Detroit Speed, Inc. - Speed News - Year in Review 2011

Detroit Speed, Inc. - 2011 Year In Review

An exciting 2011 has laid the groundwork down for an even better 2012.

Mooreville, NC - 2011 proved to be a very exciting year for us at Detroit Speed. Whether it was autocrossing at Goodguys shows, road racing at events like the “Run to” series, Stacy running wheel-to-wheel in the NASA series, or even opening our company up to the social networking world, Detroit Speed had a fantastic 2011 to look back on.

The show season actually started a bit early for us as the Chevy II with Jet-Hot coated headers were on display at the Shriner’s Hot Rod Expo in Greensboro, NC. This is the biggest indoor show of the south and we were thrilled when the Chevy II was chosen as a Class award winner.

West Coast Swing
Following the Hot Rod Expo DSE dusted off the Test cars and took off to Irvine California for the 2nd Annual Run to the Coast at the former El Toro marine base. Detroit Speed engineer Ryan Mathews won the road course event and DSE co-owner Kyle Tucker finished in 3rd place. Kyle backed up his 3rd place finish with a 2nd place finish in the autocross and speed stop challenge.

Spring Show Season
After tearing up the former El Toro marine base at Run to the Coast, the crew took off for the Midwest and the 2011 Hot Rod & Restoration show. This was a very exciting show for our company with the unveiling of the ‘Detroit Tuned’ Steering Rack along with the Chevy II Wiper Kit. Also unveiled was Detroit Speed’s 10th anniversary catalog.

Next came the 1st annual Goodguys Forth Worth Spring Lonestar Nationals. This was a great show, the mercury hovered in the low to mid 80's all weekend and there were plenty of show customers and track competitors out for the event. Kyle, Ryan, and Stacy tore apart the autocross, finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively driving the 1969 Camaro Test Car and the newest addition, the 1963 Chevy II Test Car.

After Texas DSE loaded up the hauler and went back to California, and back to back shows in Pleasanton and Del Mar. As always the California shows drew fantastic crowds and provided lots of fireworks during the autocross and editor’s challenge at Del Mar.

DSE Joins Social Media
Early spring brought the Test Cars back from the west coast swing and also saw Detroit Speed open up their company to an entirely new landscape. Social media. We joined Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and have had great success keeping loyal customers and fans up to date with news, pictures, video and company specials!

With our social media arm now feeding your appetite for pictures, video and more on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, it was now time to get back to business. The Detroit Speed 1970 Camaro started to heat up as spring was quickly turning into summer. Kyle and the 1970 Camaro Test Car took home the Vendor autocross at Goodguys Nashville, Stacy ran the trusty 1965 Chevelle Test Car and finished in 8th place in the vendor class. At Run to Music City, the 1970 Camaro Test Car won first place in the road course and autocross qualifying Kyle for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Not to be outdone, Stacy brought out the 1969 Camaro Test Car at Run to Music City and posted a 5th place finish in the road course out of 57 competitors and finished 10th overall. Next up was the Motor State Challenge where Kyle won the vendor class with a win on the road course and autocross. Stacy, not far behind in the 1969 Camaro Test Car, finished 5th in the road course and 6th in the autocross.

In between those events was Chevellabration 2011. This was another great year for Chevelle enthusiasts as Detroit Speed sponsored the popular autocross and saw more than 40 cars lined up waiting for their chance to rip it up around the cones.

We weren’t the only ones having fun with Detroit Speed parts; Mark Stielow was competing in numerous events in his “Red Devil” DSE “Equipped” 1969 Camaro. One of those events was the Performance Car Challenge where Mark took home first place honors. If that wasn’t enough, Mark’s Detroit Speed “Equipped” Camaro was featured in the August issue of Car & Driver magazine!

Summer Show Season
With spring in the rear-view mirror and temperatures rising Detroit Speed packed up their bags and drove up Interstate 77 to the Goodguys Columbus Nationals. As one of the biggest shows of the year, DSE relishes the opportunity to take their Test Cars out on the track and battle it out on the autocross against other vendors. DSE did exactly that, as well as competed in the 1st annual Sponsor Shootout. We had three drivers in the Shootout, Kyle driving the 1970 Camaro Test Car, Stacy driving the 1969 Camaro Test Car and Ryan driving the 1963 Chevy II Test Car. The event was packed with excitement and even saw Stacy vs. Kyle in the Quarterfinals and eventually Kyle vs. Mike Maier in the finals. Mike ended up winning by the slightest of margins but it was an extremely fun and competitive competition.

A week after Columbus the DSE Hauler loaded up and headed out to Lawrenceville, IL for Bowler’s
Day at the Strip. The Chevy II Test Car packed on the miles driving from Mooresville, NC to Columbus, OH and then from Columbus to Lawrenceville, IL. Stacy and Kyle drove the test cars hard during the event and came out with an autocross win in the 1970 Camaro Test Car.

With summer officially at its peak the Test Cars were being pushed to their limits with road races such as the Sandhills open road challenge and performance events like the Midwest Musclecar Challenge. Stacy Tucker put in one of her best performances of the year, finishing 3rd in the Hot Lap Challenge at the MMC and took home the Spectre Top Speed Award. Stacy got her 1969 Camaro up to 129 MPH on the road course!

Fall Swing
The fall show season is usually one of the busiest times of the year for Detroit Speed and 2011 was no exception. The first wave came in the form of Goodguys Kansas where Kyle captured the Vendor Autocross driving the 1963 Chevy II Test Car. After that Kyle and Stacy put on quite a show taking two out of the top three spots at the Holley LS Fest. Kyle and the DSE 1970 Camaro Test Car were named Grand Champion of the event.

