Motorsports

Loyalty: Checkered Past – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

“I’ll take fifty percent efficiency to get one hundred percent loyalty.”

Sam Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn is no saint, but I suppose the tired excuse that he was a product of his time fits. But what he was, was an incredibly successful businessman. And if he will take loyalty over efficiency, I’ll believe him.

We’re all about efficiency. At Interfanatic, we’re all about systems and processes that ensure success, are efficient, and are sustainable.

But loyalty – sustainability in people – is a beautiful thing. Having somebody you can depend on is about as good as it gets.

Immediately, I think of Chris Locke. Locke’s Checkered Past Racing and Checkered Past Productions™, and all of his successful business relationships, are surely built on his loyalty. Not just being good to everyone he meets, but being good to the right people.

Locke has enjoyed being a major proponent of the Lotus brand in historic motorsports for decades. And a fine purveyor of their story, he is – driving everything from Jimmy Clark to Mario Andretti’s Formula One cars. And many other wonderful historic race cars.

But now, as he establishes himself as successful in event and film productions, he’ll surely look to rely on and practice more of his famous loyalty – with the right people.

We work hard to earn loyal customers. And our hard work has paid off. And we remain loyal to our customers, working hard for them when times get tough so that we can all enjoy the spoils when things get good.

So is having somebody we can trust more important than having somebody who will finish the job quickly? Over the long haul, yes. We aim for both, but we know that when recessions hit and things get bleak, we want to be with the right people, and have the right people.

It was Sam Goldwyn’s way. It’s the Interfanatic way. And that’s Chris Locke’s Checkered Past way.

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Adaptability: Team Tyrrell – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

…the most successful people are those who accept, and adapt to constant change.

Paul Lutus

The Internet is a sea of constant change. We must be like water, and conform to its incessant morphing waves.

Through 20 years, we’ve watched revolution after revolution, heard about millions of “shortcuts to success”, but stuck to doing things the right way.

In that, we’re reminded of Team Tyrrell, Ken Tyrrell’s Formula One constructor dating from the 1960’s. In the early days, Ken’s only job was to give the brilliant Jackie Stewart a good enough car to win. Ken did his job.

The way to make a car win a race is to engineer it so that it’s easy to drive. Tyrrell’s most successful cars weren’t easy to drive at first, but with hard work, they adapted the chassis to the job. And with a brilliant driver up to the task, they were able to make the aspects that were most difficult into absolute advantages, securing easy wins with regularity.

The cars were so good in fact, that Jackie’s lesser-known team mate won and could have won many more races. Francois Cevert was an excellent driver, but no Jackie Stewart. Nonetheless, because the cars were adaptable, Cevert was able to beat Jackie Stewart on his day with the same machinery – no easy feat.

Tyrrell had to remain vigilant, his cars adaptable to the ever changing conditions and tracks around the world.

We must remain vigilant and adaptable to the ever-changing environment of online business.

It has been our pleasure to be associated with Team Tyrrell during its vintage motorsport campaigns. Many of the cars that were successful in their day are still fan favorites, running around the country at historic motorsport events. We at Interfanatic are pleased and humbled have our name associated with such an iconic brand as Team Tyrrell.

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Tranquility: Fairmont Butte Motorsports Park – Interfanatic Customer Spotlight

“The poor long for riches, the rich long for heaven, but the wise long for a state of tranquility.”⁠

– Swami Rama⁠

Good words; insightful.

When serial entrepreneur Tom Malloy wanted to create a haven for motorsports enthusiasts like himself, a great many people felt threatened. Nearby race courses, mostly. So they fought.

They organized a group that insisted that race cars kill poppies. Of course, if race cars drive over poppies, they don’t do anything for the gentle flowers’ long-term health.

The California Poppy Reserve was many miles from the planned operations. There was no way you would hear the cars from the distance, especially given the facility was nestled in a valley. But that didn’t get people up in arms.

So in the end, a fun business idea for the high desert of California had to be abandoned. Tom sought tranquility rather than fight.

And a solar power generating company became interested in the lands and Tom did quite well.

Tom sought tranquility in dealing with his digital marketing, also. Which is why he employed us to create a website. It was forthcoming with information for detractors and proponents alike.

By seeking tranquility in business rather than dealing with the ridiculousness, Malloy came out on top.

