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NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires ready for Road Atlanta

300 championship hopefuls ready for weekend of competition.

#91 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Dalziel

#91 SRT Motorsports SRT Viper GTS-R: Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Dalziel

Eric Gilbert

The National Auto Sport Association's (NASA) ninth annual NASA Championships presented by Toyo Tires Eastern States Championships is ready to take the green flag this weekend at Road Atlanta. Over 300 drivers will be vying for Championships, Aug. 29-31. 

The NASA Eastern States Championships are promising to be the most competitive in the organizations nine years of bringing together the nation's best amateur drivers. The Road Atlanta 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit demands precision and strategy. Several race groups have drawn large fields. The Spec Miata Class will start over 35 cars. American Iron will have more than 20 competitors lining up this weekend. In the largest class of the event the Spec E30 race will see over 40 cars racing for the Eastern States title. Scott McKay (Bradenton, Fla.) is among the Spec E30 championship hopefuls. He is bringing his No. 65 Mad Motorsports BMW 3 Series. 

"Ideally, I'd like to win either the Spec E30 BMW race, or the American Iron race that my Mustang is running," McKay said. "My Spec E30 is ready to go. I am still thrashing on my Mustang, but we will be ready with that car as well. In Spec E30 it is anyone's race, but I think it will be myself or Anthony Magagnoli, Eric Palacio, Sandro Espinosa, Robert Grace, Steve Lako or David Walsh taking the trophy. I've booked a nice suite at the Chateau Elan, and plan to bring and drink plenty of craft beer." 

Anders Sjoblom (Rochester Hills, Mich.) ran his qualifying races at Mid-Ohio and Road Atlanta. Sjoblom is looking to add a third Championships trophy to his mantle. 

"I'm driving my red No. 65 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302S put together and set-up by my main sponsor Rehagen Racing," Sjoblom said. "My plan for this weekend is to be the front runner at Road Atlanta. I'm hoping I can stay with the top dogs in the big American Iron field. I think my partner Robin Burnett is one to really look out for in the class as well. My other sponsors include Steeda Autosports for performance parts and Cortex Racing for suspension technology. My good friends at Meva Energy AB, Dunne-Rite Performance and Ford Racing are giving me some extra help to make the event costs more manageable."  

Will Faules, NASA Championships event manager, has his team ready to make it a memorable Eastern Championships for everyone involved.

First time at Road Atlanta

"I can't believe it is here already," Faules said. "Every NASA region has been working hard to make this first of two Championships weekend a success. We are ready for our first Championships event at Road Atlanta. All systems are go. Our southeast region has put in a lot of effort to lay the ground work for three days of racing. The drivers have been working just as hard on their cars. There are a lot of guys who have done their qualifying races at Road Atlanta, so I am looking forward to some great competition on the track." 

"In addition to the great on track competition, drivers are racing for contingency awards as well," Faules continued. "A short list of NASA Championships contingency sponsors include: Toyo, Mazda, HPD, Royal Purple, Hawk Performance, Ford Racing, Nissan and GoPro to name a few." 

Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile, 12-turn undulating road course located in Braselton, Ga., just 50-miles north of Atlanta. Road Atlanta is known as one of the most exciting places to drive a race car. The ultra-fast circuit has only one slow corner, Turn Seven, which leads onto the long back straight. The approach to the fast downhill Turn 12 is blind challenging drivers to carry a lot of speed down the hill that leads to the front straightaway and in to Turn One. The stretch out of Turn One to Turn Five consists of a set of esses and lefts and rights that will reward a good handling car.

Kyle Chura

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