Scotts Valley, CA 1/17/2005 – GOTO:Racing (http://www.gotoracing.com) announced today that it had finalized it’s sponsor support and would return Brian Lock and the Subaru WRX to West Coast USTCC events in 2005. The touring car series will visit some of the West Coast’s most popular venues, including Phoenix International Raceway, California Speedway, and Infineon Raceway. This season’s calendar also includes a much anticipated East/West National Shootout at Hallett Raceway, OK, a double points event that will attract USTCC teams from both coasts in a battle for National supremacy!
Returning to help the Subaru effort this year are DMS Shocks North America and Santa Cruz Subaru. DMS will be continue to provide the WRX with high performance suspension and a winning setup, while Subaru SC will be providing support, parts, and services throughout the year. New to the Sponsor Ranks this season is SubyDude.com, the country’s #1 Rota Wheel dealer and an online Subaru performance specialty shop.

There will be many changes to the program this year, not least of which will be the WRX’s new look. The new classing of vehicles effected many models, including the WRX. All Turbo cars will now be run near bone stock, which will limit the power considerably. However, the WRX will be getting a heafty weight break to bring it more in line with the lighter Hondas in the series, possibly as much as 300lbs. “I like the idea of running the car lighter, even if it means we have to lose some power,” said Crew Chief Steve Lock, “less weight means better cornering, less heat, and pretty much lower stress on the vehicle all around. Of course, even with a lighter, more nimble car, we hope we still have some good acceleration.”

The USTCC with have an explosion of media interest this year. Multiple magazines will be doing features on the opening event at Cal Speedway, as well as monthly race reports. Seven 5 minute race reports will be aired on Tuner TV, and the Outdoor Life Network(OLN), will be airing a 30 minute “Year in Review” at the end of the season. With the racers ready and the country watching, the 2005 Season promises to be the best yet.

Cool, best of luck this season!

Very nice to see you guys forge ahead into 2005 with this car.

Can you give "Estimates" as to weight and horsepower you'll start out with?

BriDrive

Very nice to see you guys forge ahead into 2005 with this car.

Can you give "Estimates" as to weight and horsepower you'll start out with?

BriDrive

There are some major rules revisions to the vehicle spec sheets going down in USTCC right now in an effort to come up with a way to make the current and future fields run more equal. Mostly this means big changes in the way the rules treat Turbo Cars. Basically, Turbo cars will have to run TOTALLY STOCK under the hood from the air box to the first Cat. Which means no more headers for us. it also means back to the stock intercooler. They are also going to lighten us by about 130lbs, Bringing our base weight to 3050, for the power we are giving up, I would like to see a little more...

I know this sounds horrible, but I actually think it is a great oppurtunity for turbo cars. It makes racing them so much easier if you know that you can bring a vehicle straight from the showroom and be competitive. Since we purchased the WRX, we have be "detuning" it to these new budget friendly USTCC specs. I think think they are great for the series. And the WRX is now pretty much a stock piece with the notable expections of the COBB ECU, DMS 50mm, and the Stoptech brake setup.

To answer the question, estimate that we will be making about 220 HP at the wheels once the header and intercooler come off, probably less. Sorry to dissapoint the turboheads out there :).

Come out and see us. SubyDude.com is traveling to events with us this year, so you are bound to have some other imprezza owners to talk to.

http://www.gotoracing.com/bjlock/events.html

Best of luck !

But 3050 !!! Is that with driver? Heck most WRX's doing solo II stuff in STX prep weigh less than that or right at the same. (Basically stock weight sans spare tire and 1/2 tank of gas)

All the same, I really hope USTCC can continue to grow and become more popular.
Maybe they can sustain what Speed TC had "seemed" to promise a few years ago in the way of "reasonably" afforable series.....................

BriDrive

Best of luck !
All the same, I really hope USTCC can continue to grow and become more popular.
Maybe they can sustain what Speed TC had "seemed" to promise a few years ago in the way of "reasonably" afforable series.....................

BriDrive

The reason we are involved in this series is because it is affordable. Depending on what car you choose to run, your running costs, shouldn't much exceed what a normal track weekend would, except for the $750 entry fee, but the prize money helps cover that(at least $400 a race). What makes it more affordable that SWC is that it is regional. You can afford to participate in a whole championship and stay within a few states, Most in CA. You have no idea how much money a SWC team spends on travel costs.

I think the average USTCC budget is like 2k/weekend, while SpeedWC is like 8k at the min.

No...I think I was confusing in my response............

I absolutely know how ridiculously expensive SpeedWC TC has become....that was kinda my point...........I hope USTCC maintains what it has, versus sufferring the same fate...................

wow, you mean USTCC is actually still around?
how big are the fields?

the top bmw type World challenge teams are charging something like 10K a weekend, thats ridiculous!

chad b

There's a really decent article in the lastest GrassrootsMotorsports mag about Tuner motorsports Speed TC versus their Grand Am STS car............

Makes GranAm almost "affordable"..........by comparison.

USTCC is even cheaper.....I hope its popularity / exposure continues to grow and spread....AND it's rules keep it competitive and cheap....