SCCA VIR T-1 Race Winner Picture
04-18-2011, 09:54 PM
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ANDREW AQUILANTE WINS SCCA VIR DOUBLE NATIONAL FOR PHOENIX PERFORMANCE
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Chester Springs, Pa driver Wins SCCA BF Goodrich Super Tour National Racing series event at Virginia International Raceway
PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. – Andrew Aquilante, 2007 SCCA National Runoffs Champion, began his 2011 racing season in the Touring 1 Class over the April 22-23 weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va, and twice brought his Chevrolet Corvette home a winner, in two SCCA National Championship races.
For Aquilante, it was his first Touring 1 race event in 2011 and kicked off his quest for a second T-1 SCCA National Championship.
The Chevrolet Corvette driven by Aquilante is prepped for racing by Phoenix Performance, of Phoenixville Pa., and features a 5.7 liter LS6 engine and 6 speed transmission
The event at VIR, located near Danville, Va. was the second stop in the SCCA’s BF Goodrich SCCA Super Tour series, a “double national” for SCCA Club racers, Two individual qualifying sessions and two races were held for all classes, allowing drivers to earn twice the normal points toward a National Championship Runoffs invitation.
Aquilante, qualified first on the class pole for both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races, and led every lap on the way to his two victories. “Our shop specializes in building T-1 Corvettes and this C5 Corvette is a new build that Mark Giusti our Master Car Builder put together over the winter” Aquilante remarked. “It needed a shakedown run, so we decided to join our other cars being raced by John Heinricy and Don Knowles at VIR and see what it could do. It ran great right out of the box and was fast and composed. Our Hoosier “A” tires were excellent throughout the race and I was able to turn my fastest times late in the race while chasing down the more powerfull GT1, GT2 and STO cars that run in our race group. It was a lot of fun to drive”
Phoenix Performance owner Joe Aquilante added, “We really wanted to see what could be done with a value priced Corvette. So for this car we started with a higher mileage used 1998 C5 Corvette, upgraded it to 2004 Z06 specs with a LS6 crate engine as allowed by the class rules, added GM’s T-1 suspension, T-1 shocks, Hawk brake pads in the stock front calipers and rotors and ARP wheel studs, Ron Davis Racing Radiators, American Racing Headers and our normal T-1 prep, engine calibration and setup. Andrew did not have to make any adjustments all weekend and the car was flawless. It’s a great combination for the budget conscious racer. With qualifying and race times approaching the track record, I think we can say that the test was a success!!
The Phoenix Performance team includes technical and product assistance from Hoosier Tire, Hawk Racing brake pads, ARP Fasteners, Penske Shocks, Rockland Standard Gear, Ron Davis Racing Radiators, and American Racing headers.
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About Phoenix Performance LLC:
Phoenix Performance LLC, owned by Joe Aquilante, is based in a 32,000 sq. ft. race shop in Phoenixville, PA, 40 miles west of downtown Philadelphia. Since 1996, Phoenix Performance-prepared cars have won 22 SCCA National Championship Runoffs in Touring and Showroom Stock classes, along with two professional series Driver and Manufacturer Championships. For more information, call 610-482-0141 or visit www.phoenixperformance.net.
