Chalk this up to that which we already know.  Phil Wicks of the Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy was a stunt driver in the original "Italian Job" movie.  This story was recently sent out over the internet. 

 

In a survey of more than 3,000 people at cinema website www.pearlanddean.com, The Italian Job was named as having the best car chase of all time with a massive 25% of the vote.

The pursuit follows three Mini Coopers around the streets of Turin, Italy, at break-neck speed. In second place with 16% is The Blues Brothers car chase, famed for its car pile-up climax.

Minis featured again with The Bourne Identity in third place, with 15% of the vote. The stunts were carried out on the streets of Paris.

The weather was not too hot Saturday morning.  However, it did warm up as the day progressed.  This was the fourth annual event sponsored by Hendrick MINI of Charleston.  Brad Davis, the general manager of Rick Hendrick’s successful MINI dealership in Charleston, SC, brought several new MINIs to be demonstrated on the famous Roebling Road track.  The works R56 JCW was very impressive, and very fast.  Phil Wicks commented that all one would need to do to make it a very competitive racecar is to equip it with race tires and proper safety equipment.

The Phil Wicks Driving Academy was well attended and, as is the normal practice, all students worked one-on-one with an instructor the entire weekend, interspersed with classroom instruction by Phil Wicks himself and power point instruction by Chris Medico.

Saturday evening, a dutch-treat dinner was attended by most of the drivers and their friends.  The original Italian Job movie was shown.  And, of course, Phil Wicks led the now famous chorus of “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”

Sunday’s weather was a bit more humid and continued with the driving academy activities.  Late in the morning, twenty cars lined up for the Solo I Autocross competition.  In this event, there were three classes of car specifications.  The fastest car was the Hendrick R56 JCW driven by Marcos DiBiasi with a time of 1:39.25.  The eight fastest cars were eligible to enter the High Speed Time Trial.  This has become a very popular event at Phil Wicks Driving Academy and points count toward the North American MINI Cooper Challenge.  The eight cars lined up and were sent off on the 5-lap time trial with equal time gaps between them.  It was very exciting and commentator called the race.

The eventual winner was Chad Matthews in a MINI Cooper.  Chad, who is another Hendrick driver, was awarded the winner’s medallion.

All Phil Wicks Driving Academy students were awarded certificates of completion, and medallions were awarded to Solo I class winners at lunch on Sunday.

The Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy and the North American MINI Cooper Challenge are coming off of one of the most successful events in the company’s still young history.  At Virginia International Raceway on July 21, over sixty students participated in the FLOW MINI sponsored Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy event   The Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy introduces new as well as seasoned MINI Cooper owners and drivers to the world-class handling and performance capabilities of the iconic MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper “S” automobiles.  In addition to the Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy, organizers hosted another round of the North American MINI Cooper SOLO 1 Challenge as well as the North American MINI Cooper Challenge competition series. 

“I am so pleased with the turn-out for this event,” commented Phil Wicks.  “I am thrilled that so many enthusiasts were able to enjoy the benefits of learning to be better and more alert performance drivers after a day with our instructors and classroom instruction.”

The Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy has grown to become the world’s best known and leading authority on MINI Cooper performance driving.  In recent weeks, with the continued increase in fuel costs, Phil Wicks has begun expanding his curriculum to include special input and advice on how to achieve better gas mileage and conservation with a car that is already one of the category leaders in mpg mileage capabilities.  This new emphasis will provide MINI owners a greater appreciation of the performance aspects blended with the economy that MINI Coopers have always been noted for.  Now owners looking for performance as well as economy can find valuable input and instruction from Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy.

The North American MINI Cooper SOLO 1 Challenge saw a solid entry of 28 MINIs take the challenge of competing on the twisty VIR racetrack, one at a time, to achieve the fastest timed lap.  In order to compete, all drivers must have had adequate performance driving training such as attending one of Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy events or similar performance driving instruction.  Drivers were grouped into individual classes ranging from stock to race prepared.   Class winners were Group 1: Ed McAleer, Group 2: Jason Stencler, Group 3: Craig Clarke, Group 4: Chris Thompson and Group 5: Clark Brownstein.

