News

Competing in 12 Hour Enduro This Weekend!

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:50:15 -0400

Hello Friends, Family and Fans!

I have some more exciting news to announce. I’ll be competing in a 12 hour endurance race, known as the “Devil in the Dark,” this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park! I’m fortunate enough to be given this opportunity thanks to Erik Olson and John Oldt. We will be known as Team SuperUnknowns competing in a Honda S2000 on the Thunderbolt race circuit.

On track activities kick off on Friday with night practice beginning at 7 PM. The start of the race will commence this Saturday at 12 noon and will end at midnight followed by an epic party that should last into the night!

I’ll be sharing driving duties with 3 others including Scot Burner, Erik Olson and John Oldt. A strategy has not been set and don’t know when I’ll be behind the wheel during the race, but as soon as I know, you’ll all be informed.

I also hope to have my Ustream account in full swing during the race and encourage you all to tune in to AJ Nealey Racing Live by clicking here and enjoy all the action!

And if you’re not doing anything this weekend and would rather check out all the action up close and personal, please come out to the track! Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the gate and you’ll have access to the entire paddock and multiple viewing locations around the race track. There are a bunch of activities planned during the event including live music, corn hole, beer pong and XBOX tournaments. There is something for everyone in the family to enjoy. Camping is also available, so pitch a tent to stay the night!

More information regarding the “Devil in the Dark” enduro, activities schedule and how to purchase tickets can be found by clicking here.

I’m really stoked for my first endurance race and can’t thank John and Erik enough for this tremendous opportunity! Hope to see you at the track!

And thank you all for your support!

All the best and talk soon,

AJ Nealey

About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in autocross events and progressed through karting and sports car club racing events accumulating over 40 wins, setting track records and clinching championships. Nealey competed in the 2009 and 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th and 11th respectively in the Championship on the strength of three podium appearances and ten top-ten finishes. Nealey was also the recipient of the Driver’s Coach award in 2010. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
443-220-4019
aj@ajnealeyracing.com
Driving Sales and Building Relationships in the SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship
Follow me on Twitter
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Qualified on Pole, Finished P2 in Epic Battle!

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:01:12 -0400

Hello Family, Friends and Fans!

Sorry for the late update, but I had too much fun yesterday at Summit Point Raceway for the second day of on-track activities at NASA-MA’s race weekend.

We only had two sessions for the day. A 15 minute qualifying session at 8:30 AM and an almost 40 minute sprint race at 1:40 that afternoon.

For qualifying, it was a bit chilly in the air but track conditions were ideal. Found a nice gap within the race group and set some clean and consistent lap times throughout the whole session. In the end, I clinched the pole position with a 1:28.2 with Robert Grace only .25 seconds behind. This was going to make for an epic battle on the track...as long as I didn’t fall asleep at the start!

After a 4 hour break and some minor preventative maintenance to my Drive-Gear.com SpecE30 BMW, it was time to take our standing start on the front straight. I clarified with officials what the proper procedures were supposed to be. All three race classes were going to take off when the green flag drops. I was ready and it was on.

Unfurled green flag goes up, engines rev up, green flag waves, and we were off! Total chaos at the start with other competitors in front starting in the wrong gear or bogging down completely. Being on the inside, I had the advantage of the extra pavement at pit-out and used it all to get by a bunch of slower cars from the classes starting ahead of us. In the process, I also ran over a cone but we all made it through turn 1 smoothly.

Robert Grace got held up a bit from slower cars ahead of him but was still within sight and would definitely be a threat. Once things settled down from the chaotic first couple of laps, Robert was right on my back bumper. Throughout the rest of the race, we would battle back and forth, lap after lap! We put on an awesome show for the spectators on hand. When the white flag signaled the last lap, I was willing to try some wild moves to make a last lap pass for the win. I seemed to really gain on Robert through the very fast turn 3 left hander. He bobbled a bit and we were side by side entering the extremely fast turn 4 right hander. As we entered the brake zone at the turn 5 carousel, Robert had the upper hand and the lead. I wasn’t done yet. I had one last move up my sleeve. If I could get a smokin’ run on him exiting turn 10 leading onto the straight, I might just be able to slingshot by. I could tell the handling of Robert’s BMW was falling off and was hoping to take advantage of it one last time. Again, I was able to get a great run on him exiting 10 and I thought I may of had enough momentum to possibly get along side of him. But just as the car settled on the straight, the car bogged down from fuel starvation! It killed my momentum and Robert clinched the well deserved win with me in a very close second.
 It was a battle of epic proportions and was glad I could give Robert a run for his money over the weekend. I want so bad to come back again this season to race with this group and can’t thank Andrew Zimmerman and Jonny Allen at Drive-Gear.com and Chris Cobetto from NASA-MA for this awesome opportunity to race with them over the weekend!

