"RACER SUPPORT PROGRAM 2010

Nissan Motorsports is pleased to announce that the Contingency Award and Racer Support Program is returning for 2010. Performance awards have been added to the 2010 program and the details will be finalized shortly."

I'll post more when the details become available. But this is good news and offers more than a glimmer of hope that Nissan's North American racing heritage will be recognized and preserved.

Better news just released from SCCA:

ANGLETON, Texas (Feb. 22, 2010) – Brass Monkey Racing has announced plans to campaign a pair of Nissan GT-R cars in the 2010 World Challenge GT Championship with the support of Nissan North America, Inc.

The announcement signals a renewed interest for Nissan, which last participated in World Challenge with a Touring Car effort in 2005. The twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive Nissan GT-R racecars are currently under construction at Brass Monkey Racing’s Texas-based race shop and will make their North American debut March 26-28, in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the hands of two-time series race winner Tony Rivera, of Missouri City, Texas, and rookie Steve Ott, of Houston.

“We’re very excited to bring such an iconic car to the North American professional road racing scene,” Brass Monkey Racing Team Owner A.J. Brass said. “After such a successful season in 2009, finishing third in the Championship and winning in our very first race, we look forward to the challenge of bringing an entirely new platform to World Challenge. With Nissan’s assistance and great engineering and driving, we expect to contend for the 2010 Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.”

“Nissan is very excited about the new Brass Monkey project,” Nissan North America Senior Manager - Motorsports, Wholesale and Collision Parts Growth Ron Stukenberg said. “This series aligns well with the performance of the GT-R and compliments the production attributes of the car. It’s great to have a Nissan compete in World Challenge after a brief hiatus. We look forward to having Tony and Steve at the front of the field in 2010.”

Brass noted that despite a compressed timeline to finish the new cars, they benefit from an already solid platform with the GT-R.

“Many of the cars in the series have serious modifications to the engines and drivelines from the stock vehicles,” Brass said. “The beauty of the GT-R is that it is an amazing platform to start with and we are able to utilize all of the stock internal components and drivetrain. With the exception of some of the approved series aerodynamic items and an effort to bring the car down to a competitive weight, the car will remain incredibly stock compared to most of our competition.”

Brass Monkey Racing was formed in 2009 with the support of Tax Masters. Its rookie season was a tremendous success, with Rivera, a relative unknown in professional racing, winning in the team’s very first attempt at Sebring in the team’s Porsche 911 GT3. He went on to win at Road America later in the season, finishing third in the Championship standings.

“I couldn’t be more excited about the 2010 season,” Rivera said. “I anticipate the Brass Monkey Nissans will become the most popular cars in the paddock because there is such an unbelievable following worldwide for the GT-R. My first racecar was a Showroom Stock B Nissan NX 2000, so it’s cool to be back in a Nissan - even though this one will be quite a bit different!”

Ott previously raced with Rivera with Brass Mitchell Racing, which later evolved into Brass Monkey Racing, in the 2008 Koni Challenge. Like Rivera, his roots are in SCCA Club Racing, where he finished on the podium at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Running a partial season in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Championship, he scored good results with Newman Wachs Racing.

“I’ve always wanted to run World Challenge because of the single-driver format and amazing cars,” Ott said. “To have an opportunity to be a part of the Brass Monkey Nissan team is incredible and I can’t wait to begin testing for St. Petersburg.”

Brass Monkey Racing and its Nissan GT-R World Challenge effort will have support from Nissan, Tax Masters, Stoptech, Penske Shocks South Side Performance and Seibon Carbon. For more information about Brass Monkey Racing, please visit http://www.brassmonkeyracing.com.

Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing and managed by WC Vision, the World Challenge Championships represent the best production-based racing in the world. Utilizing a single driver format and standing starts for the 50-minute races, the series offers non-stop action in each of its three categories—GT, GTS and Touring Car. The series features 12 races at eight different venues in 2010, starting with a doubleheader weekend at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in conjunction with the Indy Racing League, March 26-28. For more information, visit http://www.world-challenge.com.

Dunno.....I'm pretty disappointed in NNA for the HLM fiasco (granted, they were given the base vehicles). What a waste of time and machinery for <1 race

audtatious wrote:Dunno.....I'm pretty disappointed in NNA for the HLM fiasco (granted, they were given the base vehicles). What a waste of time and machinery for <1 race

Actually, HLM is where credit for the fiasco lies. NNA looked at their proposal and decided they were a legitimate racing effort. Outside of that, it's the team's responsibility to get out and race. BTW- I'm hearing rumors that HLM has sold the cars to someone else. Those G35s may yet see the light of a (racing) day yet!

It's a bit like the 350Z Grand Am efforts--and I can't get any comment out of those guys. They've been trying to sell one car and a spare shell for so long that I don't know if they are done or not...

Also, details of the 2010 Nissan Motorsports Contingency Program have been released and I thought I'd revisit that here. The new program covers SCCA National and World Challenge racing, Redline Time Attack, Pro off-road truck racing and Formula Drift events. These are usually competitions that take a high degree of committment to compete in and most of monetary awards (ranging from $100 to $1,500) are primarily for Divisional or National Championships. In other words, you'll need to race in many events to gain the points needed and spend thousands in testing and development to be in a position to win. Unfortunately, this grassroots program offers nothing for Solo2, Rally or RallyCross competitors.

You need to register with Nissan Motorsports, put the supplied 'NISSAN' decals on the car, submit a W-2 and claim forms to collect any of the contingency money. Further details are available, just let me know if anyone is interested in this program and I'll answer any questions I can from the viewpoint of a participant.

dmuramoto wrote:

audtatious wrote:Dunno.....I'm pretty disappointed in NNA for the HLM fiasco (granted, they were given the base vehicles). What a waste of time and machinery for <1 race

Actually, HLM is where credit for the fiasco lies. NNA looked at their proposal and decided they were a legitimate racing effort. Outside of that, it's the team's responsibility to get out and race. BTW- I'm hearing rumors that HLM has sold the cars to someone else. Those G35s may yet see the light of a (racing) day yet!

It's a bit like the 350Z Grand Am efforts--and I can't get any comment out of those guys. They've been trying to sell one car and a spare shell for so long that I don't know if they are done or not...

From my understanding is that NNA/whomever had pledged some funding for the season which was wiped out when Nissan pulled almost all sponsorships (from my recollection). I was not trying to infer that they had no support at all. Compared to other manufactures it seems Nissan is limited in their racing participation other than some GT-R teams and offroad.

Would be good to see the HLM cars run. I think Crawford/Menards/whoever and such had determined what the bugs were in the motor during the Daytona race so hopefully they will be out somewhere kicking butt in the future. Do you expect they will be reskinned as G37's?