Kenny wilden
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Toronto Sun Saturday
Wilden exudes a belief in himself and his talent that makes anyone who has watched him on the track wish for his success.
And he has had success at the top levels of racing throughout North America.
Wilden’s resume consists of a championship in the seminal Player’s GM series, a Motorola Cup championship and a Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class championship.
Wilden has also won in the Atlantic series and the Trans-Am series.
So why isn’t the 39-year-old native of Oakville on the same career path of his contemporaries like Scarborough’s Paul Tracy or Mississauga’s Ron Fellows?
“Right place, wrong time,” Wilden said Friday as he prepared to qualify Saturday for the Trans-Am Championship Series in the No. 99 Derhaag Motorsports Corvette.
He was among that core group of young Canadian talent that developed in the mid-1980s like Tracy, Fellows, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier.
At one point it looked like all of them would make it to the top of their racing series.
“After I won the Player’s championship in 1992 I did a test for Chevrolet that I hoped would lead to a ride with their factory Trans-Am team,” Wilden said. “Everyone at that test told me that I had blown away the competition. I felt sure I had the job.”
But it went to another, lesser driver whose dad owned a string of Ford dealerships.
All Wilden did to atone for that slight was go out the next season and win the Motorola Cup — emblematic of top tier sports car racing in the U.S.
The next season he switched to the Atlantic series — just one step down the IndyCar ladder from Tracy, Villeneuve and Carpentier. But just as he mastered that series, the uncivil war between IndyCars and the CART series was beginning. It shrank the fields and divided the sponsorships leaving Wilden out in the cold again.
“I never, ever lost confidence in myself,” he said. “I knew then, like I know now, that I can beat anyone out there given the right equipment.”
Proof of that came last season when he went out and captured the ultra-competitive Grand-Am sports car crown in, ironically, a Ford Mustang.
Sometimes fate comes full circle.
That victory also whetted the appetite for team owners to start calling Wilden to drive their cars.
His arrival at Mosport Friday was a prime example.
“I got a call like just two days ago from (team owner) Jim Derhaag asking if I was doing anything,” Wilden said. “I knew whenever a team owner phones and asks that question, something good is going to happen.”
The something good was that Derhaag was bringing an extra Corvette race car to the Victoria Day Speedfest at Mosport and wanted Wilden to team up with him.
“I hadn’t been in a Trans-Am car since 2002,” Wilden said. “But it only took a couple of shakedown laps around Mosport’s 3.95 kilometre road course to get comfortable, however.”
Saturday he will attempt to qualify the No. 99 Corvette and maybe even win on Sunday.
In any event, Wilden believes there is still more to come for him. One series where he would like to have his name among the winners is NASCAR.
He said he is actively seeking sponsorship to run in the NASCAR Nationwide series at either Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve or at Watkins Glen.
Ken Wilden signs with Derhaag Motorsports for Corvette drive at Mosport Trans-Am race
Mosport press release
(Bowmanville, ON – May 19, 2010) Canadian Ken Wilden has signed with Derhaag Motorsports to run a Chevrolet Corvette in Sunday’s SCCA Trans-Am race at Mosport, part of the Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend, May 21-23.
Wilden, who’s the defending GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season champion, is reuniting with team owner Jim Derhaag nine years after the two celebrated their first Trans-Am Series win together at Laguna Seca.
“It’s great to be back with Jim and to be racing in the SCCA Trans-Am series once again,” said the Oakville, ON native. “Although it’s been awhile since I’ve been behind the wheel of one of these high-horsepower brutes, Derhaag Motorsports is one of the best in the business. I love racing at Mosport and believe we can enjoy a successful weekend, like we’ve done together in the past.”
Simon Gregg of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL will pilot a second Derhaag Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette.
Wilden has been recognized as one of the country’s most accomplished road racers since claiming the Player’s/GM and Firehawk Series crowns in 1992. Along with Trans-Am, his racing resume includes Formula Atlantic and Daytona Prototypes.
Racing starts Friday with a full-day of testing for all four championships on the weekend schedule. Saturday is a mix of practice and qualifying in the morning, followed by races for the Castrol Touring cars, World Challenge and the Sundown Grand Prix. Sunday morning opens with more qualifying and then races in World Challenge, Castrol Touring and Trans-Am to close out the weekend.