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CarrollSmith.com Now Selling Carroll’s Complete Set for $89.95!

That’s a heck of a deal! Chris Smith, Carroll Smith’s son and the person managing the book business now since Carroll Passed 10 years ago, has recently had quite an ordeal. But he made it through, and Engineer To Win is back on the shelves!

To celebrate the re-release and having all books back in stock, Chris has dropped the price to an all-time low $89.95 for Tune To Win, Drive To Win, Prepare To Win, Engineer To Win, and Carroll Smith’s Engineer In Your Pocket.

This is the entire race car engineering library Carroll authored after his stellar racing career, from engineering the GT40s that won Le Mans, to winning Indy, Formula One, and everything in between.

Get your books now before the price goes up!

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Allen Berg Teams Up with Danny McKeever, Introduces Pro Series Racing Program

Allen Berg, former Formula One racer and chief of Allen Berg Racing Schools operating in Fontana, CA, Canada, and now Willow Springs, CA, is introducing a new program that joins his fabulous Formula Cars with FastLine Racing’s Scions. FastLine is famous for training the celebrities that race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach’s Pro/Celebrity race – and these are the same cars used for the training.
Pro Series Racing Program
The Scions are okay cars to learn some racing with – manual shift, closed-cockpit and of course front-wheel drive. They are full-blown race cars used for racing, with roll cages, 5-point harnesses, and all of the things needed to make them safe and competitive in a racing environment.

Pair those cars with Allen Berg’s purebred open-wheel formula racing cars, and you’ve got a well-rounded racing experience.

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Chris Locke’s Event Report on CheckeredPastRacing.com: Goodwood and Silverstone

Some people dream about racing a historic Formula One car flat out. A select, lucky few others do it. One such gent is American Chris Locke, a Lotusophile from Northern California.
Chis Locke's Lotus 77 on display with other amazing and historic Loti in front of Goodwood House in Chichester, England.
Chris is a busy attorney trying to make the world right, but in his spare time he uses what his hard work affords him to enjoy his historic Lotus race cars. Most recently, Chris headed to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorhead mecca in England, and followed his blasts up the hill with a trip to Silverstone to exercise his ex-Andretti Lotus 77 in a support race for the FIA Formula One World Championship British Grand Prix.

Check out Chris’ cars and exploits at CheckeredPastRacing.com, a site he had made up so his family and anyone else can follow along with his adventures.

Good on ya and well done racing, Chris!

Keep an eye out for another article in the coming weeks about Locke’s experience helping in the filming of Rush.

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Allen Berg Racing Schools Provide Formula Car Experience in Southern California

There is great news for Formula Car racers and enthusiasts in Southern California. Allen Berg, ex-Formula One pilot, has brought advanced formula car training straight to Los Angeles at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.Allen Berg Formula One Racing School in Los Angeles

Before, Los Angelenos had to go to Infineon Raceway or Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to take part in an advanced racing course. Now Allen Berg offers an even higher quality of training through Allen Berg Racing Schools right here in LA, plus some perks.

To start, Allen’s cars are purpose built race cars, just as any other school’s. But far better yet, they’re all outfitted with full data telemetry and cameras. This means instead of depending on a students limited understanding, every issue of time lost can be seen objectively in black and white for immediate feedback. There is no greater tool for improvement. Couple the best technical data available for your driving with expert instruction from an ex-F1 driver, and you’ll be shaving chunks off your time.

This kind if experience can and does translate to any and every kind of competitive tarmac driving, from racing historic and semi-historic Grand Prix, Indy, and F5000 and Formula Vee cars to non-formula FIA, GTP, Can-Am, and even race-prepped street cars for autocross and rally.

Even better, Allen allows graduates of his programs to inexpensively rent time in his cars at the track to continue improving. It makes for a fantastic pre-season refresher, and you get the same data and analysis as you do during school.

We welcome Allen and his racing school to Los Angeles! What a fantastic addition to the racing regimen for competitive drivers and those seeking more safety through competence.

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Checkered Past Racing Announces Ambitious Schedule for 2012

Chris Locke of Checkered Past Racing has informed fans through his website, www.CheckeredPastRacing.com, that this year’s racing schedule will be nearly as ambitious as the Professional Formula One calendar, giving fans of the awesome Lotus 76 the opportunity to see the car in person from the middle of March at Laguna Seca all the way until the end of November at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX if the US Grand Prix is to happen there this year.