In addition, round 3 of the North American MINI Cooper Challenge was staged in a unique, never-before-tried format that was met with great enthusiasm.  Billed as a “high speed pursuit”, the eligible eight entries were staged based upon their  fasted time posted in the SOLO 1 challenge, with the fastest starting first and each entry thereafter placed on the grid with progressively slower lap times.  Then from the traditional standing start, each entrant was given the green flag at 3-second intervals to “chase” the car ahead.   Therefore, there was no actual fender to fender racing competition.  However, each entry was given a target time based upon their fastest SOLO 1 time and were awarded their finishing positions at the conclusion of the 8-lap event by how much they had improved upon their target time. In this unique format, each entrant had a chance for victory even if he/she had not scored the fastest lap time.  Phil Wicks indicated that future North American MINI Cooper Challenge events might again adopt this unique competition format.  The top three drivers of the High Speed Pursuit were in 1^st, Clark Brownstein, 2^nd Chris Sneed and 3^rd Chris Thompson.

Flow MINI of Winston-Salem, NC was the event sponsor.  Official sponsors of the Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy and North American MINI Cooper Challenge are Mini Mania, the official race parts supplier, Precision Motoring of Nashville, TN, Hendrick Automotive Group, MavTV, ALTA MINI Performance and the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation is the official charity.

The next event on the schedule is the Hendrick MINI of Charleston, SC sponsored Roebling Road Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy on August 9 and 10 In Savannah, GA.  For more information, visit www.minidriving.com

Anniston, AL  June 9, 2008:  Under a partly-sunny but unseasonably hot 90 degree Sunday morning, round 2 of the North American MINI Cooper Challenge series (NAMCC) was staged at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway near Anniston, AL on June 8.  Series organizers were pleased to welcome new entrants to the grid as well as a welcome back to familiar faces.

“The word is spreading about our series,” said organizer Phil Wicks.  “More and more club racers are realizing just how much fun it can be to race the MINI Cooper.  The competition is fantastic yet an economical racing platform.  We want to make our series an all-MINI grid and grow the numbers of entrants to higher levels.  At each race, several more club racers approach me about joining our series.  We are moving in the right direction as more and more race-prepared MINIs come on board.”

New entrant, Tim Landis brought the familiar, former Nuzzo Motorsports Grand-Am competing MCS, a welcome new addition to the series.  Landis had recently purchased the car and the Talladega event was the first time he had ever taken the car to the track.  2006 NAMCC series champion,  Waylen Hunsucker, returned to competition with his MCS and brought multiple cars from the Way Motorsport stables. 

Several “counterfeit” MINIs helped extend the grid and with expectations that the counterfeit MINIs, more commonly known as two Porsches and a Mazda Miata, would be faster than the MINIs, they were gridded at the tail end of the field to make a more competitive race event.  The counterfeits started the race with a staggered start delay of twenty seconds.   As it turned out, the counterfeit MINIs were not able to close the 20-second headstart and finished the ten-lap race behind the MINIs, albeit closer than they started.

The NAMCC utilizes the traditional standing start with a green flag being waved to signal the commencement of the 10-lap race.  Pole sitter Hunsucker in his Way Motorsports MCS won the drag race to turn one and slipped into an immediate lead from 2008 series points-leader Clark Brownstein in his Prosperity Racing Mini Mania sponsored and Precision Motoring prepared car.   Chris Roaden driving the Landis entered MCS was third and Steven Place in a bright orange, Way Motorsports entered MCS was 4^th.  Brownstein chased Hunsucker for the first three laps but soon found his mirrors filled with Roaden’s light blue MCS.  While Hunsucker managed to extend his lead, Brownstein slipped to 3^rd after Roaden took 2^nd with a clean pass into turn one.  Roaden managed to close the gap to Hunsucker but the 2006 champion took the checkered with a five-car length lead over the hard charging Roaden.  Brownstein finished 3^rd maintaining his series championship lead and Place was fourth despite running out of gas on the last lap.  Race organizers had extended the race length to 10 laps to compensate for the short length of the Talladega Gran Prix course but Place miscalculated by a 1/3 of a lap the fuel needed to finish the additional race length.  The counterfeit MINIs were led by David Bearden finishing 5^th in his Porsche 911 followed by Matt Shaw in a Porsche 968. Chris Nicholsen did not finish in his Mazda Miata.

