• Episode 23
Nitto US Touring Car Championship 2011 Round 5 from Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California. Brandon Kraus scores his third win of the year in the Honda Prelude but the competition is tough as Pete Bovenberg's Honda Civic is always there as is three time champion Dave Brown in the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.
• Episode 54Take a look at the highlights of the entire 2016 racing season from the United States Touring Car Championship. From the closest finish in USTCC history to the biggest fire, it is all here. In the end, Michael Shawhan ended up winning the championship in the Touring Class while teammate Brad McClure ended up winning in the Super Touring class. Daniel Akhromtsev won the GT class and Larry Bani became the Sportsman champion.
• Episode 53The United States Touring Car Championship finishes the 2016 season with a double header race at Thunderhill Raceway. Everything goes from good to bad as Gary Sheehan's GoGoGear.com Hyundai Genesis Coupe catches fire while the Touring Car win is decided by a few inches.
• Episode 52The United States Touring Car Championship visits Sonoma Raceway for round 5 of the 2016 season. A huge rain storm disrupts qualifying and the teams' setup and the race becomes wide open as everyone guesses about the correct setup.
• Episode 51The United States Touring Car Championship visits Utah Motorsports Campus near Salt Lake City. In the Super Touring class, Brad McClure and Doug Makishima continue their BMW versus Porsche fight. In the Touring class it was Hyundai vs Nissan vs BMW vs Mini.
• Episode 50Round 3 of USTCC was at Sonoma Raceway with the Touring car battle between the BTM Motorowerks BMW of Mike Shawhan and the Hawk/Sparta BMW of Karl von Beckmann. In the Super Touring class it was Andrie Hartanto's SanDisk/MCS BMW M3 versus the BTM Motorwerks Porsche of Brad McClure and the Achilles Motorsports BMW M3 of VJ Mirzayan. The Sportsman class was a battle between BMW and Acura as the M3s tried to beat two Acuras. The GT class made history with a front wheel drive TNI Mazdaspeed 3 trying to score its first win in GT.
• Episode 49The second race of the 2016 season takes the USTCC teams to the fantastic Mazda Laguna Seca track. The lead battle was between the Porsche 911 of Matt Cresci and the BMW M3 of Doug Makishima but the best battle was in the Touring class with great fights everywhere.
• Episode 48The USTCC season opened up in Las Vegas with a great battle in the ST class between the Porsche 911 of Brad McClure and the BMW M3s of Doug Makishima, Roger Eagleton and VJ Mirzayan. In the TC class it was between the Hyundai Genesis Coupe of Gary Sheehan, BMW 330i of Michael Shawhan and the Nissan 350Z of Patrick Chio.
• Episode 47The last race of the season came down to a fight between five cars: the Hawk/CCI Mitsubishi Lancer of Lastres/Whelden, the Hawk/CCI BMW M3 of Beau Borders, the Hawk/Sparta BMW M3 of Chicca/Crickenberger, the Speed SF Nissan 350Z of Patrick Chio and the GoGoGear.com/UTI/Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis of Sheehan/Rojas.
In GT it was a battle between Red Star Racing's Daniel Akhromstev versus TNI Racing's Ron Valtierra.
• Episode 46Round 6 of the USTCC came back to Sonoma Raceway. This time the teams were hungry to get a full race in and they succeeded in having a clean race with no caution periods.
SPOILER ALERT
Gary Sheehan started on pole position in the GoGoGear.com /Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis Coupe and took the early lead in the TC class. He was chased by the Speed SF Nissan 350Z of Patrick Chio who tried to make life difficult for Sheehan but fell just a bit short at the end and finished second. Finishing third was Justin Crickenberger in the Hawk/CCI/ Sparta BMW M3.
In the GT class Daniel Akhromstev took the win in the Red Star Racing BMW M3 followed by Mike Holland in the My Race Shop FFR GTM. Finishing third was Felipe Loza in the Pepster Garage Chevrolet Camaro.
In the Sportsman class, Roger Eagleton dominated the class in his GoGoGear.com / Konig Wheels BMW M3. Finishing second was Thomas Pitre in the GoGoGear.com /Konig Wheels Acura Integra and third was Tom Milburn in the Bay Area Drafting Acura RSX.
• Episode 45Round 5 of the returned the series to Sonoma Raceway after a year break.
