Tony Nuzzo Rolls in Phoenix (w/Video)

Doug Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Woof!

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giacomo Jan 16th, 2006 Link

YEHAWWW! RIDE ‘EM COWBOY. Welcome to the “I Over Cooked it Saloon.”

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Bob Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Hard to believe that Mini kept going after that.

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jdmarino Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Glad nobody was hurt.

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Lucas Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Looks like when he tried to drive defensively he didn’t leave enough room at corner exist and just went straight off the pavement.

The MINI is pretty tough though :) Drove back to the pits under its own power AND with all 4 wheels on the car!

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GMINI Jan 16th, 2006 Link

i hope tony wakes up feelin just fine tomorrow morning….

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ChiliCooperS Jan 16th, 2006 Link

I’m getting sound but no video?

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Allan Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Respect!

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gruswitz Jan 16th, 2006 Link

It still didn’t look as impressive a flip as David Rose must have done on last year on the Hudson Bay Mini run. If only we had video! His drove home too.

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Absorbine_Sr Jan 16th, 2006 Link

All was well since he returned the shiny side to its proper upright postion. Very cool video.

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ChrisW Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Ouch. Maybe I won’t autocross my MCSc after all….

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Vanwall Jan 16th, 2006 Link

Almost as good as Christabel Carlisle’s driving her Mini Cooper OVER another Mini – while it was rolling. It’s nice to see how tough the MINI is, tho.

                BCNU,
               Rob in Dago

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giacomo Jan 17th, 2006 Link

All but forgot about Mr. Rose. I wonder if he he will be venturing up that way again?

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O(=^=)O Capn Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Thanks DB!

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Erik Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Me too. No video, just audio.

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Gabe Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Anyone not getting the audio may need to update their Quicktime player. It does indeed play with audio if you have a newer version of Quicktime.

Apple.com/quicktime/

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Siddhartha Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Good evidence of the benefit to drivers of the safety requirements in racing; very little damage on rollover and no indication of anything collapsing, or even any broken glass like we saw at Laguna in December. Tough little beast, ain’t it? Definitly an E-Ticket ride for the driver!

ChrisW: I wouldn’t worry about autocrossing; you’re never going to be able to get close to the speed Nuzzo had built up and you won’t find any curbs either, but it is said that if you go road racing you should consider your racecar expendable.

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MrV Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Any news on what made the passenger door come off? Where did the mechanism fail? There’s a picture linked on the whiteroofradio site that shows the door frame and it looks remarkably intact.

– Jay

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Tim Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Was this car a “standard” MINI or was it modified with a roll cage etc. for racing?

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Brian Jan 17th, 2006 Link

Was this car a “standard” MINI or was it modified with a roll cage etc. for racing?

Its stock from the dealer, even the paint job is stock. You just have to select the Tony Nuzzo Sport Package from the MINI configurator online.

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Lee L Jan 17th, 2006 Link

There is a fair amount of detail over in the Nuzzo Racing forum at http://www.northamericanmotoring.com . Basically, it starts out as a showroom car and they are allowed certain modifications to some parts and none to others. The interior is pretty much stripped out and there are roll bars.

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j Jan 20th, 2006 Link

just got back from snowboarding up in killington and all i have to say is this…..granted it does have a roll cage, but this would make one hell of a commecial….. like the tundra commercial where it gets blown up by a meteor

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Adam E Mar 28th, 2006 Link

I’ve seen this several times since the original posting, but I’d like to show my coworkers. We have QT, but not picture, only sound. Do we need a new version of QT? Any chance there’s a WMP version around? Is that even possible?

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Gabe Mar 28th, 2006 Link

You’ll probably wan the latest version of QT.

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MotoringFile » Archive » MotoringFile Interview: Tony Nuzzo Mar 28th, 2006 Link

