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K&N's Stephanie Herbage Earns 4 out of 7 Podiums at Perris Speedway

14 oct 2011

"Honestly, just being on the podium once would have made me happy. But the fact that out of seven races, I've been on the podium four times, it just gives me this great sense of accomplishment," Stephanie told K&N Race News. "Not only for me and my driving, but for my family who has put blood, sweat, and tears into this car. It gives me so much more confidence knowing that I can race with, and even beat, the vets."

Stephanie was all smiles after her third place finish and second podium back in July at Perris Auto Speedway.

The 19-year-old Moreno Valley, California teenager began racing American Factory Stock cars in 2010, less than a year ago. She immediately lit up on the competition's radar and delighted fans at her home track, Perris Auto Speedway, earning the nickname "Super-Steffie." In her last visit to Perris, Stephanie inked her second win and her fourth podium for the season. She finished her heat race in second place, which positioned her in front for the start of feature race, and she took full advantage of that by jumping out to the lead and then holding it for the entire 25-lap race. A highly competitive race that included five restarts following yellow or red flag stops.

"During the restarts, I wouldn't pay any attention to whoever was next to me. I knew what I had to do, what line I was going to take, and when that green flag dropped, it was go time," said Stephanie.

"Four different cars tried to pass her at both ends of the track, but they could only get next to her, and then she would pull away from them exiting the corner," said Marti, Stephanie's mom. "Once she was on the inside line, she held it, and wouldn't give it up. She kept her cool and her car 'Black Betty' (named after song by Ram Jam ) was taking her for an E-ticket ride. We finally had the car set up to her liking and it didn't fail her."

The K&N sponsored driver currently holds the number two spot in the points chase, a meager few points behind the leader. "This championship race is going to be just that - a race for the championship," adds Stephanie.

Dan, Stephanie's dad, plays a major role in keeping the Herbage Family Flying Circus Team rolling as car owner and chief mechanic. "In the first race of the year she was driving a car in which she'd only had two laps of racing," explained Dan. "Although she was placed in the back of the field, because we were unable to get the car to run for the heat race, she was on the pole position for the start of the main event, because they reversed the field. She was able hold the lead in that race for the full 25-laps as well."

"In her third race, where she earned her second podium, she led most of the race, but went a little wide in a turn, allowing the number 11 car to stick a fender under her and move her to the outside. He and another car took advantage of this and they got past her and she finished third. Her third podium, earned in her fourth race, was a second place finish. In that race she started on the outside of row one, and the winner got the inside line. She followed him closely, but was only able to finish right behind him. After her rookie year of finishing no higher than fourth place, the new car has now given her the confidence that she can put the car where she wants, and it will go there."

October 29th will be the last race of the 2011 season for Stephanie and she will definitely be on the track again next season, but whether she'll race Factory Stock, or move up to Street Stock, has yet to be decided.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Upgrade Your Diesel Bus with a Washable K&N Heavy Duty Commercial Grade Air Filter

13 oct 2011

Heavy Duty Commercial Grade Diesel Air Filter

For decades, K&N has protected your cars, trucks, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. Now K&N offers the same outstanding protection and performance for vehicles with larger commercial and recreational diesel engines. After testing many materials K&N engineers developed a non-oiled hybrid air filter material that has low restriction and outstanding filtration for large diesel engines. K&N's 38-2008S Heavy Duty air filter uses this washable and reusable material. This air filter is capable of providing both excellent filtration and higher airflow than your standard disposable replacement air filter and it comes with a 3 year or 300,000 mile limited warranty. Cleaning K&N Heavy Duty Air Filters is quick and easy.

Dino Marutsos, a product manager for K&N reported that many testing styles were used in the development of the 38-2008S, with the outcome being a complete molded urethane part. "The axial seal of this filter works as its own molded in gasket," said Marutsos. This design allows for the 38-2008S filter to be used as one complete unit without the needs for glue or separate gaskets. The 38-2008S also uses a handle top to assist in the quick installation.

This filter fits a variety of vehicles including some MCI (Motor Coach Industries) Buses, Prevost Buses, diesel RVs and even some of the big Greyhound Buses you see going down the highway. The best method of determining the correct K&N heavy duty air filter for your needs is to use our air filter cross reference search. The 38-2008S is a cross reference to the disposable air filter parts listed below:

Manufacturer Part Number
Baldwin PA2839
Carquest 88623
Coach Guard T121009
Donaldson EAF5065
Donaldson P185065
Donaldson P522874
Fleetguard AF25668
Flxible 97342400210
Fram CA7113
Hastings AF2125
Luber-Finer LAF1839
MCI 9G337
Napa 6623
Nelson 70337A
Nelson 70337N
Prevost 530197
Purolator A66035
TCM 9G337
Universal Coach T121009
WIX 46623

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

El Gato Racing's Ernie Serfas Dominates in Lucerne and Leads M.O.R.E. 1450 Championship

10 oct 2011

The K&N sponsored No.1491 Ranger had a 20 minutes lead over second place.