SPOILER ALERT
The race started with a bang as a huge crash between two cars at the first turn effectively ended the race. Winning the GT class was Dave Brown in the Hawk/Comp Clutch Chevrolet Camaro. Second place was the Red Star Racing BMW M3 of Daniel Akhromstev. Third was the Pepster Garage Chevrolet Camaro of Felipe Loza.
In the Touring class, Michael Whelden's Hawk/Competition Clutch Mitsubishi Lancer won with the Speed SF Nissan 350Z of Patrick Chio finishing second and the GoGoGear.com/UTI Hyundai Genesis Coupe of Rod Rojas finishing third.
Roger Eagleton took the victory in the Sportsman category in the GoGoGear.com/UTI BMW M3 followed by Tom Milburn's Bay Area Drafting Acura RSX and the GoGoGear.com/UTI Honda Civic of Becky Arsham.
• Episode 44Round 4 of the 2015 season was a double header weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The race was full of action especially in the very competitive touring class.
SPOILER ALERT
The GT race was won by the FFR GTM of Ken Dobson who cruised to an easy victory with Dave Brown finished second in the Life's Good Racing Chevrolet Camaro and VJ Mirzayan finished third in the Achilles Motorsports BMW M3.
In the Touring class, Michael Whelden started in the back of the grid but worked his way up and took the victory in the Hawk/CCI BMW M3. Finishing second was his teammate in the other Hawk/CCI BMW M3 driven by Beau Borders. Third place went to the GoGoGear.com/UTI BMW M3 of Roger Eagleton.
Roger Eagleton also won the Sportsman category with Gregg Hughes finishing in second in the Achilles Motorsports BMW M3 followed by his teammate Jim Stevens.
• Episode 43
Round 3 of the 2015 season was a doubleheader at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Tim Barber wins a historic race as the only winner of a USTCC race that finished under yellow. It was going to be close as a hard charging Pete Bovenberg made it close. Finishing in second place was Beau Borders in the Life's Good Racing BMW M3. Third place went to Justin Crickenberger in the other Life's Good Racing BMW M3. In the GT class Ken Dobson won in the Mendeola Powertrains FFR GTM followed by VJ Mirzayan's Achilles Motorsports BMW M3 and Dave Brown's Life's Good Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Roger Eagleton won the Sportsman class in the GoGoGear.com BMW M3 followed by Jim Stevens and Gregg Hughes, both in Achilles Motorsports BMW M3s.
• Episode 42The 2015 Nitto Tires United States Touring car Championship season opener at Buttonwillow Raceway was full of drama as the top qualifiers lose their time and the race winner gets disqualified. In the end, the Touring Car class winner was Beau Borders in the Life's Good Racing BMW M3 over Patrick Chio and Andrie Hartanto in the Speed SF Nissan 350Z. Third place was another Life's Good Racing BMW M3, this one driven by Karl Chicca.
• Episode 41The team of Beau Borders and Karl Chicca score their first win at the last race of 2014 in their Hawk Performance/Comp Clutch BMW M3. Finishing second and winning the championship is the team of Gary Sheehan and Ali Arsham in the GoGoGear.com / Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Mario Lento finishes in third place in the Hawk Performance / Comp Clutch Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.
• Episode 40Brad McClure wins the USTCC race at Miller Motorsports Park in the BTM Motorwerks BMW M3. Behind him there is a big battle as five cars are fighting for second place. At the end Jason Alexandridis finishes in second place in the Performance Technic BMW M3 and Beau Borders makes it a BMW sweep of the podium in the Hawk Performance BMW M3.
• Episode 39Jason Alexandridis won the USTCC race on Saturday at Miller Motorsports Park in the Performance Technic BMW M3. Finishing in second place was the team of Beau Borders and Karl Chicca in the Hawk/CCI BMW M3. Third place went to the Hawk/CCI Mitsubishi Lancer of Mario Lento.
In the GT class Andrie Hartanto took the checkered flag first but his Supertech Honda S2000 was disqualified for a pass under yellow. The win went to Daniel Akhromstev in the Red Star Racing BMW M3 followed by Larry Bani in the GoGoGear.com/UTI BMW M3.
