2014 Schedule Posted
The 2014 race schedule for Branden Peterson Racing has been posted on the Schedule page. 

Mid-Ohio Race Report
A long and busy race weekend was ahead of the Branden Peterson Race Team they arrived on Wednesday to prepare for the doubleheader Touring Car Racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Thursday morning practice started with a wet course from overnight rains, providing a good opportunity to check out the rain tires and wet set-up that was last used during the last race of the weekend at Mid-Ohio in 2012. The afternoon session saw Bob Roth start to get familiar with the Mid-Ohio track and the 64 Honda Civic SI that he had piloted in previous years. Bob has a long history of club racing with class championships and he continues to improve his racing style, endurance racing on a number of competitive levels.

Friday practice had Branden Peterson in the car for the practice session, which was shortened due to a major incident on the track. Bob Roth went out late afternoon Friday to qualify by turning a 1:39.22 lap for an eleventh starting position.

With the back-to-back races late in the afternoon on Saturday, there was plenty of time to continue to improve the set-up and handling of the 64 Honda Civic SI Fortune Auto sponsored by Trane. Race time came with Bob Roth driving the first race, beginning with a rolling start. Bob was able to continue to bring down his lap times and stayed in the 1:39 minute range for most of the race. Bob finished eleventh and was able to turn an unscratched car over to Branden, who was to drive the second race. Branden started tenth based on the best time Bob turned in the first race. Both races were run under the clock--running twenty-five minutes each due to short yellows in each of the races. Branden was able to get his best lap time down to 1:38.12 and continued to run in the 1:38-39 minute times for the rest of the green flag racing, finishing eleventh as well.

This was the last race for the 2010 Honda Civic SI which will be stepping aside for a new 2013 Honda Civic SI 2.4 to be raced in October during the inaugural street race in Houston Texas, closing out the season. Much engineering, work and thanks to our many fine sponsors is always a part of Branden Peterson Racing, giving the team high expectations for many top finishes in the 2014 World Challenge racing season.

Branden Peterson Racing Does Well at Circuit of the Americas
The Touring Car World Challenge 2013 season started at the New Formula 1 track Circuit of the Americas located close to Austin, Texas over the May 17-19 weekend, comprised of a three-race format to be run in conjunction with Touring Car Spec B cars. The GT and GTS were also racing their third weekend after starting in St. Petersburg in March and running at Long Beach in April.

Driver Patrick Seguin of Ottawa Canada came on board with Branden Peterson Racing, and he brought some dedicated sponsors from his previous years competing in World Challenge. Along with a one race new sponsor from Gear Tie and new season sponsorships from Hybrid Racing and Fortune Suspension, the Honda Civic Si had a new look with a white hood and additional parts of the race car covered with logos and decals of valued sponsors.

The racing began with practice on the course Thursday, which was new territory for most of the team managers and drivers. Qualifying took place on Friday morning with many of the teams still struggling to find the right setup. Branden Peterson Racing’s number 64 Honda Civic Si qualified in eighth position, which was not as high as the team expected. Racing started for the touring cars and Spec B cars early Saturday morning, with two rolling-start back-to-back races. Patrick finished the first race in ninth place after some very intense contact with another car in turn fifteen, where the driver’s side took a pounding and the rear-view mirror was lost. His ninth place finish qualified him to start the second race in ninth position, which began a mere fifteen minutes after the end of race one.

The second race was incident-free for Branden Peterson Racing’s 64 car and Patrick was able to turn the sixth fastest lap time. After changing positions with a number of other cars, the 64 car ended up finishing in seventh place when the checkered flag fell on what became a sprint race.

Much work was done to improve the performance and handling of the 64 Civic between race two and race three. The stock transmission shift cable was replaced with a new cable provided by Hybrid Racing (a new sponsor for Branden Peterson Racing). The car was aligned with the expectation that it would get through the very technical part of the course faster. Some body work was needed and a replacement mirror was borrowed from a visitor to our paddock (Dennis) from his Honda Si which had been sitting in the parking lot.

