News Archive (Jan-Feb 2006)

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> 26 February 2006

CHANDLER, AZ - Dr. Jacques Dallaire spent time this weekend with Eric Medlen at the NHRA POWERade Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol. Leading into race day on Sunday, Eric had qualified #1 in the Funny Car field in his John Force Racing Castrol SYNTEC Ford Mustang with an ET of l 4.707 at 321.96 mph. On race day, Eric lined up against Scott Kalitta and was in for a wild ride. By about 100 feet the Mustang was rattling the tires hard and Medlen was forced to lift. When he whacked the throttle the Mustang jumped and landed sideways. "It dropped a cylinder, then picked it up again but, by then, he was by me," said Medlen, who claimed his sixth Skoal Showdown No. 1 qualifying award of his career. "It was pretty disappointing, especially after qualifying as well as we did. But we know we've got a fast car. It's just the consistency that's got us down a little." As the engineers find the consistency, look for Eric to continue to bring his 'A' game to the track for every event!

> 21 February 2006

CORNELIUS, NC - GrandAm racer, team owner, and successful entrepreneur Rick Skelton took time out of his extremely busy work schedule to visit with Dr. Jacques Dallaire and put himself under the mental skills 'microscope' to find out how he could maximize his personal performance in the race car and beyond. Accustomed to being at the edge of the performance envelope in his property development profession, Rick was interested in learning how he could apply the strategies and techniques he learned through the program to take his performance to a new level both in his racing and in his work as a business professional. He left with a new set of 'tools' and is looking forward to seeing his teammates Joe Foster and Patrick Dempsey tap into the program in the near future.

> 19 February 2006

CORNELIUS, NC - Ryan Justice, National Racing for Kids© representative and Northwest Autosport driver competing in the 2006 Star Mazda Championship series felt the time had come to tap into the internationally-recognized performance program that had helped hundreds of other high-performance racers achieve their competitive goals. Ryan has been making excellent progress over the past couple of years and has set some lofty goals for the 2006 season. to perform with personal excellence in every event in which he participates - on and off the track. With this strategy and if all the other pieces fall into place, the 2006 Star Mazda Championship could well be within his grasp.

> 16 February 2006

CORNELIUS, NC - In his pursuit of excellence and with a goal to continue to improve his personal performance, British/Euroseries Formula 3 standout and Camarillo, California native Charlie Kimball stopped off on his way back to England to spend the day with Dr. Jacques Dallaire, co-founder of the HPI Racer Performance Program. As a Program alumnus, Charlie set out to refine his personal program and re-establish goals for the coming season that would help him to effectively move toward his ultimate goal. the Formula 1 World Championship.

> 29 January 2006

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Congratulations to HPI alumnus Casey Mears and his teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Weldon in their overall victory driving the #02 Target Daytona Prototype Lexus/Riley entry for Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates in the 2006 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. The team led the 24 hour race for 272 laps on their way to a victory after a total of 734 laps. Congratulations on a job well done!

Ian Baas, a young racer from Noblesville, IN who tapped into the Performance Prime/HPI performance program in November, 2005 parlayed his performance in the #36 TPC Racing Porsche GT3 Cup on the historic banks of the Daytona Speedway into precious metal - that is to say the stainless steel and gold of a highly coveted, specially engraved, steel and gold Daytona Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Rolex watch! Ian, together with his teammates Michael Levitas, Randy Pobst, and Spencer Pumpelly used a combination of speed, smarts, and tenacity to take their #36 TPC entry to a 9th place finish overall and 1st in the GS Class to snag the top prize. Ian will add this accomplishment to his growing resume of success and head to Germany in about a month's time to take on the European tracks and drivers in some of the most competitive sports car racing on the globe. But he won't go empty handed. He'll be wearing a shiny new Rolex on his wrist and he'll have the benefit of a mental training program that will help him to bring his best performance to each and every event he'll race. Stay tuned.