Round 4 of the 2014 USTCC season takes us to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
In the Touring class, it was the Sheehan/Arsham team taking the win in the GoGoGear.com/UTI/ Powerbuilt Tools Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Finishing in second was the Hawk Brakes/Competition Clutch Mitsubishi Lancer of Mario Lento. In third place was the Performance Technic BMW M3 of Jason Alexandridis.
In the GT class the win was taken by the CT Engineering Honda S2000 of Andrie Haratnto who was followed by the Red Star Racing BMW M3 of Daniel Akhromstev. Third place went to the Hawk Brakes/ Competition Clutch Chevrolet Camaro of Dave Brown.
Round 3 of the 2014 USTCC season takes us to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows California.
In the Touring Class the team of Sheehan/Arsham manage to pull out a victory in the GoGoGear.com BMW M3. Finishing in second was Mike Sekhon's BTM Motorwerks BMW M3. Making it an all BMW podium was the third place GoGogear.com BMW of Larry Bani.
In the GT class it was Daniel Akhromstev in the Red Star Racing BMW M3 who took the win followed by Brad McClure's BTM Motorwerks Porsche 911. Finishing third was the CT Engineering Honda S2000 of Andrie Hartanto.
Round two of the 2014 Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship. Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the Touring Class, Mike Sekhon took the checkered flag first in his BTM Motorwerks BMW M3 but was later repositioned to fourth place. Taking the first professional road racing win for Hyundai in America was the team of Sheehan/Arsham in the GoGoGear.com/UTI/ Konig Wheels Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
In the GT class it was Daniel Akhromstev's Red Star Racing BMW M3 that beat out the competition from Porsche and Honda.
Season opener of the 2014 Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship. Buttonwillow Raceway Park, just north of Los Angeles. This is a two hour race that started in the daytime and finished at night.
In the Touring class, Jason Alexandridis in his BMW M3 cruises to a win while the fight behind is between Pete Bovenberg's MBO Motorsports Honda Civic and Karl Chicca's Hawk Brake BMW M3.
In the GT class, the race was won by Andrie Hartanto's Supertech/Wicked Tuning Honda S2000. The win did not come easy as three other cars all had a chance to win. Finishing in second was Dave Brown's Hawk Brakes/Competition Clutch Chevrolet Camaro. In third place was Daniel Akhromstev's Red Star Racing BMW M3.
The premier episode of Final Drive is on. Watch the United States Touring Car Championship run at Buttonwillow!
• Episode 2The Goodsport Racing Mitsubishi Evolution, driven by David Bongiovanni, took first place in the first United States Touring Car race of the 2008 season. Held at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA, the inaugural race held much promise with good weather, excellent car count, and some fierce competition including past USTCC champions and Grand Am veterans.
• Episode 3Andy Hope, driving the Opak Racing/Spoon Sports Acura RSX-R, won the Infineon Round of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship. Hope, who is one of the Editors for Sport Compact Car magazine, was never at the front except for the one lap that counted, the last one. Curt Simmons finished in second place in the Sunnyvale Dodge SRT-4. Simmons started on the pole and led every lap except for the last one. Dave Bongiovanni managed to drive a great race and brought the Goodsport Racing Mitsubishi Evo in third place.
• Episode 4Andrie Hartanto driving the RedZone Performance/CT Engineering Acura TSX scored his first win at the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) race at Thunderhill Raceway on August 24, 2008. Hartanto became the fifth different winner in as many races this season.
• Episode 5Curt Simmons returns to Infineon in the Dodge SRT-4 and becomes the fourth different winner in as many races in the 2008 Nitto Tires USTCC. Newcomer Andrie Hartanto shows his muscle with a great run.
• Episode 6Andrie Hartanto scores his first win in the RedZone Performance Acura TSX at Thunderhill Raceway in a great battle with Andy Chittum's BTM Motorworks BMW 328ti. Tom Lepper and Curt Simmons make the race more exciting by getting to grid late and starting behind the others.
• Episode 7Nitto Tire USTCC from Buttonwillow, CA November 2008. Andrie Hartanto and his Acura TSX battle Andy Chittum's BMW 328 and Curt Simmons' Dodge SRT-4.