Phil Wicks Driving Academy/North American MINI Cooper Challenge

Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch – Pahrump NV
2.2 Mile Track

It was an absolutely perfect day for a track event – 75 degrees, 5 mph wind.  The Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy drew strong list of entries from various regions of the oountry, equally divided between basic novice, intermediate, and expert classes.

Pre-registration and tech inspection were completed the day before, Thursday, at the AMVIV host hotel, Palace Station in Las Vegas.  Everyone attended the drivers’ briefing and safety instruction meeting first thing at the track on Friday morning.  Instructors were allocated to students.  Some instructors were allocated two students, one in basic novice and one in intermediate.  This meant that every student had an instructor one-on-one all day. 

The first group on track was the expert group, which consisted of dedicated autocross competitors and instructors getting some fun track time.  Meanwhile, Phil Wicks delivered the first classroom session to basic novice and intermediate group.  Safety and track etiquette was covered.

The intermediate group was next on track with instructors with each student.  The novice group remained in the classroom.  Phil Wicks delivered the Accident Avoidance instruction curriculum.  This curriculum deals with ABS braking, slalom (serpentine), and emergency lane change.  The track was marked with cones and students drove to each station under instruction.  The instructors guided the students to complete the course.  This continued until each student gained sufficient confidence in him/herself as well as the capabilities of their MINI.  Then, for each student, the excitement really commenced as the cones were removed from the track and the three groups started on-track instruction in rotation of 20-minute sessions.

Lunch was staggered so there was no track downtime.  At approximately 1:30 pm, the AMVIV group arrived from their morning tour of the Death Valley Run.  There were about 100 MINI/Minis arriving.  They were served lunch courtesy of MINI USA.  The Solo I Autocross began.  26 cars lined up for a one lap standing start (one cool down lap).  This consisted of 5 MINI classes and 1 Classic Mini class.  The classes were quite evenly divided between 26 cars.  This was the first round of the NAMCC Solo Challenge and was a huge success. 

Next came the invitation Touring Laps.  There was no fee charged for this one.  100 cars enjoyed a few laps of the Spring Mountain racetrack.  At the end of the session, most cars lined up on the grid for a group photo opportunity.  Everyone had big smiles and thanked PWMDA for the opportunity to experience driving their car on the race track.

The first round of the NAMCC Race was staged next.  Unfortunately, due to some cars not meeting the complete safety requirements (insufficient roll cage protection) and attrition, only 3 cars responded to the call to race.  As word continues to spread about this grassroots, economical and eager little series, more and more MINI racers will realize what a great opportunity exists to race their MINI among other MINIs and help fill the grid with colorful, competitive MINIs.   The NAMCC television partners, MavTV waits in the wings to televise what they believe is a terrific racing platform for television coverage.  The NAMCC goal is to essentially replicate the original British version of the MINI Cooper Challenge.  In that spirit, Phil Wicks Racing loaned wheels and race tires to one racer after damaging his car in practice.  Jeff Johnstonbaugh was extremely grateful for the spirit of camaraderie shown by Phil Wicks Racing and was able to compete..  Jerry Bradbury, #37, sponsored by MINI Mania; Jeff Johnstonbaugh, #223, sponsored by Bidspotter.com; and Clark Brownstein, #68, sponsored by MINI Mania and prepared by Precision Motoring, lined up on the grid for the standing start.