[...] Nuzzo Motorsports were the first to podium the new MINI in North America, what’s next for the team? We will run the Grand-Am series full time. Also we have news of an expanded team and new sponsors.What preparations went into the cars for the 2006 race season? We took cars down to bare metal to rebuild them completely. We are using the same colors with the exception of the roof being black this year. We wanted to keep the blue, it’s unique to MINI. More than any other car color out there. Electric Blue was the launch color here in the U.S.I like red but I’m used to seeing the Electric Blue.We have three MINIs this year with the addition of At Speed Motorsports team. Bob Miller will lead the driver line up for the new car and pair with either co-driver Scott Poirier or co-driver Paul Gerrard. The driver line-up will also see team owner Tony Nuzzo once again paired with Steve Pattee in the #20 car. The driver line-up for the third car will be announced shortly.Will the third MINI have the same color scheme? No, it will wear silver, dark blue, and red to represent the team colors of At Speed.For MINI owners that want to club race or race in the Phil Wicks series, how important is suspension? We run a custom external gas reservoir system for suspension. This gives us the adjust ability for the multiple tracks we will run in the Grand-Am series.Grassroots racers will find changes from street to race suspension, from a week-to-week basis difficult, one of the keys is being consistent by being able to duplicate your settings for the race week-to-week. Also the weather and use of the track will change the surface each week. What is most important for the driver when it comes to the cockpit? Comfort or safety? Driver’s comfort depends on the safety system, depends on requirements.Safety: first a good fitting, fitted, helmet. Most weekend racers have never been properly fitted for a helmet and buy one off the shelf. It is worth the time, effort, and money to get a helmet that has been fitted to you personally.The H.A.N.S. Device is special for each use or type of car. These different applications take into account seat geometry and neck size to fit the driver, seat and car to protect from injury.Sports car racing seats, for example, are made differently from other race seats to work with a H.A.N.S. device.What about first-time racers that work with a co-driver, what can they do to prepare their MINI? There are products offered to custom fit seats. Seat inserts custom mold. You can have them custom-made or there is a two-part epoxy foam mix and fill that can be done on your own. This two-part foam fills open areas and molds to the body.It is also common to use seat on sliders for leg length. Are sliders safe? We use a rig that’s specifically for racing. It’s a seat rail system with locking pins. In Phoenix for example (where Tony rolled his MINI) all the safety equipment worked.What changes did you make to the brake system in your MINIs? Some people want to run big breaks, but I use Hawk performance brake pads with stock calipers and rotors. Hawk is a sponsor but I have to say I’ve used about every brand out there, since switching to Hawk, I’ve had great results with these pads.With the Hawk pads I can race a weekend and still have plenty of pad left on the car.Hawk Blue pad is great for the street and track days. I’ve used their HT10 and the more aggressive HT13 pad. It is tough on rotors but it’s what gets the job done on the track.I’ve raced in a series where the MINI was weighted to approximately 3052 lbs. while racing with this pad and they performed flawlessly. Remember saving weight is important and the factory brakes are light and with the right pads they work well in race conditions.Does your team test race equipment designed for MINIs? We have tested some components for racing, since we started this effort and were the first to race the new MINI we had to develop our own racing systems for the track.How does the MINI handle rough tracks, shock travel, and other suspension challenges? We worked with KW to develop a suspension for racing the MINI. There was not a race-ready suspension when we started so we worked with them to create a package that enhances the handling characteristics of the MINI.Keeping notes of your settings is the way to get consistent results. But also choosing a suspension that is made for the MINI. There are suspensions out there that I wouldn’t run. We designed our suspension in cooperation with our sponsors because some aftermarket stuff is designed for one brand and modified to fit another. You have to be careful when choosing a suspension to be sure its design is compatible with the MINI in a racing application.What competitors do you face? Are there teams that have set out to beat the MINI on the track? Race-prep quality makes the difference for our success with the MINI. We race factory teams that have more horsepower than we have. Bigger factory support teams and more time on the track with their developed cars. The TSX and RSX are strong competitors and Honda is back with a factory team. We also go up against 3 Series BMWs.The Chevy Cobalt is a private racing team with factory support. Cobalt will be tough this year, as it seems they are out to make a name for the brand. Their driver has experience racing Corvettes so it seems they’ve turned it up a notch. Another new car that’s coming is the Mazda RX8, it’s fast.One thing fans have to realize is that MINI is a new car company relative to the other car manufactures. They’ve only been building this car since 2001. This is only their fifth year and they’re small as car companies go.So why choose the MINI for competition over other cars? This is one solid car. I drive a Cooper S daily with no mods . When we were looking for a car the MINI stood out. This car has a strong platform and it handles well.We have worked hard to continue the MINI legacy. We showed that we could beat faster factory teams.I can’t wait to build the new (R56) car. With turbo and variable valve timing, the engine is more sophisticated for fine-tuning. I can’t wait to get one on the track.You mentioned some exciting news about a sponsorship deal you’ve been working on, what are you looking forward to? Our new sponsor on the #20 car is Unichip. They have developed a new Piggy Back System that plugs into the street car and is a Bluetooth controlled plug-and-play. Tuning on the fly!It also offers street vs. track separate programs at the flip of the switch. There is no electronic footprint left behind. If you change exhaust, you can tune the car with this system that is programmer-friendly and not a flash-based system. It’s a true engine management system. This system can be used with any car. Currently being used in Porsches. It adapts well to the MINI. It is adaptable to the modifications many owners will make. We premiered the sponsorship at Daytona!Here’s a quick list of Nuzzo Motorsports sponsors: Hoosier Tire, Unichip, Moton Suspension, Bosch, Hawk Performance Brakes, NorthAmericanMotoring.com, Red Line Oils. [...]

d Mar 6th, 2007 Link

what happened to this file?

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