This time around we wanted to interrogate someone that helps put everything together when it comes to racing. James Innes of GSC Motorsports and James Innes Racing has been in the industry for a long time now. In 2004 he visioned a Turbo 4 Civic Coupe and had it all brought together with the help of his team. Working hard in the off season, James Innes Racing is proud to present the Turbo 4 / Sport FWD hatchback of 2005 with GSC Motorsports as its title sponsor.
tZ: What brought about the sudden urge to buy a coupe from a poor man’s garage in 2004?
JIR: The coupe we campaigned last year was bought from a good friend of mine that was just sick of it sitting in his garage. We didn’t have immediate plans for it to be turned into a full race project, it was basically just left in the back of the shop to toy around with as we had time. I got this crazy idea about 2 weeks before the first 2004 NHRA Race to compete with it in the SFWD class and that is when I approached John Ferguson with the idea. The deal was Ferguson would drive the car once completed. Needless to say after many long days and nights we somehow pulled it off and was there for first round qualifying on Saturday morning in West Palm Beach and the race program just took off from there.
tZ: Why Turbo 4?
JIR: In all honesty we just stumbled into the Turbo 4 // SFWD class and have no regrets about it. It is a class that doesn’t take a huge budget to compete in on a yearly basis but at the same time is one of the most competitive and growing classes that the NDRA and NHRA have to offer. At many of the races the “Sportsman” FWD Turbo cars could reasonably qualify in the middle of the pack for the “Pro” Hot Rod class. That goes to show the innovations, testing and determination that us “Sportsman” racers have when it comes to our cars.
tZ: You guys really scrambled and brought that car together quick in 2004, can you do us a quick recap of the entire season/buildup/headaches/successes, etc?
JIR: Like I said earlier we didn’t have immediate plans to race in 2004. Things just came together and a great group of people put their minds together to get the car done in time for the first NHRA race and after our blown engine at the first NDRA race of 2004 we got back to the shop and it all went crazy from there. From being in the industry for a couple of years I understand that in order to stay at the top and and not run into any issues you have to pay to do it right. We went a little crazy on the new buildup of the engine and the car with that parts and pieces that we used. My wallet was hurting for a long time but you can see by the end result it is much easier to do it right the first time than to nickel and dime a buildup and just run into issue after issue. As with any new car we ran into some set backs but one of the great things about sport compact drag racing is the willingness to help from others. A little “secret” here and a little piece of advice there helped more than you think to start getting the car down the track.
tZ: The current hatchback used to be your daily driver and an all motor car that never made it into the 12’s (cough cough) – what brought about the sudden idea to make the switch?
JIR: Haha, nice little stab. Naturally Aspirated 12s would have happened if that pesky little coupe didn’t enter the picture. The coupe got beat up a little bit racing it in 2004 and it needed to go down in the off season to make a trip to the body shop and get some new body panels and fresh paint. At the end of December with the car still not at the body shop Greg Caloudas (GSC Proprietor) and myself were shooting the bull and the idea popped into our heads to just swap all the parts to the VX that was just sitting in front of my house under a car cover with no engine in it. This served two purposes, one it saved us the time at the body shop since the VX already had a great paint job and a really straight body, and two, ideally the chassis would be lighter and able to get down the 1/4 mile quicker and faster. The blank canvas as we saw it would be a great opportunity to improve the setup with the experience that we gained racing the Coupe for a year.
tZ: Shouldn’t that car be in someone else’s hands right now? 😛
JIR: You had your chance. I was 99% ready to sell it to you (Jason Siu) but like any typical Honda-Tech member you flaked 😛 Actually I will still sell it to you – but I think that price just went through the roof on it 😛 [It’s alright – I already maxed out the Chase VISA I had gotten to buy the car with the move – jS]
tZ: What different changes have you guys made in the off season? What are your goals for the 2005 season?
JIR: As much as we thought it would just be a simple process of swapping the parts from the Coupe to the VX to compete with in 2005 we surprisingly made a lot of changes on the new car. Nothing really that major but a lot of little changes that quickly added up in terms of time to perform them. We expected the car to be done in no time and be able to get some testing sessions on it before the first NDRA race of the season in Phoenix. I would say we were wrong on that as the Tuesday night before the car was supposed to be in the trailer heading to Phoenix the next day we were still thrashing on it. We put a fresh engine in for 2005 – basically the same setup as the 2004 engine but with some small upgrades like a fully ported and polished cylinder head with Supertech Performance oversized valves from Ed’s Racing Heads. The engine from 2004 (Old Faithful) is still alive and kicking, just going to put some new rod bearings in it and leave it in the trailer for a spare. We are trying a new front suspension setup that is still requiring some free time to make some test passes and really get it all figured out to perform at its best. Other than that the car for the most part has the guts of the Coupe, just improved upon and in a cleaner chassis.
