Jimmy Kite Racing For Grandfather At Nazareth

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga., August 20, 2003 � Jimmy Kite, of Stockbridge, Georgia, is eager to get to Nazareth (PA) Speedway for Sunday's 100 lap United States Auto Club (USAC) Silver Crown Series pavement finale. The young Georgian will be racing in the memory of his �Grandpa Duck', his mother's father, who passed away on Monday. The event, though always important to Kite, takes on an even greater meaning now as he dedicates his effort in the #5 Westcon Elevator/Westcon Racing Bloomer Engines-powered Beast chassis to his grandfather. “We lost my Grandpa Duck this week and that is definitely on my mind,” related Kite. “He has always been a big part of my racing and, even though I have a pretty big empty space right now, I know he'd want us to go out and run Nazareth. I'm racing for him and my family, especially my Mom, this weekend.”In the four Silver Crown races that the strong Kite-Westcon pairing has competed in this season, the effort has performed well but has not gotten the anticipated results. Following an extensive test prior to the Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) round of the series, Kite and team co-owner Kevin Bloomstran� who owns Westcon Racing with his father, Ron� decided to change chassis. The “yellow” car� named for its yellow frame� was extremely quick at IRP but dropped a valve prior to qualifying. The problem slowly robbed the car of horsepower and Kite would finish a disappointing 22nd in the feature event. However, the chassis change proved to be the correct choice buoying hopes for Sunday's race at the one-mile oval. “We've had good cars in practice, qualifying and the start of the race all year,” continued Kite. “But, when we'd get to the midpoint of the race the car would, out of nowhere, go loose on us. We had been trying all year to figure out what the problem was. We proved that the chassis change really helped us at IRP. The car was awesome all race but just kept losing power. We actually sucked a valve through the engine and it was sitting on top of the throttle body after the race. So to be able to do that, and still run, shows how good Bloomer builds an engine. I'm hoping all of the back luck is behind us and we can have a good showing at Nazareth. It's good to be back racing with the IndyCar guys again. I'm eager to get out there. It's time to put Westcon Racing into victory lane and time to get me back into a Silver Crown winner's circle. It's too bad the season is just about over. We really need to get more pavement races on the Silver Crown schedule.”Sunday's race at Nazareth Raceway will be televised on the SPEED Channel, August 30th at 10:00 pm (EDT). For more on Jimmy Kite, please visit www.jimmykitefans.com. To learn more about Westcon Racing, visit www.westconracing.com. ###