Van Buren to regroup after Sonoma, planning multiple test sessions before his next event

AGP Motorsports 
Rider: Kenny Van Buren
Final Report
 
FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
July 24-26, 2009
 
Round 9 of 17 - Pro Stock Motorcycle
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact: Matthew Brammer, Active Marketing - pr@activemarketing.com
(602) 882-4290
 
Van Buren to regroup after Sonoma, planning multiple test sessions before
his next event

 
SONOMA, Calif. (July 26, 2009) - Sometimes it's hard to find a silver lining
in a dark cloud, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Ken Van Buren is searching
for the positives out of his weekend at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals in
Sonoma, Calif. Although he is a decorated sportsman racer with two
championships and multiple event wins, this weekend was just his third event
in Pro Stock Motorcycle - and the New River, Ariz. resident is finding out
quickly the difference between the sportsman and Pro ranks.
 
"If it was easy, everyone would do it, right," Van Buren said with a laugh.
"Seriously, though, it really shows the difference between the guys who are
out here week-in and week-out, and teams like us, who hit a national event
once every six weeks."
 
The AGP Turbo-backed team debuted in Houston in the spring, and then raced
again two weeks ago in Denver before racing in Sonoma this weekend, and, by
the numbers, has seen a marginal improvement each event. Van Buren finished
20th out of 21 here, having run their fastest mph at 177. 21 and actually
improved almost two-tenths in performance from his Denver showing.
 
"The track was awesome, I was just ahead of the bike all weekend. It was
driver error. I was shifting way ahead of when the light came on, which was
uncharacteristic for me, especially at this track, it really came down to
the fact that we have to go get more seat time and experience before we go
to Vegas in the fall. We're just on a steep learning curve," he said.
 
Team owner Ben Kriegsfeld echoed his father-in-law's sentiments. "We've had
better events, and we've only had three," he said.
 
"We left Denver and felt really good, thinking we had what it took to make
the show, and maybe even go a round or two. Then, we got here and just
careened down the confidence path. We're playing catch-up, really, to a
bunch of teams that really know what they are doing.
 
"I know, realistically, that we're just a fledgling team that is learning,
so, I'm ok with where we are - but, my competitive side tells me that I want
to move forward quicker," Kriegsfeld said.
 
Kriegsfeld said the plans for the team are to spend as much time as possible
testing at the local track in Phoenix to work out any bugs in the system and
the teams race-day procedures.
 
"We've gotten a lot of help and input from the guys at Vance & Hines, and
even Eddie Krawiec came over Saturday morning to see if he could offer any
assistance. They have given us a lot to look at, and we're going to go back,
take it to heart, and then move on from there," he said.
 
Van Buren added, "We're going to make a ton of test laps between now and
Vegas, just going rounds and rounds and rounds until we have it down.
 
"We all had a good meeting today, got some new ideas and created a game
plan, and now we're just going to go for it. Ultimately, we'll be a lot
better off when we go to a lot more races. And that's the plan for 2010 -
and this is really just intense testing.
 
"We're not giving up, we're full steam ahead. We have plenty of experience
on this team with Mitch and Ben, and we're just going to keep hitting it
hard, working forward to the next race and next season," Van Buren said.
 
ABOUT COMMITTED TO FREEDOM
Ken Van Buren is dedicated to bringing awareness to a plight in American
life that affects millions - physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual
abuse. Abuse survivors have difficult questions, and the damage has many
layers. Committed to Freedom offers spiritual tools to help survivors of
childhood or adolescent abuse - especially sexual abuse - move beyond their
abuse experiences through various programs including retreats, seminars,
self-help curriculum, support group studies, and other sources of
information and encouragement. For more information, visit their website:
www.committedtofreedom.org.
 
ABOUT AGP TURBO
Headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., AGP Turbo is an aftermarket performance
company specializing in niche turbocharger applications. For more
information about the company, visit their website: www.agpturbo.com.
 
 
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