The three-day weekend SuperTicket is just $50 until May 19 ($60 at the Gate). Single-day tickets are also available.
For more information and to purchase tickets call the Mosport Hotline at 1-800-866-1072 (Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm ET), visit online at www.mosport.com, or email info@mosport.com
Pilgrim, Whitis Win Fresh From Florida 200 Poles
Jan. 28, 2010
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Andy Pilgrim was scheduled to go to Brazil on vacation this upcoming weekend. But his plans fell through and the Fall-Line Motorsports team asked the three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona class winner to co-drive with team owner Mark Boden in Friday's Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway (complete qualifying results).
Fast forward to Thursday. Pilgrim strapped into the No. 46 BMW M3 in place of scheduled rookie driver Brian Kubinski, and promptly won the pole position for the 2010 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season opener in the Grand Sport (GS) class. His time of 1:59.636 (107.125 mph) bested the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Boss 302R of Frankie Montecalvo, 1:59.660 (107.103 mph), and put him the top starting spot in his first career series race. Montecalvo will drive with Gunnar Jeannette.
In the Street Tuner (ST) class, Derek Whitis set the fastest qualifying time in the No. 25 Aventura Technologies/PFC Mazda MX-5 he shares with Tom Long. His time of 2:08.736 (99.553 mph) was a tick off of Andrew Aquilante's season-old record of 2:08.694.
Pilgrim briefly drove a BMW M3 E92. In fact, his only prior engagement in the car came during a test session last month with team member Jim Bell, whom Pilgrim drove for in a Daytona Prototype in 2004.
"I got a phone call about five days ago and was asked 'What I was doing?'" Pilgrim said. "They asked if I could come in and I said yes, and it's great to be here."
Having competed in 16 Rolex 24s, Pilgrim said he was happy to return to the 3.56-mile, 12-turn track, a place he said he knows well.
"I love this race," he said after getting out of the car. "I love this track. It's great to be back and I'm looking forward to running."
Aside from Pilgrim's BMW M3, Mustangs dominated the top five. Following Montecalvo's No. 15 were Andrew Caddell in the No. 59 Mustang Challenge Ford Mustang GT at 2:00.068 (106.740 mph), Jack Roush Jr. in the No. 61 Roush Performance Products Ford Mustang GT at 2:00.192 (106.629 mph) and Bob Michaelian in the No. 52 bizrate.com Ford Mustang GT at 2:00.837 (106.060 mph). Reigning class champion Ken Wilden is teaming with Caddell with the expectation of notching the car's 18th consecutive top-10 finish.
GRAND-AM CONTINENTAL TIRE SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE OPENS 2010 SEASON FRIDAY AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY &nbs p;
Eighty-one cars entered to take the green flag in Fresh From Florida 200DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 27, 2010) - T he 10-race GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season commences this Friday at Daytona International Speedway with the Fresh From Florida 200, and 81 cars - 45 in the Grand Sport (GS) class and 36 in Street Tuner (ST) - will push for victory in the two-and-a-half hour race, which begins at 1:45 p.m. ET. The race will feature several new cars - the Chevrolet Camaro, Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Audi S4 in GS and the Kia Forte Koup and MAZDASPEED3 in ST - and new models - the Mustang Boss 302R and the Porsche Cayman. Friday's race also features a host of former race winners and series champions. GS titlist Ken Wilden returns in the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT that has 17 consecutive top-10 finishes. Wilden won the GS crown by eight points (317-309) last October, and starts 2010 with co-driver Andre w Caddell, a two-time Ford Racing Mustang Challenge champion. David Empringham also starts the season in a Mustang, but in the Boss 302R, driving with Jade Buford at Racers Edge Motorsports. Empringham, a two-time series champion in GS, has a series-high three victories at Daytona, most recently in 2007. Two other former champions will also drive Mustang Boss 302Rs. Scott Maxwell and Joe Foster, who topped the 2008 points standings, will drive the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang Boss 302R for Multimatic Motorsports; the team will also field the No. 16 Ford Mustang Boss 302R for Gunnar Jeannette. Multimatic