Fans of the Lotus 76 should be able to see the car… not in person, but greatly enlarged… sometime next year.

Chris’ stable of Loti now has an interloper in the form of a Formula 2 Chevron B39. Chris allowed the car to be campaigned last year its original driver Indycar racer Lyn St. James to the great delight of racing fans everywhere. Chris intends to use the car himself this year, not to the great delight of Lyn St. James. She may get another go if Chris gets too busy with his 76, or with Classic Team Lotus’ incredible Lotus 79.

A few highlights of the schedule include the normal races in Monterey and Napa, but also Monaco (pending acceptance), Portland, Limerock, both Goodwoods, and as mentioned before, perhaps the United States Grand Prix, if that event comes to pass.

We wish Chris luck in 2012!

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Show Off Your Ford at Historic Pomona NHRA Museum

UPDATE: As of 2/17/12, there will no longer be a track event at the Ford Cobra Shelby Reunion. There will be an excellent show and banquet to follow. For more information, see Museum.NHRA.com.

If you’ve been dying to get your Mustang Cobra R-Model out and on to a “real” track, now you have the chance to do it.

We’re not talking about trucking it all the way out to the desert, either. We’re talking Pomona’s Ford Cobra Shelby Reunion at Pomonafamous and historic road course at the Pomona Fairplex, adjacent to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, the folks behind the Ford Cobra Shelby Reunion celebrating 50 years of Ford Cobras. The event takes place April 19-21, 2012.

Two real King Cobras, winning cars from the 60’s in the LA Times Grand Prix at Riverside and Monterey Pacific Grand Prix, have confirmed entry to the event. Talk about getting your car alongside some history!

As such, not just any yahoo will be allowed. Organizers will break drivers and cars into three run groups to insure safety and that everyone has an enjoyable experience. You must have a Ford, Cobra, or Shelby in order to participate. Hot Track time until February 28th is $250, with packages for including your family and friends in the fun and banquets to go along with the event.

You will be allowed to drive at your own safe pace. You will be required to wear a helmet. This is the real deal! Nobody will be allowed to endanger other drivers with unsafe driving (as determined by the Clerk of the Course); participants seen in any way as endangering others will be removed from the event immediately without refund.

This is your chance to get that hangar queen out and see how she handles on a road course – a real road course where Cobras and Shelby’s and of course, Fords, have been racing as far back as California has racing history. Don’t miss your chance to be an exciting part of this thrilling event – chances to race your pony car at anywhere DO NOT COME AROUND OFTEN – much less the famous and historic Pomona Circuit!

For more information and to register, please contact the NHRA Museum. And get ready to let your baby loose doing what she was intended to do!

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Armageddon Certain in 2012 – Pomona, California will be Over-run by SNAKES!

The end is nigh! At least for Corvettes and their owners.

The Wally Parks NHRA Museum is hosting the 50th Anniversary of the Ford Motor Company / Carroll Shelby partnership that marked absolute dominance in racing and gave generations of Americans a whole new meaning to the term ‘Cobra’.Ford Cobra Shelby Reunion to take place at Pomona's Wally Parks NHRA Museum in April, 2012

Carroll Shelby found a British A/C that he thought looked alright, put the ultra-powerful, ultra-reliable small-block Ford motor in it and the rest of the competition on the track simply became history. The birth of the Ford / Shelby Cobra marked a swift and painful death for anything else on wheels in the 60’s. The power-to-weight ratio was simply unstoppable.

2012 is upon us, and the celebration of that racing Armageddon will be accompanied by a massive and dangerous Cobra infestation at the Pomona Fairplex. Spirited “demonstrations” of Cobras and Shelbys around the historic Pomona circuit will accompany a massive gathering of the finest examples on the West Coast and in the World.

It’s a wonderful thing to see history preserved in museums – it’s a whole other to see these Snakes in motion (in their natural habitat), to hear it pound your ears and to feel the vibration of small block Ford motors in chorus beat at your feet.

If you’re an owner of a Shelby, you may apply to include your car in the festivities by going to Museum.NHRA.com and if you’re a wannabe owner of a Shelby, you can come and feast your eyes and ears and heart as the Museum brings some of the most exciting examples of its history to life.

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