US RaceTronics

Last updated

US RaceTronics (USRT) is an auto racing team based in Buttonwillow, California, that competes in the Atlantic Championship. It was founded by former Dorricott Racing Team Manager Shane Seneviratne. Seneviratne and the Dorricott Racing organization dominated both the Toyota Atlantic and Indy Lights open wheel series. The team won numerous awards and race wins, including series championships in 1999, 2001, and 2002. Dorricott Racing founder Bob Dorricott died of cancer in 2002 [1] and Seneviratne assisted in the liquidation of the team’s assets after the 2003 season.

Contents

Team formation and the 2005 season

At the end of 2004 season, which Seneviratne and Dorricott Racing did not participate in, Seneviratne formed US RaceTronics with the hopes of competing in the 2005 Toyota Atlantic Championship season. Purchasing some of the old Dorricott equipment as well as a Swift 014.a chassis, produced by Swift Engineering Seneviratne set out to enter the team in the 2005 season opening race at Long Beach. After hiring a skeleton crew the team entered its first official race with driver Roby Feazel. Feazell and US RaceTronics finished the race in 13th. Monterrey, Mexico driver David Martinez signed on to drive for US RaceTronics after the team's Long Beach debut for his home race in Monterrey, Mexico. Mexico. [2] Martinez and the team finished 3rd for that race. They went on to complete the season together and finished 5th place in the final Championship standings at the year’s end. Martinez had 10 top-10 finishes, 5 of those were top-3 finishes. He also garnered a pole position award at Montreal. The major sponsor for the 2005 season was Roshfrans.

2006 season

For 2006 the team purchased the new Swift 016.a chassis (2006 was the first year that the Swift 016.a chassis was introduced into the series) and entered their sophomore year with driver David Martinez rejoining the team. Once again Martinez and the team enjoyed success as the 12-race schedule included 10 top-10 finishes, 1 of those was a top-3 finish. Martinez’s race finishing position averaged 6 gained positions. Major sponsors for the 2006 season included Telmex, Sub Hub, and Days Inn Canada.

2007 season

2007 included the expansion of US RaceTronics from a 1-car team to a 2-car operation. American Carl Skerlong and Mexican driver David Garza joined the team to compete in the 12-race series Champ Car Atlantic Championship Series schedule. [3] In Portland the team announced that it would become the “junior team” for Pacific Coast Motorsports Champ Car team. The new partnership would share resources and capitalize on both west coast racing team operations. As the season concluded Skerlong’s performance was topped off by 4 top-10 race finishes, two of those were top-3 finishes. Garza’s performance included 4 top-10 race finishes. Major sponsors for the 2007 season included King Taco, Axtel, Mechanix, Meguiars, Madisa, and Tecate. The season concluded with Seneviratne being selected as the Champ Car Atlantic Series Team Owner of the Year for 2007.

2008 season

The US RaceTronics team was renamed to “Pacific Coast Motorsports powered by US RaceTronics”. The driver makeup of the team changed as well. Skerlong continued with the team, however the team was joined by second year Atlantic series racer Frankie Muniz. [4] Facing the challenge of the collapse of the Champ Car series, the team continued in the Atlantic Series and saw continued success. The team experienced its first win after 45 races when Skerlong won on September 14, 2008 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway. At the end of the season Skerlong had 7 top-10 finishes, 4 of those were top-3 finishes. Muniz also excelled as he continued his transition from Hollywood actor turned professional race car driver. His results included 4 top-10 finishes. Muniz averaged 2 gained races positions at every race event. Major sponsors for the 2008 season included King Taco, Hard Rock Hotel, Mechanix, and Meguiar's.

2009 season

With the partnership with Pacific Coast Motorsports dissolving in 2009, US RaceTronics signed Atlantic Championship series regular Simona de Silvestro and resigned Frankie Muniz to compete in the 2009 season. Imran Safiulla joined the team as Team Principal and together with Seneviratne the team signed Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, FireSky as Major Sponsors and Mechanix and Meguiar's rejoined the team. The team underwent a name change to Team Stargate Worlds. Stargate Worlds was the name of a then-upcoming massively multiplayer online game that was scheduled to be released by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. Both de Silvestro and Muniz portrayed characters in the game.

De Silvestro participated in an IndyCar Series test on December 8 and 9 at Sebring, a joint effort between HVM Racing and Team Stargate Worlds. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Muniz</span> American actor and racing driver

Francisco Muniz IV is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations. He is also known for his film roles in Deuces Wild (2002), Big Fat Liar (2002), Agent Cody Banks (2003), and Racing Stripes (2005). At the height of his fame, he was considered one of the most popular child actors and "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens" in 2003.