Early Sunday morning the Touring and Spec B cars returned to the course for the third race. Patrick started sixth, dropped to eighth, but moved up to finish in fifth position by driving a smart race, utilizing his tires effectively and making some great passes in the final laps and challenging for fourth position—being barely edged out by a 2013 Honda Civic Si. Finishing in the top five meant that the car had to clear a technical inspection, which it did with flying colors.

Branden Peterson Racing was pleased with the finish of the final race for the 2010 Honda Civic Si which is being retired. The team is working on completing a new 2013 Honda Civic Si with a 2.4 type motor for its next World Challenge race this summer.

Branden Peterson Racing makes the June 2013 cover of Grassroots Motorsports!  And, the timing couldn't be better as we head to the Circuit of The Americas for what should be the biggest World Challenge race ever.  A stunning 92-car field is expected, including 19 TC cars.  So, check out the cover below and be sure to follow us at COTA throughout the weekend.

(Click for full size version)

The 2013 schedule has been posted on the Schedule page and includes the following events:

5/17-19 at Circuit of the Americas

7/5-6 at Lime Rock Park

7/12-14 at Streets of Toronto

8/2-4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

8/23-25 at Sonoma Grand Prix

10/4-6 at Houston Grand Prix

You can download the PDF version here.

The World Challenge Race Series, after a two month hiatus from competition, resumed its season at the always popular and competitive Mid-Ohio Race course the first weekend in August.

A new race motor had been built during the down time by Winter Race Engines of Denver Colorado utilizing Super Tech Performance pistons and valves. Following installation, Branden took the #64 Honda SI Race Car to Motorsports Engineering in Ohio for a chassis dyno tune. 

Thursday was a track practice day and all went well until the end of the second practice session when the car developed performance issues. After much research, the engine was found to have some tolerance issues. On Friday morning, the issues were corrected, the motor was cleaned and the afternoon qualification session was run by Bob Roth, driver for the Saturday race.
Bob started the race in fourteenth position moving carefully as he advanced through the field which was in much disarray with almost half the race being run under a number of caution flags. Bob finished the race in tenth place surviving numerous incidences involving a number of cars on track.

Saturday night the #64 Honda was inspected thoroughly and adjustments made for qualifying for Sunday’s race. Branden qualified the Honda SI in fourteenth place on a damp track left wet from rains on Saturday night. Sunday’s race was run under many more green flag laps than the previous race on Saturday. Branden was able to move through the Touring Car field, making a dramatic pass for ninth place by moving around the #32 Mazda on the outside at the end of the long back straight with three laps remaining in the race. Branden noted that he could feel the positive difference on hard acceleration and on the standing start with the new engine mounts on the #64 race car provided by the newest sponsor Hasport Engine Mounts.

Branden, by moving into ninth place at the checkered flag, was awarded the “Hard Charger Award” for improving the most positions of all competitors from his starting position. Right now, the team is working hard to put the funding together for the next race at Infineon Aug. 25-27. You can watch the Mid-Ohio race on VERSUS Saturday, August 20 at 5pm Eastern (re-air Sept. 1 at 3:30pm EST).

Next race will be at Infineon Ca. Aug. 26-28 

Branden Peterson Racing partnered with Shea Racing again after our historic win at Long Beach.
The intent was to have Shea Holbrook behind the wheel of the Perky Jerky # 67 Honda Civic, but after a battle with a cold/flu she turned the driving duties over to Branden Peterson.

Qualifying was snowed out, and drivers would start based on 2011 drivers’ points, which put Branden at the back because he had not earned any driver points nor started a race in 2011. Branden had a fantastic start, passing 14 cars in the first four corners before the full course caution flew, earning the Optima Best Standing start award. Branden ran as high as 8th but with 2 small driving mistakes and a GT Corvette driving into the right rear that damaged a wheel, was relegated a 10th place finish.

TV Broadcast on Versus Saturday, June 18 3 p.m. Eastern.

The next World Challenge race will be at Mosport, in Ontario, Canada.  At this point, we do not have the budget to attend the race in Canada and have an opportunity to attend a SCCA National Race at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach is the largest, most prestigious street race in the United States, and by winning her class, Holbrook became just the second female winner in World Challenge history. Holbrook won in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car division with an estimated 120,000 spectators watching. She also earned the Optima Batteries Best Standing Start Award and the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for improving 14 positions from her 33rd overall spot on the combined class grid.