Our goals for 2005 are to remain at the top. We are confident that we can run with the best of them. The car is built with the best parts to ensure little or no problems, it is just a matter of getting more passes on the car to really get it figured out and set it up how it wants to be set up for the most consistent runs down the 1/4 mile. Saturn Motorsports put out this nice little ad sometime around February that has motivated myself to keep on pushing, it states “In hot pursuit of the first 8 second SFWD car,” and has a picture of the new Saturn T4 // SFWD car that Ballard will campaign in 2005. There have been points with this car that I was ready to pull the plug. The money that the car has taken to get completed and the money that it will take to compete with the car for an entire season adds up quick and can get you very frustrated. Luckily we have developed relationships with many important sponsors to help us keep pushing the limits of this class and of course everyone that has worked with the car (John Ferguson, Darin Dichiara, John Ward, Greg Caloudas, CFT Guys, etc, etc) keep us motivated.
tZ: What insight could you offer the racers out there in terms of getting sponsorships and reaching out to companies to help campaign the car nationwide?
JIR: One of the first things I learned in obtaining sponsorships is that you can talk about what you can do until you are out of breath but without proven performance to back it up a lot of companies don’t want to hear it. What I would suggest is to get your car built, get to the track and perform at your best, and then contact companies regarding sponsorship. It is a lot more intriguing to speak with a potential sponsorship candidate that has a car that runs well and is already traveling to race than someone who has a car in 1000 pieces in their garage and wants to promise you the world. I will say this to the sponsors though. One of my biggest pet peeves is to contact a company regarding sponsorship opportunities and never hear a word back from them. Call me and tell me you don’t like my haircut, tell me you don’t like my shoes, for that matter tell me you can’t stand me but at the very least give me the respect of an answer as not to waste my time or your time. Companies that get back to me quickly with an answer of no gain more respect from me each and everyday in the sponsorship game. At least they know what their goals for the company are, the direction they want to go and can tell me they have no interest in our program.
tZ: How do you feel about the current situation with drag racing? Any suggestions to bring out more of the general public?
JIR: Sport Compact Drag Racing is like the Nissan sr20det market. For the last 3-4 years it has been on the verge of really exploding more into the mainstream to stick around for years to come but just hasn’t made it over the hurdle yet. With what NDRA and NHRA are doing they are definately heading in the right direction and I honestly don’t have an answer or a suggestion as to what it is going to take to succeed in the coming years. The participation from the racers is growing on a yearly basis and once the task of figuring out how to get more fans to the events is worked out the sport will begin to see the fruits of everyone’s labor. One thing that is disappointing is with all the hype over new cars that are coming out from year to year to show up to one of the first races of the season and see that they are not in attendence. I as well as anyone understand how long it can take to get a car finished to compete with but it seems with all new race cars for a given season the majority of them seem to miss the first half of the season.
tZ: What makes a team succesful? You guys don’t have the unlimited budget and extra hands that you’d like, how do you guys all make it happen?
JIR: We live and breathe racing. The majority of my expendible income and John Ferguson’s expendible income is put into the race car in one way or another. We have some key sponsorship relationships that help out tremendously and we do all we can in terms of getting the car what it needs when it needs it. There are many people that we would bend over backwards for to help out and those relationships go both ways. We get help from many avenues and in return they know that we will be there for them when they need it. That is one the best parts of this sport, it is more of a family atmosphere I guess you could say. At the track everyone is always willing to help out in whatever way they can. There are competitors that I enjoy seeing succeed just as much as I enjoy seeing our team succeed.
tZ: Why do you guys race NOPI? How about NHRA?
JIR: We race both series. For 2005 we plan on attending all the NDRA events and 3-4 NHRA events. With the coupe we campaigned last year we were limited to the NDRA events due to the way the car was setup. Building the VX allowed us to set it up within the rules of both series to expand potential events to attend. We built the car to the strictest rules of competition for either series so with minor changes we can basically race it whereever we choose.
tZ: Personal predictions on the Turbo 4 class this year?
JIR: I see this class continuing to grow for the next 2-3 years. There are numerous cars in the process of being built that will have the potential to go out and run the numbers with some testing. Time and time again the T4 // SFWD class at an event has the most attendence and is the most competitive. With some bigger sponsors entering the arena it will push others to get more actively involved and hopefully grow the class even more. I foresee a 16 car qualifying ladder comprised of cars that can run mid 9s to low 10s in the near future if everything continues as it is and I look forward to the competition. With talents such as Arturbo, Brian Ballard, Cunha, Courtney Green, Jasen Penman, Matt Keller, and many, many more out there striving to be at the top we will continue to push each other to do the best we can and that is exciting.
tZ: Describe honda-tech.com in 10 words or less.
JIR: Haha, good question – you mean Drama-Tech.com (you still own this domain? :P) Here we go – “Drag Racing Forum, Constant Activity, Stress Relief”
tZ: Feel free to plug special thanks and sponsors now:
JIR: Of course first of all my wife – without Kelly’s understanding none of this would have ever come about and of course John Ferguson and Darin Dichiara for all the great times and chances to go racing. GSC Motorsports, Vibrant Performance, MazWorx, Ed’s Racing Heads, Supertech Performance, Avid Racing, Koyo Cooling, DEI, CP Pistons, RPI Racing, Hybrid Performance, Circuit Worx, Central Florida Turbo, Nero and Bottle, my parents, Greg Caloudas, and Tunerzine for committing to the “Sportsman” racers. If I forgot anyone feel free to call and yell at me, I apologize.
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