#223 won the hole shot into turn one, #37 and #68 side by side for the first few bends.  They managed this without incident or spinning off to the excitement and amazement of the many spectators.  #223 held on to the lead for the first lap.  On lap 2, #37 – Jerry Bradbury – with extra horsepower and driving experience, took the lead.

So it was #37, #223, and #68 for the next lap.  #223 – Jeff Johnstonbaugh – was on loaned wheels and tires and probably was still getting used to the unfamiliar Kuhmo tires.  #68 – Clark Brownstein – was able to get by #223.  So it was #37, #68, and #223.  Next lap, #68 – Clark Brownstein – was able to pass #37 in the tight esses before the front straight.  So #68 led #37 with #223 dropping farther back.  It remained that way until #37 was able to pull the same maneuver in the same place on #68.  At the white flag lap, last lap, it was #37, #68, #223.

On the last lap, at the back section of the course between turns 7 and 8 complex, cars were battling for final race positions.  Brownstein managed to get past Bradbury, who subsequently tried every maneuver in his lengthy repertoire of racing moves to get back into the lead into the final s bends, but #68 just held the lead onto the front straight and a drag race to the checkered flag.  #68 just headed #37 by half a car’s length.  #68, Clark Brownstein; #37, Jerry Bradbury; and #223, Jeff Johnstonbaugh, was the final result.

The cars completed their cool down lap and returned to the cold pit road for trophy presentation and press interviews.  All drivers congratulated each other on a very hotly contested race and conducted in a true example of gentlemen racing displayed in the first round of the NAMCC.

Point standings are:
#68         Clark Brownstein                                              12 points
#37         Jerry Bradbury                                    9 points
#223      Jeff Johnstonbaugh                                          7 points

Fastest laps:  #68 – 1:59.199
                          #37 – 1:59.354
                     #223 – 2:12.393

First Round NAMCC Solo I – Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch – Pahrump NV

All 26 competitors were issued transponders and attached to the front of their cars.  There were no extra fees for entry or transponder use.  Each driver had three twenty-minute sessions on the track and the full 2.2 mile course was driven by each driver Solo.

The cars were set off at 30-second intervals.  So at any given time, there were 5 cars on track as each car completed its cool down lap after taking the checkered flag and came back on pit road.  The next car set off on its standing start hot lap watched by a large crowd who really enjoyed the tires spinning, blue smoke and burning rubber.

Very impressive was #1 T.C. Kline in a Group 3 R56.  Only cold air intake and exhaust cat back mods, but unlimited suspension, tires and brakes.  This was quite clearly the best handling car of the day and very well driven by T.C.  Matt Jensen, #41 in Group 4 JCW Spec racecar on street tires very deservedly won Group 4.  Matt is a past competitor in the NAMCC Race Series.

Nathan Munits in Group 3 drove extremely well in an absolutely showroom stock PWMDA entry..     

The winners of each class are as follows:
Class 1: Barry Koehler                    12 points

Class 2: Clinton Campbell              12 points
                                Seana Doughty   9 points

Class 3: T. C. Kline                            12 points
                                Nathan Munits                    9 points
                                Michael Lagrasta                7 points
                                Sandy Rehart                       5 points
                                John Weitz                            3 points
                                Justin Hurst                          1 point

Class 4: Matt Jensen                       12 points
                                Lex Pearce                            9 points
                                Kevin Adkins                        7 points
                                Brian Adkins                         5 points
                                Malcolm Adkins                  3 points
                                Jerry Craft                             1 point

Class 5: Clark Brownstein              12 points

Classic MINI:      Mike Spangler                   12 points
                                Dave Dalton                         9 points

“We are very excited to add Mini Mania to our growing venture,” said series owner and organizer, Phil Wicks.  “I get calls all the time from interested racers on how they can transform their MINI into a racecar and now we have an official parts supplier to help them more easily make the transition with the professional expertise and know-how of Mini Mania guiding the way.  We look forward to many new race cars joining our series in the coming season.”  Additionally, racers with MINI racecars already on the race track can take advantage of quick changes and obtain needed parts promptly with the extensive inventory and technical expertise of Mini Mania.