With the win, Holbrook becomes the first female World Challenge winner since Melanie Snow captured the S1 class win at Sears Point in 1996. Watch the web cast at www.world-challengetv.com or tune in to Versus TV on April 30 at 2:30 PM EST (re-air May 2 at 3:30 PM EST).

This partnership will continue for the next World Challenge race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on April 29.

At the Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course in Lexington, Ohio Branden was once again called to duty for another race team, that of High Street Racing Acura Integra Type R that was competing in the SCCA War Games Eight Hour Enduro, this time with slightly different responsibilities as Friday test driver/car development and co-driver for the eight hour enduro.The engine in the Type-R had recently been up graded with SUPERTECH PERFORMANCE parts. High Street drivers and team owners included Bob Roth and Dave Volante. 

Even though there were not a lot of cars entered for this enduro, there were some very good race teams. Some of the race teams were Honda American Race Team with two cars and Coletti Motorsports also with two cars, vying for an overall win. For Saturday’s eight hour enduro race, we started on pole but sank like a rock in the first hour due to the loose condition of the car and the cooler morning temperatures. 

As the day progressed, the attrition to the two cars of H.A.R.T., steady and fast driving, tire strategy, and great pit work by High Street Racing slowly saw the Acura Integra move towards the front of the field. In the final hour of the race, the team made its final pit stop under yellow solidifying the first position. As the checkered flag flew at the eight hour conclusion, High Street Racing found themselves with a class and overall victory. 

Branden was asked to Crew Chief and help strategize for Snyder Motorsports at the NASA 4-Hour Enduro at Pueblo Motorsports Park. Sunday afternoon saw all four Snyder Motorsports drivers (John Clark, Gary Miller, Ashley Burt and Rick Snyder) compete as part of Team Snymo in the 3rd race of the 2010 NASA RM Regional Enduro Championship. 

Team Snymo entered John Clark's GTS3 BMW M3 into the E0 class. Starting in the 7th position out of 18 cars (2nd in the E0 class of 3 cars), starting with John Clark in the car for the first hour. John put in a great drive to bring the car in on lap 27 in the 8th position overall (2nd in class). Gary Miller then took over for the second hour, running very competitive lap times and moving Team Snymo all the way up to 3rd position overall (1st in class) before pitting on lap 56. 

The third hour proved to be the turning point as Ashley Burt was able to run some very fast laps (he ran the fastest lap of the race for Team Snymo with a 1:47.3) which allowed him to catch the leader on the track. After hounding the leader for several laps, Ashley made the pass for the overall and class lead before finally pitting on lap 86. This allowed Snyder Motorsports owner Rick Snyder to take over for the fourth and final hour with the car already in the overall and class lead. With crew chief Branden Peterson calling the strategy from pit lane, Rick ran a steady final hour to bring the car home for the overall and class win (Source: www.snymo.com).

Branden Peterson Racing's Civic SI attended the final race of the World-Challenge race season at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele Utah. 

The course configuration at Miller is one of the more daunting in all of motorsports; its three + mile configuration laid out across the desert with no reference points. You spin out here, and you may not know which way is forward. For qualifying, we thought we had a competitive car and rolled the dice on a harder tire set-up for this particular colder session. We wanted the harder tire because we knew the race would take place in the heat of the afternoon, but in the end, we sacrificed our qualifying position, relegating us to 9th position on the grid.

 
At the start, many cars did not change their set-up from the cooler morning to the warmer afternoon and were loose and spinning all over the place, handing us a few positions right off the bat. For the majority of the race, we ran in 4th place on the heels of Tommy Lepper. In the closing laps, we closed harder on Tommy but also had Eric Meyer who qualified third but was one of those loose spinners, catching back up to our battle. Eric snuck past us to take the 4th position, we tucked back in behind his car in hopes of following him past Tom, but still came up 14 feet short of passing Tom at the checkered flag.