With every weekend in September packed with shows or racing events the Test cars had no time to rest as Kyle and Stacy drove them 600 miles to Indianapolis and immediately got down to business on the Goodguys Indy autocross at the famed Brickyard. There was no letdown from the trip as the Test Cars took home the top three Vendor spots to complete the DSE sweep. Detroit Speed had just as much fun making the 1,200 mile round trip as they did at the Goodguys Indianapolis show! What better way to prove that by driving to the show, competing in the autocross, and then driving back to the DSE headquarters in Mooresville, NC.

After Goodguys Indy came the increasingly popular Run Thru the Hills. DSE “Equipped” cars ruled the roost at this event with Detroit Speed "Equipped" rides taking 5 of the top 6 spots. Brian Finch won the "King of the Hill" in his DSE “Equipped” 1971 Camaro while Kyle Tucker finished 2nd in the DSE 1970 Camaro Test Car. Stacy Tucker drove hard all weekend long and finished in 4th place in the autocross out of the 78 cars that competed.

October 7th was a big day for Detroit Speed and even bigger for Gerry Kerna. Detroit Speed sponsors the Muscle Machine of Year award at Goodguys shows. After all the finalists were selected by Detroit Speed throughout the year, the overall winner was selected and it was Gerry Kerna and her 1962 Chevy II nicknamed “Runt.” The “Runt” was built by our good friends at RPM
Hot Rods.

The end of October brought a much needed homecoming for us as we hosted our annual Open House the Friday before the Goodguys Charlotte show. This was by far the largest Open House ever at Detroit Speed as more than 500 cars and thousands of customers flocked to Mooresville to get a sneak peek inside of the Detroit Speed shop.

SEMA, the OUSCI and the Score Baja 1000
November was right around the corner and that meant one thing, SEMA. Just a few short years ago Detroit Speed was visiting the SEMA show to take a look around at the many players that make up the largest automotive aftermarket industry show in the world. A few years later and Detroit Speed is proud to have carved out a nice little place of their own at the SEMA show. SW’s much anticipated Trans Am was unveiled to much acclaim in the ARP booth and was a Mother’s Shine Award finalist. The DSE 1970 Camaro Test Car was also on display at the Baer booth and the 1969 Camaro was in the Optima Street Car Invitational car corral biding time before the OUSCI after SEMA. Along with the cars, we also had a DSE Certified MIG/TIG welder doing demonstrations at the Miller booth as well as product displays at the JRI Shocks booth.

In a bit of a change from the normal pavement pounding driving that Kyle Tucker was accustomed to in the fall; he quickly had to make other plans for the week of November 17. Kyle was selected to drive in the Score Baja 1000 for BFG after he was voted in during the “Select the Seats” campaign. But before Kyle got his chance to compete for BFG he had a chance to hone his skills at the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. This is one of the biggest street car competitions in the world and this year didn’t disappoint. Both Kyle and Stacy drove fantastic but in the end it was Danny Popp and his Corvette who took home the top spot.

A few weekends after the OUSCI, Kyle and Stacy got to wear a bit of a different shirt. They were instructors at the inaugural “Get Started Racing” driving school presented by Jet-Hot and Detroit Speed. The weather was fantastic at Virginia International Raceway and everybody was excited about the chance to improve their driving skills on the skid pad and autocross. This is an event that has a bright future, and Detroit Speed is already looking forward to several 2012 events.

Well, it was now time for Kyle to take some payback for all the pavement pounding he did during 2011 by racing for BFGoodrich at the Score Baja 1000. Team BFG performed well at the Baja but suffered some tough luck and a treacherous course. A blown engine which resulted in an engine fire, four broken CV joints and an upper shock mount were enough to keep the team from reaching their ultimate goal of winning the class. The team was resilient and didn’t give up, finishing 6th place in the class.

As we officially close the books on 2011 we can look back with a sense of pride of all the accomplishments both on and off the track. We would like to thank all of our customers, vendors and employees who make it all possible!

Autocrossing wasn’t the only racing that Detroit Speed competed in during 2011; Stacy Tucker and her American Iron 2008 Mustang Challenge Car entered the NASA racing series. She raced at Virginia International Raceway, Carolina Motorsports Park and Road Atlanta. Stacy had a terrific first year that included a 3rd place finish in her class at Virginia International Raceway. Keep an eye out for more podium finishes from her in 2012.

Although 2012 was great in so many ways for Detroit Speed, it will also be a year that is remembered for losing a great friend both personally and professionally, Todd Gartshore. Todd will be greatly missed.

Thanks again and we’ll see you in 2012.

See pictures from 2011 on page 2.

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Page 2

The Test Cars at RTTC 2011.

DSE Now Joins Social Media!

Detroit Speed joins the world of Social Media.

Stacy Tucker & Kyle Tucker at the Motorstate Challenge

Stacy Tucker & Kyle Tucker at the LS Fest.

Kyle Tucker at Goodguys Columbus

Kyle Tucker on the autocross at Goodguys Columbus.

The Test Cars at Goodguys Indy

The DSE Test Cars at Goodguys Indianapolis.

Gerry Kerna's "Runt" Wins the Muscle Machine of the Year

Gerry Kerna's 1965 Chevy II "Runt" wins the Muscle Machine of the Year award.

Baja1000

Team BFG poses after they finished the grueling Score Baja 1000.

Stacy tucker and her 2008 Mustang

Stacy Tucker and her American Iron 2008 Mustang Challenge Car.