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the race live on AJ Nealey Racing Live, you can check out the grainy recording by clicking here or watching the embedded video below!

Also, Robert Grace had some really good footage with his flip cam that are now on YouTube for your enjoyment!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Again, it was just a lot of fun to get back to my roots. This is where I came from it’s where the true fun of the sport actually is. I’m looking forward to the future and hope to get back on track sometime soon.

Thank you all for your relentless support!

AJ Nealey

About Drive-Gear, LLC
Formed in 2008 by brothers in speed, Jonny Allen and Andrew Zimmerman, Drive-gear maintains a four-car team of professionally prepared Spec E30 BMW racecars. www.drive-gear.com

About NASA-MA
NASA-MA is dedicated to providing motorsports fans with a safe, fun, educational and competitive outlet for performance driving and competitive racing. They provide on track Autocrossing, High Performance Drivers Experience, Time Trials and Road Racing. www.nasaracing.net

About Spec E30
Spec E30 is a racing series devoted to non-M E30 models with the goal of creating high level competition among similarly prepared E30s at a reasonable cost. www.spece30.com

About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in autocross events and progressed through karting and sports car club racing events accumulating over 40 wins, setting track records and clinching championships. Nealey competed in the 2009 and 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th and 11th respectively in the Championship on the strength of three podium appearances and ten top-ten finishes. Nealey was also the recipient of the Driver’s Coach award in 2010. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
443-220-4019
aj@ajnealeyracing.com
Driving Sales and Building Relationships in the SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship
Follow me on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

Finished P2 in Today’s Race at SPR!

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:17:40 -0400

Hello Friends, Family and Fans!

It’s the end of a very successful day at Summit Point Raceway! It has been an absolute blast to hop back behind the wheel of a racecar this year.

The day’s schedule included a practice, qualifying and race session. After the mandatory driver’s meeting, our group was one of the first on track at 8:55 this morning. I was hoping to get a chance to get comfortable behind the wheel of Drive-Gear’s Spec E30 race car. Unfortunately, we ran into some issues early in the session with a slipping clutch that forced me to come in after only a couple laps. After resolving the minor hydraulic issue, the race car was ready to qualify.

At 11:40 AM, our qualifying session started. I put in a couple laps to get the car and tires up to proper operating temperature. After finding some clean and empty space in the field, I put in some hot laps in our 15 minute session. In the end, I qualified P2 with a 1:28.3 lap time. The undefeated driver in the series, Robert Grace, clinched the pole with a 1:27.8, big congrats to him!

For the race, we were going to have a standing start on the front straight. I was under the impression, along with other drivers in our class, that each of the three classes in our group were going to have there own standing start procedure. After the entire group completed its warm-up lap, we lined up on the front straight. The class starting in front of us, I presumed, was going to take off when their green flag waved, then our group would wait for our own start. But some of the field, including pole sitter Robert Grace, took off when the initial green flag waved. I wasn’t ready for this and before I knew it, I almost fell back to P5 before we entered turn 1!

I tried to play catch-up and charged back through the field up to P2. Unfortunately, Robert had an incredible start and I was not putting a dent into his lead. In the end, after the 20 minute sprint race, Robert clinched the win and I took the runner-up spot.

Overall, the race was extremely clean and had so much fun driving this car. It’s rear wheel drive, has plenty of torque, can be driven extremely loose and also sounds great on track!