 
The Competition Clutch/Supertech Performance/BC Racing #64 Civic SI finished in the 5th position; typically we are pretty happy with a 5th place position, but this time our lap times were some of the fastest on the track and we feel we could have placed on the podium.
We also learned during the course of this weekend that the #50 Volkswagon of Irish Mike’s Racing that had finished first at VIR was disqualified, moving us from 5th to 4th in that race’s final standings.

Branden Peterson Racing attended VIR World Challenge Sports Car Wars September 10th - 12th 2010 with our Honda Civic SI Competition Clutch/Supertech Performance/BC Racing. This was a double-header event with Carl Hober, guest driver/West Coast ringer. Carl was to be the first race of the weekend, and qualified 9th. He began 9th and finished 7th in tricky light rain conditions. The team was posed on pit wall with rain tires ready to go at any minute, but it never was wet enough. 

The second race of the weekend, team owner and primary driver Branden Peterson qualified the Honda Civic SI at 7th place but unfortunately had to start at pit lane because the team was late getting the car to pre-grid. At the start, Branden got a handful of positions and settled into 8th place and it looked like that was going to be the finishing position. With about 8 laps to go, the course went full-course yellow because of debris on the track, thus bunching all the cars up and because of expedient communication from crew chief Kurt Ristow, Branden was able to get a jump on the two cars in front of him, moving into 6th place and began chasing down the #5th place black TSX. With about two laps to go, the black TSX went wide, thus relinquishing 5th place to Branden. 

Next race will be at Miller Motorsports Park outside of Salt Lake City, Utah on October 3rd 2010.

Branden Peterson Racing finally goes racing, after destroying a TSX last fall, getting a new TSX ready and then switching to a HONDA CIVIC SI (per Honda request). The Mid-Ohio double race weekend with Indy Cars and America Le Mans was the debut for our new Civic. Bob Roth, who is a sometimes guest driver and also supporter/tech help for brand Branden Peterson Racing came on board with TRANE HEATING AND COOLING to drive the first race of the weekend on Saturday. Bob started 12th , drove a very clean race and tried to conserve the car for Branden’s race on Sunday . This clean driving did earn Bob a 9th place finish. Branden had to start last in Sunday’s race because of World Challenge rules and a bit of a mix up on the team’s part. 

At the start, Branden did grab a handful of positions and was running 11th for the first part of the race. But, as the race wore on, the other cars seemed to slow down as our CIVIC seamed to be getting faster--thanks, in part, to one of our new sponsors, BCRacing Suspension coil over shocks. We feel that the BCRacing shock kept our car very consistent as our fellow competitors’ handling was falling off; by the time we were at 4 laps to go, we were in 4th place! But, we were not going to be able to finish in 4th because in racing you need lots of parts to work at a 100%, and on this given day with 2 laps to go the ECU (the car’s computer) decided that it did not want to run and put the #64 engine into a limp mode relegating us to a 12th place finish.

We are looking for a 4th place or better finish at our next race at VIRGINA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY September 10, and then on to MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK October 1-3. If you are interested in coming to one of these, please email your guest/crew list to: brandenpeterson@yahoo.com.

Added a gallery of the crash between the #73 Mazda 6 and the #49 Acura TSX from the Road Atlanta race in September 2009.  Click here to see the pictures.

Branden Peterson Racing is proud to announce two new sponsors:

Heeltoe Automotive

Fastbrakes.com

Pictures can be seen on the Photos page.

Branden Peterson Racing 

presents the new 2006 Acura TSX racecar at the Utah Grand Prix in Tooele, UT.  Pictures can be seen on the Photos page.

Branden Peterson Racing is please to announce new sponsorship relationships with the following companies:

RedZone Performance

Comptech USA

UPR.com

Branden Peterson Racing presents a new 2006 Acura TSX racecar to be campaigned in the 2007 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Series.  Pictures can be seen on the Photos page.

Branden Peterson drives the #49 Green Filter Racing Honda Civic to a 19th place finish at the Grand Prix of Denver.

Branden Peterson Racing will be debuting a new Acura TSX racecar in the near future. Stay tuned for details and pictures.

The 2006 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series schedule has been posted.  See the Schedule page for all the details.

Welcome to our new sponsors:

- Rapid 2-Way

- Calico Coatings

- Digital Motorsports

Check out the Sponsors page for more information.