If we've learned anything about El Gato Racing's team owner, Carl Walters, it's that he's a dedicated minimalist when it comes to small-talk and interviews. His team follows that lead, opting rather to conserve their energy for knocking the stuffing out their competition. This time around it was Ernie Serfas dominating a 200 mile race in the desert of Lucerne, California in his No. 1491 Ford Ranger.

The win in Lucerne puts El Gato Racingâ€™s Ernie Serfas into a solid lead for the 2011 M.O.R.E. 1450 championship.

"This race was virtually un-remarkable and maintenance-free with Ernie in command from the start," Carl told K&N Race News. "He had 20 minutes on second place at the end. That's when Shawn (Walters) pointed out that he only had one front tire (broken axle). Good thing Ernie cruised the last lap."

Serfas was in fact able to cruise at about 80 percent while the competition faltered with breakdowns. It was only after the race that the broken axle was discovered by the El Gato crew. "Ernie recalls a particularly difficult section of the wash that probably was the culprit," says Carl.

The high-flying Serfas has been with El Gato Racing for five years.

The win puts No.1491 solidly in the lead for the M.O.R.E.1450 championship. "Show up for the final race and take home the trophy." El Gato Racing is homed in Big Bear Lake, California, and they run two trucks in the 1450 Sportsman Class, the 1491 Ranger and No. 1469 (yellow full-size Chevy with the taxi topper).

The No.1491 will be laid up and prepped for a class change to the 1400 (four-link) division for the 2012 season.

Living in the high mountains of Big Bear Lake presents its host of challenges, "We were unable to race this last weekend. Friday things went downhill fast," explained Carl. "Both race trucks were prepped and ready, but we lost both tow vehicles last minute. Living in Big Bear requires heavy duty equipment."

El Gato will continue to race in 2012, but No.1491 will be laid up and prepped for a class change to the 1400 (four-link) division. "More than likely the No.1469 truck will return under the guidance of the Ferris Brothers of the high desert.

Carl's son, Shawn Walters, the 2007 and 2008 back-to-back M.O.R.E. 1450 champion will assist in driving the No.1469 with A.J., as well as competing short course in the Lucas Oil events at Glen Helen in No.1419 (yellow four-link Ranger). "Should be a great year if the economy will allow it," adds Carl.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

K&N's Tommy Phillips Defends Event Super Gas Title at NHRA Dallas National

10 oct 2011

Tommy Phillips won Super Gas at the 26th annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals held at Texas Motorplex

Always a force to be reckoned with, no matter what the class or event, Tommy Phillips of Forney, Texas, showed his pure class domination to make it back-to-back Super Gas victories and successfully defend his event title during the 26th annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals held at Texas Motorplex, in Ennis, Texas.

Tommy Phillips' Super Gas Tigerflow/K&N 1957 Corvette Roadster

Things started off very well for Phillips right from the start, when he made very good passes during the Super Gas time runs in his Tigerflow/K&N 1957 Corvette Roadster. "It just went out there and made three pretty flawless runs," he said. "All three runs we had good reaction times, everything made sense. But that car is like that. That's the car in the camp that you just don't worry about. That's the car, that when it does something wrong you're like 'Whoa, holy smokes', because you just aren't ready for it. It's just that good of a car."

"The Dallas race was no exception," Phillips continued. "It certainly had some drastic weather and wind conditions over that four day span and about as much as eleven or twelve hundredths difference in ET, as far as the weather and thing [Corvette Roadster] didn't miss more than a hundredth on any run."

Phillips made it safely past J. Richey in round one, only to set himself up for a second round match up, that had him just a little concerned. "James [Carter] is a very good friend of mine and lives in the same hometown as I do," he explained. "Honestly, I was pretty worried about that race, even though James is fairly new to our sport, he's only been doing it a couple of years now. But there is a problem with that, both of his cars I kinda set-up and get him going. So, I'm knowing that his car's pretty good and for whatever reason, he's been driving really well the last month or so."

Always doing his homework before each round, Phillips was quite aware of Carter's time runs and first round time slip. "I just didn't see him going above 9.90 [class index] and felt there was a pretty good chance that he was going to either be double-oh or even red on the tree," he continued. "So I left the delay alone in the box, because I didn't think the light was going to be as important as the dial. Luckily for me, he did redlight but sure enough he went 9.879. So I kinda had that round pegged pretty good really."

Phillips next victim was Ryan Baudoin. Both drivers were excellent off the line and Phillips was also deadly at the top end of the track when posted a 9.904, for a six thousandths of a second package and shutout Baudoin to move on to round four.