Swiss/French driver Harold Primat, an HPI alumn since 2001, was in Daytona Beach for the first time to compete in this prestigious and historic twice-around-the-clock event. Harold, together with teammates Bobby Labonte, Larry Oberto and Doug Goad kept their #09 Pontiac/Crawford Spirit of Daytona Racing entry in the top 12 overall into the wee hours of the morning before mechanical problems caused them to slide back in the field to 35th position at the end of the race (572 laps out of a possible 734 scored by the winning entry). Although disappointed in the final outcome, Harold delivered solid performances in each of his stints and the experience he gained by completing this grueling 24 hour event will hold in good stead as he prepares for a full season of competition in the 2006 LMES series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

The #65 TRG Pontiac GTO.R piloted by HPI alumni Andy Lally, Johnny O'Connell, and R.J. Valentine and driver Marc Bunting raced their way to 10th position overall and 2nd in the GS class for the Rolex 24 at Daytona 2006 event. Congratulations boys!

> 27 January 2006

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Recent HPI alumnus Craig Stanton and co-driver Mark Plummer had their work cut out for them driving the GS #38 BGB Motorsports entry sponsored by RUF Auto Center in today's Grand-Am Cup 200 race event at the historic track in Daytona Beach, FL. After qualifying in 1st position, post-race inspection revealed a suspension component that had been moved and the technical infraction resulted in the car being put back to 44th place on the grid for the race. After an inspired drive by Mark Plummer, Stanton was able to claw his way through the remaining field to the front and with a pass on Charles Espenlaub in the closing stages of the race to take the lead and pull away from the rest of the field. Within 52 laps, the two teammates had passed an astounding 43 cars! However, fate would deliver a cruel blow as the rocket ship driven by Stanton would stumble with less than two laps remaining and the short stop in the pits for a splash of fuel would cost the team the win. The final results sheet would show the team in 20th position overall but the final tally doesn't tell the real story. Congratulations Craig and Mark on a fantastic demonstration of driving skill and audacity!

> 26 January 2006

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The 2006 edition of the Grand American Rolex Series race event in Daytona Beach, FL will boast a total of 45 HPI performance program alumni who will take the green flag and race into the night! In addition, the field for the Grand-Am Cup 200 race event will add another 11 HPI program alumni who will be competing to be the best on the beach in their respective classes. Dr. Jacques Dallaire of Performance Prime/HPI, present in Daytona to work with several drivers during the race weekend, was justifiably proud: "It's a wonderful feeling to be able to see so many drivers that I've had the opportunity to work with over the years competing in a single event.it's like old home week for me! I wish them all a safe race, good hunting and hope that each of them can bring their 'A' game to this event. Winning and losing is outside of their control and in the end, that's the best they have to offer."

> 23 January 2006

CLERMONT, FL - Dr. Jacques Dallaire of Performance Prime/HPI took advantage of the opportunity to be in Florida for the Rolex 24 race events next weekend to spend some time with HPI alumnus Brian Umbach who was competing in the Moonlight Golf Tour in Clermont, Florida today. Brian played a solid round and the time spent together proved to be very fruitful. "Brian Umbach is such a technically talented young athlete and his mental game is improving by leaps and bounds every week" enthused Dr. Dallaire. "I'm confident that Brian will some day achieve his primary goal in golf which is to excel at the PGA level and not too far down the road, players on the regular tour will take note of this promising young golfer. Not too long after that, they'll start to worry." Make a note of the name.you'll be reading about him in the future.

> 18 January 2006

CHARLOTTE, NC - Eric Medlen, NHRA driver of the John Force Racing Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang Funny Car, participated in the Performance Prime/HPI Racer Performance Program. Eric spent 2 days working with Dr. Jacques Dallaire, profiling his personal strengths and weaknesses and developing a comprehensive training program to maximize his performance on the track and beyond... just part of his continuing search for the fractions of a second that lead to championship results.