The North American MINI Cooper Challenge is a grass roots series developed by long time Mini/MINI driver, Phil Wicks.  Wicks is one of the leading experts in the world on Mini performance having raced the car during the early years of its development.  Now, 40 years later, with the introduction of the BMW-built MINI, Wicks is again at the forefront of MINI performance.  The NAMCC is designed with similar competition rules and format as the very successful MINI Challenge Series in the UK.  Racecars in the UK series are eligible to compete in the U.S. version of the series.  As more and more series around the world are developed for the MINI Cooper, a global effort on developing a global MINI racing series has commenced.  The NAMCC is working toward their goal of being part of a global series of MINI Cooper competition.  With the addition of Mini Mania as the official race parts supplier, another step toward making that goal a reality is closer
at hand.

Mini Mania will develop several racing “kits” to most easily transform MINIs into racecars eligible to compete in the NAMCC.   Links from the NAMCC website will keep racers informed of new race parts and information to keep their racing MINIs motoring down the track for many seasons.

“We have found that our customers are truly excited to learn that we are adding a SOLO 1 championship to our events,” said Phil Wicks.  “We scheduled several SOLO 1 events this year and it was an outstanding success.  This new championship will enable more performance drivers who love competing in their MINI Cooper to experience the thrill of competition and driving their MINIs without the added expense associated with full-bore racing.  The SOLO 1 Challenge will add dramatically to our events, increase our ability to showcase MINI performance to more drivers and provide enthusiasts an effective outlet to learn additional performance driving skills.”

The North American MINI SOLO 1 Challenge will have its own championship as well as select events counting toward the North American MINI Cooper Challenge championship.  “We’ve patterned our events after the British MINI Challenge Series,” added Wicks.  “Originally, the MINI Challenge consisted of races, autocrosses and hill-climb events, all counting toward the overall championship.  We felt that an American version of this type of competition would add to the spirit of the MINI Challenge.  Just like the name suggests, the North American MINI Cooper Challenge champion will have proven his or her ability over a variety of driving challenges to lay claim to the championship title.”

 The North American MINI Cooper Challenge racing series recently crowned its 2007 champion.  In a repeat performance from the inaugural championship season, Waylen Hunsucker from Indianapolis, IN won the championship for the second year in a row.  His car is sponsored by Way Motorworks and M7 Tuning.  Second place in the final standings fell to Clark Brownstein, from Bay Area, CA in an M7 Tuning sponsored MINI and third to Robbie Davis of Charleston, SC, in an M7 and Hendrick Autogroup MINI.   Series champion, Hunsucker will be eligible to compete in the UK MINI Challenge Series as a guest of the series as a result of winning the North American Championship.  In last year’s UK event, Hunsucker was able to finish in the top ten in what many would describe as the most competitive MINI Cooper racing series in the world.  The North American MINI Cooper Challenge is sponsored by MavTV, Alta MINI Performance, Hendrick Automotive Group, Kumho Tires, M7 and Minspeed. 

 SOLO 1 competition is similar to an autocross where each competitor drives around a defined course one at a time.  The competitor with the lowest elapsed time wins the event.  Competitors are penalized with a time penalty for knocking over driving cones set up strategically around the course. The primary difference between an “autocross” and a SOLO 1 event is that SOLO 1 is staged on a racetrack.  With Phil Wicks MINI Driving Academy events held at various race tracks around the country, the addition of a SOLO 1 schedule was both economically feasible and a logical extension of Phil Wicks’ competitive events. 

There are a number of additional elements in planning stages for the North American MINI Cooper Challenge.  Extensive discussions have taken place in relation to the development of a global racing series, all held under a similar rules structure that would allow MINI racers around the world to compete in any one of several international series.  The North American MINI Cooper Challenge is being designed to incorporate this philosophy and rules structure.  The growing affiliation with the U.K.’s MINI Challenge is an on-going example of this reciprocal cooperative arrangement.