I’m very eager to redeem myself tomorrow against Robert Grace. I think we could put on a great show for the crowd. Lap times are pretty similar between us and I’ll make sure I’m not asleep when we take the green flag in the morning!

Again, this weekend wouldn’t have become a reality if it weren’t for Andrew Zimmerman and Jonny Allen at Drive-Gear.com and Chris Cobetto from NASA-MA. These guys are legit! If you’re looking to race some top-notch and fun to drive BMW’s in an awesome racing environment, look no further than Drive-Gear.com’s BMW SpecE30’s at a NASA-MA racing event!

Hopefully you were able to catch all of the action at AJ Nealey Racing Live! If not, make sure you tune into it at 8:30 AM ET and 1:40 PM ET for qualifying and the 40 minute sprint race respectively!

All the best and talk soon,

AJ Nealey

About Drive-Gear, LLC
Formed in 2008 by brothers in speed, Jonny Allen and Andrew Zimmerman, Drive-gear maintains a four-car team of professionally prepared Spec E30 BMW racecars. www.drive-gear.com

About NASA-MA
NASA-MA is dedicated to providing motorsports fans with a safe, fun, educational and competitive outlet for performance driving and competitive racing. They provide on track Autocrossing, High Performance Drivers Experience, Time Trials and Road Racing. www.nasaracing.net

About Spec E30
Spec E30 is a racing series devoted to non-M E30 models with the goal of creating high level competition among similarly prepared E30s at a reasonable cost. www.spece30.com

About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in autocross events and progressed through karting and sports car club racing events accumulating over 40 wins, setting track records and clinching championships. Nealey competed in the 2009 and 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th and 11th respectively in the Championship on the strength of three podium appearances and ten top-ten finishes. Nealey was also the recipient of the Driver’s Coach award in 2010. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
443-220-4019
aj@ajnealeyracing.com
Driving Sales and Building Relationships in the SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship
Follow me on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

On Track Tomorrow Morning at Summit Point!

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 23:50:07 -0400

Hello Friends, Family and Fans!

I’m here at the lovely Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia getting ready to hit the track for the first time tomorrow in 2011! Extremely excited and very grateful to Drive-Gear.com and NASA-Mid-Atlantic for giving me this opportunity. It wouldn’t be possible without their support!

The schedule is out and will be on track tomorrow morning at 8:55 AM ET for our practice session followed by qualifying at 11:40 AM. Then, the green flag to our sprint race will commence at 2:40 PM ET.

I can’t wait! It feels great to be back out at the race track and to catch up with old friends. Dusted the cobwebs off the race gear and I’m ready to rock!

I’m going to try something pretty interesting this weekend and would like your feedback if you get the chance to participate. I’m going to attempt to broadcast these races live from inside the cockpit of my BMW racecar utilizing my UStream.tv channel. Tune into AJ Nealey Racing Live at the times mentioned above to witness the action!

Again, I can’t thank Andrew Zimmerman and Jonny Allen enough for extending this opportunity to race one of their Drive-Gear.com prepared racecars this weekend. This is a top notch group and recommend anyone looking to get involved with motorsports to check them out so you can get behind the wheel of one these machines!

Also, another huge thanks to Chris Cobetto and the rest of the entire crew from the Mid-Atlantic Region of the National Auto Sport Association. They are dedicated to providing motorsports fans with a safe, fun, educational and competitive outlet for performance driving and competitive racing. They provide on track Autocrossing, High Performance Drivers Experience, Time Trials and Road Racing. If you’ve ever wondered “How can I get involved in motorsports?” The Mid-Atlantic Region of the National Auto Sport Association is the answer!

Again, looking forward to getting back on track in the morning. If you can, tune into AJ Nealey Racing live to catch all the action!

