Valerie Thompson Sets BMW Top Speed of 201.01 MPH at Bonneville BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials

(Wendover, UT) – September 21, 2011 – Valerie Thompson ran a personal best top speed of 201.01 mph with her Alter/Bivins Land Speed Racing Team prepared BMW S1000RR Superbike at the 8th Annual BUB Speed Trials. While not a record, her top speed exceeded all other BMW’s competing at the event. Teammate Kerry Alter, co-owner of the Alter/Bivins team, set three new land speed records piloting an Aprila and BMW Superbike.

Thompson’s BMW was sponsored by CTEK, makers of the world’s smartest battery chargers, Troon Enterprises and Hawthorne CAT. Her two top runs were 199 and 201.01 mph. Her attempt for a land speed record was foiled by stiff crosswinds over the 10 mile International course which at times gusted up to 13mph. Thompson said “While we wanted to set a new record with the BMW in the FIM 1000cc class, we did reach a team goal of exceeding 200 mph. This is my fifth year competing in the BUB Speed trials and I exceeded my former best speed by more than 35 mph. Our team accomplished the majority of the goals we set for this event.”

Alter added, “Valerie did an excellent job of driving given the weather and salt conditions. We are proud of her performance considering all her competition ran her a couple of weeks ago, gaining even more course knowledge than we had.” The Alter/Bivins team has established 11 motorcycle land speed records over the last five years.

The BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials were held August 27 through September 1 at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats. The American Motorcycle Association (AMA), verifies and sanctions all US national records. All world records are verified and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motoclisme (FIM). Over 300 racers attempt establishing new motorcycle land speed records each year, yet less than 10% set records, signifying the difficulty of this endeavor.

Valerie Thompson Background

Thompson set two land speed records piloting a panhead Harley Davidson provided by Keith Ball of Bikernet.com in 2006 and 2007. She has risen from a competitor in the All Harley Drag Racing Association series, to being a team owner/licensed competitor in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock Motorcycle Series in less than five years. The NHRA is the world’s largest drag racing association.

Thompson also serves as a motorcycle presenter for the world’s largest auto auction company, Barrett-Jackson. She is also a spokeswoman for “Val’s Pals” children charities, most notably, HopeKids.

Alter/Bivins Land Speed Racing Team Background

In 2007, Phoenix Arizona resident, Kerry Alter and Julian Bivins joined forces to set a new Land Speed Record in the 1000cc Modified Class at the  Bonneville Salt Flats. In 2008, Alter formed the Alter/Bivins Land Speed Racing team. Between all team drivers, A/B LSR has accumulated 12 motorcycle land speed records.  Alter has eight records, Valerie Thompson holds two and Bivins is also a 2-time land speed record holder.

Event and Organization Information Sources

            www.speedtrialsbybub.com

            www.americanmotorcyclist.com

            www.fim-live.com

            www.ValerieThompsonRacing.com

Media Contact: 

Eric Studer, VP-Marketing

Valerie Thompson Racing

ericstuder@mac.com

CHRISSY WALLACE WINS ASA TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP

LEBANON, Missouri (September 12, 2011) – Chrissy Wallace did something no other female Late Model driver has ever done in ASA competition over the weekend.

She clinched the ASA Late Model championship at her home track of Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Saturday night. In turn, that also put her back in the lead for the West Region track championship, which consists of hundreds of drivers from multiple tracks.

Now, the 23-year old daughter of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace has another fete left to accomplish this year – the ASA Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil National Championship. But, she’s going to have to wait until October to find out the results for the West Region and National championship as other ASA Member track have seasons that are still in progress.

Going into her championship night at I-44 Speedway, Wallace had a solid point lead based off her six feature wins. She just needed to have respectable finishes in each of her 30-lap features on Saturday night to take the crown.

And, she came through finishing fifth in the first feature, and seventh in the second one. Making it even more special was having her entire family on hand for the crowning moment.

In 1990, Mike Wallace won the same track championship and went on to launch his NASCAR career the following year. Now, 21 years later, Chrissy is hoping the same comes true for her.

“This is just great,” Wallace said. “We worked real hard all year to achieve this goal and to have the season over and be the ASA Late Model champion at the same track my dad was, it’s just a very special thing for all of us.

“The toughest part of the year was coming back from being 12^th in points at one time. The level of competition here is incredible, and I enjoyed racing everyone here at I-44 Speedway.

“When we were able to take the points lead here, that put us to the top of the ASA West Division, too. I can’t believe it, we still have two titles to compete for and our season is over. Now, we just have to sit and wait to see how the National and West Region ones work out. That would be the perfect ending to a great season.”

Wallace has made no secret of her desire to return to the NASCAR ranks in either the Camping World Truck Series, or the Nationwide Series. Utilizing her ASA Championships at a catalyst makes perfect sense.

The National and West Region championships will be decided after the final ASA events take place on September 25 at various member speedways. Currently, Wallace and Barry Beggarly of Ace (NC) Speedway are battling it out for the National title.

Wallace is leading the West Region standings, with Beggarly doing so in the East Region. Either way, the Wallace name is still prominent in racing circles around the country.

More info: ChrissyWallace.com

LEAH PRUETT MOVES TO PRO MOD CAR THAT WON U.S. NATIONALS

CHARLOTTE (Sept. 14) – Another race, another challenge for R2B2 Racing’s Leah Pruett in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.

At this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway, Pruett will be driving a new style of race car. She is moving from a supercharged car to the twin turbo R2B2 Race Cars Mustang that won the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago.

“When you first get into a new car, all you think about is doing the right thing,” she said. “You try so hard to not miss a step and do everything on time. I’ve got to give a lot of thanks to Justin Belfance, Melanie Troxel and tuner Steve Petty. They really coached me through the staging process.”

This whole season has been a challenge for Pruett, and she looks forward to getting behind the wheel of one of the quickest Pro Mods on the property.

“We did some testing in Commerce (Ga.) on Monday,” Pruett said. “The starting line procedure in the turbo car is way different than any car I’ve driven before. We made the launches we needed to. I had a blast learning the car. There’s an art to staging this car, but I’ve had some fantastic teachers.”

Pruett added that it’s exciting and a little intimidating to get behind the wheel of a car with such an impressive pedigree.

“Eric Dillard set the bar pretty high by winning in this car its first time out,” Pruett said. “He proved it’s a great car and got all the little bugs out of it. There’s no reason why this car can’t qualify and be capable of winning Charlotte this weekend.”

Get Screened America Pro Mod qualifying gets under way at 2:30 p.m. EDT Friday at zMax Dragway with a second session scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Qualifying resumes at 1 p.m. Saturday with the first round of eliminations starting at 3:30 p.m. and continuing on Sunday afternoon.

- 30 -

Contact: Geiger Media at 832-971-9345 or rob@go2geiger.com.
Please visit www.R2B2Racing.com for more information.