• Episode 8Final Drive TV Episode 8. Season opener for the 2009 Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championhip action at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. Great four way battle between Andrie Hartanto's Acura TSX, Andy Chittum's BMW 328ti, Curt Simmons' Dodge SRT-4 and Pete Bovenberg's Honda Civic. April 2009
• Episode 9Final Drive TV presents Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championship. Watch a great battle between the BMW of Andy Chittum vs. the Acura of Andrie Hartanto. Thunderhill Raceway, Willows, CA. May 2009
• Episode 10Final Drive TV presents Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championship. Watch a great battle between the BMW of Andy Chittum vs. the Acura of Andrie Hartanto plus see the fight between the Mazda of Michael McColligan and the Acura of Rich Woo. Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA. June 2009
• Episode 11Final Drive TV presents Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championship. Watch a great battle between the BMW of Andy Chittum vs. the Acura of Tom Lepper vs. the Dodge SRT-4 of Curt Simmons. Plus see the fight between the Mazda of Michael McColligan and the Mini Cooper of Vince Parker. Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA. August 2009
• Episode 12Episode 12 covers the introduction of the Ford Fiesta with a rare drive in Europe. The show also takes the viewers to Istanbul, Turkey, Prague, Czech Republic and Milan, Italy.
• Episode 13Final Drive TV presents Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championship. Tom Lepper switches from Honda to turbo Chevy power in order to beat Andrie Hartanto's Acura TSX in the high Utah elevation. Mini Cooper of Owen Trinkler had a fierce battle with Curt Simmons in the Dodge SRT-4. Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, UT. September 2009
• Episode 14Final Drive TV presents Nitto Tire US Touring Car Championship. Watch a great battle between the BMW of Andy Chittum vs. the Honda Civic of Pete Bovenberg as well as the turbo Dodge SRT-4 of Curt Simmons vs. the turbo Chevy of Tom Lepper. Buttonwillow Raceway October 2009
• Episode 15Round 7 of the 2009 Nitto Tires US Touring Car Championship is full of action with the 2 hour format. Watch the action as Curt Simmons with his Dodge SRT-4 goes against Andy Chittum's BMW 328ti and Pete Bovenberg's Honda Civic. The team of Tom Lepper and Andrie Hartanto switch to a Chevy Cobalt SS to clinch the championship.
• Episode 162010 Season of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship gets underway at Infineon Raceway. Great battle between the high horsepower turbocharged front wheel drive Mazdaspeed 3, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Dodge SRT-4. Curt Simmons takes the early lead but suffers from a broken axle. Ken Dobson ends up winning the race with Pete Bovenberg in second and Ron Valtierra in third.
• Episode 17Race two of the Nitto Tires US Touring Car Championship takes us to Thunderhill Raceway. Ken Dobson gets the win but a big battle between the BMW of Navid Kahangi, the Honda of Pete Bovenberg, and the Dodge of Curt Simmons makes this an exciting one.
• Episode 18Round three of the 2010 Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship at Thunderhill Raceway is a unique 2 hour race format where fuel economy and strategy as well as speed play a vital role. Ken Dobson's FLI Tuning Mazdaspeed 3 takes the early lead while the MBO Racing Honda Civic of Simmons/Bovenberg tries to catch up. Pit stops change the game though as poor fuel economy forces Dobson into a second stop and costs him the win.
• Episode 19Go across the globe to the Mugello Circuit near Rome and take a tour of the Best Western Hotel Astrid in Rome. Then follow the first Final Drive project car, a 1996 Mazda Miata, as it is cleaned up and practically rebuilt with new parts. With help from some aftermarket companies, the Miata gets a new life instead of heading for the crusher.
• Episode 20Round 1 of the 2011 Nitto Tires US Touring Car Championship at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. Many teams suffer mechanical issues but at the end Brandon Kraus in the Honda Prelude manages to win. Felipe Cabezas finishes second and Pete Bovenberg finishes third.
• Episode 21In this episode, Final Drive shows you how to work with steel braided lines and how to properly plumb your race car using Earl's Racing fittings and lines. Next we test drive a car that can get 50 mpg and do 0-60 mph in less than 8 seconds and have room for five people. All for about $40,000. Science fiction? No, actually it is the BMW 320d. We also test a new lens from Tamron, the 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 zoom which can take the place of several lenses in your camera bag. Finally, Final Drive looks at the new Samsung Galaxy Tab to see if it is as good as they say. Tablets are the latest rage and everyone is talking about the Galaxy.