NAMCC’s television partner, MavTV national cable network, approached the series with a special request.  One of their television reality programs, “Bikini All Stars” wanted to shoot some scenes for an upcoming episode using MINI racing as a backdrop.  As a result, forty of the nation’s, if not the world’s, most beautiful and stunning models are scheduled to visit the track to shoot special scenes of the program with NAMCC MINI Coopers as background.  In honor of the NAMCC, the models will also sport “mini” skirts in addition to their bikini wardrobe adding a, how-do-you-say, special attraction to the seasoning opening event!

“I’m excited about our 2007 season,” added series organizer Phil Wicks. ”The addition of the ‘Bikini All Stars’ is a fun addition to the racing scene.  My vision for this series is to make it the most entertaining and cost effective form of racing in the United States.  What other series would get an offer to host some of the world’s most beautiful models?  I am thankful that the producers of the show and our friends at MavTV thought of the NAMCC series when they needed a special location to shoot their program.”

So now fans of the NAMCC will get two chances to watch the racing competition on MavTV; one from the coverage of the race itself and again from the “Bikini All-Stars” program.  With MINI racing and mini skirts, there will be action on the track and perhaps just as much attention off the track as well!

Official sponsors of the North American MINI Cooper Championship are MavTV, ALTA MINI Performance, Hendrick Motorsports, Kumho Tires and the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation (official charity).  For more information on the NAMCC visit www.minidriving.com.  For more information on Bikini All Stars visit www.mavtv.com.

At the traditional  “standing start” of the first race, series newcomer and pole sitter, Bob Scheer took a narrow lead from 2^nd place Nixon.  Randall Smalley followed close behind in 3^rd.  At the end of the second lap, Scheer got sideways and Nixon, taking advantage, moved into the lead but clipped the corner of Scheer’s car.  Both continued, albeit Scheer had fallen to 3^rd behind Smalley.  As Scheer tried to close the gap back to the leaders there was contact with Smalley and both were forced to retire.  Meanwhile the action was not only at the front of the grid.  Brian Black was charging closely behind U.S. series champion Waylen Hunsucker, but fading brakes resulted in Black hitting Hunsucker from behind bringing Black’s race to a premature conclusion.  Hunsucker motored on but was unable to catch the UK champion who had managed to open a gap between himself and Hunsucker.  At the checkered, UK champion Nixon beat U.S. champion Hunsucker with series newcomer Clark Brownstein driving Phil Wicks’ Racing showroom stock MCS taking the checkered in 3^rd place.

With several of the most competitive entries sidelined for the 2^nd race, Gareth Nixon found that his primary competition would be from U.S. champion Hunsucker.  But after the start, Nixon’s greater experience in racing MINIs began to show as he managed to increase his lead by about a half second each lap.  Despite the hard charging efforts of Hunsucker, he was unable to catch Nixon to finish in 2^nd place with Brownstein repeating his 3^rd place finish and rookie racer Carolyn Kujala in another showroom stock MINI Cooper S finishing 4^th.

“We have come a long way in a year,” commented series organizer Phil Wicks.  “It is a challenge to create an American version of the highly successful British series, but I am proud of our competitors here today and they managed to give Gareth Nixon a bit of a run for his money.  This was no pushover and one mistake by Nixon would have changed the result.  Our guys did a very commendable job and it was an exciting race to watch.  I want to thank all of our competitors for putting on such a great race.”

Series official sponsor MavTV was there in force with five cameras covering the on track action and five in-car cameras recording the action from the cockpit.  “The MavTV guys were great,” added Wicks.  “They are so enthusiastic about MINI racing and it shows in their approach to covering our races.”  In addition to MavTV, series official sponsors include ALTA MINI Performance, Hendrick Motorsports, Kumho Tires, Minnie Pearl Foundation (official charity) and newly added M7 Tuning.

The next events on the schedule are rounds 3 and 4 of the western division series The Streets of Willow at Willow Springs, CA on May 12-13.  The series will then move east for the first of the eastern events at Summit Point Raceway on May 18-20.