won the 2005 team title. Defending race winners Bill Auberlen and Matt Bell are running for different teams this season. Auberlen will defend his race victory in the same No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 with new co-driver Paul Dalla Lana; the team also fields the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 for Joey Hand and rookie Michael Marsal. Bell is teaming with Jeff Bucknum in one of six Camaros entered. Bell and Bucknum will drive the No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GS.R, while the team's second car will be piloted by Hugh Plumb and Al Carter. Former race winner Craig Stanton is also a part of a three-car team - BGB Motorsports, which is based about 25 minutes from the track in Ormond Beach, Fla. Stanton will drive fulltime in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman this season, and will work on his second championship after winning the title in 2004. The Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Audi S4 come from two teams that have proven successful in the ST class. Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude will drive the No. 35 Subaru WRX for Subaru Road Racing Team, while Ian Baas and Mark White are in the No. 01 Accumoto/BBS Audi S4, fielded by APR Motorsport.< /span>In ST, Compass360 Racing returns to defend its team title with a strong driver lineup. Reigning race winner Lawson Aschenbach is among those drivers, and he will pilot the No. 74 Hondata/Skunk2 Honda Civic Si with David Thilenius. Also competing fulltime in 2010 are Ryan Eversley and Zach Lutz i n the No. 75 HPD/Skunk2 Honda Civic Si and rookies Greg Liefooghe and Jesse Combs in the No. 76 Skunk2/Exclusive Management Honda Civic Si.Compass360 Racing team owner Karl Thomson and Billy Johnson, driving ROUSH Performance's No. 61 Valvoline Ford Mustang GT in the GS class with Jack Roush Jr., won the 2007 race.APR and Freedom Autosport combined to win the last six races of 2009, and return with strong lineups as well. APR will field two Volkswagen GTIs; the No. 171 for three-race winner Mike Sweeney and veteran Mike Halpin, and the No. 181 for 2009 MESCO Building For The Future Rookie of the Year Josh Hurley and rookie Kevin Stadtlander.Freedom will field four cars - two MAZDASPEED3s and two Mazda MX-5s. Patrick Dempsey will prepare for Saturday's Rolex 24 in the No. 27 MAZDASPEED3 with open-wheel star John Edwards, while team regulars Tom Lon g, Derek Whitis and Andrew Carbonell - all series race winners last year - begin the season in their Mazda MX-5s.Former champion Jamie Holtom will compete fulltime with the two-car GS Motorsports stable out of Canada with co-driver Andrew Danyliw. Glenn Bocchino, who won the 2008 ST race, returns to the class in i-MOTO Racing's No. 30 Mazda RX-8 with co-driver Todd Lamb.BimmerWorld/GearWrench, which was among the fastest teams during the January Test Days earlier this month, will field a pair of BMW 328is, with the expectations of a strong debut in the series.Practice for the Fresh From Florida 200 begins at 11:45 a.m. ET Thursday, with qualifying set at 5 p.m. A 45-minute practice session at 10 a.m. Friday precedes the two-and-a-half hour race, which is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. ET. |
Championship Line-Up as Caddell and Wilden team at Daytona
Yesterday at 12:27pm
Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Champion Caddell tabbed to co-drive with 2009 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Champion Wilden
Contact: Matt Cleary, Sunday Group Management
media@sundaymanagement.com
(317) 908-2975
Tooele, UT—9 January 2010— When you show up for a gunfight, it’s best to have as much firepower as you can. And as the highly competitive 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) season kicks off with the Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway on January 29, there will be plenty of ammunition in the No. 59 Rehagan Racing Ford Mustang FR500C entry as two-time Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Champion Andrew Caddell will team with 2009 Grand-Am CTSCC Champion Ken Wilden in the season-opening race.
Caddell, who collected the custom Miller Cup trophy and a healthy cash prize at the series season-ending banquet at Miller Motorsports Park, is understandably excited about collecting the loudest element of the Mustang Challenge Champions Package, as the Mustang Challenge series and Ford Racing create the opportunity for Caddell to put his skills on display in a Ford Mustang FR500C.