The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics, or just Atlantics or Formula Atlantic, although the latter two terms risk confusion with the Sports Car Club of America's amateur Formula Atlantics division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Legge</span> British racing driver

Katherine Anne Legge is a British professional auto racing driver, competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Doornbos</span> Dutch racing driver

Robert Michael Doornbos is a Dutch former racing driver who also competed with a Monégasque licence. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in 2005 and 2006. Doornbos then drove for Minardi Team USA in the 2007 and final season of the Champ Car World Series. He competed in the Superleague Formula racing series in 2008, and drove for the Netherlands team in A1 Grand Prix's 2008–2009 season. In 2009, Doornbos competed in the IndyCar Series. He began the season with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, but switched to HVM Racing after the race in Kentucky Speedway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriol Servià</span> Spanish racing driver

Oriol Servià i Imbers is a Spanish racing driver who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series. He raced for Dragon Racing in the 2014–15 Formula E season, and left the series prior to the 2015 Miami ePrix to become managing director for the technical and commercial partnerships of Dragon Racing. Servià holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Since 2018 he also serves as pace car driver at IndyCar races outside the Indianapolis 500.

Ronnie Bremer is a Danish racecar driver who has driven in the Champ Car World Series.

Rodolfo Lavín Martínez is a Mexican racing driver from San Luis Potosí. He most notably raced in the Champ Car World Series.

Keith Wiggins is a motor racing team owner born in Great Britain and one of only three people ever to have owned a Formula One team, an IndyCar and a ChampCar team.

Stephen Simpson is a South African-American professional racing driver currently competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and previously in the A1 Grand Prix, Champ Car Atlantic Championship and the Indy Pro Series, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KV Racing Technology</span> Auto racing team

KV Racing Technology was an auto racing team that last competed in the IndyCar Series. The team was originally formed as PK Racing before the 2003 season by Australian businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and former Formula One team manager Craig Pollock from the remnants of the PacWest team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Clarke</span> British open-wheel racing driver

Daniel Clarke is a British auto racing driver, most recently competing in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Walker Racing, having previously competed in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and the Champ Car World Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Australia</span>

Team Australia was an auto racing team competing in the V8 Supercars and Champ Car World Series. It was created in early 2005 when two Australian businessmen Craig Gore and John Fish bought into Derrick Walker's Walker Racing operation. After the 2007 the operation was scaled back to just Will Power who joined KV Racing, before ending entirely a year later.

The 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season was the 28th overall and the third and penultimate season of the Champ Car World Series era of American open wheel racing. It began on April 9, 2006 in Long Beach, California and ended on November 12 in Mexico City, Mexico after 14 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais, his third consecutive championship. He was the first driver to win three American open wheel National Championships in a row since Ted Horn in 1948. The Rookie of the Year was Will Power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HVM Racing</span> Auto racing team

HVM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Keith Wiggins that competed in the IndyCar Series. It competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 as Minardi Team USA when it was co-owned by Paul Stoddart. It has a long history of changes of ownership, including a previous incarnation as CTE-HVM Racing, co-owned by actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer.

David Martínez is a Mexican racing driver. He holds the record for the best debut ever by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series with his 9th place finish at the 2006 Gran Premio Telmex.

The 2005 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season was the 27th overall and the second season of the Champ Car World Series era of American open-wheel racing. It began on April 10, 2005 in Long Beach, California and ended on November 6 in Mexico City, Mexico after 13 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais, his second consecutive championship. The Rookie of the Year was Timo Glock.

Alex Figge is an American race car driver born in Davenport, IA. He started racing professionally in the Star Mazda Championship, capturing one victory at Portland International Raceway in 2000 while driving for World Speed Motorsports.

Jensen MotorSport is an auto racing team that competes in the Firestone Indy Lights series. It formerly competed in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship, the Formula BMW Americas Championship, and fielded a car for one Champ Car World Series race. It is owned by former Atlantics competitor Eric Jensen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simona de Silvestro</span> Swiss-Italian racing driver

Simona de Silvestro is a Swiss-Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the FIA Formula E Championship as well as several years competing in the IndyCar Series. Her nicknames are the "Iron Maiden" and "Swiss Miss".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polestar Racing Group</span> American Motorsports team

Polestar Racing Group is an American motorsport team based in Chardon, Ohio, which competes in the Atlantic Championship. It was founded in 2001 and is owned by husband and wife team Jim and Pam Griffith, and Bruce Potter.

References

  1. ↑ "Bob Dorricott, 1937-2002".
  2. ↑ "TA: Mexican youngster joins Monterrey grid | IndyCar News | May 2005 | Crash.Net". www.crash.net. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19.
  3. ↑ "FA: US RaceTronics to run Garza, Skerlong | IndyCar News | Nov 2006 | Crash.Net". www.crash.net. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19.
  4. ↑ "Frankie Muniz Racing - January 2008".
  5. ↑ "HVM Racing Testing De Silvestro at Sebring". HVM Racing Press Release. HVM Racing. 2009-12-07. Archived from the original on December 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.