Parker Avenue’ quarter mile first on Thursday at noon. He will then jump into King’s Top Fuel Dragster to compete at the 1000 foot distance a few hours later. Fans and friends of August can log onto http://www.crxpromotions.com for updates and results from the track.

You can also follow the Ahten Racing team with up to the minute results posted on http://www.dragracecentral.com

Las Vegas, Nev. – Second generation drag racer, Ron August Jr. and the Lesecure Co sponsored Top Alcohol Funny Car team are planning to get back on track this weekend during the running of NHRA Division 7’s final Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event of 2009, which will be held on ‘The Strip’ at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For August, last weekend’s subpar performance at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals should prove to be a good stepping stone to produce better results.

“We really did not do well with our normally quick and consistent TAFC last weekend,” noted August who also drove Mitch King’s Top Fuel Dragster at the NHRA National event. “After our second qualifying attempt, we discovered one of the inner liners from our tires were stretched out which caused the car to dance around the track, quite unsafely. By the time we got the problem fixed, we were a bit behind the old eight ball and just barely missed qualifying in a very tough 16-car field. We have the issue fixed now and we believe the Lesecure Co TAFC will run hot, straight and normal this weekend.

August, who runs his family’s HVAC business in Pleasanton, Calif. during the week, knows his team will have to be on top of their game if they plan to be around for final elimination to be held on Sunday afternoon. “This final D-7 race is always the toughest of the year to win,” August said. “All the heavy hitters from darn near every single division will be on hand to try to claim important LODRS points. We’ve done very well in years past at this track and this particular event so we’ll pony up our Mustang Funny Car and see what we can produce.”

August was the winner of the 2006 NHRA Summit Racing Nationals in the tough Division 7 Top Alcohol Funny Car category held at this very track. And with weather conditions which should produce exceptional on track performance, the Ron August Motorsports team will be aiming for a vast improvement over last weekend effort.

The Top Alcohol Funny Car division will hit “The Strip” with a single qualifying session scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday. They will have two sessions on Saturday, one at noon and again at 2 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled to commence on Sunday at high noon. For more information about this weekend’s festivities at LVMS please visit their website at http://www.lvms.com.

You can also follow the performance of Ron August Jr. during the weekend with up to the minute race results posted on http://www.dragracecentral.com