Caddell’s career has attracted a lot of attention from his fellow racers, which is little surprise after his 2009 season saw him take a perfect record of Mustang Challenge podium appearances, including four race wins, to score the 2009 Mustang Challenge Championship in convincing fashion.
The shot at glory on the high banks at Daytona will mark Caddell’s second start in CTSCC competition, having taken the Mustang Challenge honors in 2008 as well. Driving with fellow Mustang Challenge racer Jim Click in the 2009 event at Daytona, Caddell recovered from a drive through penalty for a restart-procedure setback to score a top-ten in his series debut.
As he looks ahead to his return to CTSCC competition, he has his sights set even higher as Ford Racing has placed him with fellow Champion Wilden in the Rehagan Racing-prepared Ford Mustang for the three-hour endurance event, which will be broadcast by SPEEDtv.
“I can’t wait to get down to Daytona and just get going—it feels like it’s been forever since I raced a Mustang!” said Caddell. “I was pretty happy with a top ten last year, particularly because I didn’t have any testing and I just didn’t know what to expect from the car, the tires, and the competition. Hopefully I can put what I learned last year to good use, and of course having a championship-caliber teammate like Kenny is going to be a big help because he obviously knows his way around in a Mustang!”
“It is pretty exciting for us to have our champion get the opportunity to race at Daytona, and we are proud to support his efforts,” said Mustang Challenge Series Director Lynda Randall. “And it won’t just be Andrew that we will have to watch, because there are also a lot of drivers and teams that will be racing in CTSCC at Daytona who first experienced what it is like to race in Grand-Am when they joined the Mustang Challenge, so we will have a lot of people to root for this year!”
The Ford Mustang is well-represented in the Grand-Am CTSCC ranks as Ford pursues another championship season in both the driver and manufacturer battles and looks to start the year with a strong result at Daytona.
"We are really proud of what Andrew has accomplished the last two seasons, and it is exciting to see him move up the Mustang ladder," said Ford Racing's Andy Slankard. "To have him running with a championship team like Rehagan Racing and have a champion co-driver like Ken Wilden is a great opportunity for him and we're very excited about seeing these guys race together. It's neat that so many good guys want to race Ford Mustangs, so we're really looking forward to the race at the end of the month."
“I’m really excited to have a co-driver like Andrew to start off the year at Daytona,” said Wilden, who scored his 2009 CTSCC championship behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang FR500C as the Blue Oval also netted honors with the Manufacturer Championship. “I know that the Mustang Challenge is an incredibly competitive category, so to do as well as he has there says a lot about his talent. Hopefully we can get our championship defense off to a good start for Ford with a podium at Daytona.”
The 2010 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge season will kick off at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March, and will feature a new wrinkle in the championship. Mustang Challenge officials have confirmed the final 2010 Ford Racing Mustang Challenge schedule, which will see the series feature three double-header race weekends and grow to an 11-race calendar.
Ford Racing Mustang Challenge 2010 Schedule:
1. Homestead March 6-7 Rounds 1 & 2
2. Virginia International Raceway April 24-25 Round 3
3. Lime Rock Park May 29-30 Round 4
4. Watkins Glen June 5-6 Round 5
5. Mid-Ohio June 19-20 Round 6
6. New Jersey July 17-18 Rounds 7 & 8
7. Autobahn July 30-Aug 1 Round 9
9. Miller Motorsports Park Sept 10-11 Rounds 10 & 11
About Ford Racing Mustang Challenge: The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge is a professional racing series co-developed by Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park. Utilizing the new Ford Mustang FR500S and sanctioned by the Grand-Am Road Racing, Mustang Challenge is a support series to major professional road racing events across North America. Mustang Challenge is an affordable, challenging platform for racers who want to compete in a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive car on a level playing field that showcases driver ability in high-profile events. A competitive point structure and generous purses make the Mustang Challenge The Place to Race!
LHM
The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge championship is an ongoing continuation of the passion, vision, and commitment that Larry H Miller had for Ford and the Ford Mustang. The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge is just one of the countless living legacies of Mr. Miller, and the drivers, team, and fans of the Mustang Challenge are proud to honor his memory and carry on his passion. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
www.mustangchallenge.com
Below is a link for my 2009 season ending interview hope you enjoy it.
click here to get to the video