• Episode 22
Double Header
Final Drive 22 takes you to rounds 2 and 3 of the 2011 Nitto Tires
United States Touring Car Championship at Thunderhill Raceway in
Willows, CA. Watch two separate races as Pete Bovenberg, Curt Simmons,
and Brandon Kraus battle for the lead. A special feature of this
episode is a special driver profile of USTCC GT driver, Ken Kurtz.
Episode 24 and 25 Takes you to Buttonwillow Raceway for Round 6 and Infineon Raceway for Round 7 of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship. Brandon Kraus in the DW Pumps Honda Prelude is fighting with Pete Bovenberg's MBO Racing Honda Civic to win the championship as it comes down to the last race of the year. Dave Brown is trying to be the spoiler to beat them in the Works / Hawk Brake Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart.
• Episode 26The 2012 season opener of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship in March 2012 from Infineon Raceway was a big battle between the Mitsubishi of Dave Brown/Karl Chicca, the Mazdaspeed 3 of Felipe Cabezas and the Volvo C30 of Robert Thorne. After a two hour long race, the Volvo came out ahead with Cabezas second. Curt Simmons in the Dodge SRT4 finished third.
• Episode 27Round two of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship takes us to Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California for a two hour race. Chris Lock, driving the GoTo Racing Honda Prelude takes the win with a brilliant gamble in the pits to jump ahead of the Auto Parts Warehouse K-Pax Volvo C30. Finishing third in the GoGoGear.com/UTI/DelCity.net Hyundai Genesis Coupe was Ali Arsham who pulled out a terrific strategy with a no stop race.
• Episode 28The Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship visits Sonoma Raceway for the second time in 2012. This time the Brown/Chicca Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart takes charge and scores a win while the Volvo C30R of Robert Thorne finishes second only to later get disqualified. Felipe Cabezas in the TNI Racing Mazdaspeed 3 finished second and Pete Bovenberg's MBO Motorsports Honda Civic started in last position and finished third.
• Episode 29Larry Bani scores his first win in USTCC in the GoGoGear.com/ Universal Technical Institute BMW M3. Bani is followed by Chris Lock in the Roger Kraus Racing Honda Prelude and Felipe Cabezas who is leading the championship points in the TNI Racing Mazdaspeed 3. Lock also won the iGrille Top Rookie award at Thunderhill.
• Episode 33The 2013 USTCC season starts in Northern California's Thunderhill Raceway. The battle of BMWs vs. Mazdas builds as the two Mazdas of Tim Barber and Bob Bradfield go against the BMWs of Brad McClure, Doug Makishima and Dave Brown. Dave Brown leads the early stages until he gets passed by Barber. A lap later Barber's engine explodes and with one lap remaining McClure makes a pass on Brown to win the race.
In the GT class Daniel Akhromstev had a big battle with Geoff Sykes with Sykes eventually taking the checkered flag. Rob Rodriguez looked strong at first with his Noble M400 but ended up exloding his gearbox in the race.
The Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) teams at the final race of the 2012 season. Winning from pole position was the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart of Dave Brown and Karl Chicca. The big battle was for the season championship which was a fight between Chris Lock's Honda Prelude and Robert Thorne's Volvo C30. A late race full course yellow helped Thorne just edge out Lock by a tie breaker.
Ken Kurtz won the GT class race and championship.
The Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) teams race at the inaugural FIA World Touring Car Championship event at Sonoma Raceway on Sept 23, 2012. Winning from pole position was the Brandon Kraus / Pete Bovenberg team in their Ettore Squeegee Honda Civic. Not far behind was the KPAX Volvo of Robert Thorne who was followed by the Roger Kraus Racing Honda of Chris Lock.
Ken Kurtz won the GT class in the TPIS/Yokohama Pontiac Trans Am followed by Geoff Sykes in the Replay HD BMW M3 and Henry Schmitt in the San Francisco BMW M3.
The Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) teams race at the inaugural FIA World Touring Car Championship event at Sonoma Raceway on Sept 22, 2012. Winning from pole position was the Brandon Kraus / Pete Bovenberg team in their Ettore Squeegee Honda Civic. Not far behind was the KPAX Volvo of Robert Thorne who was followed by the Neillo Mini Cooper S of Andy Chittum.