Scotts Valley, California – April 5th, 2011 – When the crew and drivers for A.M. Performance walked into the shop this morning in Scotts Valley, CA, they noticed two things right away. First, there is more parking outside because the big rig has left for Alabama for the Barber 200 where the squad will make their GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge debut. Second, there is a big empty spot in the fabrication area that has been where the #04 NISMO 370Z GS race car has lived since it was put on stands on it’s last day as a street car.
Over the last several months, the employees at A.M. Performance have been working feverishly to make this deadline. Their feat has been made especially impressive by the fact that not only have they had to tear down and race prep a stock 370Z, but all the parts for the car have been designed, engineered, built, and installed in-house. “This has been a huge effort by everyone here, a lot of long nights and personal sacrifices were put in to finish the #04 in time for this, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team” said Brian Lock, who is not only one of A.M. Performances drivers, but also the company’s CEO. “Now comes the fun part where we get to start the process of tuning and developing this beautiful 370Z into a race winning machine!”
Lock’s co-driver, Mike Sweeney, shares his enthusiasm for the project, “I can’t begin to tell you how good this crew is. To see where we started, and all the work that’s happened since then is just crazy, and I think that everyone will agree when they see this car that the work the guys have done is really top notch.” As for the race coming up, Sweeney thinks that the idyllic Barber Motorsports Park will serve as an ideal place to debut the car. “We targeted Barber for a reason. Brian and I have both shown well there in other cars in the past, and the long-duration corners and fast transitions should favor the light, nimble 370Z over the heavier, more powerful BMWs, Mustangs, and Camaros. We also suspect we will be able to keep the tires under the car for longer into the stint, which is a big advantage here.”
The debut of the A.M. Performance #04 Nissan also marks the return to GRAND-AM for Nissan, who have been absent from the series for a number of years. The team has been pleasantly surprised by the amount of support they have seen from fans throughout the build process, and are thrilled by the opportunity to race such a great brand. The successful history of Nissan in North American sports car racing sets a high bar, with over 80 domestic championships, more than 200 wins in major sports car races, and four wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and A.M. Performance as a whole is honored to have the opportunity to add to that great history.
Testing for the Barber 200 begins this wednesday, followed by qualifying on friday and a two and a half hour race on sunday. For more information please visit www.amperformanceracing.com and www.facebook.com/amperformance.
About A.M. Performance:
A.M. Performance is a race car preparation, aftermarket parts, and tuning company based in Scotts Valley, CA. Our 9000 sq ft. facility is staffed with some of the most skilled and passionate race car minds in the country, with all the tools required at their finger tips to build high end race cars for the most competitive series in the country. Our professional fabricators can handle any job, big or small, from Grand Am Rolex GT cars, to your everyday HPDE track car.
Although A.M. Performance is equipped to build a race car from any make, we specialize in Nissan 370Z’s and Nissan GT-R’s. Our experience racing both platforms gives us unique experience to advise our customers on the exact products they need for their street, track day, or full race car Nissan.
Check the A.M. Performance website often for company updates. Our first two years look to be extremely exciting with our mulit-car entry into the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class. We will also be coming to market with multiple hard parts which will be must haves for any track or race car 370Z. An AWD chassis dyno is also in the works to be installed and ready for customer tunes by the end of 2011.
A.M. Performance… because racing is the reason we get out of bed in the morning!