"I know him very well, too," said Phillips of Baudoin. "He's the guy that I don't like to race because that was the sixth time in a row that I had beat him and he's a good driver. You combine that with the fact that you've beat a guy five times in a row and you just don't like it. The odds are, sooner or later, that's going to catch up with you. I did not like that matchup at all, so I was pretty aggressive."

For round four, Phillips would find John Salter in the opposite lane and they were glued together nearly as much at the hit, as they were at the stripe. Just one thousandth of a second reaction time advantage for Phillips, turned into a tight twelve inches or four thousandths margin of victory for his K&N Corvette at the finish line.

"Normally, I would not be trying to make it that tight on a ninety-four run," confessed Phillips. "However, there were a couple of things factoring into that. I had a preconceived idea of how slow I thought it was and it was about eight or nine hundredths slower than our last run. I watched Jimmy Lewis make his bye run in front of me. We work together a little bit and I knew what he should have run and he was considerably slower. So I guarded against going slow in my car, but it was right where it should have been. I was actually going quite a bit faster than I would have been, had Jimmy not made that bye run in front of me. I was more guarded going down the racetrack thinking that I could be going an eighty-one or something and then not know it. So, I went with my basic instinct at that point, which is just get to the finish line first by as little as we possibly can."

Round five became a "two-for-one" for Phillips as he used his slight .003 starting line advantage over Val Torres Jr. and forced him into a fairly large under the index breakout, to not only win the round but earn the bye into the final.

Always a planner, how Phillips expected the Super Gas final round match up with Jay Peppler to play out was quite different. "He had been slow two rounds in a row and he's not ever won a national," explained Phillips. "I fully expected that I would drop to a 9.90 to a 9.91 and he would be going a 9.87 or 9.88. Because you know, it's a national event final, the race track is great. It's been completely scraped and they have drug it and sprayed it. You know you are going to pick up in the sixty [foot], which I did. I just didn't think he would catch all that, since he's not used to running in the late rounds on Sunday."

"He did let out of it, but I think he was only going about 9.95," he added. "My car did pretty much what I expected it to do. One more time, just for grins, I missed the tree again."

Phillips may not have had the best reaction time of the pair, but he did have his car much closer to the dial. Knowing where he was on the track, allowed him to so very easily take the stripe and feel comfortable that he was way over the index. The calculated down track decision put Phillips and his K&N Corvette Roadster into the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals Super Gas winner's circle for the second consecutive year.

With three NHRA National Event wins and seven total victories for Phillips during the 2011 season, including sitting number one in NHRA Division 4 points in both Super Comp and Super Gas, he knows that a lot of his level of achievement can be attributed to the products he not only uses, but firmly stands by.

"K&N has such a fantastic product line not only for us racers, but for everyone to use on their vehicles," Phillips noted. "With what it takes to compete successfully at this level, or really any level of motorsports, you cannot risk one weak link in your operation. K&N products have always provided the level of protection that we need and come to expect from them. They are unsurpassed by anyone, anywhere. Oil filters, air filters, absolutely everything they put their mark on, K&N should be everyone's first choice."

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

Sergio Pena Won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race at Greenville Pickens Speedway

10 oct 2011

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East racer Sergio Peña wins at Greenville Pickens Speedway

Sergio Peña might have found a new home on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Peña won the K&N Pro Series East race at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on Sept. 10, his first win outside of his home state of Virginia. It was the third K&N Pro Series East win of the season for Peña. His previous two wins came at South Boston Speedway and Langley Speedway in Virginia.

This was Sergio Peña's fourth top-five finish of the season and his seventh top-10 finish in 10 races.

The last 97 laps of the race were caution free. There were only three cautions periods in the Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150, the last coming on lap 43. Only 10 cars finished on the lead lap.

"I didn't expect it to go caution free for so long," Peña said. "I was really expecting there to be cautions, but there wasn't. Finally won outside of Virginia, which is pretty cool. This is awesome."

Peña qualified second and passed pole winner Corey Lajoie on lap 58. Lajoie, who led the first 57 laps of the race, dropped out of contention quickly and finished in 13th place. Brett Moffitt finished second and said the last 100 laps of the race had some intense moments.

Sergio Peña took the lead at lap 58 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina

"We definitely had a good car compared to where we ended practice," Moffitt said. "It was a long green-flag run there. It was getting crazy trying to hold on to the cars. The 4 car (Peña) was so far ahead. They were in their own league. They definitely earned it."

Rookie Chase Elliott was third and posted his third top-five finish in the first 10 races of the season.

"I had a pretty good car," Elliott said, "but it definitely could have been better."

Rookie Alex Bowman was fourth, followed by Max Gresham in fifth.

For Peña, it was his fourth top-five finish of the season and his seventh top-10 finish in 10 races.

Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.

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