All the best and talk soon,

AJ Nealey

About Drive-Gear, LLC
Formed in 2008 by brothers in speed, Jonny Allen and Andrew Zimmerman, Drive-gear maintains a four-car team of professionally prepared Spec E30 BMW racecars. www.drive-gear.com

About NASA-MA
NASA-MA is dedicated to providing motorsports fans with a safe, fun, educational and competitive outlet for performance driving and competitive racing. They provide on track Autocrossing, High Performance Drivers Experience, Time Trials and Road Racing. www.nasaracing.net

About Spec E30
Spec E30 is a racing series devoted to non-M E30 models with the goal of creating high level competition among similarly prepared E30s at a reasonable cost. www.spece30.com

About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in autocross events and progressed through karting and sports car club racing events accumulating over 40 wins, setting track records and clinching championships. Nealey competed in the 2009 and 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th and 11th respectively in the Championship on the strength of three podium appearances and ten top-ten finishes. Nealey was also the recipient of the Driver’s Coach award in 2010. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
443-220-4019
aj@ajnealeyracing.com
Driving Sales and Building Relationships in the SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship
Follow me on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

Teaming with Drive-Gear to Race Next Weekend!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:07:25 -0400

Hello Friends, Fans and Family!

I have some very exciting news to announce. I will be hopping back behind the wheel of a race car next weekend at Summit Point Raceway, April 9-10, in a Drive-Gear.com race prepared BMW E30!

Like I mentioned in my previous update, it’s felt a bit weird to be stuck on the sidelines while the racing season is in full swing. Well, Andrew Zimmerman and Jonny Allen from Drive-Gear Racing have given me the opportunity to race in one of their BMW’s to compete in the very competitive Spec E30 racing class.

Spec E30 is class offered by NASA, the National Auto Sport Association. It’s a spec series that has everything to do with the driver and not so much the car. Every BMW E30 in this class are equally built on the same rule set with very little modifications to make for an extremely affordable and competitive racing series, much like the VW Jetta TDI Cup that I competed in the past couple years.

Drive-Gear’s motto is “We do the work, you have the fun!” It doesn’t get any simpler than that. This is a top-notch organization that has 4 BMW E30’s in their fleet that can be used for the amateur looking for their first track day all the way to the seasoned racer looking to compete in a 12 hour endurance race. What ever the situation, they can suit your needs.

They offer track and race car rentals for driver’s schools, licensing, NASA Spec E30 racing and even endurance events. They participate with not only NASA, but BMWCCA, SCCA and even EMRA events as well. It’s a full arrive and drive program. They will even assist you with driver coaching and have a full crew to take care of the equipment. Insert Driver Here...it’s that simple. With no need to get your hands dirty on a race weekend, you can actually spend your time having fun in a great atmosphere.

I am very much looking forward to being part of the team next weekend at Summit Point Raceway and encourage you all to come out, introduce yourself to the Drive-Gear team and enjoy the action. It’s free to get into the track on any NASA race weekend!

A complete schedule isn’t out yet, but click here in the coming days for more information!

Summit Point Raceway is located just 10 minutes from Charles Town, WV. Click here for directions.

Again, I’m very excited to get back out on track to feed my need for speed!

Thanks again and all the best,

AJ Nealey

About Drive-Gear, LLC
Formed in 2008 by brothers in speed, Jonny Allen and Andrew Zimmerman, Drive-gear maintains a four-car team of professionally prepared Spec E30 BMW racecars. www.drive-gear.com

About Spec E30
Spec E30 is a racing series devoted to non-M E30 models with the goal of creating high level competition among similarly prepared E30s at a reasonable cost. www.spece30.com

About AJ Nealey
Nealey started his racing career in 2002 when he began competing in autocross events and progressed through karting and sports car club racing events. In 2008, the Edgewater, MD resident won the ITA MARRS Championship after winning the pole and race in each of the series’ eight events. Nealey also co-drove in several NASA-MA races in 2008, accumulating five wins and setting three track records. Nealey competed in the 2009 and 2010 VW Jetta TDI Cup Series where he finished 12th and 11th respectively in the Championship on the strength of three podium appearances and ten top-ten finishes. Nealey was also the recipient of the Driver’s Coach award in 2010. Nealey’s racing career goal is to compete in the American Le Mans Series. For sponsorship inquiries and opportunities, please contact AJ Nealey Racing at 443-220-4019 or aj@ajnealeyracing.com and visit www.ajnealeyracing.com

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
443-220-4019
aj@ajnealeyracing.com
Driving Sales and Building Relationships in the SCCA Pro World Challenge Championship
Follow me on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel